\u201cAwake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
Eph. 5:14.<\/p>\n
IN discoursing on these words, I shall, with the help of God, \u2014<\/p>\n
First. Describe the sleepers, to whom they are spoken:<\/p>\n
Secondly. Enforce the exhortation, \u201cAwake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead:\u201d And,<\/p>\n
Thirdly. Explain the promise made to such as do awake and arise: \u201cChrist shall give thee light.\u201d<\/p>\n
I. 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.<\/p>\n
2. Now, \u201cthey that sleep, sleep in the night.\u201d The state of nature is a state of utter darkness; a state wherein \u201cdarkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people.\u201d The poor unawakened sinner, how much knowledge soever he may have as to other things, has no knowledge of himself: in this respect \u201che knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.\u201d 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<\/i> for the one thing needful<\/i>, even that inward universal change, that \u201cbirth from above,\u201d figured out by baptism, which is the beginning of that total renovation. that sanctification of spirit, soul, and body, \u201cwithout which no man shall see the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n
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, \u201cPeace! Peace!\u201d while the devil, as \u201ca strong, man armed,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
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, \u201cto flee from the wrath to come;\u201d one that never yet saw he was in danger of hell-fire, or cried out in the earnestness of his soul, \u201cWhat must I do to be saved?\u201d<\/p>\n
5. If this sleeper be not outwardly vicious, his sleep is usually the deepest of all: whether he be of the Laodicean spirit, \u201cneither cold nor hot,\u201d but a quiet, rational, inoffensive, good-natured professor of the religion of his fathers; or whether he be zealous and orthodox, and, \u201cafter the most straitest sect of our religion,\u201d live \u201ca Pharisee;\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
6. This is he, who, \u201chaving a form of godliness, denies the power thereof;\u201d yea, and probably reviles it, wheresoever it is found, as mere extravagance and delusion. Meanwhile, the wretched self-deceiver thanks God, that he is \u201cnot as other men are; adulterers, unjust, extortioners\u201d: no, he doeth no wrong to any man. he \u201cfasts twice in a week,\u201d uses all the means of grace, is constant at church and sacrament, yea, and \u201cgives tithes of all that he has;\u201d does all the good that he can \u201ctouching the righteousness of the law,\u201d he is \u201cblameless\u201d: he wants nothing of godliness, but the power; nothing of religion, but the spirit; nothing of Christianity, but the truth and the life.<\/p>\n
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, to-day, and for ever, denounces against \u201cscribes and Pharisees, hypocrites\u201d? he hath \u201cmade clean the outside of the cup and the platter,\u201d but within is full of all filthiness. \u201cAn evil disease cleaveth still unto him, so that his inward parts are very wickedness.\u201d Our Lord fitly compares him to a \u201cpainted sepulchre,\u201d which \u201cappears beautiful without;\u201d but, nevertheless, is \u201cfull of dead men\u2019s bones, and of all uncleanness.\u201d 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, \u201cif any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.\u201d \u201cYe are Christ\u2019s, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you\u201d: but, if not, God knoweth that ye abide in death, even until now.<\/p>\n
8. This is another character of the sleeper here spoken to. he abides in death, though he knows it not. he is dead unto God, \u201cdead in trespasses and sins.\u201d For, \u201cto be carnally minded is death\u201d Even as it is written, \u201cBy one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men;\u201d not only temporal death, but likewise spiritual and eternal. \u201cIn that day that thou eatest,\u201d said God to Adam, \u201cthou shalt surely die;\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
9. Thus first was dissolved the vital union of our soul with God; insomuch that \u201cin the midst of\u201d natural \u201clife, we are\u201d now in spiritual \u201cdeath.\u201d 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 \u201chears\u201d (hearkens to) \u201cthe voice of the Son of God\u201d: he is made sensible of his lost estate, and receives the sentence of death in himself. he knows himself to be \u201cdead while he liveth;\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
