Sermon # 9 - Arise From Your Slumber Series

We read in Jonah 1:5-6, And the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god; and they cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it unto them. But Jonah was gone down into the innermost parts of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him: 'What meanest thou that thou sleepest? Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.' (JPS)

We as a church must realize that we are in a time, when the coming of Christ the bridegroom, to claim the church His bride is close at hand. All through the bible there are so many prophesies about the end times and most of these are being fulfilled, reminding us that the coming of the Lord is really near. This is therefore the time for us to be prepare ourselves, to receive the risen Lord in all His glory.

At this juncture, in the story of Jonah there was a tumultuous storm, and the entire crew were filled with dread. However, Jonah was oblivious to all of these calamities, and was fast asleep in the lower most part of the ship. The shipmaster who noticed this was confounded as to how someone could sleep through such a raging storm. The shipmaster must have been really upset to see such a sight that there was someone who was completely unconcerned about the terrible happenings on the ship, and could sleep through it all.

Woefully, the spiritual slumber of most believers, is truly a cause for wonder. Sleep is good for all of us, but it is a matter of concern if we do not know when we should sleep, and where we should be sleeping. I have observed some people in church, who will participate in the worship time enthusiastically, but when the word is preached they will go into deep sleep, and wake up once the sermon is over. I believe this is not a good sleep, because Satan is fully aware that if we know the Truth, the Truth will set us free and so he will do his best to bring a weakness over us which makes us sleep while the word is being shared.

A story is told of a man who was in such a slumber once during a service, and he was suddenly jolted out of his sleep. It seemed to him that the person next to him was standing up and so he immediately got up to his feet. When he stood up the entire congregation applauded him and he was totally confused, only later did he realize the reason for the applause. The pastor was thanking all those who agreed to donate the huge sum of money for the church building project. This man who was wide awake by now stood there, stunned and helpless. This may sound hilarious to us, but that is the consequence of unhealthy sleep.

Talking about this kind of apathetic sleep we can find some others in the bible experienced this too.

The sleep of weariness

We read in 1 Kings 19:5, And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. (KJV)

The prophet Elijah was a zealous prophet of the Lord. Elijah walked with God and wherever he went miracles followed. At one point when Elijah had won a great victory for the Lord at Mount Carmel and defeated the prophets of Baal, Queen Jezebel was so angered, that she issued a death threat to Elijah. Elijah was so depressed that he ran from Jezebel’s presence, and he told God that he could not handle this anymore. Elijah had come to the end of himself, and he even told God to take his life.

As Elijah lay under a juniper tree and slept, the angel of the Lord appeared to him and cheered him on to get up and eat. The Lord who saw the wearied prophet sent his angel, who stood in His presence, to aid and embolden the prophet.

There may be those of you who were vibrant and zealous for the Lord, serving Him fervently and walking with the Lord intimately. Maybe there were some circumstances, some Jezebel like people in your life, some challenges, fears that have overcome you so that you felt like giving up. The Lord encourages such that He will come to strengthen you, establish you for He is the one who called you and He is the faithful one. The same Lord who sent His angel to Elijah, is sending His word to awaken you out of your slumber and motivate you to move on. We will encounter those evil Jezebel like people and those Ahab’s who support the Jezebels, but we must be reminded that they are mere humans, and it is the Lord who called us to serve Him.