Latest / Reformed Thinking / Wake Up! Wake Up! (Romans 8:11) | Charles Spurgeon

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Wake Up! Wake Up! (Romans 8:11) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

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Imagine you are lying in bed, right?
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You were fast asleep and suddenly the smoke alarm down
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the hall just starts shrieking. Oh yeah, that harsh, loud noise.
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Yeah, that metallic Blair that is designed to completely jolt
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you out of unconsciousness. But instead of leaping up, you
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just pull the covers over your head.
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You just roll over. Right, you just roll over.
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You mumble to yourself that, well, the house has always been
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safe. The builder guaranteed the
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foundation. So you tell yourself the
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structure is totally secure. Yes, and that there is zero
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reason to panic. You are not worried about the
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building collapsing at all. So you just close your eyes and
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go back to sleep. You completely ignore the
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deafening noise right outside your door, that image of a
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person who is entirely safe from the house falling down, yet
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disastrously ignoring the urgent alarms ringing right next to
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their ears. That sets the stage for our
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discussion today. It is a pretty startling mental
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picture. It really is welcome to reformed
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thinking. We are looking at a fascinating,
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somewhat shocking piece of history today.
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We are examining an 1800s sermon, right?
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Yes, delivered by the British preacher Charles Spurgeon, the
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title of this address is Wake Up, Wake Up.
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And it is based on a specific verse from the Christian
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scriptures, Romans 13.11. Right our mission for this deep
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dive is to examine what spiritual sleep actually looks
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like, specifically for people who already believe they are
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safe. We.
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Want to understand why waking up is a matter of absolute urgency
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and you know, not just some casual suggestion for self
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improvement? OK, let's unpack this.
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The text we are looking at is super clear about who the
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audience is. Yeah, we are not talking about
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people who have never heard the message of Christianity.
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Right, we are talking about the insiders.
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But before we get into the actual symptoms of this sleep,
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could you maybe set the historical and biblical context
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for us? I would love to.
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Like who is this letter to the Romans addressing in the
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specific chapter, and why does that change how we read
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Spurgeon's warnings? Well, the context is absolutely
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vital here. In the book of Romans, the
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apostle Paul spends the first several chapters meticulously
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laying out the theological framework of justification by
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faith. He does a lot of heavy lifting
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early on. He.
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Really does he explains how humanity is separated from God
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and how individuals are brought into a right relationship with
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God? And that happens not by their
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own efforts, but through faith in Jesus Christ, right?
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Spot on. So by the time we reach Chapter
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13, Paul has shifted from the theological side to the highly
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practical side of things. He is addressing believers now.
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Yes, people whose status before God is already settled, They are
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justified. They're considered righteous.
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So when we get to Romans 13.11 and Paul says it is high time to
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awake out of sleep, he is speaking to the church in Rome.
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Exactly. I mean, these are people who are
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spiritually alive, but they have fallen into a state of severe
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sluggishness. And Spurgeon picks up on this
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distinction with laser precision in his sermon.
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He. Clarifies right out of the gate
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that he is not addressing the ungodly.
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He is not speaking to those who are spiritually dead.
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He's speaking to the living who are slumbering.
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Which completely changes the tone of the whole address.
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It really does. Spurgeon explicitly states that
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a believer's salvation is never in jeopardy.
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Even if they are sleeping, they have not ceased to be
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Christians. Right, they are not suddenly
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castaway or treated as reprobates.
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Therefore, Scurgeon argues, it is doctrinally incorrect to
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threaten these slumbering believers with the fires of
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hell. Or the wailing of the lost
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right. This is a very striking phrase
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to illustrate this. Oh I love this quote.
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He says the whip is for the slave, not for the child.
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The dread of punishment is for the condemned, not for the
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justified. Yeah, in the theological
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framework Spurgeon operates within, using the terrors of the
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law to motivate a justified St. is completely inappropriate.
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It is a total misunderstanding of how grace functions.
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The motivation to wake up cannot be the fear of damnation.
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Because that danger is passed and gone for the believer.
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Right. Instead, the motivation must
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come from a place of loving, fatherly discipline.
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God is speaking to his children, sharply perhaps.
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But without a trace of the threatening wrath that belongs
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to those who reject the Savior. I have to stop you there though,
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because that sounds kind of contradictory to a lot of modern
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sensibilities. How so?
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Well, if the text says their salvation is secure, why is Paul
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yelling at them to wake up? That is a fair question.
