Are You A Sleepwalking Christian?

ARE YOU A SLEEPWALKING CHRISTIAN?

Eph. 5:14

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR:

1. Have you heard about the dog that sleepwalked into a PetSmart and told the attendant, “ZZZZ, I’m a cat. ZZZZ, I’m a cat.” The attendant responded, “Yes sir, you are a cat.”

2. The sleepwalking dog left and a patron said, “Why did you agree with him? That dog’s not a cat!!” The attendant replied, “You’re right, but my orders are to ‘Let sleeping dogs lie.’”

B. THESIS

1. Tonight we’re looking at a disorder that affects many Christians: they’re asleep and don’t even know it. Although they were ‘born-again’ years ago, they’ve reverted to their old lives and are no longer really living for Christ.

2. This message is entitled, “Are You A Sleepwalking Christian?” In this message we look at what spiritual sleepwalking is, the characteristics of such a person, and why it is so serious.

I. HOW DO PEOPLE ACT WHEN SLEEPWALKING?

A. WHILE THEY’RE SLEEPING, THEY MAY...

1. Get out of bed and walk around.

2. Have open eyes and appear to be awake.

3. May not remember later what they’ve done while asleep.

4. May do routine activities, such as getting dressed, talking or eating, leave the house, and even driving a car. [Mayo Clinic]

B. WHY THEY DO IT?

1. Usually they are in a dream-like state because they are sleep deprived or have been going through a stressful situation. They are trying to solve, while asleep, the things which so occupied their mind earlier. So during sleep they continue pursuing a solution even though they’re asleep.

2. HUMOR. A man stood up during the sermon and walked out of the church. After the service the man’s wife approached the Pastor. “Pastor, I can assure you that my husband meant no disrespect when he walked out during your sermon. You see, Frank has been sleepwalking since he was 5 years old!”

C. EXAMPLES OF SLEEPING-AWAKE PEOPLE IN THE BIBLE

1. The Apostles during the Transfiguration of Jesus were in a dream-like state, seeing and hearing, but seeming to be asleep (Luke 9:32).

2. The prophet Daniel, when receiving a great revelation, was in a dream-like state (Dan. 10:9).

3. Peter, when delivered from Herod’s prison by an Angel, walked two or three blocks before he woke up to himself (Acts 12:8-11). So the possibility of being asleep, yet carrying on partial activities, is clearly in the Bible.

II. HOW TO IDENTIFY SLEEPWALKING CHRISTIANS

A. CHRISTIANS CAN BE ASLEEP SPIRITUALLY

1. Jonah was disobeying God, fleeing from his assignment. The spiritual realm around him was greatly disturbed, but in his repudiation of the Spirit, he was unconscious of it. Amazingly, even the lost people around him were aware of it and rebuked him. (Jonah 1:6,10)

2. Paul told the Corinthians that some of them were spiritually asleep; “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” Eph. 5:14, Phillips. They seemed to be awake and were walking around, carrying on their lives – yet they were really sleeping, spiritually. They were sleepwalking their way through their lives.

B. CHARACTERISTICS OF PEOPLE WHO ARE ASLEEP

1. THEY’RE NOT ALERT TO DANGER. When I was a kid there was a girl in our neighborhood who sleepwalked. One of her parents got up at night and noticed the front door was ajar. They checked on the kids and found the girl’s bed empty. They began to look for her outside the house and found her laying in the street, asleep. She had no memory of how she got there. They came to the conclusion that she had sleepwalked. It was lucky a car hadn’t come along when she laying there, unaware of her danger.

Those who are asleep spiritually, like Samson in Delilah’s lap, aren’t aware of the danger that gathers around them. Satan still wants to kill, steal, and destroy us – even if we’re sleepy Christians! Don’t think that because you’re not walking with the Lord that Satan will leave you alone. No way!

2. THEY’RE OUT OF TOUCH WITH THEIR SALVATION. They’ve forgotten who they are, that they’re sons and daughters of God (James 1:24). They don’t act like they’re saved anymore. Peter says that they have forgotten “that they have been cleansed from their past sins” 2 Pet. 1:9. They’ve forgotten what Jesus has done for them!

3. THEY’RE DISTRACTED BY DREAMS. Spiritual realities have become unreal to them. This transitory world has become, for them, the only real world. So they’ve assumed its culture, priorities, and belief system. As far as eternity, they’re living in a dream, denying that what God has said is true.

4. THEY ARE INACTIVE. A sleeping person isn’t active in real life, only in dreams. Likewise, a sleeping saint doesn’t do anything for God, but only for the earth-life, which will pass away. There’s no reward for the passive, but there will be a serious punishment for those who neglect Christ’s commands (Mt. 24:48-50; 25:26; Lk. 19:22-23; Mt. 7:21).