10. And most certain it is, that one dead in sin has not \u201csenses exercised to discern spiritual good and evil.\u201d \u201cHaving eyes, he sees not; he hath ears, and hears not.\u201d he doth not \u201ctaste and see that the Lord is gracious.\u201d he \u201chath not seen God at any time,\u201d nor \u201cheard his voice,\u201d nor \u201chandled the word of life.\u201d In vain is the name of Jesus \u201clike ointment poured forth, and all his garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia.\u201d The soul that sleepeth in death hath no perception of any objects of this kind. his heart is \u201cpast feeling,\u201d and understandeth none of these things.<\/p>\n
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. \u201cHow,\u201d saith he, \u201ccan these things be? How can any man know<\/i> that he is alive to God?\u201d 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<\/i>, but elegchos pneumatos<\/i>, that divine consciousness, that witness<\/i> of God, which is more and greater than ten thousand human witnesses.<\/p>\n
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 \u201ca noise and a shaking;\u201d and may \u201cthe bones come together, bone to his bone!\u201d Then \u201ccome from the four winds, O Breath! and breathe on these slain, that they may live!\u201d And do not ye harden your hearts, and resist the Holy Ghost, who even now is come to convince you of sin, \u201cbecause you believe not on the name of the only begotten Son of God.\u201d<\/p>\n
II. 1. Wherefore, \u201cawake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead.\u201d God calleth thee now by my mouth; and bids thee know thyself, thou fallen spirit, thy true state and only concern below. \u201cWhat meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise! Call upon thy God, if so be thy God will think upon thee, that thou perish not.\u201d A mighty tempest is stirred up round about thee, and thou art sinking into the depths of perdition, the gulf of God\u2019s judgements. If thou wouldest escape them, cast thyself into them. \u201cJudge thyself, and thou shalt not be judged of the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n
2. Awake, awake! Stand up this moment, lest thou \u201cdrink at the Lord\u2019s hand the cup of his fury.\u201d Stir up thyself to lay hold on the Lord, the Lord thy Righteousness, mighty to save! \u201cShake thyself from the dust.\u201d At least, let the earthquake of God\u2019s threatenings shake thee. Awake, and cry out with the trembling jailer, \u201cWhat must I do to be saved?\u201d And never rest till thou believest on the Lord Jesus, with a faith which is his gift, by the operation of his Spirit.<\/p>\n
3. If I speak to any one of you, more than to another, it is to thee, who thinkest thyself unconcerned in this exhortation. \u201cI have a message from God unto thee.\u201d In his name, I warn thee \u201cto flee from the wrath to come.\u201d 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\u2019s arms, on the brink of the pit, in the jaws of everlasting destruction!<\/p>\n
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, \u201cArise up quickly, gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals, cast thy garment about thee, and follow Me.\u201d<\/p>\n
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!<\/p>\n
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 judgement? Canst thou stand in his sight, who is of \u201cpurer eyes than to behold iniquity\u201d? Art thou \u201cmeet to be partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light\u201d? Hast thou \u201cfought a good fight, and kept the faith\u201d? 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?<\/p>\n
7. Hast thou oil in thy lamp? grace in thy heart? Dost thou \u201clove the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength\u201d? 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?<\/p>\n
8. Art thou a \u201cpartaker of the divine nature\u201d? Knowest thou not, that \u201cChrist is in thee, except thou be reprobate\u201d? Knowest thou, that God \u201cdwelleth in thee, and thou in God, by his Spirit, which he hath given thee\u201d? Knowest thou not that \u201cthy body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, which thou hast of God\u201d? Hast thou the witness in thyself? the earnest of thine inheritance? Hast thou \u201creceived the Holy Ghost\u201d? Or dost thou start at the question, not knowing \u201cwhether there be any Holy Ghost\u201d?<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
10. Yet, on the authority of God\u2019s Word, and our own Church, I must repeat the question, \u201cHast thou received the Holy Ghost?\u201d If thou hast not, thou art not yet a Christian. For a Christian is a man that is \u201canointed with the Holy Ghost and with power.\u201d Thou art not yet made a partaker of pure religion and undefiled. Dost thou know what religion is? \u2014that it is a participation of the divine nature; the life of God in the soul of man; Christ formed in the heart; \u201cChrist in thee, the hope of glory;\u201d happiness and holiness; heaven begun upon earth; \u201ca kingdom of God within thee; not meat and drink,\u201d no outward thing; \u201cbut righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost;\u201d an everlasting kingdom brought into thy soul; a \u201cpeace of God that passeth all understanding;\u201d a \u201cjoy unspeakable, and full of glory\u201d?<\/p>\n
