p. 9 | THREE CALLS TO AWAKE by H. A. St. John

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Nov 29, 1905

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 48.

THREE CALLS TO AWAKE.

By H. A. St. John

BY H. A. ST. JOHN.

1. “Wherefore He saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” Eph. 5:14.

DEATH is a profound sleep. All sinners are dead in trespasses and sins; and the first call of the Saviour of the world, the first call of the Gospel to all such is, “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead.” Christ is the Light of the World; He is the Sun of Righteousness; and His rising upon the world, like the rising of the orb of day, our natural sun, is a call to all sleepers to rise from the sleep of death, to awake, and Christ will give them light. Happy indeed, are all they that heed this call, for in heeding they become, for the first time in all their lives, truly awake.

While in the unconverted state, men think they are alive and awake. They have many beautiful visions of pleasure, of prosperity, of success, and hence they think they are awake. It is all a dream in the night, a delusion, a lie, a cheat, an illusion that will be dispelled some day to their great sorrow, if the call to awake now is not heeded.

Every person that heeds the call of Jesus to “arise from the dead,” to awake, will have as great a miracle performed for him, and in him, as was performed for Lazarus at the end of his four days sleep in death in the sepulcher in Bethany. Jesus, the giver of light and life, stood by the sepulcher of Lazarus and called upon him to awake, to rise from the dead. And he that was dead heard the voice of the Son of God and came forth. Wonderful miracle, we say truly, but no greater than when that same Jesus, who loved and resurrected Lazarus, stands by the sinner whom He loves and calls him to awake, to arise from the dead, and that sinner obeys, as Lazarus obeyed, and comes forth into the light of Christ. And hence, ever after such an experience, the awakened and converted soul will have reason to praise God for this wonderful miracle of His grace.

Suppose that Lazarus, hearing the call of Jesus to awake and come forth, had said, I hear Your call, but go Your way; leave me alone; I like this place and prefer to stay where I am. How strange! how unreasonable! HOW TERRIBLE! Yet all the time, and everywhere in this world, there are thousands who hear the call of Christ to awake, to arise from the dead and He will give them light, who constantly persist in disobedience to the gracious call, make excuses, and stay where they are. They enjoy their delusive dreams and refuse to awake and come forth.

Every one that comes to Christ joyfully conscious that he is a new creature in Christ Jesus, puts on new beauties such as he in his darkness and blindness had never seen before. To the soul that is born again and has entered the light and life of Christ, the very “heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.” The whole face of animated nature is lighter, the flowers are brighter, the birds sing sweeter, and even our fellows are, to us, more lovely. Wonderful transformation! wonderful awakening!

The Second Call.

2. “Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God; I speak this to your shame.” 1 Cor. 15:34.

It often happens in this world, that the believers

in Christ—yea, His church—let their lamps go out. Backsliding and apostasy come in, and consequently darkness, drowsiness, and sleepiness. Many then lose the knowledge of God. They will think they are “rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing,” when in fact they are wretched and miserable, poor, blind, and naked, and know it not. They are asleep, when they ought to be wide awake. They ought to be children of the day, and not of the night. But, to their shame, the Lord has need to call upon them again to arise and shine for their “light is come;” to “awake to righteousness, and sin not.”

There is sin among them, and sin always tends to blindness, darkness, and death. Some may cherish the delusion that they can not live without sinning some, and hence they keep the rest-egg of sin alive in their hearts, and occasionally—yea, frequently—lapse into sin, thinking thereby they will be kept humble. But sin is deceiving, and tends to engender pride rather than humility.

In this lukewarm condition the Lord finds His church in the last days, and now He is calling His people, to their shame, to “awake to righteousness, and sin not.” When this call is fully heeded, the whole earth will soon be lighted with His glory through the outshining of His church and children. Reader, does this call mean you? If so, be entreated to heed it without delay. Arise and shine.

The Third Call.

3. “Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” Isa. 26:19.

The Lord says He will be as the dew unto all who are Israelites indeed. Hosea 14:5. The dew falls copiously in the East, and answers for rain. This figure teaches us that when the Lord calls to the millions of His people who sleep in the dust of the earth, they will spring forth from the earth like the beautiful flowers under the warm rains and dews of springtime. They will hear the voice of the Son of God, and come forth. It is the very same voice which they heard and obeyed in their lifetime. The call to them is, “Awake and sing.” Once before they were awakened, and came forth from the sepulcher of sin, with “a new song in their mouths, even praise to our God.” When awakened in the resurrection morning, they will joyfully sing the completed song of redemption. With immortal tongues they will sing, “Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ;” and all come to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads. O, who of us will join in that song that will never grow old, in a country that will never grow old, inhabited by a people who will never grow old?