Last week while on our way to Savannah, we stopped for the night and was getting settled into our room. Pat looked around and said, 'There's no clock in here!' That is unusual, but many hotels have a service that you can use that turns your telephone into an alarm clock. You simply dial in the time you wish to get up, and the phone will ring until you answer it the next morning. I told Pat to just request a 'wake-up call'. With that in mind, how often since September 11th have we heard the phrase 'this was a wake-up call to America'? It seems that I must have heard it a hundred times or more. And you know what? I agree with the statement. The tragic events on that day did serve as a wake-up call to many.
(1 Th 5:6) "Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober."
In our text tonight, the apostle Paul is giving us a spiritual 'wake-up call'. He is telling us to wake up, don't be caught sleeping! We are to be on guard duty…and you don't sleep while on duty!
Why is this so important? Because the lives of others depend upon our being alert. The same is true spiritually, only to a greater degree. The eternal destiny of others depends upon us. Let's not fall asleep!
I. What It Means To Be In A State Of Sleep
A. We are in a state of insensibility
1. When a man is asleep, he does not know what is going on around him.
2. Illustration of Randy and Car.
3. When a believer grows sleepy, we become unconcerned with what is going on around us.
a. Prayer isn't important anymore.
b. We can't seem to find the time to read the Bible or come to church.
c. The thought of a sinner perishing in hell no longer moves us.
B. We are subject to all sorts of illusions.
1. When we sleep, our sense of judgment is gone.
2. When we sleep, we fashion strange things in our head.
a. We may dream of being rich and powerful, but in reality we are poor and weak.
b. The dream world seems so real, but it is not.
c. Sometimes we wake up troubled because of what we have dreamed, only to be comforted when we assure ourselves that it was just a dream.
3. Spiritual sleep does not allow us to see things as they really are.
a. We fail to see the need of the world around us.
b. Jesus said to lift up our eyes and look upon the field that is ready for harvest.
c. The souls of men and women; boys and girls are hanging in the balance…and we can't see the reality of this truth.
C. We are in a state of inaction
1. No daily bread is earned by him that is asleep.
2. Nothing worthwhile is gained by those that sleep.
3. Many believers are inactive; they are on the sidelines doing nothing of eternal value.
a. Once it was their delight to teach a Sunday School class, but now they are asleep.
b. Once they were faithfully involved in the work of the church, but now they are just benchwarmers.
c. Once they sang in the choir, worked in the nursery, made calls and visits, but now they are asleep.
d. It is time for a wake-up call!
II. Why The Believer Should Stay Awake
A. Because the Lord is coming!
(Rom 13:11) "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."
1. He comes as a thief in the night, let us not be found sleeping.
(1 Th 5:1-2) "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. {2} For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night."
2. He comes at such an hour as we think not. Cf Luke 12:40
3. He will come in the clouds of heaven to gather His people.
4. When we are expecting company, do we not tidy up and clean our house.
5. We prepare for their arrival.
6. What activity will Jesus find us doing when He comes (watching or sleeping)
B. Because souls are being lost every moment.
1. Every moment people go out into eternity without Christ.
2. Every moment people are dying having never heard the Gospel.
3. Paul said, 'How shall they believe in him in of whom they have not heard.'
4. People need the Lord…while we sleep.
III. How to wake up and stay awake
A. Keep Christian company
1. Christians who isolate themselves are in danger of falling to sleep
2. Two Christians working together for the Lord will get more accomplished than one
B. Keep our vision clear.
1. It isn't possible to fall asleep spiritually while looking upon Jesus.
2. It is unlikely that we will fall asleep if we see the souls of others being cast into hell.
3. What are we looking at?
C. Stay busy.
1. My day would complain about his work on the assembly line.
2. Tale of two teachers and one sleepy boy:
a. Charles Bard - studying math
b. Jim Sewell - studying the Word
3. What is important in our life?
(1 Th 5:6) "Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober."