It is time to wake up. That's not always an admonition that is joyfully received. If you had the experience of telling someone in the morning, it's time to wake up, and the response was a grunt or a groan, or perhaps your call was totally ignored. Maybe you came back call the same individual sometime later. It's time to get up. I thought you were getting up. And they said, well, I am. Ten minutes later, you come back and they haven't moved. So while they pretend to be hearing you and responding to the call, they're going nowhere. They are still asleep. Scriptures have a lot to say about sleep. Sleep is good. It's a blessing of God. People that go without sleep for extended periods of time encounter a great many problems. People can become confused and disoriented and become physically ill if they are not receiving an adequate amount of sleep. It says, he giveth his beloved sleep. And he speaks of the fact that they shall dwell in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. Talking about the special protection that God gives his people in difficult circumstances. So we can be thankful for the blessing of sleep. But like anything else, too much of something that's good can also be detrimental. And so there's a lot said in the Scripture about sleep in a negative connotation. I want to use as our text Romans chapter 13, verses 11 and 12. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. It is high time to awake out of sleep. You might wonder why was this put in the epistle that Paul writes to the church at Rome. This was written in the days of early Christianity. We might make the assumption that in that early time, no one would have been asleep. It was such an exciting era. The Holy Spirit of God had come in great power on the day of Pentecost. The preachers were preaching with a special anointing. The apostolic gifts were still in place. The signed gifts were apparent. Surely no one can fall asleep under such circumstances. They will be perpetually excited. They will be daily involved. But here, even during that time, the Apostle Paul writes that it is high time to awake out of sleep. See, someone might assume that I have taken the wrong text for this occasion. Because it might be surmised that people who come out to a Sunday night service are definitely not those who are asleep. This should be saved for some Sunday morning when we're trying to awaken a few people that only come on Sunday morning. So this isn't the text for Sunday night worshipers. But I hope by the time we finish, you can see that all of us can learn a lesson from this text. It is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The consummation of this salvation, that ultimate joy of being with the Lord, that great day of His return, it's nearer than at the time you believed. So seeing that time is growing short, the end is nearer, it's time to wake up. First of all, we would think about The detrimental sleep. Sleep can provide a false sense of security. Have you ever ridden with someone that, at least for a little while, seemed to be asleep at the wheel? It's rather disconcerting if you're the passenger in an automobile and you look over and the driver's eyes are in the process of closing. There's just something about being a passenger in a car, you would like for the driver to be awake. You'd like for him to be looking at the road and be able to make necessary adjustments. I've been with drivers that denied they were asleep, but there was somehow a great concern that I had when I saw that there was traffic stopped ahead and the driver of the automobile had not gotten his foot off the accelerator onto the brake. There's just an uneasy feeling when you're barreling down the highway full speed ahead and the driver is not alert. It can be Tremendously detrimental, even to the point of not only creating injury, but death. Now, when it comes to spiritual things, being asleep at the wheel is also dangerous. Being asleep when you're not aware of it. I've heard people say, well, I was on a trip the other night and I went all the way through a certain town and never even knew it. Never even realized it. I got on the other side and kind of woke up a little bit and thought, where am I anyway? I feel certain that there are Christians today who are in that state from a spiritual standpoint. We turn to the book of Jeremiah and see one of the causes as to why some might be asleep. Jeremiah chapter 6 verse 14. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace." Here are people that have been put to sleep by their prophets. The people wanted to hear that message. Nobody is particularly excited about hearing an alarm sounded. The alarm that goes off in the morning saying, It's time to get up. It's time for you to get out of bed and get going. Rough night, if you're not feeling well, it's just not pleasant to hear the alarm go off. Sometimes people shut it off and go back to sleep. I've known a few people who have been known to throw it across the room. They just didn't want to hear the alarm. Well, I've seen some of the Lord's people that when God's servants came before them and sounded the trumpet and blew the alarm, they wanted to get rid of the alarm more. They said, this is not what we want to hear. We want to hear that which is sweet and consoling. Well, I'm sure that every gospel minister loves to comfort God's people when they need to be comforted. But there are times they need to be awakened. And yet there are those who are so determined to hear what they want to hear, to hear the message that is going to comfort them and cause them to have peace, even if there is no peace, that they seek out such prophets or preachers that will satisfy their own carnal desires. You remember the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy and said, preach the word, being instant, in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. But it said the time would come that they would heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, they know what they want to hear, they want to have their ears tickled, they want to feel good about themselves, and they'll search until they find somebody that will accommodate them. They're not going to have the faithful, diligent preaching of the Word of God. So there are people at ease today because they've been under the kind of preaching that puts them to sleep, and they're perfectly content with it. They don't want anything else. In the book of Amos, chapter 6, verse 1, "...woe to them that are at ease in Zion." And these people are in the right place. They're in Zion. They're in the place of divine worship. They're in God's house, but they are at ease. I was at a meeting many years ago, and an old brother, I knew that he meant well, I knew what he wanted to say, but he took the wrong text. He said, I just pray that everybody today will go home at ease in Zion. I thought, Lord, have mercy on us if we do, because Amos said we're under a curse if that's the case. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations to whom the house of Israel came. Verse 3, Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seed of violence to come near, that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall, that chant to the sound of the vial, and invent to themselves instruments of music like David, that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments, but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. Here are people at ease. They say, all is well. We're comfortable where we are. We're in Zion. We're worshiping God. We know His truth. But they're at ease. They put far away the evil day. They say, nothing's going to befall us. A day of reckoning, a day of chastisement, a day of judgment. It's not near. We need not be concerned about this. They stretch themselves upon their ivory beds. They are stretched out on their couches. They're comfortable. They entertain themselves, they chant to the sound of the violin, invent to themselves instruments of music like David, and they're not grieved, not grieved for the affliction of Joseph, not concerned about the decline that exists around them, even in the house of God. So sleep can provide a sense of false security, the idea that all is well when it is not. How sad to see a church in that state. It was very grievous to me a few years ago when a man sent a check to the Baptist Bible Hour. While I was thankful for the contribution, he said, this is part of the proceeds from the sale of our church building. He said, we decided to divide it up among some of the Primitive Aptist publications in your broadcast. He says, I'm thankful to be able to send you the donation, but I'm very sad that our church died. He said, we knew that things were not right. We continued to go downhill, but nobody ever told us what was wrong. No one ever came to our rescue to warn us or give us instruction about how to correct the matter. There are churches today that are dying, churches that are just a short distance from closing their doors and meeting no more. And yet there are many in that state that are totally comfortable, at ease, content with the status quo, feeling that as long as they maintain that they continue to think like they've always thought and do as they've always done, that all is well. Friends, God is not glorified by churches dying. His name is honored. The name of Jesus Christ is lifted up when they prosper. A person that is asleep then is unaware of what's going on around him. He's just not conscious of what's happening. In the book of I Thessalonians, we turn to the fifth chapter, Reading to the 5th verse, 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 5, Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day. We are not of the night, nor of the darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of salvation." A person who is in a deep sleep is not aware of some impending danger, not aware of conversation that may be going on in the very room where they are sleeping, not aware of the circumstances in which they are involved. They are asleep. And a person who has gone to sleep spiritually is in such a condition. They may have this sense that all is well when it's not. They see no danger. They see no problem. They're not stirred. They're not grieved for Joseph as the text in Amos says. They're not calling upon God diligently that he might come to the rescue of his kingdom today and prosper to the honor of his name. They're unaware. There are many today that seem to be unaware of the greatness of the battle in which we're involved. You pick up the daily newspaper and there are things that are distressing to read. It's certainly grievous when we get the news of soldiers that are killed on the front lines of battle. We grieve over the violence in our cities across America. We grieve over many things that are disturbing to us. And so a person says, well, when it comes to matters of religion, I really don't want to think in terms of a battle. There's enough warfare out there and other areas. I just want to think about that which is loving and peaceful, and I want to go to church to be comforted. But you know, we are in a battle. Ephesians chapter 6 tells us to put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. The battle is raging. Satan is launching a fierce attack against the church, against the truth, against the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Dramatic changes are taking place in our nation. The standards of morality that once were generally accepted are being attacked and changed. You see that? This is a battle. This is warfare. To talk about it being a battle is not just some language that we draw from to paint a picture that really is without meaning. This is literally a battle. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in high places. You have your own little personal conflict. You have your own temptations. You have your own struggles. And it's just part of a much larger battle that is raging the world over today. We must not allow ourselves to sleep in the midst of the battle. unaware of the great battle. Sometimes this translates down to the point that parents are unaware of the great needs and the lives of their children. Somebody pointed out to me in Jackson that there was an article in the newspaper this weekend where a young girl, sixteen years of age, had made arrangements to meet a total stranger in a foreign country. She had made the contact over the Internet. The father of the girl was appalled that there were not governmental forces that would have detected this much sooner. The thought that this person who was speaking to me conveyed, I'm appalled to think that the father wasn't more alert as to what was going on in his daughter's life. This is what is so sad today. Often parents are not even aware of the great problems that are mounting in the lives of their children until it is already at a crisis proportion. How many times I've counseled with people where a young person was on drugs and the parent said, I had no idea, no hint that this was going on, and yet you find out that it started in their early teens. Parents have a tremendous responsibility to be interacting with their children, to be a part of their life. Sometimes in the busy rush of life, particularly if both parents are working and they come in, they're tired in the evening and it's very easy to turn the children over to the television while the parents try to have their time and their rest and they're not involved with their children. They don't know what their children are thinking. They don't know where their children are going. I find some parents who are intimidated. They fail to recognize that they are the divinely appointed agent in that home. God has given them the authority to be in charge. It seems that they think that they've got to ask permission. This is a democracy. We're going to sit down at the table and everybody's going to have a vote. We're going to work out what the standard of activity is going to be in this household. We're going to have to find out, you know, what the children want and try to negotiate and work these things out. Let me tell you, you don't have to ask anybody's permission to be in charge of your children. God has delegated that authority to you. You're there by divine appointment. God gives you the obligation to train them, to teach them, to discipline them, to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. How sad to see parents that are asleep, not really involved with their children, don't really know what they're thinking, A child from outward circumstances may give the appearance that all is well, but that day-to-day conversation, that interaction, that involvement, finding out not only what they're doing, but what they're thinking, what's going on in their heart, how vital it is. If one is asleep, it means inactivity. Now, it is possible for a person who is asleep to make a bit of noise. I had a case in our family one time where there was a little controversy about whether somebody snored, and they made a recording of it and played it back for the individual to convince him that he did, in fact, snore. A person might make some noise, but one thing about it, there is no positive activity that's involved. We're told that we are to run a race, run with patience the race that is set before you. Well, if you're asleep, you're not running. I have heard of people walking in their sleep, but that too is detrimental because I know of one person that fell down the steps and injured themselves when they were walking in their sleep. The fact is, you're not going to be much of a runner if you're asleep. Run with patience the race that's set before you. You lay aside every weight and the sin that thus easily beset you. Well, to some people that sounds too much like work. I thought going to church meant that it was a place of rest. Isn't the church a place of rest? Well, certainly there is a rest. When we rest in the promises of God, we rest in the grace of God. But friends, that rest and peace that we have in our minds and hearts only enables us to be an active runner. We're running a race. And in order to successfully run, in order to keep from being discouraged, we have to be looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. If we look at ourselves, if we look at those who are observers, we're looking around to those who are in the race, looking to those who are behind us, looking to those who are on either side, looking out here to see what somebody is thinking about us, we're not going to be much of a runner. If a runner is going to run and win the race, you've got to look straight forward and be determined and concentrated on the race itself. Now, do you think any of this might apply to a Sunday night crowd or is this only for Sunday morning people? Is it possible for any of us in the running of the race to sometimes become a little slothful? Not keeping up the pace that you once did? Oh, we begin to make excuses as we get older. Well, you know, I'm not as young as I once was. No, that's right. That's one thing that's certain. If we hang around long enough, we are going to get old and we feel some aches and pains that we didn't used to feel. I talked to one brother, said, when I wake up in the morning, I think, well, I wonder what's going to hurt this morning, this or that. When I get up, he said, it all does. So there are some inconveniences of old age. But when it comes to this spiritual race, there's no excuse for stepping