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If the house isn't burning down, just let them sleep.
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What is the actual harm? Right.
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People think if the consequence isn't total ruin, why bother?
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Yeah. To put it in a different
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context, imagine a sports scenario.
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OK. I am tracking with you.
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Think of a star athlete, right? Someone who has already secured
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their spot on the roster. They have the guaranteed
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contract. Yes, they are on the team, but
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lately during practice they are just slacking off.
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Just jogging through the drills. Jogging through drills, missing
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assignments, showing zero hustle.
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Now the coach sees this. The coach isn't going to be
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happy. No, but the coach does not walk
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over and threaten to tear up the contract and kick them off the
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team entirely. Because the athletes spot on the
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roster is secure. Exactly.
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I mean, yeah, but the coach does get in their face, perhaps quite
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sharply. And demands that they wake up.
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Yes, the coach demands that they play to their established
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potential, that they respect the jersey they are wearing.
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And that they contribute to the team's goals.
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The discipline is fierce, but it is rooted in the athletes secure
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identity as a team member, not the fear of being fired.
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If we connect this to the bigger picture, your sports analogy
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captures the dynamic brilliantly.
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You think it holds up? Definitely.
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The overarching theme here is justification by faith.
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Once a person is accepted into that relationship, the status
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does not change. They are adopted.
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The contract is sealed, to use the analogy.
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But the behavior must align with the status.
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The grace that secures their position is the very same grace
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that demands their active participation.
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So if an athlete is on the team but refuses to play, they are
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mocking the privilege of their position.
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Yes. Similarly, if a believer is
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saved from death and indifference, but chooses to
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live in a state of spiritual sluggishness, well, they are
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acting in a way that is entirely incongruous with their new
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nature. Spurgeon asks what right to
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believers have to be asleep at all.
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They have been delivered from the sleep that is the first
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cousin to death. They have been given light.
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He actually uses the biblical imagery of the wise virgins who
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went out to meet the bridegroom. Oh right, the ones who had oil
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in their lamps. Yeah, they had light.
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It would be totally absurd for them to go to sleep while their
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lamps were burning. It would be.
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Insulting the dignity of the event they were waiting for.
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So the security of the believer does not grant permission for
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apathy. Not at all.
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Rather, it creates the strongest possible obligation for
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vigilance. Now that we understand who's
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being addressed, you know, secure children and not fearful
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slaves. The conversation logically
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shifts to what specific obligations these believers are
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ignoring. Right.
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What are they missing while they are dozing off in the light?
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This brings us to Spurgeon's critique of spiritual isolation.
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He observes that true godliness begins with individual
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conviction. Yes, but it becomes intensely
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dangerous when believers draw a line around themselves and
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ignore the outside world. They focus entirely on their
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internal spiritual state. They think their chief business
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is just indoor work, you know? And they become completely blind
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to the realities facing humanity around them.
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That idea of drawing a line around yourself is vivid.
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It really paints a picture. It is like building a fortress
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where you were safe inside and you just pull up the drawbridge.
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You are individually secure, but you have cut yourself off from
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the rest of humanity. And Spurgeon gets remarkably
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pointed when he diagnosis how some believers justify this
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isolation. He does not hold back.
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He talks about how they actually misuse theology to make
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themselves comfortable with their apathy.
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He critiques those who drug themselves with the doctrine of
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divine sovereignty. They look out at a world full of
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lost and hurting people and they say coolly, well, what is to be
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will be. And the Lord's purpose will be
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fulfilled. They literally use the
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sovereignty of God as an anesthetic.
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Spurgeon says they talk about human perishing as if they were
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talking about a wasp's nest. That imagery is chilling a
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wasp's nest. It is because a wasp's nest is
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just a nuisance. You might feel a little bad
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destroying it, but it certainly does not keep you up at night.
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You definitely do not mourn over a wasp's nest.
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Spurgeon is calling out people who have let their theology turn
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their hearts to stone. It is a stark contrast to the
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historical Jesus. When you read the accounts of
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Jesus, you do not see a cold fatalist.
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Not at all. You see Jesus looking out over
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the city of Jerusalem and weeping.
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He is literally crying over the city because they rejected
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peace. He felt intense, agonizing
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sorrow over lost souls. So if using sovereignty as an
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excuse for apathy is the wrong way, how should a proper view of
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divine sovereignty actually function?
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That is a great point to clarify.
