Awake, Thou That Sleepest
by Charles Wesley
"Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." Eph.
5:14.
In discoursing on these words, I shall, with the help of God:
1. Describe the sleepers, to whom they are spoken.
2. Enforce the exhortation, "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead."
3. Explain the promise made to such as do awake and arise: "Christ shall give
thee light."
I. A Description of The Sleeper
1. And first, as to the sleepers here spoken to. By sleep is signified the natural
state of man; that deep sleep of the soul, into which the sin of Adam hath cast all
who spring from his loins: That supineness, indolence, and stupidity, that
insensibility of his real condition, wherein every man comes into the world, and
continues till the voice of God awakes him.
2. Now, "they that sleep, sleep in the night." The state of nature is a state of utter
darkness; a state wherein "darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the
people." The poor unawakened sinner, how much knowledge soever he may
have as to other things, has no knowledge of himself: in this respect "he
knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know." He knows not that he is a fallen
spirit, whose only business in the present world, is to recover from his fall, to
regain that image of God wherein he was created. He sees no necessity for the
one thing needful, even that inward universal change, that "birth from above,"
figured out by baptism, which is the beginning of that total renovation, that
sanctification of spirit, soul, and body, "without which no man shall see the
Lord."
3. Full of all diseases as he is, he fancies himself in perfect health. Fast bound in
misery and iron, he dreams that he is at liberty. He says, "Peace! Peace!" while
the devil, as "a strong, man armed," is in full possession of his soul. He sleeps
on still and takes his rest, though hell is moved from beneath to meet him;
though the pit from whence there is no return hath opened its mouth to swallow
him up. A fire is kindled around him, yet he knoweth it not; yea, it burns him,
yet he lays it not to heart.
4. By one who sleeps, we are, therefore, to understand (and would to God we
might all understand it!) a sinner satisfied in his sins; contented to remain in his
fallen state, to live and die without the image of God; one who is ignorant both
of his disease, and of the only remedy for it; one who never was warned, or
never regarded the warning voice of God, "to flee from the wrath to come;" one
that never yet saw he was in danger of hellfire, or cried out in the earnestness of
his soul, "What must I do to be saved?"
5. If this sleeper be not outwardly vicious, his sleep is usually the deepest of all:
whether he be of the Laodicean spirit, "neither cold nor hot," but a quiet,
rational, inoffensive, good-natured professor of the religion of his fathers; or
whether he be zealous and orthodox, and, "after the most straitest sect of our
religion," live "a Pharisee;" that is, according to the scriptural account, one that
justifies himself; one that labours to establish his own righteousness, as the
ground of his acceptance with God.
6. This is he, who, "having a form of godliness, denies the power thereof;" yea,
and probably reviles it, wheresoever it is found, as mere extravagance and
delusion. Meanwhile, the wretched self-deceiver thanks God, that he is "not as
other men are; adulterers, unjust, extortioners": no, he doeth no wrong to any
man. He "fasts twice in a week," uses all the means of grace, is constant at
church and sacrament, yea, and "gives tithes of all that he has;" does all the good
that he can "touching the righteousness of the law," he is "blameless": he [lacks]
nothing of godliness, but the power; nothing of religion, but the spirit; nothing
of Christianity, but the truth and the life.
7. But know ye not, that, however highly esteemed among men such a Christian
as this may be, he is an abomination in the sight of God, and an heir of every
woe which the Son of God, yesterday, today, and for ever, denounces against
"scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites"? He hath "made clean the outside of the cup
and the platter," but within is full of all filthiness. "An evil disease cleaveth still
unto him, so that his inward parts are very wickedness." Our Lord fitly
compares him to a "painted sepulcher," which "appears beautiful without;" but,
nevertheless, is "full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness." The bones
indeed are no longer dry; the sinews and flesh are come upon them, and the skin
covers them above: but there is no breath in them, no Spirit of the living God.
And, "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." "Ye are
Christ's, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you": but, if not, God knoweth
that ye abide in death, even until now.
8. This is another character of the sleeper here spoken of, he abides in death,
though he knows it not. He is dead unto God, "dead in trespasses and sins." For,
"to be carnally minded is death, " even as it is written, "By one man sin entered
into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men;" not only
temporal death, but likewise spiritual and eternal. "In that day that thou eatest,"
said God to Adam, "thou shalt surely die;" not bodily (unless as he then became
mortal), but spiritually: thou shalt lose the life of thy soul; thou shalt die to God: shalt be separated from him, thy essential life and happiness.
9. Thus first was dissolved the vital union of our soul with God; insomuch that
"in the midst of" natural "life, we are" now in spiritual "death." And herein we
remain till the Second Adam becomes a quickening Spirit to us; till he raises the
dead, the dead in sin, in pleasure, riches or honours. But, before any dead soul
can live, he "hears" (hearkens to) "the voice of the Son of God": he is made
sensible of his lost estate, and receives the sentence of death in himself. He
knows himself to be "dead while he liveth;" dead to God, and all the things of
God; having no more power to perform the actions of a living Christian, than a
dead body to perform the functions of a living man.
10. And most certain it is, that one dead in sin has not "senses exercised to
discern spiritual good and evil." "Having eyes, he sees not; he hath ears, and
hears not." he doth not "taste and see that the Lord is gracious." He "hath not
seen God at any time," nor "heard his voice," nor "handled the word of life." In
vain is the name of Jesus "like ointment poured forth, and all his garments smell
of myrrh, aloes, and cassia." The soul that sleepeth in death hath no perception
of any objects of this kind. His heart is "past feeling," and understandeth none of
these things.
11. And hence, having no spiritual senses, no inlets of spiritual knowledge, the
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; nay, he is so far from
receiving them, that whatsoever is spiritually discerned is mere foolishness unto
him. He is not content with being utterly ignorant of spiritual things, but he
denies the very existence of them, and spiritual sensation itself is to him the
foolishness of folly. "How," saith he, "can these things be? How can any man
know that he is alive to God?" Even as you know that your body is now alive.
Faith is the life of the soul; and if ye have this life abiding in you, ye want no
marks to evidence it to yourself, but elegchos pneumatos, that divine
consciousness, that witness of God, which is more and greater than ten thousand
human witnesses.
12. If he doth not now bear witness with thy spirit, that thou art a child of God,
O that he might convince thee, thou poor unawakened sinner, by his
demonstration and power, that thou art a child of the devil! O that, as I
prophesy, there might now be "a noise and a shaking;" and may "the bones come
together, bone to his bone!" Then "come from the four winds, O Breath! and
breathe on these slain, that they may live!" And do not ye harden your hearts,
and resist the Holy Ghost, who even now is come to convince you of sin,
"because you believe not on the name of the only begotten Son of God."
II. Awake Thou That Sleepest!
1. Wherefore, "awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead." God calleth
thee now by my mouth; and bids thee know thyself, thou fallen spirit, thy true
state and only concern below. "What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise! Call upon
thy God, if so be thy God will think upon thee, that thou perish not." A mighty
tempest is stirred up round about thee, and thou art sinking into the depths of
perdition, the gulf of God's judgments. If thou wouldest escape them, cast
thyself into them. "Judge thyself, and thou shalt not be judged of the Lord."
2. Awake, awake! Stand up this moment, lest thou "drink at the Lord's hand the
cup of his fury." Stir up thyself to lay hold on the Lord, the Lord thy
Righteousness, mighty to save! "Shake thyself from the dust." At least, let the
earthquake of God's threatenings shake thee. Awake, and cry out with the
trembling jailer, "What must I do to be saved?" And never rest till thou believest
on the Lord Jesus, with a faith which is his gift, by the operation of his Spirit.
3. If I speak to any one of you, more than to another, it is to thee, who thinkest
thyself unconcerned in this exhortation. "I have a message from God unto thee."
In his name, I warn thee "to flee from the wrath to come." Thou unholy soul, see
thy picture in condemned Peter, lying in the dark dungeon, between the soldiers,
bound with two chains, the keepers before the door keeping the prison. The
night is far spent, the morning is at hand, when thou art to be brought forth to
execution. And in these dreadful circumstances, thou art fast asleep; thou art fast
asleep in the devil's arms, on the brink of the pit, in the jaws of everlasting
destruction!
4. O may the Angel of the Lord come upon thee, and the light shine into thy
prison! And mayest thou feel the stroke of an Almighty Hand, raising thee, with,
"Arise up quickly, gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals, cast thy garment about
thee, and follow Me."
5. Awake, thou everlasting spirit, out of thy dream of worldly happiness!
Did not God create thee for himself? Then thou canst not rest till thou
restest in him. Return, thou wanderer! Fly back to thy ark, This is not thy home.
Think not of building tabernacles here. Thou art but a stranger, a sojourner upon
earth; a creature of a day, but just launching out into an unchangeable state.
Make haste. Eternity is at hand. Eternity depends on this moment. An eternity of
happiness, or an eternity of misery!
6. In what state is thy soul? Was God, while I am yet speaking, to require it of
thee, art thou ready to meet death and judgment? Canst thou stand in his sight,
who is of "purer eyes than to behold iniquity"? Art thou "meet to be partaker of
the inheritance of the saints in light"? Hast thou "fought a good fight, and kept
the faith"? Hast thou secured the one thing needful? Hast thou recovered the
image of God, even righteousness and true holiness? Hast thou put off the old
man, and put on the new? Art thou clothed upon with Christ?
7. Hast thou oil in thy lamp? grace in thy heart? Dost thou "love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind and with all thy soul, and with all
thy strength"? Is that mind in thee, which was also in Christ Jesus? Art thou a
Christian indeed, that is, a new creature? Are old things passed away, and all
things become new?
8. Art thou a "partaker of the divine nature"? Knowest thou not, that "Christ is in
thee, except thou be reprobate"? Knowest thou, that God "dwelleth in thee, and
thou in God, by his Spirit, which he hath given thee"? Knowest thou not that
"thy body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, which thou hast of God"? Hast thou the
witness in thyself? the earnest of thine inheritance? Hast thou "received the Holy
Ghost"? Or dost thou start at the question, not knowing "whether there be any
Holy Ghost"?
9. If it offends thee, be thou assured, that thou neither art a Christian, nor
desirest to be one. Nay, thy very prayer is turned into sin; and thou hast
solemnly mocked God this very day, by praying for the inspiration of his Holy
Spirit, when thou didst not believe there was any such thing to be received.
10. Yet, on the authority of God's Word, and our own Church, I must repeat the
question, "Hast thou received the Holy Ghost?" If thou hast not, thou art not yet
a Christian. For a Christian is a man that is "anointed with the Holy Ghost and
with power." Thou art not yet made a partaker of pure religion and undefiled.
Dost thou know what religion [being a Christian] is? --that it is a participation
of the divine nature; the life of God in the soul of man; Christ formed in the
heart; "Christ in thee, the hope of glory;" happiness and holiness; heaven begun
upon earth; "a kingdom of God within thee; not meat and drink," no outward
thing; "but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost;" an everlasting
kingdom brought into thy soul; a "peace of God that passeth all understanding;"
a "joy unspeakable, and full of glory"?
