Call To Wake Up

Opening illustration: Play video.

Introduction: THERE IS ALSO SPIRITUAL sleep. Notice Ephesians 5:14: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead." This verse is often spoken to sinners, but it was not written to sinners. Ephesians was never written to sinners. It is not a message to sinners at all, but a message to one of the best churches in the New Testament. Yet the writer says, "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." Some of the Ephesians were in a somnolent condition; that is, they were morally good but unenlightened. They were religious but unanointed.

It is perfectly possible for a good, faithful, loyal church member to be spiritually asleep--being in a spiritual state that parallels natural sleep. When your husband, your wife, your child, your relative, your friend or you go to sleep tonight, the fact that you are unconscious and out of the running for a while is not bothering you. You know that normally you will wake up again. You are not dead, but you are cut off from your environment, all but that which is reflex--breathing and a few other things. Likewise, it is possible to be a Christian, to be in the church and yet be asleep spiritually. Then you have to be wakened suddenly. You will probably be ashamed of yourself, angry with yourself, frustrated and disconcerted and say, "What's the matter with me? All this time I was almost awake, but not quite."

I hope some of you will agree with me that it is of far greater importance that we have better Christians than that we have more of them! If we have any spiritual concerns, our most pressing obligation is to do all in our power to obtain a revival that will result in a reformed, revitalized, purified church.

Each generation of Christians is the seed of the next, and degenerate seed is sure to produce a degenerate harvest; not a little better than but worse than the seed from which it sprang.

What does God desire us to wake up from?

1. From DARKNESS to LIGHT (vs. 8-10)

Note that he doesn’t say that they once lived in darkness. He says instead that they “were once darkness.” Darkness wasn’t external but internal—it penetrated to the core of their being. But Christ has reversed that, so that they are light—so that light now illuminates their lives all the way to the center.

Keep in mind that darkness can never dispel light. It always works the other way around. Light always dispels darkness. Light always wins.

Light and darkness are often used in both Old and New Testaments as metaphors for good and evil—chaos and order—danger and security—joy and sorrow—truth and untruth—life and death—salvation and condemnation.

Now Paul calls these Ephesian Christians to “walk as children of light.” In other words, he is challenging them to ensure that their lives reflect their true character—as “children of light.”

This counsel would not be needed if it were impossible for these Ephesian Christians to revert to their old ways—to backslide into darkness instead of walking in the light. The tempter never sleeps, so the Christian life requires eternal vigilance. The Light can expose the things done in the darkness.

I remember dining at a restaurant that had “atmosphere,” and by that they seemed to mean that they turned the lights down low. It was one of those restaurants with the ceiling painted black and some creative lighting techniques. For some reason, I was back at the same restaurant during the off hours when they had the lights turned up fully. I was surprised at how different the place looked. And even more, I was surprised to see that there was dirt in the corners. The darkness had covered up the dirt!

Jesus has the same effect on us. When His Light comes into our lives, He exposes our hidden ways of shamefulness.

Jesus put it this way: “But there is nothing covered up, that will not be revealed, nor hidden, that will not be known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light. What you have spoken in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops” (Luke 12:2-3).

What is called or is a form of life that is out in the open, transparent before God. But the good news is that the Light has power.

2. From UNFRUITFULNESS to FRUITFULNESS (vs. 11-13)

A fig tree will bear figs, just as a grape vine will yield grapes and an olive tree will bear olives. “Each tree is known by its own fruit. For people don’t gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush” (Luke 6:44). In like manner, “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings out that which is good, and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings out that which is evil” (Luke 6:45).