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Like how do we hold on to the belief that God is in control
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without turning into cold statues?
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And why do humans even gravitate toward this kind of fatalism in
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the first place? Right, it seems so backwards.
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Well, the gravitation toward fatalism is actually a
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recognized psychological defense mechanism.
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Really a defense mechanism? Yes, humans are not naturally
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equipped to carry the psychological weight of the
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world's suffering. That makes sense.
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There's just so much of it. When a person looks at the sheer
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volume of brokenness, addiction, despair, and spiritual
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destitution around them, it causes intense cognitive
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dissonance. Because on one hand, they
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believe they are called to love their neighbor.
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But on the other hand, the task is overwhelmingly large.
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Their individual efforts seem minuscule.
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So to resolve this internal conflict without actually doing
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the hard work of engaging, what do they do?
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The human mind reaches for a theological sedative.
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The doctrine of divine sovereignty gets hijacked for
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this purpose. The believer tells themselves,
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well, God is sovereign, He will accomplish his will.
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Therefore, my lack of action is not a tragedy.
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This resolves the cognitive dissonance, but it does so by
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killing compassion. And that is the crucial tension
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Spurgeon is addressing. He is vehemently arguing that
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recognizing God's sovereign will should never kill human
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compassion. True doctrine should ignite
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action, not extinguish it. For Spurgeon, understanding that
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God has a purpose should provide the confidence to act.
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Knowing that your efforts are not in vain.
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Precisely. But the moment you use that
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doctrine to say God will handle it so I do not have to care, you
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have perverted the teaching. You have turned to truth meant
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to bring comfort and courage into a sedative.
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This fatalism is a dangerous slumber.
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It allows a person to see drunkenness, blasphemy and
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brokenness in their community and view it simply as a matter
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of course. Or as a necessary evil rather
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than an absolute tragedy that demands a response.
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In the judgment of those who think a right, as Spurgeon
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notes, one of the finest traits in a Christian's character is
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the sorrow they feel over souls that are lost.
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And the great longing that men would find peace.
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To look at the suffering and spiritual destitution of the
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world without a single tear, without a sleepless night.
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And to blame that coldness on theology that is a severe
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symptom of spiritual sleep. It is an alienation from the
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spirit of love and completely contrary to the mind of Christ
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who wept over Jerusalem. I want to turn this directly to
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you, the listener, for a moment. It is good time for a gut check.
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Have you ever used a theological concept, or even just a
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philosophical belief about how the world works, as an excuse to
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avoid a difficult conversation or a demanding action?
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That is a heavy question to consider.
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Have you ever looked at a broken situation in your community or a
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friend making destructive choices and thought, well,
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everything happens for a reason? Or it is out of my hand?
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Simply because it was easier than getting involved and
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getting your hands dirty. It is a very human tendency to
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use high minded ideas to justify our own desire to stay
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comfortable and uninvolved. It is a way of drugging
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ourselves, just as Spurgeon described.
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But fatalism and theological excuses are just one way
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believers fall asleep. Spurgeon acts like a spiritual
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physician here. He does, and he diagnosis 3
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specific, varied types of slumber that can overtake people
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who think they are wide awake. He outlines the dead sleep
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toward others, the OFT recurring sleep, which is like sleeping in
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fits and starts. And finally, somnambulism or
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sleepwalking. Let's look into the first one,
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the dead sleep. We touched on it a bit with the
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fatalism, but it goes deeper. Yeah, it goes into a total
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numbness to societal sin. Spurgeon mentions believers
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seeing things like drunkenness or Sabbath breaking.
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And instead of being chilled by it, they just shrug.
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They view it as a normal, necessary evil.
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They are completely desensitized to the tragedy happening right
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in front of them. Is as if their spiritual nerve
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endings have completely died. What causes that level of
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desensitization though? Well, the dead sleep is
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characterized by a complete lack of emotional and spiritual
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responsiveness. The person is alive to
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themselves. They know they are secure.
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But they are dead to the environment around them.
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They have lost the capacity to be shocked or grieved by what
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grieves God. And this level of
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desensitization does not happen overnight.
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No, it is the result of prolonged exposure without a
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deliberate counteractive spiritual practice.
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Just as a physical body builds A callus over an area of constant
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friction. The human conscience builds a
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callus over areas of constant moral failure if it is not
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routinely sensitized by truth. The believer in a dead sleep
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sees a culture drifting away from truth and feels absolutely
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nothing. Then Spurgeon moves to the
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second diagnosis. The fitful sleep or the OFT
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recurring sleep? This is the napping believer.