11. Knowest thou, that "in Jesus Christ, neither circumcision availeth anything,
nor uncircumcision; but faith that worketh by love;" but a new creation? Seest
thou the necessity of that inward change, that spiritual birth, that life from the
dead, that holiness? And art thou thoroughly convinced, that without it no man
shall see the Lord? Art thou laboring after it? --"giving all diligence to make thy
calling and election sure," "working out thy salvation with fear and trembling,"
"agonizing to enter in at the strait gate"? Art thou in earnest about thy soul? And
canst thou tell the Searcher of hearts, "Thou, O God, art the thing that I long for!
Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I would love Thee!"
12. Thou hopest to be saved; but what reason hast thou to give of the hope that
is in thee? Is it because thou hast done no harm? or, because thou hast done
much good? or, because thou art not like other men; but wise, or learned, or
honest, and morally good; esteemed of men, and of a fair reputation? Alas! all
this will never bring thee to God. It is in his account lighter than vanity. Dost
thou know Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent? Hath he taught thee, that "by grace
we are saved through faith; and that not of ourselves: it is the gift of God: not of
works, lest any man should boast"? Hast thou received the faithful saying as the
whole foundation of thy hope, "that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners"? Hast thou learned what that meaneth, "I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance? I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep"? Art thou (he
that heareth, let him understand!) lost, dead, damned already? Dost thou know
thy deserts? Dost thou feel thy wants? Art thou "poor in spirit"? mourning for
God, and refusing to be comforted? Is the prodigal "come to himself," and well
content to be therefore thought beside himself" by those who are still feeding
upon the husks which he hath left? Art thou willing to live godly in Christ
Jesus? And dost thou therefore suffer persecution? Do men say all manner of
evil against thee falsely, for the Son of Man's sake?
13. O that in all these questions ye may hear the voice that wakes the dead; and
feel that hammer of the Word, which breaketh the rocks in pieces! "If ye will
hear his voice today, while it is called today, harden not your hearts." Now,
"awake, thou that sleepest" in spiritual death, that thou sleep not in death
eternal! Feel thy lost estate, and "arise from the dead." Leave thine old
companions in sin and death. Follow thou Jesus, and let the dead bury their
dead. "Save thyself from this untoward generation." "Come out from among
them, and be thou separate, and touch not the unclean thing, and the Lord shall
receive thee." "Christ shall give thee light."
The Promise: Awake, Arise and Christ shall give Thee Light!
1. This promise, I come, lastly, to explain. And how encouraging a consideration
is this, that whosoever thou art, who obeyest his call, thou canst not seek his
face in vain! If thou even now "awakest, and arisest from the dead," he hath
bound himself to "give thee light." "The Lord shall give thee grace and glory;"
the light of his grace here, and the light of his glory when thou receivest the
crown that fadeth not away. "Thy light shall break forth as the morning, and thy
darkness be as the noonday." "God, who commanded the light to shine out of
darkness, shall shine in thy heart; to give the knowledge of the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ." On them that fear the Lord shall "the Sun of
Righteousness arise with healing in his wings." And in that day it shall be said
unto thee, "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen
upon thee." For Christ shall reveal himself in thee: and he is the true Light.
2. God is light, and will give himself to every awakened sinner that waiteth for
him; and thou shalt then be a temple of the living God, and Christ shall "dwell in
thy heart by faith;" and, "being rooted and grounded in love, thou shalt be able
to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and
height of that love of Christ which passeth knowledge."
3. Ye see your calling, brethren. We are called to be "an habitation of God
through his Spirit;" and, through his Spirit dwelling in us, to be saints here, and
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. So exceeding great are the
promises which are given unto us, actually given unto us who believe! For by
faith "we receive, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God"
--the sum of all the promises-- "that we may know the things that are freely
given to us of God."
4. The Spirit of Christ is that great gift of God, which at sundry times, and in
divers manners, he hath promised to man, and hath fully bestowed since the time
that Christ was glorified. Those promises, before made to the fathers, he hath
thus fulfilled: "I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My
statutes" (Ezek. 36:27). "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods
upon the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon
thine offspring (Isa. 44:3).
5. Ye may all be living witnesses of these things; of remission of sins, and the
gift of the Holy Ghost. "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that
believeth." "Who among you is there that feareth the Lord, and" yet walketh on
"in darkness, and hath no light?" I ask thee, in the name of Jesus, Believest thou
that his arm is not shortened at all? that he is still mighty to save? that he is the
same yesterday, today, and for ever? that he hath now power on earth to forgive
sins? "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven." God, for Christ's sake, hath
forgiven thee. Receive this, "not as the word of man; but as it is indeed, the
word of God;" and thou art justified freely through faith. Thou shalt be
sanctified also through faith which is in Jesus, and shalt set to thy seal, even
thine, that "God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son."
6. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you, and suffer ye the word of
exhortation, even from one the least esteemed in the Church. Your conscience
beareth you witness in the Holy Ghost, that these things are so, if so be ye have
tasted that the Lord is gracious. "This is eternal life, to know the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent." This experimental knowledge, and this
alone, is true Christianity. He is a Christian who hath received the Spirit of
Christ. He is not a Christian who hath not received him. Neither is it possible to
have received him, and not know it. "For, at that day" (when he cometh, saith
our Lord), "ye shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you."
This is that "Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth
him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and
shall be in you" (John 14:17).
7. The world cannot receive him, but utterly reject the Promise of the Father,
contradicting and blaspheming. But every spirit which confesseth not this is not
of God. Yea, "this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it
should come into the world; and even now it is in the world." He is Antichrist
whosoever denies the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, or that the indwelling Spirit
of God is the common privilege of all believers, the blessing of the gospel, the
unspeakable gift, the universal promise, the criterion of a real Christian.