aside. Sometimes older people get the idea, well, you know, I've carried my part of the load. I've put forth my effort. I've done what I could do. I'm at a stage now where I can't really be that much help to anybody. Nobody cares what I think. Nobody wants to hear from me. And yet many of these older people with their long years of experience in the service of God have some valuable testimony and experience that they need to be sharing with others. They need to be sharing with young people to encourage them and give them some guidance along the way. Sad to see somebody that kind of shuts down at age 65 and decides because they're retired, they're going to retire from everything, kind of shift into neutral and don't expect to grow or learn hereafter. The oldest member of the church I pastor is 101 years old, and he is a delight. This dear brother, well, he was driving his own car until he was 99. He lived 70 miles from the church, but he drove one Sunday He said, you know, I got sleepy coming in this morning, and I just decided the safest thing for me to do is pull off to the side and take a little nap. He said, I was taking a nap, and the policeman came along and woke me up and said, what are you doing here? I said, I'm taking a nap. He said, well, this is no place to take a nap. You're not supposed to drive here or park here unless it's an emergency. So that's what this was. So I appreciated his willingness to exert himself driving his own car until he was 99, and even at 101 he gets somebody else to drive him. He's always excited about what he learns. Whether it's me or Elder Huffman that's brought the message that day, he'll always say, my, I learned something today. I was so rich. I was so good. I'm so glad I came. That was refreshing. I learned something from that message. Isn't it wonderful? Somebody 101, they're still learning. There's something for all of us to still learn. There's a race to run. There's ground to cover. There are places to go. There are things to be done in the service of God. So we're running a race. We're fighting the battle. But if we're sleeping, we're not doing either one. If you're sleeping, you're not praying. Jesus said that we are to pray and think not. To pray without ceasing. Remember, God had commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach. Jonah resisted this. He didn't like the Ninevites. He knew what kind of a God God is, and he said, if I go there and preach and they repent, God will spare them. And I don't like those people. I want God to judge them, so I just don't want to go. So he buys passage on a ship to go down to Tarshish, and he goes down to the hull of the ship and goes to sleep. See, sometimes people think that I can just avoid facing the crisis of the hour, I can avoid reality, I can escape things that I don't want to have to deal with by just going to sleep. I've counseled with people who are struggling with depression, and one of the evidences of it is they don't want to get up in the morning. I've talked to people who say, I never get up before noon. I don't get up until two o'clock in the afternoon. I say, well, that's one thing we've got to start on. You've got to start getting up earlier. No wonder you're depressed if you stay in bed all the time. See, you've got to get up. Well, I don't feel like it. It doesn't matter whether you feel like it or not. You've got to get up anyway. There's some things we have to do that we can't just be controlled by our feelings. We have to do what's right and what's expected of us. But here's Jonah down in the hole of the ship, and he's asleep. God sends a storm. In this day and time, there are people that say, no, I don't think God sends storms. That's just Mother Nature. God may have created it all in the beginning, but He kind of wound it up and stands aside and watches it happen. Friends, the Bible still says that God sends the rain on the just and the unjust. God sends the wind. God sends the snow. God sends the frost. That's what His Word says. He's in charge. He's still in control. And He sent that storm and began to toss that ship about on which Jonah was a passenger. And the sailors began to cast overboard the luggage and the cargo that they had, trying to lighten the load. But try as they might, they saw they weren't going to get through the storm, and they began to pray to their pagan gods. And finally the shipmaster goes down and says, Wake up! Isn't this sad that a pagan has to wake up the prophet of God and said, You need to be praying. Everybody on this ship is going to pray, because we're in deep trouble. What a terrible situation. Here is a crisis, and the man who knows the true and living God is asleep rather than praying. You know the rest of the story of how Jonah had to confess that he was the problem passenger, and the only relief they were going to find was to toss him overboard. God was gracious to provide him transportation by way of the whale's belly until he ultimately was spit out on dry land, shouting, ìSalvation is of the Lord!