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We have all seen this pattern, perhaps even in ourselves.
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Spurgeon describes a person who falls asleep, but if you nudge
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them, they wake up. They listen for a moment and
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then drop right back off. He gives a highly relatable
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example of a believer attending a missionary meeting.
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Oh, this example is so sharp. During the meeting they hear the
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cry of the perishing heathen. Their conscience is pricked.
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They wake up. They feel an intense urge to go
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out into the street and tell people about Christ.
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They are so moved that they empty their pockets into the
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offering plate before leaving the building.
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But then Spurgeon asks the piercing question.
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Have they cared much about those millions of people since that
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night? And the answer is usually no.
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The ardor evaporates. The enthusiasm was entirely
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dependent on the external stimulus of the rousing speech.
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Once the speech ended, they went right back to sleep.
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They have fits and starts of wakefulness.
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Sometimes their soul seems on fire.
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And you would think they were ready to be a missionary
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themselves. But wait until the special
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services are over and they descend back into depths of
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stupidity and indifference. They get through their religious
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duties in a dry, dull fashion. The cyclical pattern of being
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emotionally stirred and then immediately reverting to apathy
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is a dangerous form of slumber. Because the brief moments of
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wakefulness trick the person into thinking they are genuinely
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active. When in reality they are
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spending the vast majority of their time asleep.
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They are subsisting on emotional sugar highs rather than steady,
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sustainable spiritual and nutrition.
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That fitful sleep is deceptive because you can point to those
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moments of intense emotion and say, look, I care.
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I emptied my pockets. I cried during the music.
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But the bass line is still slumber.
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The emotional high masks the underlying apathy.
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It really does. Here's where it gets really
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interesting, though. OK, let's hear it.
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The third type of sleep Spurgeon diagnosis is perhaps the most
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unnerving. He calls it somnambulism or
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sleepwalking. He describes people who are
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doing a great deal for their Lord and master, but they are
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entirely asleep while doing it. If you judge them by their
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outward actions, they seem wide awake.
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They are careful, exact and prudent, but it is all
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mechanized. He gives this incredibly
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specific anecdote about a congregation singing hymns.
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Yes, he noticed people dropping down into their pews at the end
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of a verse, sitting down early, completely forgetting there was
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a chorus coming. And why did they do that?
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Because they were not actually engaging with the words they
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were singing. They were acting purely out of
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habit. It was muscle memory.
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I think of a modern analogy for this highway hypnosis or being
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on autopilot. Oh, that is a fantastic
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comparison. Have you ever driven a familiar
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route, Maybe your commute home from work, and you pull into
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your driveway, put the car in park, and suddenly realize you
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have absolutely no memory of the last 15 minutes of the drive?
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Yes, you stopped at the red lights.
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You stayed in your lane. You made the turns.
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But your mind was 1,000,000 miles away.
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You were operating a heavy machine safely, but you were
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functionally unconscious to the journey.
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That is what Spurgeon is saying can happen to our spiritual
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lives. We can go through all the
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motions, teaching, giving, praying.
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Without engaging our minds or our hearts at all, we are just
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steering the car out of sheer repetition.
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What's fascinating here is how dangerous this looks from the
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outside, precisely because it appears so safe.
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Right, A person in a dead sleep is obviously inactive.
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A person in a fitful sleep is inconsistent, but the
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sleepwalker appears perfectly devout.
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They maintain the habits of family prayer.
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They contribute punctually. They attend the gatherings.
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Yet. All these duties are performed
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with the sleepwalking life. The major part of the faculties
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of the soul are still steeped in slumber.
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Spurgeon points out that sleepwalkers can sometimes
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navigate giddy heights safely. Places where a wide awake person
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might falter. Simply because they are unaware
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of the danger. But this lack of awareness means
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they're entirely missing the reality of what they are doing.
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They read the texts, but the words do not burn like crystal.
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They nod over the promises and the precepts.
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The life is there in the text, but the reader is asleep.
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When a believer is functioning on autopilot, they may not be
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causing overt harm, but they're failing to experience the divine
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delight. And the seraphic fire that
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should accompany their actions. They are missing the whole point
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of their own faith. This raises an intense dilemma.
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What is that? How does a modern person measure
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if they are sleepwalking? Right.