11. Knowest thou, that \u201cin Jesus Christ, neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith that worketh by love;\u201d 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 throughly convinced, that without it no man shall see the Lord? Art thou labouring after it? \u2014\u201cgiving all diligence to make thy calling and election sure,\u201d \u201cworking out thy salvation with fear and trembling,\u201d \u201cagonizing to enter in at the strait gate\u201d? Art thou in earnest about thy soul? And canst thou tell the Searcher of hearts, \u201cThou, O God, art the thing that I long for! Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I would<\/i> love Thee!\u201d <\/p>\n
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 \u201cby 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\u201d? Hast thou received the faithful saying as the whole foundation of thy hope, \u201cthat Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners\u201d? Hast thou learned what that meaneth, \u201cI came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance? I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep\u201d? Art thou (he that heareth, let him understand!) lost, dead, damned already?<\/i> Dost thou know thy deserts? Dost thou feel thy wants? Art thou \u201cpoor in spirit\u201d? mourning for God, and refusing to be comforted? Is the prodigal \u201ccome to himself,\u201d and well content to be therefore thought beside himself\u201d 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\u2019s sake?<\/p>\n
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! \u201cIf ye will hear his voice to-day, while it is called to-day, harden not your hearts.\u201d Now, \u201cawake, thou that sleepest\u201d in spiritual death, that thou sleep not in death eternal! Feel thy lost estate, and \u201carise from the dead.\u201d Leave thine old companions in sin and death. Follow thou Jesus, and let the dead bury their dead. \u201cSave thyself from this untoward generation.\u201d \u201cCome out from among them, and be thou separate, and touch not the unclean thing, and the Lord shall receive thee.\u201d \u201cChrist shall give thee light.\u201d<\/p>\n
III. 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 \u201cawakest, and arisest from the dead,\u201d he hath bound himself to \u201cgive thee light.\u201d \u201cThe Lord shall give thee grace and glory;\u201d the light of his grace here, and the light of his glory when thou receivest the crown that fadeth not away. \u201cThy light shall break forth as the morning, and thy darkness be as the noon-day.\u201d \u201cGod, 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.\u201d On them that fear the Lord shall \u201cthe Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings.\u201d And in that day it shall be said unto thee, \u201cArise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.\u201d For Christ shall reveal himself in thee: and he is the true Light.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cdwell in thy heart by faith;\u201d and, \u201cbeing 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
3. Ye see your calling, brethren. We are called to be \u201can habitation of God through his Spirit;\u201d 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 \u201cwe receive, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God\u201d \u2014the sum of all the promises\u2014 \u201cthat we may know the things that are freely given to us of God.\u201d<\/p>\n
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: \u201cI will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes\u201d (Ezek. 36:27). \u201cI 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).<\/p>\n
5. Ye may all be living witnesses of these things; of remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. \u201cIf thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.\u201d \u201cWho among you is there that feareth the Lord, and\u201d yet walketh on \u201cin darkness, and hath no light?\u201d 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, to-day, and for ever? that he hath now power on earth to forgive sins? \u201cSon, be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven.\u201d God, for Christ\u2019s sake, hath forgiven thee. Receive this, \u201cnot as the word of man; but as it is indeed, the word of God;\u201d 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 \u201cGod hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.\u201d<\/p>\n
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. \u201cThis is eternal life, to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent.\u201d 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. \u201cFor, at that day\u201d (when he cometh, saith our Lord), \u201cye shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.\u201d This is that \u201cSpirit 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\u201d (John 14:17).<\/p>\n