î And he did finally arrive to deliver the message, and Nineveh did repent. Much to Jonah's dismay. But the point we want to make here is that Jonah was sleeping because he was attempting to run away from God. And I feel sure that Jonah was theologically sound. If you had asked him, Jonah, is it possible to hide from God? He would have said, absolutely not. The eyes of the Lord go to and fro on the earth, and I know you can't hide from God. But at that moment, he was so fuzzy in his thinking, he got the idea that if I hide down at the bottom of the ship and I go to sleep, I don't have to worry about anything. Now, it's a sin to worry. It's a sin to be overwrought and overcome with things that we ought to be trusting God to care for. But it's also a sin to put our head in the sand and ignore the realities of what is around us. And that's what Jonah was attempting to do. At a time he should be praying, he was sleeping. Has there ever been a time that you should have been praying and instead you were sleeping? Oh, and you tried to defend it. You tried to justify it. You said, I guess there's no need for me to try to pray because God doesn't seem to be hearing my prayers. Ever been a time you've gotten discouraged in prayer because there didn't seem to be an answer? Say, you know, I've asked the Lord about this thing repeatedly and I've gotten no answer. So I guess I'm just unworthy to pray. I guess God just won't hear my prayer and I give up. He says, to pray and faint not. And he gives us that lesson of the woman who went to the unjust judge and said, sir, avenge me my adversary. She wouldn't take no for an answer. She goes back repeatedly. She continues to say, sir, avenge me my adversary. Finally, the man who did not fear God nor regard man said, I'm going to grant a request just to get rid of her. That's a strange lesson, isn't it? You say, how could that possibly teach me a lesson about praying to God? Well, that's the lesson Jesus gave. What he's telling us is that if the unjust judge that cared nothing for the woman finally granted the request just because of her importunity, what's it going to be when you're asking your heavenly Father? Not an unjust judge, but your Father that loves you and is interested in you and cares for you, if you continually ask, what's going to be the result? Now, obviously, if we're asking for something that is unscriptural, if we're asking for something that is based on greediness and selfishness, if there's some sinful motive, God's not going to grant that. But if we are earnestly praying and seeking His face, there is a promise by continuing to come before Him. Let's look at the book of Matthew, chapter 26. Verse 38, Then saith He unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. Tarry ye here, and watch with me. These are the words of Jesus to his disciples. They've been with him for three years. They've heard his marvelous messages. They've seen his great miracles. They've enjoyed his personal fellowship. Now they have one of the most unique opportunities of all of this time of experience with Jesus. The hour of his crucifixion is near. They have the opportunity to join him in prayer as he goes to his Heavenly Father in preparation for his death at Calvary. He says, Watch with me. And he went a little farther and fell on his face and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt. And he cometh unto his disciples, and findeth them asleep. And saith unto Peter, What could ye not watch with me one hour? Jesus loved these men, and no doubt they loved Him. But at this moment, they were failing. Instead of being by Jesus watching and waiting and praying, they had fallen asleep. What about you? Are there times when you need to be watchfully praying? Praying for loved ones. Praying for friends. Praying for the church. Praying for your pastor. Praying that God will move mightily by His Spirit in His churches across the land and around the world. This is a remarkable day for our people. One thing that concerned me when I was interested in becoming a primitive Baptist, I wanted to have a clear understanding of what they believed about the circulation of the gospel. I was in agreement that the New Testament pattern was not to establish a variety of institutions and auxiliaries to carry out this work. But I believe the pattern of the New Testament was that as God called men to preach the gospel, they ought to go anywhere and everywhere that they were led by the Holy Spirit and that God's people ought to prayerfully support them and support them from a financial standpoint when the occasion required. I visited with several well-known primitive Baptists in 1958 before I asked for a home, and every one of them that I asked agreed wholeheartedly. We believe that wherever a man is impressed of the Spirit of God to go preaching the gospel, he ought to go. I said, suppose he feels the burden to go overseas. He ought to pack his bags and go. No matter where it might be, to the distant parts of the earth. I said, I want to be sure that primitive Baptists are not opposed to that. Absolutely not. We're not opposed to it. Now, it did concern me that nobody was going at that time, but I was glad they were willing to go if the occasion did arise. But the thing that thrills me today is that we've got a marvelous work going on in the Philippines. And I've traveled around the various islands there. a year and a half ago, met with so many humble, God-fearing people, faithful ministers of the Gospel, see their appreciation for the truth of God's grace, see God's great work there, talk to Brother Harder on a regular basis, hear about how God is continuing to bless, how thrilled I am with it. When I talk to Elder Gula and keep up with the work that's going on there, just stand in amazement as to how they go out in the public places and begin to preach, and people who are brought up in the Hindu religion begin to give ear to it. And in spite of the persecution that they encounter when they're baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, having to be rejected by family and friends, you say, how great that God is doing that work in our day. You hear about the work going on in Africa, and now some of our brethren soon to go to Russia in response to a call there. How wonderful it is. Are we praying that God will bless these efforts? Are we praying that God will continue to open doors? What a privilege that we can have a part in it, if by nothing else but prayer, to be praying for God to prosper and bless it to the glory of His name. And even while we thrill at what is happening in these distant places, oh, how great the need is in our