This Is No Time For Sleeping

1 Thessalonians 5:5-9 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. [6] Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. [7] For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. [8] 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. [9] For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

The DNA of God is forward only. There is no reverse in God.

Never one time in the Bible do you find God going backwards.

Everything about God is forward motion

More, greater, forward, higher, deeper, passion, drive, reaching, stretching, pressing, hunger, and thirst. These are the words that express the attitude of God when it comes to the Christian Life.

I believe the sentiment, and the spiritual D.N.A. of the Christian life could be expressed in this one scripture

Exe 14:15 and the Lord said unto Moses, wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.

This is what I hear the Spirit of the Lord saying today. Tell the people to go forward.

I feel like most of the church world, is feeling today, just like the Israelites felt that day when they heard Moses speak those words to them.

They felt like Moses had lost his mind. First of all they were worn out physically, mentally, and emotionally. They were exhausted. And no doubt they were very disappointed in Moses, because it looked like he had led them into a trap. They no doubt felt just like multitudes are feeling today Drained, empty, wiped out, tired, and sleepy.

Every body needs a cheer-leader in their life, but lets be honest about it Sometimes the last thing you want is a cheer-leader.

Sometimes you dont want to cheer up. You dont want to be happy You want to be tired. You just want to sit down and mope. You want to be upset for awhile. You just want to sleep.

In the great classic Pilgrims Progress, one of the greatest threats to pilgrim and his companion hopeful, on their journey, was the enemy of sleep.

Let me read to you an excerpt from this great classic

"I then saw in my dream that they went till they came into a certain country, whose air naturally tended to make one drowsy if he came a stranger into it. And here Hopeful began to be very dull and heavy of sleep; wherefore he said unto Christian, "I do now begin to grow so drowsy, that I can scarcely hold up mine eyes; let us lie down here, and take one nap."

CHRISTIAN. "By no means, lest sleeping, we never awake more."

Hopeful. Why, my brother? sleep is sweet to the laboring man: we may be refreshed if we take a nap.

Christian. Do not you remember that one of the shepherds bid us beware of the Enchanted Ground? He meant by that, that we should beware of sleeping; wherefore let us not sleep as others, but let us watch and be sober.

Hopeful. I acknowledge myself in fault; and had I been here alone, I had by sleeping, run the danger of death.

This is one of the tactics the enemy is using against the church today He is wearing out the saints. The saints are becoming weary. And they are just looking for a soft place to go to sleep. Not to say that they are lazy, or that they are not great warriors, but they are tired.

The dictionary defines sleep as... a condition of body and mind that typically recurs for several hours every night, in which the nervous system is relatively inactive, the eyes closed, the postural muscles relaxed, and consciousness practically suspended.

It's interesting that when referring to going to sleep, you never hear phrases like... I leaped into sleep, or I jumped off to sleep.

But instead we use the phrases like he fell asleep, or I fall asleep.

The infererrence is that you don't overcome sleep, but sleep overcomes you gradually.

That's the battle we're in today, people are being overcome by sleep... the desire to just lay down and surrender to a spirit of slumber.

Like never before, we need the cheer-leaders, even if we dont want to hear them. We need to hear them thundering from the pulpits Wake up O sleepy heads, your journey is not over. Theres many more giants to be slain.

Joshua 13:1says... Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the Lord said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.