p. 1 | WE MUST AWAKE by B. F. Merritt

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 3, 1872

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 40, No. 12.

Read the full edition

WE MUST AWAKE.

By B. F. Merritt

BY B. F. MERRITT.

TEXT: “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others: but let us watch and be sober.” 1 Thess. 5: 6.

My brethren, I must lay before you some things concerning our condition, danger, and duty, as a church. I want to show,

That we have fallen into a deep sleep.
The cause of it.
The means of awakening.
The awful consequences of sleeping now.

I have feared that words from me on this subject would avail but little, but as I am to do what I can to save myself and you, I shall, with the ability that God gives, speak what I have to say, and leave the result with the Master, praying his blessing upon us.

Understand I do not use the word sleep in the sense of taking rest when tired nature wants restoring, nor in that other sense in which it is so commonly used in the Bible, viz., of death, but to denote that stupor that comes over souls, causing them to be in a great measure unconscious of the danger they are in, and which frees them from desire to shun impending evil. Undoubtedly this is the sense in which the word is used in the text, and in such passages as, “Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep.” Rom. 13: 11. “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” Eph. 5: 14.

It was this state the prodigal son was in when he left his father's house, and spent his living in rioting, till poor and suffering, it is said, “He came to himself,” i. e., awaked out of sleep. He then sought his father's house.

Now, that we do not realize our condition, is evident from the course we pursue. We do not act consistent with our profession. We are poor, mortal beings. We are not certain of life one hour. We have all been poisoned by sin, and if we have not this virus purged before our eyes close in death, eternal destruction is surely our portion. There is now no condemnation to us if we are in Christ Jesus, and walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. But who of us can say that we are, and have been, so walking? Now we may be made free from sin. We may secure that great reward, if with all our hearts we seek it. We may be saved, and have an eternal home in the glorious city of God. Did we but see and realize what is at stake, and comprehend the great consequences that will follow our present course, would we not act differently? Ah, my brethren, were we awake, every moment of our time would be wisely employed, that we might be on safe ground.

Again, all Heaven is interested in our salvation. The Lord Jesus showed his interest in our welfare, by dying for us. Mercy yet lingers, and the Spirit calls. A certain amount of long-suffering, a certain amount of warnings, a certain amount of opportunities, and the Lord will say, “It is enough. Let him alone.” The grieved Spirit will then forever cease its gentle promptings, and we will be left to hardness of heart. Were we sensible of our danger in this respect, would we not act differently?

Time is almost past. We are in the closing scenes of human probation. The door of mercy will soon be closed. Satan is with mighty power pressing us with darkness and a spirit of slumber, and we are not active in the strife. We must be on enchanted ground.

I saw the picture of the man with the muck-rake, on his knees in the filth, raking up the filthy rags, and esteeming them as treasures, while just above him stood a bright angel offering him a glorious crown. As the poor man did not seem to hear or heed the kind offer, I could but think he was asleep. So it is with us when we so grasp for the fading things of earth, and have our minds and hearts set on them, while our eternal interests so little concern us. We are asleep.

Once more, our dying fellow-mortals about us, who kindly greet us when we meet, are many of them in the way of death. Did we really understand these things, would we not try to warn them of their danger, and tell them of the better way?

It is needless for me to talk more upon this point. The message to the Laodiceans is that they are lukewarm, miserable, blind and naked, and know it not. Such are we, my brethren. I will try to point out the cause.

Said the Lord, by Solomon, “Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep.” I believe our great difficulty has been inactivity. When duty has been presented before us, we have not discharged it. When the light of present truth first gladdened our hearts, and we made our vows to God, we were blessed. We felt like consecrating all our powers to the service of the Lord, and were glad to speak a word for Jesus at any time; and to bear a cross for him was to us a delight. While thus we tried to live, our hearts were full of love and praise. But opportunities for doing good were presented, and we neglected to act. Perhaps it was a kind deed to the poor; perhaps it was an act to suppress pride, or to confess the truth before scoffing men and women, or to resist a strong temptation of the devil. Whatever it was, we neglected duty. I appeal to you, my brethren, was it not a failure on your part to act in the good cause, that has caused you barrenness of soul?

We have had the example of nominal professors about us, who have not realized the importance of walking circumspectly before the Lord. Unconsciously have we patterned after them. We too have not walked circumspectly, and where are we? “Where art thou,” Adam? Where art thou, my brother? my sister? and what has brought thee there? “Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep.”

We have not followed the injunction of the apostle, “Leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, . . . go on unto perfection” (Heb. 6:1), but, holding the theory, we have neglected the practice of the Christian, and have not become transformed, that we might “prove [or show] what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Rom. 12: 2.

Now we read of the glorious church of God, in which all the parts, working in harmony, do show forth the excellency of the gospel, to the praise of God. God would have intelligent worshipers, in whom the gifts and graces of the apostolic church would be manifested. But how can he bestow those gifts upon us? We have been exhorted to “grow in grace and the knowledge of the truth,” which, if we had striven to do, as the importance of the case demands, we might have been vessels fitted for these gifts.