own country. In so many places there is a coldness and an indifference and a falling away. May we pray that the day of revival may yet come to us here in this country. But at a time when these disciples should have been praying, they had fallen asleep. Verse 41 says, Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And he went away again the second time and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.' And he came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. And he left them and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners." They miss something. They miss the special intimacy and joy of being there to pray with the Savior when He was headed to the cross. How much do we miss because we sleep when we ought to pray? How many joys are lost? How many blessings might be ours if we were diligent in our praying. If we're asleep, we're not utilizing the Word of God. We're not applying ourselves. We're not spending our time reading it as we should. Oh, I'm sure all of us fight the battle even with physical sleep sometimes. You've had a busy day and you come in at night and say, well, it's time for me to read the Scriptures. And you sit down to read and before you know it, your eyelids are heavy and you fall asleep. are so much asleep, so much indifferent to spiritual things that the attempt is not even made. Psalm 119, that psalm which says so much about the value of the Word of God. In verse 12, the psalmist says, Blessed art thou, O Lord, teach me thy statutes. Nine times in this lengthy psalm, the writer says, teach me, teach me, teach me. I want to learn. I want to know something. He didn't have the attitude that I've gotten at all. You know, some people feel that once I come to understand that salvation is by grace, I'm a graduate. I know everything I need to know. I know that. I'm in great shape. Well, it's wonderful. If a person has been confused about the issue and they thought that salvation was by free will and human effort, good works, and they discover that salvation is all of the Lord, it's by His sovereign grace, it's through Jesus Christ the Redeemer, that's a marvelous thing. But there's still an awful lot yet to learn. If you ever get to the place that you think you've learned about all you can handle, just start reading through the Bible, verse by verse, and see how many times you hit something that you don't understand. See how many questions are raised in your mind and say, well, I really wonder what that means. You see, I wish the preacher was here right now, I'd ask him. If he was there, he probably wouldn't know either, because there are some things that are difficult to understand. I don't know why it is people never ask me easy questions. They've always got these real hard ones to ask, you know. But the fact is, it doesn't matter how long we've been at it, how deep our study has been, there's much more to learn. And it's not just to learn it that we can be proud of the information that we have accumulated, but that we can apply it. It means nothing if we're looking into the looking glass, as James depicts it, and then turn aside and forget what manner of man we are. We're to look into the looking glass of God's Word so we can see our own failing sins and discrepancies and confess them and acknowledge them and bring about a change by the grace of God. You'll see many times people are really unwilling to learn. Ezekiel chapter 33 and the 32nd verse, it says that the prophet, as he spoke to the people, was as a lovely song. You know, with some people, as long as the preacher's kind of speaking at a steady pace, a lot of the content is lost, you know. So, well, the man's preaching, that sounds like preaching to me. I'm not sure what he's talking about, I'm not sure how it applies to me, but it sounds like preaching. I think of an old sister out in West Texas, came up to me after a meeting one time, bless her heart, she was way up near 100 years old. I can understand somebody like that falling asleep, but she said, Elder Bradley, I want you to know that I agree with everything you said, even that part while I was asleep. I was glad she had confidence to believe it even while she was asleep. I was still preaching the truth. I've seen people, you know, that drift off into church service and you say anything to them. I've never had anybody yet really admit that they fell sound asleep. It was always just rest in my eyes, just rest in my eyes. Well, some people are not ready to learn anything because the sound of the preacher is just like a lovely song. Well, I believe that. That was a good message. But by the time they walk out the door, no thought about how to apply it. Come to church on Sunday, say amen when somebody's preaching about a big God, a great God, a God of power. I believe that. And then next week when trouble comes, when a crisis strikes, it's as though all of that's forgotten. and began to respond out of fear and out of carnal reasoning just like anybody in the world would do, totally neglecting to apply what they claim to have believed. If we're asleep, then we're not working. Proverbs chapter 24 verse 30 to 34 describes the field of a slothful man. The wise man says, I passed by, I saw the field, the wall was broken down, so there was somebody at some time that thought this was a special field, cared enough for it to build a wall. But now the wall has been neglected, it has fallen down, the field has grown over with briars and nettles. And the man is sitting on the porch with his hands folded. A little sleep, a little slumber, so shall thy poverty come. You know that's a fact when it comes to natural things. The man that won't work ought not to eat. The man that is not diligent about caring for what he has, it's going to deteriorate. It's going to decline. And how true that is in spiritual things. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands, so shall thy poverty come. You go to sleep in spiritual matters. You fail to be alert and awake, zealous and diligent. sleepy-headed. Your eyelids are heavy. They begin to close. And after a time, you're drifting. You're drifting. Some are asleep because they're basically just satisfied with the status quo. Jesus gave some grave warnings about this in the third chapter of the book of Revelation, verses 17 He is talking about a church that is lukewarm, a church that is complacent, a church that says, we are rich and increased with goods and we have need of nothing. And He said, Thou knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and blind, and I count for thee to my eyeside that thou mayest see. Certainly we ought to be thankful for what we have. We can be grateful to God for all of the blessings and mercies that He showered down upon us. But if we become complacent, we are satisfied with the status quo, He says, ultimately, I'm warning you, I'm rebuking you, and I'm chastening you, but if you don't repent, I'll spew you out of my mouth. Now, I understand that sometimes this satisfaction with the status quo comes as a result of discouragement. You may have had a time when you were more zealous, a time that you were more prayerful, a time that you were more diligent in your labor, but you got discouraged. He said, you know, I'd love to see some new people come to our church. So you invited some people. Maybe you invited several people. And some of them told you they were going to come. And nobody ever did. And you said, that wasn't a bit fun. I think I'm going to give up on that project. I don't think I'm going to try to ask anybody anymore because nobody comes. Or maybe it went a step farther. Maybe it was somebody you worked with or some relative and you began to talk to them about the Bible. And you felt like, we're making real progress. I think this person is showing a deep interest in spiritual things. I think they're going to really like what we have in our church. And maybe they come. And they come for a few times, and then they find one thing they didn't like. It's all over. I think often the description that was given in the days of the judges, that every man did that which is right in his own eyes, that that's very descriptive of this day. You find people constantly looking for something, but if they find one little thing that doesn't quite suit their notion, on down the way looking for something else. That's discouraging. Believe it or not, preachers get discouraged as well as church members. You labor with somebody. You spend time with them. You just commit yourself to trying to help them, to give them guidance. You're praying for them. You're working with them. You feel like, surely, surely, God's at work in this matter. Surely we're going to see this person discharge their duty and follow the Lord Nothing happens. So finally you say, well, I kind of give up on this idea of growth if we can just hang in there and hold what we got, you know, if we can just maintain the status quo. Friends, you can't really do that because when you're just trying to stay where you are, you're really slipping backwards. It doesn't take long until you're going in the wrong direction. I thought of that a week ago today about how discouraging it is sometimes when you've labored with somebody and you've preached to them over a period of time. I felt like the Lord blessed me that morning to preach a sermon that I knew this brother sitting on about the next to last row where he usually sits. I don't know how many times I've thought today this man surely is going to come forward and confess his faith in Jesus Christ and be baptized. I've preached to him. I've talked to him. I've talked to him again. I've prayed for him. I've prayed for him over and over again, talked to him again, preached to him. He gives evidence in many ways of having had an experience of grace. I certainly don't want him to offer himself to the church if he hasn't, but it appears that he has. And why the man doesn't come, I don't know. I've been preaching to him for 40 years! And a week ago today, I thought, this sermon has got him. This man cannot walk out of this building today. He has to come down. I stood at the back door shaking hands with him. I decided he wasn't there. I thought, he can't be here, because if he'd been here, he would have come forward. And when he went out the door, I said, I didn't think you were here today. I said, I thought, sure, if you had been here, you would have been down to the front. He said, don't give up on me. I said, I'm getting close. It gets discouraging sometimes. But you see, we can't allow ourselves to drift into the complacent status quo attitude just because we're discouraged. Because right at the time we get discouraged on one point, there's a lot of encouragement that comes from another. I had a lady call me up a while back. She said, Elder Bradley, I've been listening to you on the internet. And I really like what I hear. So when I first started listening, somehow I failed to realize that you were local. She lives across the river over in northern Kentucky. And she said, I really like the way you preach the Bible. That's what I've been looking for. She said, can you recommend a church? I said, yes. Ours is 10 miles north of the Ohio River, and there's a nice interstate highway that will carry you from northern Kentucky over here. Well, that seemed like a long way. I said, we've got members that come every Sunday from northern Kentucky. Just come and see what you think. She came. and enjoyed it. And after a couple of other conversations, I said, let's set up a time. Let's meet in the office. Let's talk about things. She began to tell me her experience. She had been a Catholic nun. She was in a convent in