Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - May/94

Contributor - E. Matthew Kingswood

Title - Wake Up!

Topic - Awakening

I can still hear the voices of my parents ringing down the stairs like a clockwork alarm every morning, "Boys, time to get up". Even on the weekends, when we thought we deserved a few extra winks, the clarion call shattered our slumber. Sleeping-in was simply not tolerated. The thought of healthy young boys dreaming away the productive hours of the day repulsed Mom and Dad. Stories of being in the fields early enough to have to wait for sufficient light to begin work were evidence that they had learned this ethic first hand. While we often questioned the need for this "early-bird" mentality, our parents had plenty of Biblical authority to back them up. The book of Proverbs especially has much to say regarding the inevitable ruin of the sleep-loving sluggard. While many people have learned the dangers of hypersomnia (the opposite of insomnia) in the physical realm, they neglect the deadly peril of spiritual slumber. The late singer/songwriter Keith Green put it bluntly in his song "Asleep in the Light" when he wrote, "Jesus rose from the grave and you ... you can't even get out of bed."

When we in North America think about revival, our thoughts may turn to what transpired in the early eighteenth century in New England, to what is commonly called "The Great Awakening". Interestingly, for those who think revivals have little to do with Christians of the Reformed persuasion, it was a Dutch Reformed pastor in the Raritan valley area of New Jersey by the name of T. J. Frelinghuysen who was an instigating force in the Great Awakening.

The great theologian and preacher Jonathan Edwards, who chronicled much of what was happening at that time, repeatedly used the term "awakened" to describe the transformation in Christian and non-Christian alike that was sweeping across the land. In doing so he was simply echoing the call of the Apostle Paul. In Ephesians 5:14 we read,

"Wake up, 0 sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you". (CE Isaiah 60: 1)

Our tendency after reading such a verse may be to think of it initially, if not solely, as a general call to the unconverted who have yet to be called "out of darkness into His wonderful light: (I Pe. 2:9P.) Of course this is of primary importance, but the text also clearly deals with the problem of spiritual deadness as well as spiritual death. God's people in the world today are like the Hebrews in Goshen who had the blessing of light while the rest of Egypt was plunged into darkness. Are we to think that they drew their curtains or buried their beads under pillows to escape that light? The issue of revival or renewal has to do with the reality of being in the light of Christ and then living awakened, alert and sober lives as a result.

Are you awake? Are you making full use of the light? What does that mean? Essentially, it involves a vigorous pursuit and heightened awareness in the following areas:

1) The Lord of Light. It is the light of Christ. Renewal has to do with an increased knowledge of, affection and devotion to Jesus the Son of God and Saviour of His people. This is the verdict: if we love darkness rather than Jesus, the Light of life, we stand condemned already (Jn. 3:16ff). How much do you love Jesus?

2) The Vision of Light. Ephesians 5:8ff makes it clear that sin is to be exposed and completely abandoned. Living in sin, in spite of claiming to be a Christian, means we are nothing more than blind people groping around in darkness (I Jn. 2:1 1), people who will stumble into Hell rather than wipe the sleep out of their eyes and the sin from their lives. How clear is your sight?

3) The Word of Light. It is God's Word which is our light and lamp (Ps. 1 19:105). Read on in Psalm 1 19. God rejects those who stray from His Word and He discards them as dross (vv. I 1 8, 119). How well lit is your path?

4) The Walk of Light (Eph. 5:8). Every farmer knows the importance of light in producing a crop. Likewise, Christ's light is not intended solely for basking in but rather to produce the fruit of goodness, righteousness and truth (John 15: If, 10; Eph. 5:9). How fruitful is your life?'

"Five minutes until flag raising!" How often this was the cry of a counsellor at Camp Shalom, where the first challenge every day was rousing one hun( red or so drowsy, droopy campers from their cocoon-like sleeping bags. During certain weeks we were aided tremendously by the efforts of a certain trumpet player and his stirring instrument. Reveille would peel across the pond and into the ears of the torpid troops. Likewise, in the Old Testament, the Jews were roused by the blowing of the shophar, or ram's horn (Lev. 23:24). It was not, however, a call to rise from physical sleep but a call to self-examination and repentance. To this day, the Jews blow trumpets on Rosh Hashana (New Year) to mark the beginning of the Yomim Noraim or "Fearsome Days". These ten days preceding the Day of Atonement are to be characterized by a waking up from sin thorough repentance. For Christians the call comes not once a year but every day as we are reformed (renewed) according to God's Word.

"Get up ... NOW!" My parent's proposition was not negotiable. Likewise the call to awaken spiritually is urgent. We dare not think we have the luxury of a few extra winks gained by some sort of celestial snooze button. Listen to the words of Paul in Romans 13:1 1, "The hour h as come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed". The Church in Sardis was told, "Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die... But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you" (Rev. 3:2f).

The fact of the matter is that one day another trumpet will sound (I Cor. 15:52). For those living in the light it will be a call to glory but for those in darkness it will signal the beginning of an unspeakable torment worse than any nightmare.

My father taught me that a sleeping son was a disgrace (Prov. 10: 5). Are we a disgrace to our heavenly Father? Instead we should make "the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil" (Eph. 5:16). Dear brother or sister in Christ, wake up before you are rudely awakened.

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