8. It nothing helps them to say, "We do not deny the assistance of God's Spirit;
but only this inspiration, this receiving the Holy Ghost: and being sensible of it.
It is only this feeling of the Spirit, this being moved by the Spirit, or filled with
it, which we deny to have any place in sound religion." But, in only denying this,
you deny the whole Scriptures; the whole truth, and promise, and testimony of
God.
9. Our own excellent Church knows nothing of this devilish distinction; but
speaks plainly of "feeling the Spirit of Christ" [Article 17]; of being "moved by
the Holy Ghost" [Office of consecrating Priests] and knowing and "feeling there
is no other name than that of Jesus," [Visitation of the Sick] whereby we can
receive" life and salvation. She teaches us all to pray for the "inspiration of the
Holy Spirit" [Collect before Holy Communion]; yea, that we may be "filled with
the Holy Ghost" [Order of Confirmation]. Nay, and every Presbyter of hers
professes to receive the Holy Ghost by the imposition of hands. Therefore, to
deny any of these, is, in effect, to renounce the Church of England, as well as
the whole Christian revelation.
10. But "the wisdom of God" was always "foolishness with men." No marvel,
then, that the great mystery of the gospel should be now also "hid from the wise
and prudent," as well as in the days of old; that it should be almost universally
denied, ridiculed, and exploded, as mere frenzy; and that all who dare avow it
still are branded with the names of madmen and enthusiasts [fanatics]! This is
"that falling away" which was to come, that general apostasy of all orders and
degrees of men, which we even now find to have overspread the earth. "Run to
and fro in the streets of Jerusalem, and see if ye can find a man," a man that
loveth the Lord his God with all his heart, and serveth him with all his strength.
How does our own land mourn (that we look no farther) under the overflowings
of ungodliness! What villainies of every kind are committed day by day; yea,
too often with impunity, by those who sin with a high hand, and glory in their
shame! Who can reckon up the oaths, curses, profaneness blasphemies; the
lying, slandering, evil-speaking; the Sabbath-breaking, gluttony, drunkenness,
revenge; the whoredoms, adulteries, and various uncleanness; the frauds,
injustice, oppression, extortion, which overspread our land as a flood?
11. And even among those who have kept themselves pure from those grosser
abominations; how much anger and pride how much sloth and idleness, how
much softness and effeminacy how much luxury and self-indulgence, how much
covetousness and ambition, how much thirst of praise, how much love of the
world, how much fear of man, is to be found! Meanwhile, how little of true
religion! For, where is he that loveth either God or his neighbor, as he hath
given us commandment? On the one hand, are those who have not so much as
the form of godliness; on the other, those who have the form only: there stands
the open, there the painted, sepulcher. So that in very deed, whosoever were
earnestly to behold any public gathering together of the people (I fear those in
our churches are not to be excepted) might easily perceive, "that the one part
were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees": the one having almost as little
concern about religion, as if there were "no resurrection, neither angel nor
spirit;" and the other making it a mere lifeless form, a dull round of external
performances, without either true faith, or the love of God, or joy in the Holy
Ghost!
12. Would to God I could except us of this place! "Brethren, my heart's desire,
and prayer to God, for you is, that ye may be saved" from this overflowing of
ungodliness; and that here may its proud waves be stayed! But is it so indeed?
God knoweth, yea, and our own consciences, it is not. Ye have not kept
yourselves pure. Corrupt are we also and abominable; and few are there that
understand any more; few that worship God in spirit and in truth. We, too, are "a
generation that set not our hearts aright, and whose spirit cleaveth not steadfastly
unto God." He hath appointed us indeed to be "the salt of the earth: but if the salt
hath lost its savor, it is thenceforth good for nothing; but to be cast out, and to be
trodden underfoot of men."
13. And "shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? Shall not My soul be
avenged on such a nation as this?" Yea, we know not how soon he may say to
the sword, "Sword, go through this land!" he hath given us long space to repent.
He lets us alone this year also: but he warns and awakens us by thunder. His
judgments are abroad in the earth; and we have all reason to expect the heaviest
of all, even that he "should come unto us quickly, and remove our candlestick
out of its place, except we repent and do the first works;" unless we return to the
principles of the Reformation, the truth and simplicity of the gospel. Perhaps we
are now resisting the last effort of divine grace to save us. Perhaps we have
well-nigh "filled up the measure of our iniquities," by rejecting the counsel of
God against ourselves, and casting out his messengers.
14. 0 God, "in the midst of wrath, remember mercy!" Be glorified in our
reformation, not in our destruction! Let us "hear the rod, and him that appointed
it!" Now that Thy "judgments are abroad in the earth," let the inhabitants of the
world "learn righteousness!"
15. My brethren, it is high time for us to awake out of sleep before the "great
trumpet of the Lord be blown," and our land become a field of blood. O may we
speedily see the things that make for our peace, before they are hid from
our eyes! "Turn Thou us, O good Lord, and let Thine anger cease from us. O
Lord, look down from heaven, behold and visit this vine;" and cause us to know
"the time of our visitation." "Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of
Thy name! O deliver us, and be merciful to our sins, for Thy name's sake! And
so we will not go back from Thee. O let us live, and we shall call upon Thy
name. Turn us again, O Lord God of Hosts! Show the light of Thy countenance,
and we shall be whole."
"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask
or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the
church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages; world without end. --Amen!"
The Works of John Wesley, Sermon 3, Awake Thou That Sleepest. Preached on
Sunday April 4, 1742, before the University of Oxford, by the Rev. Charles
Wesley.
by Charles Wesley
"Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." Eph.