the state of Florida. The whole purpose of this particular group of nuns was to concentrate on the reported sightings of the Virgin Mary. She said this was our entire work was to promote, advertise, call attention to what we believe were the sightings of the Virgin Mary. She said, they were grooming me to be in charge of that order. She said, God dealt with me forcibly. Made me realize I was in the wrong place. I was in absolute darkness and error. She said, I began to fear for my life if I didn't get out of there. And I left. She said, when I moved back to Northern Kentucky, I began to go from one church to another. And I'd go to one place and I'd say, this is no better than what I came out of. All I'm hearing here is tradition. All I'm hearing here is something that appeases man. I want to hear the Word of God. She said, that's what drew me to your messages. It was the Word of God. And so as we talked further and she began to express a willingness to follow Christ in true gospel baptism. I said, well, I don't want you to have any surprises. If you become a member of this church, I want you to be totally satisfied. I want you to understand exactly what we believe. So I gave her my little booklet on the doctrines of grace. I said, now you read that and then we're going to have another meeting and be sure you understand what we believe about sovereign grace. She came back. I said, did you have any problem with that? She asked, surprised, why would anybody have a problem with that? That's what the Bible taught. She said, I especially like that chapter on irresistible grace because that's the way it was with me. God just visited me. I didn't have anything to do with it. He just woke me up and made me realize I was in the wrong place and grew me by His grace. I had the privilege of baptizing her and she's such a joy. Every time she goes out the door, she says, That was such a blessing to me today. That just opened my eyes to something else. I said, see something more. Just don't end it. What we can learn, is it? And it's just a joy to see it. So we know that maybe we work, sow some seed over here in this field and nothing comes up, but maybe in an unexpected place God brings somebody in that we're trusting in. Well, there's a call to awaken. The Ephesian letter of the Apostle Paul says, Awake, thou that sleepest, arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. That's good news. If you've been asleep, now you wake up, and you're not going to be in the dark. Christ will give you light. Light to walk in, so that you can walk in the right path. We think about that call in the Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 52, reading in the first and second verses. Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion, put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for henceforth there shall no more come unto thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust, arise and sit down, O Jerusalem, loose thyself from the bands at thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion." Awake, awake. That's the call that comes to awake out of sleep. And what happens? God gives us light when we awake. In Isaiah chapter 58, He's talking about the need of them truly repenting, and says in verse 8, Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily, and thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward. Thou shalt call, and the Lord shall answer. Thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am, if thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and the speaking of vanity." What a time when you call and the Lord says, Here I am. You've been in the dark, but your light is going to break forth as the morning. You see, there's a reason to wake up. Our text says it's time to awake out of sleep. God sometimes calls us to awake by His Word. But there's also a time when we fail to heed that call that he calls us by chastisement. We become so deep in our sleep, so settled in our ways, so much at ease in Zion, that it's going to take the rod of correction to wake us up. And what a rude awakening that sometimes can be, when all of a sudden we're aware of the fact, as Job said, the hand of God has touched me. He may shake us to the core. He may wake us up with a start. But even in that, His purpose is a good purpose. Because whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. His purpose is to conform us more to His image, that we might be awakened to enjoy the fullness and richness of His blessing. There's work to be done. There's a battle raging. There's a race to be run. There's much to be accomplished. And in spite of the fact that the challenge is great and the culture in which we're living moves farther and farther away from the things of God, but God's hands are not tied. His ability is not limited. And so in keeping with our text in Romans 13 where he says, ìIt is high time to wake out of sleep the night as far spent the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness. Let us put on the armor of light.î Here he furthermore says, verse 13, ìLet us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof.î He says, you need to awaken, you need to walk honestly in the day, not in rioting, not in drunkenness, not in ungodly living, not even in strife and envy. Oh my, how God's people ought to stand as a united band today, not with strife among themselves, which hampers their success. but standing together in love and faithfulness to honor the Lord our God. It is time to wake up. How is it with you? Are you awake? Are you zealously serving God? May the Lord help us all to be diligent and committed in our service to Him, praying earnestly that He will pour out a blessing upon His churches across the land and around the world, that the name of Jesus Christ will be highly extolled and praised in this our time.