Therefore he says, “Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
Parallel Translations
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Therefore he says, “Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
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Wherfore he sayth: awake thou that slepest and stond vp from deeth and Christ shall geve the light.
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Wherefore hee sayeth, Awake thou that sleepest, and stande vp from the deade, and Christ shall giue thee light.
Cross-references (21)
Passages linked to Ephesians 5:14 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 60:1 “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and Yahweh’s glory has risen on you.
- Romans 13:11-12 Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed. The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let’s therefore throw off the deeds of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light.
- Isaiah 26:19 Your dead shall live. My dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth will cast out the departed spirits.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:6 so then let’s not sleep, as the rest do, but let’s watch and be sober.
- Isaiah 52:1 Awake, awake! Put on your strength, Zion. Put on your beautiful garments, Jerusalem, the holy city: for from now on the uncircumcised and the unclean will no more come into you.
- 2 Corinthians 4:6 seeing it is God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
- John 5:25-29 Most certainly I tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God’s voice; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself. He also gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man. Don’t marvel at this, for the hour comes in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice, and will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.
- Colossians 3:1 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.
- Isaiah 51:17 Awake, awake! Stand up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from Yahweh’s hand the cup of his wrath. You have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.
- John 9:5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
- John 8:12 Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
- Romans 6:4-5 We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection;
- Romans 6:13 Also, do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
- 1 Corinthians 15:34 Wake up righteously, and don’t sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
- Ephesians 2:5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
- 2 Timothy 1:10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the Good News.
- Acts 13:47 For so has the Lord commanded us, saying, ‘I have set you as a light for the Gentiles, that you should bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.’ ”
- Ezekiel 37:4-10 Again he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, ‘You dry bones, hear Yahweh’s word. The Lord Yahweh says to these bones: “Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you will live. I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you will live. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.” ’ ” So I prophesied as I was commanded. As I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, there was an earthquake. Then the bones came together, bone to its bone. I saw, and, behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and tell the wind, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
- 2 Timothy 2:26 and they may recover themselves out of the devil’s snare, having been taken captive by him to his will.
- Luke 1:78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the dawn from on high will visit us,
- John 11:43-44 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” He who was dead came out, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Free him, and let him go.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 14. Wherefore he saith. Interpreters are at great pains…
14. Wherefore he saith. Interpreters are at great pains to discover the passage of Scripture which Paul appears to quote, and which is nowhere to be found. I shall state my opinion. He first exhibits Christ as speaking by his ministers; for this is the ordinary message which is every day delivered by preachers of the gospel. What other object do they propose than to raise the dead to life?
“The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live” (John 5:25.)
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Let us now attend to the context. “Unbelievers,” Paul had said, “must be reproved, that, being brought forth to the light, they may begin to acknowledge their wickedness.” He therefore represents Christ as uttering a voice which is constantly heard in the preaching of the gospel,
Arise, thou that sleepest. The allusion, I have no doubt, is to the prophecies which relate to Christ’s kingdom; such as that of Isaiah,
“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee” (Isaiah 60:1.)
Let us therefore endeavor, as far as lies in our power, to rouse the sleeping and dead, that we may bring them to the light of Christ.
And Christ shall give thee light. This does not mean that, when we have risen from death to life, his light begins to shine upon us, as if our performances came before his grace. All that is intended is to show that, when Christ enlightens us, we rise from death to life, — and thus to confirm the former statement, that unbelievers must be recovered from their blindness, in order to be saved. Instead of ἐπιφαύσει, he shall give light, some copies read ἐφάψεται, he shall touch; but this reading is an evident blunder, and may be dismissed without any argument.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He speaketh of the death of sin.
He speaketh of the death of sin.
The Scripture, or God in the Scripture.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and…
14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
Ver. 14. Wherefore he saith] Or, the Scriptare saith. See the like, Jas 4:6; "But he giveth (or the Scripture giveth) more grace." It convinceth not only, but converteth; it discovereth not only, but cureth corrupt hearts. These waters of the sanctuary are healing, Isa 9:2; Isa 26:19; Isa 60:1. Some there are that interpret this "he" of our Saviour Christ, and take this saying for a sentence of his; such as was that, Act 20:35. Others read, Therefore the light saith, &c.
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Awake, thou that sleepest] Lex iabet, gratia iuvat: praecipit Deus quod ipse praestat, God giveth us to do what he biddeth us to do.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain He saith; either God by the prophets, of whose…
He saith; either God by the prophets, of whose preaching this is the sum; it may allude in particular to Isa 60:1. Or, Christ by his ministers, in the preaching of the gospel, who daily calls men to arise from the death of sin by repentance, and encourageth them with the promise of eternal life.
Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead; the same thing in two different expressions. Sinners in some respects are said to be asleep, in others, to be dead. They are as full of dreams and vain imaginations, and as unfit for any good action, as they that are asleep are for natural; and they are as full of stench and loathsomeness as they that are dead. Here therefore they are bid to awake from sin as a sleep, and to arise from it as a death. The meaning is, that they should arise by faith and repentance out of that state of spiritual death in which they lie while in their sins.
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And Christ shall give thee light; the light of peace and joy here, and eternal glory hereafter. The apostle intimates, that what is the way of Christ in the gospel should likewise be the practice of these Ephesians, whom he calls light in the Lord, viz. to reprove the unfruitful works of darkness, and awaken sleeping, dead sinners, and bring them to the light of Christ.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain The last argument which our apostle offers to consideration,…
The last argument which our apostle offers to consideration, for enforcing the duty of reproving the unfruitful workers and works of darkness, is drawn from the example of God himself, whose great design it is, by his holy word, to awaken men out of the deep sleep of sin and death, that Christ may give them light.
Here note, The dangerous and deplorable, though not hopeless and desperate state, of an unconverted and impenitent sinner, namely, spiritual sleep and death. Every man by nature is in a dead sleep till the renovating change; he apprehends things as a man asleep; all his thoughts of God and Christ, of heaven and hell, of sin and holiness, are slight and hovering notions, not real and thorough apprehensions; the most substantial realities are with them but phantasms and imaginations.
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Imaginary dangers startle them, like men in a dream; but real dangers, though never so near, do not affect them. As in natural sleep, all the senses of the body, so in spiritual sleep, are all the senses of the soul bound up; and accordingly, this sleep is not casual, but connatural to our present sinful state; a soul drenched in sensuality sleeps, as it were, by choice and not by chance.
But how, O sinner, canst thou sleep under such a load of sin and guilt, with so many wounds in thy conscience, with so many ulcers in thy soul? Can a diseased man sleep? Can a condemned man sleep? Can a man in debt sleep?
All this the sinner is: and yet though God thunders above, and hell gapes from beneath, and the sinner hangs over it by the fretted thread of this life, yet he is in a profound sleep; but his damnation slumbers not, if he doth not speedily awake, and arise from the dead, that Christ may give him light.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Redeeming the time,.... Or "buying time"; a like expression…
Redeeming the time,.... Or "buying time"; a like expression is used in Dan 2:8, which we render, gain time: but in the Chaldee text it is, "buy time": and so Jacchiades, a Jewish commentator on the place, renders it, , "ye buy this opportunity"; and the Septuagint version uses the same phrase the apostle does here; but there it seems to signify a study to prolong time, to put off the business to another season; but here taking time for a space of time, it denotes a careful and diligent use of it, an improvement of it to the best advantage; and shows that it is valuable and precious, and is not to be trifled with, and squandered away, and be lost, as it may be; for it can neither be recalled nor prolonged: and taking it for an opportunity of doing good to ourselves or others, it signifies that no opportunity of discharging our duty to God and man, of attending on the word and ordinances of the Gospel, and to the private and public exercises of religion, of gaining advantage to our own souls, or of gaining the souls of others, and of doing good either to the bodies or souls of men, should be neglected; but even all risks should be run, and means used to enjoy it: in the Syriac and Chaldee languages, "time", comes from "to redeem": the reason the apostle gives for the redemption of time is,