5:14.
In discoursing on these words, I shall, with the help of God:
1. Describe the sleepers, to whom they are spoken.
2. Enforce the exhortation, "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead."
3. Explain the promise made to such as do awake and arise: "Christ shall give
thee light."
I. A Description of The Sleeper
1. And first, as to the sleepers here spoken to. By sleep is signified the natural
state of man; that deep sleep of the soul, into which the sin of Adam hath cast all
who spring from his loins: That supineness, indolence, and stupidity, that
insensibility of his real condition, wherein every man comes into the world, and
continues till the voice of God awakes him.
2. Now, "they that sleep, sleep in the night." The state of nature is a state of utter
darkness; a state wherein "darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the
people." The poor unawakened sinner, how much knowledge soever he may
have as to other things, has no knowledge of himself: in this respect "he
knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know." He knows not that he is a fallen
spirit, whose only business in the present world, is to recover from his fall, to
regain that image of God wherein he was created. He sees no necessity for the
one thing needful, even that inward universal change, that "birth from above,"
figured out by baptism, which is the beginning of that total renovation, that
sanctification of spirit, soul, and body, "without which no man shall see the
Lord."
3. Full of all diseases as he is, he fancies himself in perfect health. Fast bound in
misery and iron, he dreams that he is at liberty. He says, "Peace! Peace!" while
the devil, as "a strong, man armed," is in full possession of his soul. He sleeps
on still and takes his rest, though hell is moved from beneath to meet him;
though the pit from whence there is no return hath opened its mouth to swallow
him up. A fire is kindled around him, yet he knoweth it not; yea, it burns him,
yet he lays it not to heart.
4. By one who sleeps, we are, therefore, to understand (and would to God we
might all understand it!) a sinner satisfied in his sins; contented to remain in his
fallen state, to live and die without the image of God; one who is ignorant both
of his disease, and of the only remedy for it; one who never was warned, or
never regarded the warning voice of God, "to flee from the wrath to come;" one
that never yet saw he was in danger of hellfire, or cried out in the earnestness of
his soul, "What must I do to be saved?"
5. If this sleeper be not outwardly vicious, his sleep is usually the deepest of all:
whether he be of the Laodicean spirit, "neither cold nor hot," but a quiet,
rational, inoffensive, good-natured professor of the religion of his fathers; or
whether he be zealous and orthodox, and, "after the most straitest sect of our
religion," live "a Pharisee;" that is, according to the scriptural account, one that
justifies himself; one that labours to establish his own righteousness, as the
ground of his acceptance with God.
6. This is he, who, "having a form of godliness, denies the power thereof;" yea,
and probably reviles it, wheresoever it is found, as mere extravagance and
delusion. Meanwhile, the wretched self-deceiver thanks God, that he is "not as
other men are; adulterers, unjust, extortioners": no, he doeth no wrong to any
man. He "fasts twice in a week," uses all the means of grace, is constant at
church and sacrament, yea, and "gives tithes of all that he has;" does all the good
that he can "touching the righteousness of the law," he is "blameless": he [lacks]
nothing of godliness, but the power; nothing of religion, but the spirit; nothing
of Christianity, but the truth and the life.
7. But know ye not, that, however highly esteemed among men such a Christian
as this may be, he is an abomination in the sight of God, and an heir of every
woe which the Son of God, yesterday, today, and for ever, denounces against
"scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites"? He hath "made clean the outside of the cup
and the platter," but within is full of all filthiness. "An evil disease cleaveth still
unto him, so that his inward parts are very wickedness." Our Lord fitly
compares him to a "painted sepulcher," which "appears beautiful without;" but,
nevertheless, is "full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness." The bones
indeed are no longer dry; the sinews and flesh are come upon them, and the skin
covers them above: but there is no breath in them, no Spirit of the living God.
And, "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." "Ye are
Christ's, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you": but, if not, God knoweth
that ye abide in death, even until now.
8. This is another character of the sleeper here spoken of, he abides in death,
though he knows it not. He is dead unto God, "dead in trespasses and sins." For,
"to be carnally minded is death, " even as it is written, "By one man sin entered
into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men;" not only
temporal death, but likewise spiritual and eternal. "In that day that thou eatest,"
said God to Adam, "thou shalt surely die;" not bodily (unless as he then became
mortal), but spiritually: thou shalt lose the life of thy soul; thou shalt die to God: shalt be separated from him, thy essential life and happiness.
9. Thus first was dissolved the vital union of our soul with God; insomuch that
"in the midst of" natural "life, we are" now in spiritual "death." And herein we
remain till the Second Adam becomes a quickening Spirit to us; till he raises the
dead, the dead in sin, in pleasure, riches or honours. But, before any dead soul
can live, he "hears" (hearkens to) "the voice of the Son of God": he is made
sensible of his lost estate, and receives the sentence of death in himself. He
knows himself to be "dead while he liveth;" dead to God, and all the things of
God; having no more power to perform the actions of a living Christian, than a
dead body to perform the functions of a living man.
10. And most certain it is, that one dead in sin has not "senses exercised to
discern spiritual good and evil." "Having eyes, he sees not; he hath ears, and
hears not." he doth not "taste and see that the Lord is gracious." He "hath not
seen God at any time," nor "heard his voice," nor "handled the word of life." In
vain is the name of Jesus "like ointment poured forth, and all his garments smell
of myrrh, aloes, and cassia." The soul that sleepeth in death hath no perception
of any objects of this kind. His heart is "past feeling," and understandeth none of
these things.