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, \u201cthis is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come into the world; and even now it is in the world.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
8. It nothing helps them to say, \u201cWe do not deny the assistance<\/i> of God\u2019s Spirit; but only this inspiration<\/i>, this receiving the Holy Ghost<\/i>: and being sensible<\/i> of it. It is only this feeling of the<\/i> Spirit, this being moved<\/i> by the Spirit, or filled<\/i> with it, which we deny to have any place in sound religion.\u201d But, in only denying this,<\/i> you deny the whole Scriptures; the whole truth, and promise, and testimony of God.<\/p>\n
9. Our own excellent Church knows nothing of this devilish distinction; but speaks plainly of \u201cfeeling the Spirit of Christ\u201d [Article 17]; of being \u201cmoved by the Holy Ghost\u201d [Office of consecrating Priests] and knowing and \u201cfeeling there is no other name than that of Jesus,\u201d [Visitation of the Sick] whereby we can receive\u201d life and salvation. She teaches us all to pray for the \u201cinspiration of the Holy Spirit\u201d [Collect before Holy Communion]; yea, that we may be \u201cfilled with the Holy Ghost\u201d [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.<\/p>\n
10. But \u201cthe wisdom of God\u201d was always \u201cfoolishness with men.\u201d No marvel, then, that the great mystery of the gospel should be now also \u201chid from the wise and prudent,\u201d 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! This is \u201cthat falling away\u201d which was to come\u2014that general apostasy of all orders and degrees of men, which we even now find to have overspread the earth. \u201cRun to and fro in the streets of Jerusalem, and see if ye can find a man,\u201d 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 villanies 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?<\/p>\n
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 neighbour, 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,<\/i> there the painted,<\/i> sepulchre. 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, \u201cthat the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees\u201d: the one having almost as little concern about religion, as if there were \u201cno resurrection, neither angel nor spirit;\u201d 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!<\/p>\n
12. Would to God I could except us<\/i> of this place! \u201cBrethren, my heart\u2019s desire, and prayer to God, for you is, that ye may be saved\u201d 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 \u201ca generation that set not our hearts aright, and whose spirit cleaveth not steadfastly unto God.\u201d he hath appointed us indeed to be \u201cthe salt of the earth: but if the salt hath lost its savour, it is thenceforth good for nothing; but to be cast out, and to be trodden underfoot of men.\u201d<\/p>\n
13. And \u201cshall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?\u201d Yea, we know not how soon he may say to the sword, \u201cSword, go through this land!\u201d he hath given us long space to repent. he lets us alone this year also: but he warns and awakens us by thunder. his judgements are abroad in the earth; and we have all reason to expect the heaviest of all, even that he \u201cshould come unto us quickly, and remove our candlestick out of its place, except we repent and do the first works;\u201d 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 \u201cfilled up the measure of our iniquities,\u201d by rejecting the counsel of God against ourselves, and casting out his messengers.<\/p>\n
14. O God, \u201cin the midst of wrath, remember mercy!\u201d Be glorified in our reformation, not in our destruction! Let us \u201chear the rod, and him that appointed it!\u201d Now that Thy \u201cjudgements are abroad in the earth,\u201d let the inhabitants of the world \u201clearn righteousness!\u201d<\/p>\n
15. My brethren, it is high time for us to awake out of sleep before the \u201cgreat trumpet of the Lord be blown,\u201d 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! \u201cTurn Thou us, O good Lord, and let Thine anger cease from us. O Lord, look down from heaven, behold and visit this vine;\u201d and cause us to know \u201cthe time of our visitation.\u201d \u201cHelp us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Thy name! O deliver us, and be merciful to our sins, for Thy name\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow 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. \u2014Amen!\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cAwake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.\u201d Eph. 5:14. IN discoursing on these words, I shall, with the help of God, \u2014 First. Describe the sleepers, to whom they are spoken: Secondly. Enforce the exhortation, \u201cAwake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead:\u201d And, Thirdly. Explain … Continue reading “AWAKE,
\nTHOU THAT SLEEPEST”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9245\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}