Awake!
I. A DESCRIPTION. A particular kind of man is here addressed—"thou that sleepest;" "the dead."
1. The man is asleep. His sleep is spiritual indifference. Whether or no he has an abstract belief in religion is not of the slightest moment. He may be an atheist or he may be orthodox of the orthodox. So long as he is sleeping it matters little what he might have been doing had he been awake. The sleeper may have his eyes open to secular interests; he may have a quick intellect in speculation or a vigorous energy in business. Yet angels who see that he is unconscious of the greatest realities must regard him as a dreamer or at best as a restless sleep-walker.
2. This sleep is a sign of death. It is more than sleep. It is unnatural and impossible to a soul in full energy. Spiritual perceptions must have been dulled and spiritual powers paralyzed to admit of this blindness and stupor in regard to Divine things.
II. A CALL. Awake! Up! Arise! A loud voice disturbs the sleeper.
1. God calls, sometimes
2. It is important to respond to this call; for sleep is
3. It is possible to awake. The spiritual sleep is partly voluntary and semi-conscious. As a man sometimes knows that he is dreaming so he may be made aware that he is spiritually asleep and may rouse himself if he will. There is rousing power, too, in the Divine voice. It vexes a man to have his rest disturbed, but as one who wakes the sleeper when his house is on fire it comes for his deliverance and he will do well to bestir himself.
III. A PROMISE. "Christ shall shine upon thee." There is something to wake up for. Christ is the Light of the world. His people are now "light in the Lord." He brings to the waking soul truth, purity, and joy. When the storm rages and the dark night lingers, and to wake is only to take up again the burden of sorrow and grope in the hopeless gloom, a man has some excuse for sleeping. Despair may sleep. But the Christian finds a bright morning responding to his opening eyes. We are not to wake only to kindle a poor light for ourselves. We are rewarded for waking by the cheering brightness of Christ. We must rouse ourselves, however, to enjoy it. The people that sit in darkness see the great light only when they awake and arise from the dead.—W.F.A.