11. And hence, having no spiritual senses, no inlets of spiritual knowledge, the
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; nay, he is so far from
receiving them, that whatsoever is spiritually discerned is mere foolishness unto
him. He is not content with being utterly ignorant of spiritual things, but he
denies the very existence of them, and spiritual sensation itself is to him the
foolishness of folly. "How," saith he, "can these things be? How can any man
know that he is alive to God?" Even as you know that your body is now alive.
Faith is the life of the soul; and if ye have this life abiding in you, ye want no
marks to evidence it to yourself, but elegchos pneumatos, that divine
consciousness, that witness of God, which is more and greater than ten thousand
human witnesses.
12. If he doth not now bear witness with thy spirit, that thou art a child of God,
O that he might convince thee, thou poor unawakened sinner, by his
demonstration and power, that thou art a child of the devil! O that, as I
prophesy, there might now be "a noise and a shaking;" and may "the bones come
together, bone to his bone!" Then "come from the four winds, O Breath! and
breathe on these slain, that they may live!" And do not ye harden your hearts,
and resist the Holy Ghost, who even now is come to convince you of sin,
"because you believe not on the name of the only begotten Son of God."
II. Awake Thou That Sleepest!
1. Wherefore, "awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead." God calleth
thee now by my mouth; and bids thee know thyself, thou fallen spirit, thy true
state and only concern below. "What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise! Call upon
thy God, if so be thy God will think upon thee, that thou perish not." A mighty
tempest is stirred up round about thee, and thou art sinking into the depths of
perdition, the gulf of God's judgments. If thou wouldest escape them, cast
thyself into them. "Judge thyself, and thou shalt not be judged of the Lord."
2. Awake, awake! Stand up this moment, lest thou "drink at the Lord's hand the
cup of his fury." Stir up thyself to lay hold on the Lord, the Lord thy
Righteousness, mighty to save! "Shake thyself from the dust." At least, let the
earthquake of God's threatenings shake thee. Awake, and cry out with the
trembling jailer, "What must I do to be saved?" And never rest till thou believest
on the Lord Jesus, with a faith which is his gift, by the operation of his Spirit.
3. If I speak to any one of you, more than to another, it is to thee, who thinkest
thyself unconcerned in this exhortation. "I have a message from God unto thee."
In his name, I warn thee "to flee from the wrath to come." Thou unholy soul, see
thy picture in condemned Peter, lying in the dark dungeon, between the soldiers,
bound with two chains, the keepers before the door keeping the prison. The
night is far spent, the morning is at hand, when thou art to be brought forth to
execution. And in these dreadful circumstances, thou art fast asleep; thou art fast
asleep in the devil's arms, on the brink of the pit, in the jaws of everlasting
destruction!
4. O may the Angel of the Lord come upon thee, and the light shine into thy
prison! And mayest thou feel the stroke of an Almighty Hand, raising thee, with,
"Arise up quickly, gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals, cast thy garment about
thee, and follow Me."
5. Awake, thou everlasting spirit, out of thy dream of worldly happiness!
Did not God create thee for himself? Then thou canst not rest till thou
restest in him. Return, thou wanderer! Fly back to thy ark, This is not thy home.
Think not of building tabernacles here. Thou art but a stranger, a sojourner upon
earth; a creature of a day, but just launching out into an unchangeable state.
Make haste. Eternity is at hand. Eternity depends on this moment. An eternity of
happiness, or an eternity of misery!
6. In what state is thy soul? Was God, while I am yet speaking, to require it of
thee, art thou ready to meet death and judgment? Canst thou stand in his sight,
who is of "purer eyes than to behold iniquity"? Art thou "meet to be partaker of
the inheritance of the saints in light"? Hast thou "fought a good fight, and kept
the faith"? Hast thou secured the one thing needful? Hast thou recovered the
image of God, even righteousness and true holiness? Hast thou put off the old
man, and put on the new? Art thou clothed upon with Christ?
7. Hast thou oil in thy lamp? grace in thy heart? Dost thou "love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind and with all thy soul, and with all
thy strength"? Is that mind in thee, which was also in Christ Jesus? Art thou a
Christian indeed, that is, a new creature? Are old things passed away, and all
things become new?
8. Art thou a "partaker of the divine nature"? Knowest thou not, that "Christ is in
thee, except thou be reprobate"? Knowest thou, that God "dwelleth in thee, and
thou in God, by his Spirit, which he hath given thee"? Knowest thou not that
"thy body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, which thou hast of God"? Hast thou the
witness in thyself? the earnest of thine inheritance? Hast thou "received the Holy
Ghost"? Or dost thou start at the question, not knowing "whether there be any
Holy Ghost"?
9. If it offends thee, be thou assured, that thou neither art a Christian, nor
desirest to be one. Nay, thy very prayer is turned into sin; and thou hast
solemnly mocked God this very day, by praying for the inspiration of his Holy
Spirit, when thou didst not believe there was any such thing to be received.
10. Yet, on the authority of God's Word, and our own Church, I must repeat the
question, "Hast thou received the Holy Ghost?" If thou hast not, thou art not yet
a Christian. For a Christian is a man that is "anointed with the Holy Ghost and
with power." Thou art not yet made a partaker of pure religion and undefiled.
Dost thou know what religion [being a Christian] is? --that it is a participation
of the divine nature; the life of God in the soul of man; Christ formed in the
heart; "Christ in thee, the hope of glory;" happiness and holiness; heaven begun
upon earth; "a kingdom of God within thee; not meat and drink," no outward
thing; "but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost;" an everlasting
kingdom brought into thy soul; a "peace of God that passeth all understanding;"
a "joy unspeakable, and full of glory"?
