Ephesians 5:14 Why he said, Awake you that sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light. I. WHAT THE TEXT CALLS US TO BELIEVE. 1. That our natural state is a state of darkness. Light in the external world is the element or medium by which we see other objects. Darkness precludes light, not by extinguishing the sense, but by rendering it useless. Three gradations may be stated, three degrees of darkness, as it affects the soul and its perceptions. (1) That in which the soul has no perception at all of spiritual objects or "the things of God," which are, to it, as though they were not. (2) That in which it sees the objects as existing, but is blind to their distinguishing qualities and relative proportions. (3) That in which the qualities are seen, but not appreciated; they are seen to exist, but not seen to be excellent or the reverse. Not so much a darkness of the mind as of the heart — a blindness of the affections as to spiritual objects. 2. A state of sleep. This is more than darkness. The man who is asleep has his senses sealed; not his sight merely, but his other senses. External objects are to him as though they were not. All that lies beyond this life and its interests is veiled from his view, and might as well not be. But while his senses are suspended, his imagination is awake and active. The more insensible he is of that which really surrounds him, the more prolific is his fancy in ideal objects. His life is but a dream. His illusions may be of a pleasing and agreeable nature; that will only make the awakening more dreadful. It is related by one of those who witnessed and experienced a late explosion, that when it occurred he was asleep, and that his first sensation was a pleasant one, as though he had been flying through the air. He opened his eyes, and he was in the sea! May there not be something analogous to this in the sensations of the sinner who dies with his soul asleep, and soars, as he imagines, towards the skies, but instantaneously awakes amidst the roar of tempests and the lash of waves upon the ocean of God's wrath? 3. A state of death. (1) The suspension of the faculties is permanent. (2) No power of self-resuscitation. (3) The whole frame hastening to putrescence. 4. A state of guilt. Alienation from the love of God. 5. A state of danger. Exposed to the wrath of God. II. WHAT THE TEXT CALLS US TO DO. The real ground of men's indifference to this matter is their unbelief. They do not really believe what they are told as to their state by nature. Where this faith really exists, it shows itself in anxious fears, if not in active efforts. The soul's first impulse is to break the spell which binds it. But this it cannot do; in itself it is helpless. Hence the exhortation has added to it the necessary promise — "Christ shall give thee light." Repentance and faith are conditions of salvation; but the Author of our salvation is the Giver of repentance, the Author and Finisher of our faith. God forgives us freely if we repent and believe, but we can just as well make expiation for our sins, as repent and believe without Divine assistance. But (it may be asked) will not this doctrine tend to paralyze the efforts of the sinner for salvation? And what then? The more completely his self-righteous strength is paralyzed, the better. No man can trust God and himself at once. Your self-reliance must be destroyed, or it will destroy you. But if, by a paralysis of effort, be intended a stagnation of feeling, and indifference to danger, I reply that this doctrine has no tendency to breed it. Suppose it should be suddenly announced to this assembly that a deadly malady had just appeared, and had begun to sweep off thousands in its course; and that the only possibility of safety depended on the use of a specific remedy, simple and easy in its application, and already within the reach of every individual, who had nothing to do at any moment but to use it, and infallibly secure himself against infection. And suppose that while your minds were resting on this last assurance, it should be authoritatively contradicted, and the fact announced, with evidence not to be gainsaid, that this specific, simple and infallibly successful, was beyond the reach of every person present, and could only be applied by a superior power. I put it to yourselves, which of these statements would produce serenity, and which alarm? Which would lead you to fold your hands in indolent indifference, and which would rouse you to an agonizing struggle for the means of safety? I speak as unto wise men; judge ye what I say. Oh, my friends, if there is any cure for spiritual sloth and false security, it is a heartfelt faith in the necessity of superhuman help. The man who makes his helplessness a pretext for continuance in sin, whatever he may say, does not really believe that he is helpless. No man believes it till he knows it by experience. 1. Light dispels that blindness of the heart and affections which disables us from seeing the true qualities of spiritual objects. That which before seemed repulsive becomes lovely; that which was mean is glorious. That which was pleasing or indifferent is now seen to be loathsome. The beauty of holiness and the ugliness of sin are now revealed in their true colours. Nor is this all. The light which beams upon us not only rectifies our views of what we law before, but shows us what we never saw. 2. Light, then, is the remedy; but how shall we obtain it? It must be given to us. If it comes at all, it comes as a free gift. 3. Christ alone can give it. This world, to the believer, is a dark, perplexing labyrinth, and in its mazes he would lose himself for over were it not that ever and anon, at certain turnings in the crooked path, he gets a glimpse of Calvary. These glimpses may be transitory, but they feed his hopes, and often unexpectedly return to cheer his drooping spirits. Sometimes he is ready to despair of his escape, and to lie down in the darkness of the labyrinth and die. But as he forms the resolution an unlooked for turn presents a distant prospect, and beyond all other objects, and above them, he discerns the cross and Christ upon it. Look to Christ then! look to Him for light to dissipate your darkness, to arouse you from sleep, and to raise you from the dead. (J. A. Alexander, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.WEB: Therefore he says, "Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." |
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