We have had too little faith in God. We have forgotten, to a great degree, our mission. We have not pressed forward, improving ourselves by the performance of present duties, that we might be instruments to accomplish a greater work for God. Through inactivity we have fallen asleep. This is no idle tale. The Bible means what it says about Christ's people. If we had not folded our hands in sleep, we would view things far differently.

Oh! that our eyes may be opened, and we be made to realize that life is real, and be awakened to a practical sense of duty. I will speak of the way we may become awake. You may think it necessary for a work to be accomplished for us, and that there is no use of our trying to arouse ourselves. My brethren, if we wait for a miracle to be wrought to make us sensible of our condition, and to cause us to feel like putting forth such efforts as are necessary to secure salvation, we will never be saved.

“Be zealous, and repent,” was said to the church in Laodicea. “Repent and do the first works,” was said to the church in Ephesus, which had departed from its first love. If inactivity has caused our decline, activity will cause new life. If the muscles of the body are inactive, they will become small and weak; but if properly exercised, they will grow and become strong. So with the Christian and his work.

What greater motives could be placed before us, to cause us to be energetic in the cause of God, than those held out in the Bible. I call attention to the parable of the talents (Matt. 25), also the parable of the ten pieces of money. Luke 19.

Solomon saw how men would sleep over important and eternal things, and sought to awaken them by referring to things in nature. Prov. 6, also 24. If it is late, the Lord yet says, “Go ye also into my vineyard.” If we stand idly waiting for a greater work to do, we do wrong. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might,” &c. Eccl. 9:10. If you want a field of labor, you can find it anywhere. Those duties which you consider small are the very ones that will prepare you, and open the way, for a more extended field of labor. It is not for doing no harm, nor for great acts in the sight of men, that Christ commends the heirs of the kingdom. Matt. 25. It is activity—work in the vineyard of the Lord—that will revive us. And it is the only thing. I have thought much on this subject, and am convinced of this truth.

We may come before the Lord with songs of praise, and bow and plaintively plead for God to refresh us, but this will not avail. God will do his part, never fear. Don't act as though he was an unfeeling sovereign, and his mercies and blessings could only be obtained by exciting his pity. By so doing, I believe you sin. Do your duty, and he is ready, and will bless.

Our work is to bring our being into obedience to the will of God, and to show to our neighbors and all that we can, that we truly fear God and tremble at his word, and that the religion we profess has a sanctifying influence upon us. We are to do all in our power to let the light that has shone upon us, shine upon others. I have often said how I thought we should act toward others; but, oh! how I have failed; how we all have failed. Our neighbors hardly know what we profess, as we have kept our light so under a bushel, and they hardly think we believe what we appear to profess, since our lives have been so inconsistent.

Now I want to speak a few words about the consequences of going on, neglecting duty. Tongue cannot tell the whole.

We can never be happy and enjoy the smiles of God while we neglect duty. “He that knoweth his master's will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes,” will ever, while our hearts are susceptible of being full of love and peace, be sounding in our ears and leave us in distress.
We will be sure to decline spiritually. There is no standing still on ground gained in the Christian course. To stop is to go back. A habit of neglecting present duty is sure ruin, unless it be broken.
It follows then that unless we awake to life and duty, certain destruction is our lot. Oh! that we could see it as it is. Oh! that we could feel. With Heaven's bright gates open before us, will we dream of rest and glide down to death? Oh! Heaven forbid. My brother, in the name of Israel's God, arouse and gird on the armor, and struggle for life, or you will lose it. Let the world talk. Let them consider us wild. They surely will if we act consistent, but eternal life is at stake, and what shall we care for the jeers of a godless world if we can but gain it.
But our own destruction is not only inevitable if we do not arouse, but we know not how many souls will go to destruction because of our neglect. Oh! my soul, it is a fearful thing to live. Only by being in the hands of God can we be safe. Dream not of peace, and a flowery road to Heaven. Arouse, awake, “escape for thy life.”

Now is the accepted time. The strong bands with which the foe has bound us are easier broken to-day than ever they will be in the future. The longer we neglect to arouse, the deeper will be our sleep. The Spirit, that calls to-day may be doing its last work. It may be grieved, and we no more feel its gentle promptings, but be left to sleep. Now is the time to yield to its power and cast ourselves into the hands of God.

We know not the day nor the hour when the great day of the Lord will be ushered in. “In such an hour as ye think not,” said Jesus, “the Son of man cometh.” That voice which will not only shake the earth, but also heaven, will soon be heard from on high, saying, “It is done.” Alas! then, for sinful men. Said the blessed Jesus, “Watch, lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.”

My brethren, let these words sink into your hearts. Now is the accepted time. Oh! delay no longer. May the blessing of the Lord attend. Amen.