11. Knowest thou, that "in Jesus Christ, neither circumcision availeth anything,
nor uncircumcision; but faith that worketh by love;" but a new creation? Seest
thou the necessity of that inward change, that spiritual birth, that life from the
dead, that holiness? And art thou thoroughly convinced, that without it no man
shall see the Lord? Art thou laboring after it? --"giving all diligence to make thy
calling and election sure," "working out thy salvation with fear and trembling,"
"agonizing to enter in at the strait gate"? Art thou in earnest about thy soul? And
canst thou tell the Searcher of hearts, "Thou, O God, art the thing that I long for!
Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I would love Thee!"
12. Thou hopest to be saved; but what reason hast thou to give of the hope that
is in thee? Is it because thou hast done no harm? or, because thou hast done
much good? or, because thou art not like other men; but wise, or learned, or
honest, and morally good; esteemed of men, and of a fair reputation? Alas! all
this will never bring thee to God. It is in his account lighter than vanity. Dost
thou know Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent? Hath he taught thee, that "by grace
we are saved through faith; and that not of ourselves: it is the gift of God: not of
works, lest any man should boast"? Hast thou received the faithful saying as the
whole foundation of thy hope, "that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners"? Hast thou learned what that meaneth, "I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance? I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep"? Art thou (he
that heareth, let him understand!) lost, dead, damned already? Dost thou know
thy deserts? Dost thou feel thy wants? Art thou "poor in spirit"? mourning for
God, and refusing to be comforted? Is the prodigal "come to himself," and well
content to be therefore thought beside himself" by those who are still feeding
upon the husks which he hath left? Art thou willing to live godly in Christ
Jesus? And dost thou therefore suffer persecution? Do men say all manner of
evil against thee falsely, for the Son of Man's sake?
13. O that in all these questions ye may hear the voice that wakes the dead; and
feel that hammer of the Word, which breaketh the rocks in pieces! "If ye will
hear his voice today, while it is called today, harden not your hearts." Now,
"awake, thou that sleepest" in spiritual death, that thou sleep not in death
eternal! Feel thy lost estate, and "arise from the dead." Leave thine old
companions in sin and death. Follow thou Jesus, and let the dead bury their
dead. "Save thyself from this untoward generation." "Come out from among
them, and be thou separate, and touch not the unclean thing, and the Lord shall
receive thee." "Christ shall give thee light."
The Promise: Awake, Arise and Christ shall give Thee Light!
1. This promise, I come, lastly, to explain. And how encouraging a consideration
is this, that whosoever thou art, who obeyest his call, thou canst not seek his
face in vain! If thou even now "awakest, and arisest from the dead," he hath
bound himself to "give thee light." "The Lord shall give thee grace and glory;"
the light of his grace here, and the light of his glory when thou receivest the
crown that fadeth not away. "Thy light shall break forth as the morning, and thy
darkness be as the noonday." "God, who commanded the light to shine out of
darkness, shall shine in thy heart; to give the knowledge of the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ." On them that fear the Lord shall "the Sun of
Righteousness arise with healing in his wings." And in that day it shall be said
unto thee, "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen
upon thee." For Christ shall reveal himself in thee: and he is the true Light.
2. God is light, and will give himself to every awakened sinner that waiteth for
him; and thou shalt then be a temple of the living God, and Christ shall "dwell in
thy heart by faith;" and, "being rooted and grounded in love, thou shalt be able
to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and
height of that love of Christ which passeth knowledge."
3. Ye see your calling, brethren. We are called to be "an habitation of God
through his Spirit;" and, through his Spirit dwelling in us, to be saints here, and
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. So exceeding great are the
promises which are given unto us, actually given unto us who believe! For by
faith "we receive, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God"
--the sum of all the promises-- "that we may know the things that are freely
given to us of God."
4. The Spirit of Christ is that great gift of God, which at sundry times, and in
divers manners, he hath promised to man, and hath fully bestowed since the time
that Christ was glorified. Those promises, before made to the fathers, he hath
thus fulfilled: "I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My
statutes" (Ezek. 36:27). "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods
upon the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon
thine offspring (Isa. 44:3).
5. Ye may all be living witnesses of these things; of remission of sins, and the
gift of the Holy Ghost. "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that
believeth." "Who among you is there that feareth the Lord, and" yet walketh on
"in darkness, and hath no light?" I ask thee, in the name of Jesus, Believest thou
that his arm is not shortened at all? that he is still mighty to save? that he is the
same yesterday, today, and for ever? that he hath now power on earth to forgive
sins? "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven." God, for Christ's sake, hath
forgiven thee. Receive this, "not as the word of man; but as it is indeed, the
word of God;" and thou art justified freely through faith. Thou shalt be
sanctified also through faith which is in Jesus, and shalt set to thy seal, even
thine, that "God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son."
6. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you, and suffer ye the word of
exhortation, even from one the least esteemed in the Church. Your conscience
beareth you witness in the Holy Ghost, that these things are so, if so be ye have
tasted that the Lord is gracious. "This is eternal life, to know the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent." This experimental knowledge, and this
alone, is true Christianity. He is a Christian who hath received the Spirit of
Christ. He is not a Christian who hath not received him. Neither is it possible to
have received him, and not know it. "For, at that day" (when he cometh, saith
our Lord), "ye shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you."
This is that "Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth
him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and
shall be in you" (John 14:17).
7. The world cannot receive him, but utterly reject the Promise of the Father,
contradicting and blaspheming. But every spirit which confesseth not this is not
of God. Yea, "this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it
should come into the world; and even now it is in the world." He is Antichrist
whosoever denies the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, or that the indwelling Spirit
of God is the common privilege of all believers, the blessing of the gospel, the
unspeakable gift, the universal promise, the criterion of a real Christian.
8. It nothing helps them to say, "We do not deny the assistance of God's Spirit;
but only this inspiration, this receiving the Holy Ghost: and being sensible of it.
It is only this feeling of the Spirit, this being moved by the Spirit, or filled with
it, which we deny to have any place in sound religion." But, in only denying this,
you deny the whole Scriptures; the whole truth, and promise, and testimony of
God.
9. Our own excellent Church knows nothing of this devilish distinction; but
speaks plainly of "feeling the Spirit of Christ" [Article 17]; of being "moved by
the Holy Ghost" [Office of consecrating Priests] and knowing and "feeling there
is no other name than that of Jesus," [Visitation of the Sick] whereby we can
receive" life and salvation. She teaches us all to pray for the "inspiration of the
Holy Spirit" [Collect before Holy Communion]; yea, that we may be "filled with
the Holy Ghost" [Order of Confirmation]. Nay, and every Presbyter of hers
professes to receive the Holy Ghost by the imposition of hands. Therefore, to
deny any of these, is, in effect, to renounce the Church of England, as well as
the whole Christian revelation.
10. But "the wisdom of God" was always "foolishness with men." No marvel,
then, that the great mystery of the gospel should be now also "hid from the wise
and prudent," as well as in the days of old; that it should be almost universally
denied, ridiculed, and exploded, as mere frenzy; and that all who dare avow it
still are branded with the names of madmen and enthusiasts [fanatics]! This is
"that falling away" which was to come, that general apostasy of all orders and
degrees of men, which we even now find to have overspread the earth. "Run to
and fro in the streets of Jerusalem, and see if ye can find a man," a man that
loveth the Lord his God with all his heart, and serveth him with all his strength.
How does our own land mourn (that we look no farther) under the overflowings
of ungodliness! What villainies of every kind are committed day by day; yea,
too often with impunity, by those who sin with a high hand, and glory in their
shame! Who can reckon up the oaths, curses, profaneness blasphemies; the
lying, slandering, evil-speaking; the Sabbath-breaking, gluttony, drunkenness,
revenge; the whoredoms, adulteries, and various uncleanness; the frauds,
injustice, oppression, extortion, which overspread our land as a flood?
11. And even among those who have kept themselves pure from those grosser
abominations; how much anger and pride how much sloth and idleness, how
much softness and effeminacy how much luxury and self-indulgence, how much
covetousness and ambition, how much thirst of praise, how much love of the
world, how much fear of man, is to be found! Meanwhile, how little of true
religion! For, where is he that loveth either God or his neighbor, as he hath
given us commandment? On the one hand, are those who have not so much as
the form of godliness; on the other, those who have the form only: there stands
the open, there the painted, sepulcher. So that in very deed, whosoever were
earnestly to behold any public gathering together of the people (I fear those in
our churches are not to be excepted) might easily perceive, "that the one part
were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees": the one having almost as little
concern about religion, as if there were "no resurrection, neither angel nor
spirit;" and the other making it a mere lifeless form, a dull round of external
performances, without either true faith, or the love of God, or joy in the Holy
Ghost!
12. Would to God I could except us of this place! "Brethren, my heart's desire,
and prayer to God, for you is, that ye may be saved" from this overflowing of
ungodliness; and that here may its proud waves be stayed! But is it so indeed?
God knoweth, yea, and our own consciences, it is not. Ye have not kept
yourselves pure. Corrupt are we also and abominable; and few are there that
understand any more; few that worship God in spirit and in truth. We, too, are "a
generation that set not our hearts aright, and whose spirit cleaveth not steadfastly
unto God." He hath appointed us indeed to be "the salt of the earth: but if the salt
hath lost its savor, it is thenceforth good for nothing; but to be cast out, and to be
trodden underfoot of men."
13. And "shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? Shall not My soul be
avenged on such a nation as this?" Yea, we know not how soon he may say to
the sword, "Sword, go through this land!" he hath given us long space to repent.
He lets us alone this year also: but he warns and awakens us by thunder. His
judgments are abroad in the earth; and we have all reason to expect the heaviest
of all, even that he "should come unto us quickly, and remove our candlestick
out of its place, except we repent and do the first works;" unless we return to the
principles of the Reformation, the truth and simplicity of the gospel. Perhaps we
are now resisting the last effort of divine grace to save us. Perhaps we have
well-nigh "filled up the measure of our iniquities," by rejecting the counsel of
God against ourselves, and casting out his messengers.
14. 0 God, "in the midst of wrath, remember mercy!" Be glorified in our
reformation, not in our destruction! Let us "hear the rod, and him that appointed
it!" Now that Thy "judgments are abroad in the earth," let the inhabitants of the
world "learn righteousness!"
15. My brethren, it is high time for us to awake out of sleep before the "great
trumpet of the Lord be blown," and our land become a field of blood. O may we
speedily see the things that make for our peace, before they are hid from
our eyes! "Turn Thou us, O good Lord, and let Thine anger cease from us. O
Lord, look down from heaven, behold and visit this vine;" and cause us to know
"the time of our visitation." "Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of
Thy name! O deliver us, and be merciful to our sins, for Thy name's sake! And
so we will not go back from Thee. O let us live, and we shall call upon Thy
name. Turn us again, O Lord God of Hosts! Show the light of Thy countenance,
and we shall be whole."
"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask
or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the
church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages; world without end. --Amen!"
The Works of John Wesley, Sermon 3, Awake Thou That Sleepest. Preached on
Sunday April 4, 1742, before the University of Oxford, by the Rev. Charles
Wesley.