The Enchanted Ground 2
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II. This brings me to the second point, SOME CONSIDERATIONS TO WAKE UP SLEEPY CHRISTIANS.
I remember, once in my life, having a sleepy congregation; they had been eating too much dinner, and they came to the chapel in the afternoon very sleepy, so I tried an old expedient to rouse them. I shouted with all my might, "Fire! fire! fire!" When starting from their seats, some of the congregation asked where it was, and I told them it was in hell for such sleepy sinners as they were. So, beloved, I might cry, "Fire! fire!" this morning to waken sleepy Christians; but that would be a false cry, because the fire of hell was never made for Christians at all, and they need never tremble at it. The honor of God is engaged to save the downcast sheep, and whether that sheep is asleep or awake, it is perfectly safe, so far as final salvation is concerned. There are better reasons why I should stir up a Christian, and I shall use a very few of them.
And first, O Christian, awake from your slumber, because your Lord is coming. That is the grand reason used in the text. The apostle says, "You are all the children of light, and the children of the day." "Yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night." "You, brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief." O Christians, do you know that your Lord is coming? In such an hour as you think not, the man who once hung quivering on Calvary will descend in glory! "The head that once was crowned with thorns" will soon be crowned with a diadem of brilliant jewels! He will come in the clouds of heaven to his church. Would you wish to be sleeping when your Lord comes? Do you want to be like the foolish virgins, or like the wise ones either, who, while the bridegroom tarried, slumbered and slept. If our Master were to appear this morning are there not half of us in such a state that we should be afraid to see him? Why; you know, when a friend comes to your house, if he is some great man, what brushing and dusting there is. Every corner of the room has its cobwebs removed; every carpet is turned up; and you make every effort to have the house clean for his coming.
What! and will you have your house dusty, and the spiders of neglect building the cobwebs of indolence in the corners of your house when your Lord may arrive tomorrow? And if we are to have an audience with the Queen, what dressing there is! How careful will men be that everything should be put on aright, that they should appear properly in court dress!
Do you not know, servant of the Lord, that you are to appear before the king in his beauty, and to see him soon on earth? What, will you be asleep when he comes? When he knocks at the door, shall he have for an answer, "The man is asleep; he did not expect you?" Oh, no; be like men who watch for their Lord, that at his coming he may find you ready. Ah! you carnal professors, who attend plays and balls, would you like Christ to come and find you in the middle of your dance? Would you like him to look you in the face in the theater? Ah! you carnal tradesmen, you can cheat, and then pray after it. Would you like Christ to find you cheating?
You devour widows’ houses, and for a show make long prayers. You would not mind him coming in the middle of your long prayer; but he will come just at that poor widows’ house is sticking in your throat, just as you are swallowing the lands of the poor oppressed one, and putting in your own pocket the wages of which you have defrauded the laborer. Then he will come, and how terrible will he be to such as you! We have heard of the sailor, who, when his ship was sinking, rushed to the cabin to steal a bag of gold, and though warned that he could not swim with it, tied it about his loins, leaped into the sea with it, and sank to rise no more. And I am afraid there are some rich men who know not how to use their money who willsink to hell, strangled by their gold, hanging like millstones round their necks! O Christian, it shall not be so with you; but wake from your slumbers, for your Lord comes.
But again, Christian, you are benevolent; you love men’s souls, and I will speak to you of that which will touch your heart. Will you sleep while souls are being lost? A brother here, some time ago, rushed into a house which was burning, and he saved a person from it; he then returned to his wife, and what did she say to him? "Go back again, my husband, and see if you cannot save another. We will not rest until all are delivered." Methinks that is what the Christian man would say "If I have been the means of saving one soul, I will not rest until I have saved another." Oh, have you ever thought how many souls sink to hell every hour? Did the dreary thought that the death knell of a soul is tolled by every tick of yonder clock, ever strike you? Have you never thought that myriads of your fellow creatures are in hell now, and that myriads more are hastening there? and yet do you sleep? What! physician, will you sleep when men are dying?
Sailor, will you sleep when the wreck is out at sea, and the life-boat is waiting for hands to man it! Christian, will you tarry while souls are being lost? I do not say that you can save them- God alone can do that- but you may be the instrument; and would you lose the opportunity of winning another jewel for your crown in heaven? would you steep while work is being done? Sleepy Christian, let me shout in your ears -you are sleeping while souls are being lost! -sleeping while men are being damned! -sleeping while hell is being peopled! -sleeping while Christ is being dishonored! -sleeping while the devil is grinning at your sleepy face! -sleeping while demons are dancing round your slumbering carcass, and telling it in hell that a Christian is asleep! You will never catch the devil asleep; let not the devil catch you asleep. Watch, and be sober, that you may be always up to do your duty.
I have no time to use other considerations, though the subject is large enough, and I should have no difficulty in finding sticks enough to beat a sleeping dog with. "Let us not sleep as do others."
III. Now it may be asked, WHEN IS THE CHRISTIAN MOST LIABLE TO SLEEP? First, I answer, he is most liable to sleep when his temporal circumstances are all right. When your nest is well feathered you are then most likely to sleep; there is little danger of your sleeping when there is a bramble bush in the bed. When all is downy, then the most likely thing will be that you will say, "Soul, soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your rest, eat, drink, and be merry." Let me ask some of you, when you were more straitened in circumstances, when you had to rely upon providence each hour, and had troubles to take to the throne of grace, were you not more wakeful than you are now? The miller who has his wheel turned by a constant stream goes to sleep, but he that attends on the wind, which sometimes blows hard and sometimes gently, sleeps not, lest haply the full gust might rend the sails, or there should not be enough to make them go round.
Those who live by the day often sleep not by day, but they sleep in the night- the sleep of the beloved. Easy roads tend to make us slumber. Few sleep in a storm; many sleep on a calm night. He is a brave boy, indeed, who can have his eyes sleepy when "upon the high and giddy mast, in bosom of the rude imperious surge;" but he is no wonder who sleeps when there is no danger. Why is the church asleep now? She would not sleep if Smithfield were filled with stakes, if Bartholomew’s alarm were ringing in her ears; she would not sleep if Sicilian Vespers might be sung on tomorrow’s eve- she would not sleep if massacres were common now. But what is her condition? Every man sitting under his own vine and his own fig tree, none daring to make him afraid. Tread softly! she is fast asleep. Wake up church! or else we will cut down the fig tree about your ears. Start up! for the figs are ripe, they hang into your sleepy mouth, and you are too lazy to bite them off.
Now, another dangerous time is when all goes well in spiritual matters. You never read that Christian went to sleep when lions were in the way; he never slept when he was going through the river death, or when he was in Giant Despair’s castle, or when he was fighting with Apollyon. Poor creature! he almost wished he could sleep then. But when he had got half way up the Hill Difficulty, and came to a pretty little arbor, in he went, and sat down and began to read his roll. Oh, how he rested himself! How he unstrapped his sandals and rubbed his weary feet! Very soon his mouth was open, his arms hung down, and he was fast asleep. Again the Enchanted Ground was a very easy smooth place, and liable to send the pilgrim to sleep. You remember Bunyan’s description of some of the arbors: "Then they came to an arbor, warm, and promising much refreshing to the weary pilgrims; for it was finely wrought above head, beautified with greens, and furnished with benches and settles. It had also in it a soft couch, where the weary might can." "The arbor was called the Slothful’s Friend, and was made on purpose to allure, if it might be, some of the pilgrims to take up their rest there when weary." Depend upon it, it is in easy places that men shut their eyes and wander into the dreamy land of forgetfulness.
Old Erskine said a good thing when he remarked: "I like a roaring devil — better than a sleeping devil." There is no temptation half so bad as not being tempted. The distressed soul does not sleep; it is after we get into confidence and full assurance that we are in danger of slumbering. Take care you who are full of gladness. There is no season in which we are so likely to fall asleep as that of high enjoyment. The disciples went to sleep after they had seen Christ transfigured on the mountain top. Take heed, joyous Christian, good frames are very dangerous; they often lull you into a sound sleep.
Yet there is one more thing; and if I ever were afraid of anything, I should fear to speak before my grave and reverend fathers in the faith the fact that one of the most likely places for us to sleep in is when we get near our journey’s end. It is ill for a child to say that, and I will therefore back it up by the words of that great pilot John Bunyan: "For this enchanted ground is one of the last refuges that the enemy to pilgrims has, wherefore it is, as you see, placed almost at the end of the way, and so it stands against us with the more advantage. For when, thinks the enemy, will these fools be so desirous to sit down as when they are weary? and when so like to be weary as when almost at their journey’s end? Therefore it is, I say, that the enchanted ground is paced so near to the land Beulah, and so near the end of their race.
Wherefore let pilgrims look to themselves, lest it happen to them as it has done to these that, as you see, are fallen asleep, and none can awake them." May a child speak to those who are far before him in years and experience? But I am not a child when I preach. In the pulpit we stand as ambassadors of God, and God knows nothing of childhood or age; he takes whom he wills, and speaks as he pleases. It is true my brethren; thatthose who have been years in grace are most in danger of slumbering. Somehow we get into the routine of the thing: it is usual for us to go to the house of God; it is usual for us to belong to the church, and that of itself tends to make people sleepy. Go into some of your churches in London, and you will hear a most savory sermon preached to a people all sound asleep. The reason is that the service is all alike; they know when they have got to the third "Our Father which are in heaven," when they have passed the general confession, and when they have got to the sermon- which is the time to sleep for twenty minutes. If the minister should smite his ecclesiastic fist upon the Bible, or enliven his faculties with a pinch of snuff, or even use his pocket handkerchief, the people would wake up, because it would be something out of the usual course. Or, if he uttered an odd sentiment they might be aroused, and would probably think that he had broken the 59th commandment, in making some of the congregation smile.
But he never violates decorum; he stands the very mirror of modesty and the picture of everything that is orderly. I have digressed, but you will see what I mean. If we are always going on the same road we are liable to sleep. If Moab gets at ease, and is not emptied from vessel to vessel, he sleeps on, for he knows no change; and when years have worn our road with a rut of godliness, we are apt to throw the reins on our horse’s neck and sleep soundly.
IV. Now, lastly, let me give A LITTLE GOOD ADVICE TO THE SLEEPING CHRISTIAN.
But Christian, if you are asleep, you will not hear me. Will I speak gently, then, and let you sleep on? No I will not. I will shout in your ears, "Awake you that asleep! Arise from the dead and Christ shall give you light. Go to the ant, you sluggard, consider her ways and be wise. Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem. Put on your glorious array, you church of the living God."
What is the best plan to keep awake when you are going across the enchanted ground? This book tells us that one of the best plans is to keep Christian company, and talk about the ways of the Lord. Christian and Hopeful said to themselves, "Let us talk together, and then we shall not sleep." Christian said, "Brother where shall we begin?" And Hopeful said, "We will begin where God began with us." There is no subject so likely to keep a man awake as talking of the place where God began to save him. When Christian men talk together they won’t sleep together. Hold Christian company, and you will not be so likely to slumber. Christians who isolate themselves and stand alone, are very liable to lie down and sleep on the settle or the soft couch, and go to sleep, but if you talk much together as they did in old time, you will find it extremely beneficial. Two Christians talking together of the ways of the Lord will go much faster to heaven than one; and when a whole church unite in speaking of the Lord’s loving-kindness, verily beloved, there is no way like that of keeping themselves awake.
Then let me remind you that if you will look at interesting things you will not sleep- and how can you be kept awake in the Enchanted Ground better than by holding up your Savior before your eyes? There are some things, it is said, which will not let men shut their eyes if they are held before them.Jesus Christ crucified on Calvary is one of these. I never knew a Christian go to sleep at the foot of the cross; but he always said,
"Sweet the moments, rich in blessing,
Which before the cross I spend."
And he said too,
"Here I’d sit for ever viewing
Mercy’s streams in streams of blood."
But he never said "Here I would lie down and sleep," for he could not sleep with that shriek, "My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?" in his ears. He could not sleep with "It is finished! "going into his very soul.
Keep near to the cross, Christian — and you will not sleep!
Then I would advise you to let the wind blow on you; let the breath of the Holy Spirit continually fan your temples, and you will not sleep. Seek to live daily under the influence of the Holy Spirit; derive all your strength from him, and you will not slumber.
Lastly, labor to impress yourself with a deep sense of the value of the place to which you are going. If you remember that you are going to heaven, you will not sleep on the road. If you think that hell is behind you, and the devil pursuing you, I am sure you will not be inclined to sleep.Would the man-slayer sleep if the avenger of blood were behind him, and the city of refuge before him? Christian, will you sleep while the pearly gates are open, the songs of angels waiting for you to join them; a crown decorated with delight to be worn upon your brow? Ah, no!
Dearly beloved, I have finished my sermon. There are some of you that I must dismiss, because I find nothing in the text for you. It is said, "Let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober." There are some here who do not sleep at all, because they are positively dead! And if it takes a stronger voice than mine to wake the sleeper, how much more mighty must be that voice which wakes the dead! Yet even to the dead I speak; for God can wake them, though I cannot. O, dead man! do you not know that your body and your soul are worthless carrion; that while you are dead you lie abhorred of God; that soon the vulture of remorse will come and devour your lifeless soul, and though you have lived in this world these seventy years (perhaps) without God, and without Christ, in your last hour the vulture of remorse shall come and tear your spirit; and though you now laugh at the wild vulture that circles in the sky, he will descend upon you soon, and your death will be a bed of shrieks, howlings and wailings, and lamentations, and yells? Do you know more still, that afterwards that dead soul will be cast into Tophet; and as in the East they burn the bodies, so your body and your soul together shall be burned in hell?
Go not away and dream that this is a fantasy. It is truth. Say not it is a fiction: laugh not at it as a mere picture. Hell is a positive flame- it is a fire that burns the body, albeit that it burns the soul too. There is physical fire for the body, and there is spiritual fire for the soul. Go your way, O man, such shall be your fate. Even now your funeral pile is building, your years of sin have laid huge trees across each other, and see, the angel is flying down from heaven with a brand already lit! You are lying dead upon the pile! He puts the brand to the base thereof! Your present disease proves that the lower parts are kindling with the flame; those pains of yours are the crackling of the fire. It shall reach you soon old man- it shall reach you soon you poor diseased one; you are near death, and when it reaches you, you shall know the meaning of the fire that is unquenchable, and the worm that dies not. Yet while there is hope I will tell you the gospel. "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believes not shall be," mustbe "damned." He that believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, with a simple naked faith, comes and puts his trust in him, shall be saved, without anything else; but he that believes not shall inevitably- hear it, men, and tremble-he that believes not shall assuredly be damned.
P.S. It is frequently objected that the preacher is censorious: he is not desirous of defending himself from the charge. He is confident that many are conscious that his charges are true, and if true, Christian love requires us to warn those who err; nor will candid men condemn the minister who is bold enough to point out the faults of the church and the age, even when all classes are moved to anger by his faithful rebukes, and pour on his head the full vials of their wrath. If this be vile — we purpose to be viler still. — C. H. S.
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