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If the outward actions of a sleepwalker and a wide awake
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believer are identical, what is the metric for wakefulness?
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The metric is internal engagement.
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It is the presence of active, conscious affection toward God
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while performing the duty. The antidote to sleepwalking is
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not to stop performing the duties then.
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No, it is to force the mind to chew on the reality behind the
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action. When you pray, are you
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considering the majesty of the entity you were addressing, or
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are you reciting a grace three list of requests?
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When you participate in corporate worship, are you
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contemplating the theological weight of the lyrics?
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Or are you just waiting for the chorus to end so you can sit
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down? Spurgeon's warning here is
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severe because sleepwalking creates a false sense of
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security. The person thinks they are fine
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because their attendance record is perfect while their soul is
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starving. That is a terrifying thought.
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It really wakes you up, doesn't? It the idea that you could be
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sitting in a Pew doing everything right on paper and be
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completely dead inside. It forces a radical self
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examination. If my salvation is secure, but
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my current practice is just a mechanized routine, then I am
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wasting the very life I claim to have been.
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Given it is like being handed the keys to a high performance
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sports car and you only ever push it down the driveway in
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neutral. You own the car, but you are not
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experiencing what the car was built to do.
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That is a sad way to live. So wait, if sleepwalking is so
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comfortable and my salvation is secure anyway, why shouldn't I
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just stay on autopilot? What is the actual harm you
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mean? Yeah, I am not hurting anyone.
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I am paying my tithe. I am singing the songs.
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If the house isn't burning down, why does Spurgeon insist I need
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to wake up right this second? Well, the harm lies in the
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nature of reality itself, specifically the reality of time
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and opportunity. OK, let's look into that.
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A person on autopilot is incapable of responding to
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sudden, vital changes in their environment.
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Having diagnosed these three conditions, the dead sleep, the
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fitful sleep, and the sleepwalking, Spurgeon pivots
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aggressively to the arguments for waking up.
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His primary argument is rooted in the urgency of time.
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He declares that believers have no right to sleep because
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opportunities are vanishing at an alarming rate.
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When you are asleep, you cannot interact with the world.
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You cannot fulfill the obligations placed upon you.
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Spurgeon breaks this down by demographic, showing how urgency
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applies to every stage of life. He points out that older
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believers have very little time left to accomplish anything.
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If you are in the evening of life, your time is scanty.
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And every remaining hour should be spent with utmost diligence.
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The sun is setting and the work of the day is not finished.
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For young believers in the prime of their days, he warns them
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that their life is rushing on like a rapid stream.
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They possess vigor and energy now, but that energy is
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fleeting. If they do not work now, when
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will they? The illusion of limitless time
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is a byproduct of sleep. A waking person sees the clock
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ticking. They see the sands falling
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through the hourglass. He presses the urgency so hard
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here. He has to.
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It is a matter of life and death for those around them.
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It is not about missing out on a feeling of joy, It is about
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missing fleeting moments that will never return.
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The most compelling part of this section for me is when he talks
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about the specific people around us who are slipping beyond our
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reach. He gives 3 heart wrenching
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examples. First children.
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He notes that children grow out of their plastic moldable stage
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quickly. If you do not dye the twig while
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it is a twig, you will not do much with it when it becomes a
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tree. Parents blink and suddenly their
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children are independent and less amenable to counsel.
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Second, he mentions servants leaving a household.
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Today we might think of Co workers or employees.
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He tells of servants who left a religious household thinking
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religion was a miserable thing. Because the Master kept it all
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to himself and never showed them the joy of it.
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The master was secure, but his silence caused his employees to
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walk away with a distorted view of truth.
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And third friends passing away. The intense sadness of delaying
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a visit or conversation with a sick friend.
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Only to hear the knell tolling and realize they are gone into
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eternity. And your regrets are entirely
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useless. These opportunities are slipping
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away every single day. To capture how fast we have to
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act, he uses a striking hunting analogy.
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He talks about shooting a running deer.
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He says that people's consciences are only open for
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split seconds. When someone is cowed by
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adversity or saddened by affliction, they might be
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amenable to a friendly word that they would usually resent.
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But you have to be sharp sided. The deer is running by.
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If you are not wide awake and ready to take the shot at that
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exact moment, the opportunity is gone forever.
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You cannot ask the deer to stop and wait while you wake up and
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load your rifle. The running deer analogy
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captures the fleeting nature of human receptivity so well.
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It really does. In psychological terms, a
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person's window of tolerance for new, challenging information is
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often quite narrow. When an individual experiences a
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crisis, a sudden loss, a health scare or a major life
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disruption, their normal defensive structures are
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temporarily lowered. Their worldview is shaken in
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that brief window. They're asking questions they
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normally ignore. They are the running deer.
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If a believer is asleep, focused only on their internal state, or
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walking on autopilot, they will miss the subtle cues that
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indicate a person's conscience is open.
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The broader concept Spurgeon is expanding upon here is the
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ticking clock. The gospel dispensation is far
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along. It is daylight.
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But there is a darker reason for urgency as well.
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The adversarial forces are never asleep.
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Spurgeon makes a historical reference to the devil and
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Jesuitism always being awake. Contrasting the enthusiastic
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service of Satan's followers with the cold, dead, alive rate
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at which believers often operate.
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Now, as impartial observers of this text, we recognize that
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Spurgeon was using the specific 19th century religious framing
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of his day to motivate his Protestant audience.
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He used the socio religious tensions of his era to make a
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point. However, looking past the
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specific historical naming, the broader timeless principle he is
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establishing is that adversarial forces, whether spiritual,
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cultural, or ideological, are perpetually active.
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While men sleep, the enemy comes and sows tears among the wheat.
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If believers are sluggish, the adversary has unimpeded
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opportunity to scatter evil grain.
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The Opposition is entirely dedicated to its destructive
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work. Making the slumber of the
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believer not just a personal loss, but a tactical disaster.
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The clock is ticking, the daylight is burning, the
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opposition is maneuvering, and the deer is running past every.
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Element of reality demands wakefulness.
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You cannot participate in a dynamic, high stakes environment
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while you are pulling the covers over your head.
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I want to pause on that thought and ask you, the listener, to
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consider your own surroundings. It is a vital application.
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Who is the running deer in your life right now?
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Who do you know that is currently experiencing a moment
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of adversity, a shift in their circumstances, or a crack in
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their usual armor? Maybe a Co worker who just
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received bad news or a neighbor who is struggling.
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Their conscience, their heart, might be receptive in a way it
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has never been before. Are you awake enough to notice?
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Are you sharp sided enough to step in with a word of comfort
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or direction? Or are you too busy sleepwalking
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through your own routine to even see them passing by?
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It is a heavy question. It requires a level of
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situational awareness that most of us lack on a typical Tuesday
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morning. But Spurgeon does not leave us
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only with the fear of missed opportunities in active
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adversaries. Right.
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He shifts gears toward the end of his address to provide a
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glorious positive motivation for staying alert.
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He moves from the fear of what we might miss to the thrill of
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what we are approaching. And this leads us into the final
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major point of the sermon, which is drawn directly from the
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second-half of Romans 13.1. On for now is our salvation
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nearer than when we believed. This is where Spurgeon moves
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from the admonition of a coach to the anticipation of a
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traveler nearing home. The ultimate motivation for
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waking up is chronological reality.
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Final salvation, which includes heaven and the complete final
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deliverance from all sin and death, is literally closer right
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now than it was at the moment the person initially believed.
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He asks the audience, How long has it been since you believed?
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10 years? 25 years?
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50 years. Then you are that many years
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nearer to the ultimate display of your deliverance.
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The closer one gets to this destination, the more sensitive
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they should be to its influence. And here Spurgeon unpacks A
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vital concept about the nature of heaven.
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He argues against the idea of heaven as a static resting
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place. He says it is not the dormitory
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of unconsciousness. It is a home of intense
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activity, life and energy, free from all fatigue and
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sluggishness. Therefore, if the Spirit is
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preparing the a believer for an act of heaven, the believer must
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practice that active life now. If you are getting ready for
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celestial company, you should be fuller of life, not sleepier.
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He urges the believer to throw all their strength into the
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little time that remains. To reap with a stronger arm.
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To pluck another brand out of the burning to.
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Reach out both hands to bring another soul to safety.
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If you are preparing for a destination of endless energy,
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falling asleep on the porch is the exact opposite of
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preparation. It is a fundamental
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misunderstanding of the geography you were about to
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enter. So what does this all mean?
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How do we visualize this anticipation?
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Spurgeon brings in an analogy that is charming but also
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intensely impactful. He talks about children
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traveling inland toward the sea. Imagine a family in a carriage
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making a long journey from the middle of the country toward the
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coast. The children have never seen the
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ocean before. The journey is long and they
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might start to get sleepy. But as they get closer, the
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mother says, wake up children, you are coming near the sea.
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They smell the salt air. They hear the faint sound of the
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waves. They get excited and they wake
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up completely as they approach the water.
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They do not fall asleep just as the ocean comes into view.
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Spurgeon applies this beautifully to aging believers.
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If you are 50 or 60 years closer to heaven, you should be wide
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awake at the threshold of the Golden Gate.
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You are about to view the glittering streets.
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You are about to take in the vast ocean of eternity.
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You should not be dozing off now.
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Your heart should be awake because you are a day's March
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nearer home. It is a call to let the reality
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of the destination completely alter your current state of
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mind. It changes how you view your
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remaining time. You are not winding down into
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irrelevance. You're gearing up for arrival.
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This raises an important question for the believer.
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How can one physically and mentally prepare for the reality
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of walking golden streets and wearing a crown?
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Spurgeon's answer is that you alter your current daily habits.
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You realize the glory that is about to be revealed.
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If you truly believe that in a short time you will leave the
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abode of care and enter the place of eternal Sabbath, you
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cannot any longer neglect a single opportunity.
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You cannot neglect prayer. You cannot let poor souls go
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down without endeavoring to save them.
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A person who has their foot upon the doorstep of heaven and their
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finger on the latch ought to live with a specific kind of
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vibrant urgency. The nearness of the promise
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dictates the intensity of the present.
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And that brings us to the conclusion of Spurgeon's
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address, where he shifts his focus one last time in a very
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startling way. He really pulls the rug out at
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the end. Throughout the entire discourse,
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he has built a theological argument based on safety, grace
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and secure status. He has motivated the believer
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with love, discipline and anticipation.
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But he recognizes that in any large gathering or any wide
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audience, there are individuals listening who do not possess
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that secure status. Yes.
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As we wrap up this deep dive, let's summarize the main terrain
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we have covered. We started by looking at the
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loving discipline of God. How he speaks to his secure
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children to wake them up, not threatening them like slaves.
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We examine the severe dangers of doctrinal fatalism, where people
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drug themselves against caring for others by hiding behind
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sovereignty. And we analyzed the trap of
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mechanized sleepwalking religion.
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We felt the urgency of fleeting opportunities, the running deer
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that is there for a second and then gone.
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And finally, we looked at the thrilling, undeniable nearness
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of final salvation, the ocean that is finally coming into
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view. But just when you think the
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address is ending on this completely triumphant,
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comforting note, Spurgeon pulls out what can only be described
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as a sledgehammer. He turns his attention to the
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unconverted. It is a jarring rhetorical
31:02
maneuver. Throughout the entire sermon, he
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has insisted that Romans 13.11 is addressed to the justified
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believer. But in his closing breath, he
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asks, what if we were to apply the logic of this text to the
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unregenerate? If this text is a loving wake up
31:19
call for the secure child calculating the nearness of
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their joy, it becomes a terrifying calculation for those
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outside the faith. He says if I were to wrench the
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text from its connection, what a sledgehammer it would be.
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It is high time that you should awake out of sleep for now.
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Is your damnation nearer than when you first heard the gospel
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and rejected? It for the believer, the passing
31:39
of time brings them closer to ultimate deliverance.
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But for the unbeliever, the passing of time is simply the
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countdown to ultimate ruin. Every day that passes brings
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them chronologically closer to the consequences of their
31:51
rejection. It is a sobering, heavy final
31:53
thought. Designed to shatter the sleep of
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anyone who might have been listening in, assuming the
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comforts of the message applied to them without having secured
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the foundation of faith. He uses the reality of
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chronological progression to snap both groups to attention,
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though for entirely different reasons.
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It is a heavy drop of the microphone at the end of a long
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pleading address. It completely reframes the
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ticking clock. For one group, the clock is
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counting down to a sunrise. For the other, it is counting
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down to midnight. And that brings us to our final
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thought for you, the listener, to Mull over on your own.
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We have talked a lot about waking up and the active nature
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of the destination. If heaven is truly a place of
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endless joyful activity rather than static, unconscious rest,
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how does your current daily routine reflect the atmosphere
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of the place you are heading toward?
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Are you practicing for an act of eternity?
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Or are you pulling the covers over your head while the alarms
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ring in the hallway? We.
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Want to thank you so much for joining this deep dive on
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reformed thinking. Until next time, stay awake.