because the days are evil; as such are, in which iniquity abounds, and many wicked men live, and errors and heresies prevail, and are days of affliction or persecution; see Gen 47:9.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Wherefore he - God. Saith - In the general…
Wherefore he - God. Saith - In the general tenor of his word, to all who are still in darkness. Awake thou that steepest - In ignorance of God and thyself; in stupid insensibility. And arise from the dead - From the death of sin. And Christ shall give thee light - Knowledge, holiness, happiness.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 14. Wherefore he saith] It is a matter…
Verse 14. Wherefore he saith] It is a matter of doubt and controversy whence this saying is derived. Some think it taken from Isa 26:19: Thy dead men shall live; with my dead body shall they arise; Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust, c. Others think that it is taken from Isa 60:1-3: Arise, shine for thy light is come, c. But these passages neither give the words nor the meaning of the apostle. Epiphanius supposed them to be taken from an ancient prophecy of Elijah, long since lost: Syncellus and Euthalius think they were taken from an apocryphal work attributed to Jeremiah the prophet: others, that they made part of a hymn then used in the Christian Church for that there were, in the apostle's time, hymns and spiritual songs, as well as psalms, we learn from himself, in Eph 5:19, and from Col 3:16. The hymn is supposed to have begun thus:-
Εγειραι ὁ καθευδων,
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Και αναστα εκ των νεκρων,
Επιφαυσει σοι ὁ Χριστος.
Awake, O thou who sleepest,
And from the dead arise thou,
And Christ shall shine upon thee.
See Rosenmuller, Wolf, and others. But it seems more natural to understand the words he saith as referring to the light, i.e. the Gospel, mentioned Eph 5:13. And the διο λεγει should be translated, Wherefore IT saith, Awake thou, c. that is: This is the general, the strong, commanding voice of the Gospel in every part-Receive instruction leave thy sins, which are leading thee to perdition; believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will enlighten and save thee.
As a man asleep neither knows nor does any thing that can be called good or useful, so the Gentiles and all others, while without the knowledge of Christianity, had not only no proper knowledge of vice and virtue, but they had no correct notion of the true God.
As the dead can perform no function of life, so the Gentiles and the unconverted were incapable of performing any thing worthy either of life or being. But though they were asleep-in a state of complete spiritual torpor, yet they might be awoke by the voice of the Gospel; and though dead to all goodness, and to every function of the spiritual life, yet, as their animal life was whole in them, and perception and reason were still left, they were capable of hearing the Gospel, and under that influence which always accompanies it when faithfully preached, they could discern its excellency, and find it to be the power of God to their salvation. And they are addressed by the apostle as possessing this capacity; and, on their using it properly, have the promise that Christ shall enlighten them.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Wherefore he saith - Margin, or “it.” Διὸ λέγει…
Wherefore he saith - Margin, or “it.” Διὸ λέγει Dio legei. The meaning may be, either that the Lord says, or the Scripture. Much difficulty has been experienced in endeavoring to ascertain “where” this is said. It is agreed on all hands that it is not found, in so many words, in the Old Testament. Some have supposed that the allusion is to Isa 26:19, “Thy dead men shall live - awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust, for thy dew is as the dew of herbs,” etc. But the objections to this are obvious and conclusive.
(1) This is not a quotation of that place, nor has it a “resemblance” to it, except in the word “awake.”
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(2) The passage in Isaiah refers to a different matter, and has a different sense altogether; see the notes on the passage.
To make it refer to those to whom the gospel comes, is most forced and unnatural. Others have supposed that the reference is to Isa 60:1-3, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come,” etc. But the objection to this is not less decisive.
(1) It is “not” a quotation of that passage, and the resemblance is very remote, if it can be seen at all.
(2) “that” is addressed to the church, calling on her to let her light shine; “this,” to awake and arise from the dead, with the assurance that Christ would give them light. The exhortation here is to Christians, to “avoid the vices of the pagan around them;” the exhortation in Isaiah is to the church, to “rejoice and exult” in view of the fact that the day of triumph had come, and that the pagan were to be converted, and to come in multitudes and devote themselves to God. In the “design” of the two passages there is no resemblance. Some have supposed that the words are taken from some book among the Hebrews which is now lost. Epiphanius supposed that it was a quotation from a prophecy of Elijah; Syncellus and Euthalius, from some writing of Jeremiah; Hippolytus, from the writing of some now unknown prophet. Jerome supposed it was taken from some apocryphal writings. Grotius supposes that it refers to the word “light” in Eph 5:13, and that the sense is,” That light says; that is, that a man who is pervaded by that light, let him so say to another.” Heumann, and after him Storr, Michaelis, and Jennings (Jewish Ant. 2:252), suppose that the reference is to a song or hymn that was sung by the early Christians, beginning in this manner, arid that the meaning is, “Wherefore, as it is said in the hymns which we sing,
‘Awake, thou that sleepest;
Arise from the dead;
Christ shall give thee light.’
Others have supposed that there is an allusion to a sentiment which prevailed among the Jews, respecting the significancy of blowing the trumpet on the first day of the month, or the feast of the new moon. Maimonides conjectures that that call of the trumpet, especially in the month Tisri, in which the great day of atonement occurred, was designed to signify a special call to repentance; meaning, “You who sleep, arouse from your slumbers; search and try yourselves; think on your Creator, repent, and attend to the salvation of the soul.” “Burder,” in Ros. Alt. u. neu. Morgenland, in loc. But all this is evidently conjecture. I see no evidence that Paul meant to make a quotation at all. Why may we not suppose that he speaks as an inspired man, and that he means to say, simply, that God now gives this command, or that God now speaks in this way? The sense then would be, “Be separate from sinners. Come out from among the pagan. Do not mingle with their abominations; do not name them. You are the children of light; and God says to you, awake from false security, rouse from the death of sin, and Christ shall enlighten you.” Whatever be the origin of the sentiment in this verse, it is worthy of inspiration, and accords with all that is elsewhere said in the Scriptures.
(The grand objection to this view of our author is, that the apostle evidently introduces a citation. In the writings of Paul, the form διὸ λέγει dio legei is never used in any other sense. Whence then is the quotation taken? There is nothing absurd in supposing, with Scott and Guyse, that the apostle gives the general sense of the Old Testament prophecies con cerning the calling of the Gentiles. But Isa 60:1-3, bears a sufficiently close resemblance to the passage in Ephesians, to vindicate the very commonly received opinion, that the apostle quotes that prophecy, in which the subject is the increase of the Church by the accession of the pagan nations. The church is called to arise and shine, and the apostle reminds the converted Ephesians of their lofty vocation. It forms no very serious objection, that between the place in Isaiah and that in Ephesians, there are certain verbal discrepancies. No one will make much of this, who remembers, nat in a multitude of cases similar variations occur, the apostles contenting themselves with giving the sense of the places to which they refer. “Accordingly,” says Dr. Dodridge, “the sense of tire passage before us is so fairly deducible from the words of Isaiah, that I do not see any necessity of having recourse to this supposition,” namely, that the quotation was from an apocryphal book ascribed to Jeremiah.)
Awake thou that sleepest - Arouse from a state of slumber and false security. “Sleep and death” are striking representations of the state in which people are by nature. In “sleep” we are, though living, insensible to any danger that may be near; we are unconscious of what may he going on around us; we hear not the voice of our friends; we see not the beauty of the grove or the landscape; we are forgetful of our real character and condition. So With the sinner. It is as if his faculties were locked in a deep slumber. He hears not when God calls; he has no sense of danger; he is insensible to the beauties and glories of the heavenly world; he is forgetful of his true character and condition. To see all this, he must be first awakened; and hence this solemn command is addressed to man. He must rouse from this condition, or he cannot be saved. But can he awaken himself? Is it not the work of God to awaken a sinner? Can he rouse himself to a sense of his condition and danger? How do we do in other things? The man that is sleeping on the verge of a dangerous precipice we would approach, and say, “Awake, you are in danger.” The child that is sleeping quietly in its bed, while the flames are bursting into the room, we would rouse, and say, “Awake, or you will perish.” Why not use the same language to the sinner slumbering on the verge of ruin, in a deep sleep, while the flames of wrath are kindling around him? We have no difficulty in calling on sleepers elsewhere to awake when in danger; how can we have any difficulty when speaking to the sinner?
And arise from the dead - The state of the sinner, is often compared to death; see the notes on Eph 2:1. People are by nature dead in sins; yet they must rouse from this condition, or they will perish. How singular, it may be said, to call upon the dead to rise! How could they raise themselves up? Yet God speak thus to people, and commands them to rise from the death of sin. Therefore, learn:
(1) That people are not dead in sin in any such sense that they are not moral agents, or responsible.
(2) That they are not dead in any such sense that they have no power of any kind.
(3) That it is right to call on sinners to arouse from their condition, and live.
(4) That they must put forth their efforts as if they were to “begin” the work themselves, without waiting for God to do it for them. “They” are to awake; “they” are to arise. It is not God who is to awake; it is not Christ who is to arise. It is the sinner who is to awake from his slumber, and arise from the state of death nor is he to wait for God to do the work for him.
And Christ shall give thee light - Christ is the light of the world; see the Joh 1:4, note, 9, note; Joh 8:12, note notes; Heb 1:3, note. The idea here is, that it they will use all the powers with which God has endowed them, and arouse from their spiritual slumber, and make an appropriate effort for salvation, then they may expect that Christ will shine upon them, and bless them in their efforts. This is just the promise that we need, and it is all that we need. All that man can ask is, that if he will make efforts to be saved, God will bless those efforts, so that they shall not be in vain. Faculties of mind have been given us to be employed in securing our salvation; and if we will employ them as they were intended to be employed, we may look for the divine aid; if not, we cannot expect it. “God helps those who help themselves;” and they who will make no effort for their salvation must perish as they wire will make no effort to provide food must starve. This command was indeed addressed at first to Christians; but it involves a principle which is applicable to all. Indeed, the “language” here is rather descriptive of the condition of impenitent sinners, than of Christians. In a far more important sense they are “asleep,” and are “dead;” and with the more earnestness, therefore, should they be entreated to awake, and to rise from the dead, that Christ may give them light.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Rise, thou that sleepest. The sense may be taken…
Rise, thou that sleepest. The sense may be taken from Isaias lx. 1. St. Jerome thinks they may be cited from work not canonical. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Wherefore--referring to the whole foregoing argument (Eph 5:8, Eph…
Wherefore--referring to the whole foregoing argument (Eph 5:8, Eph 5:11, Eph 5:13). Seeing that light (spiritual) dispels the pre-existing darkness, He (God) saith . . . (compare the same phrase, Eph 4:8).
Awake--The reading of all the oldest manuscripts is "Up!" or, "Rouse thee!" a phrase used in stirring men to activity. The words are a paraphrase of Isa 60:1-2, not an exact quotation. The word "Christ," shows that in quoting the prophecy, he views it in the light thrown on it by its Gospel fulfilment. As Israel is called on to "awake" from its previous state of "darkness" and "death" (Isa 59:10; Isa 60:2), for that her Light is come; so the Church, and each individual is similarly called to awake. Believers are called on to "awake" out of sleep; unbelievers, to "arise" from the dead (compare Mat 25:5; Rom 13:11; Th1 5:6, with Eph 2:1).
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Christ--"the true light," "the Sun of righteousness."
give thee light--rather, as Greek, "shall shine upon thee" (so enabling thee by being "made manifest" to become, and be, by the very fact, "light," Eph 5:13; then being so "enlightened," Eph 1:18, thou shalt be able, by "reproving," to enlighten others).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 14. Wherefore—Inasmuch as this duty of bringing the darkness…
14. Wherefore—Inasmuch as this duty of bringing the darkness to light is imperative, the following call upon those in darkness, sleep, and death, is issued.
He saith—Or, as in the margin, it saith. Clarke, after Grotius, plausibly refers the it to light, synonymous with the gospel. But, in all cases of the use of this formula of St. Paul, some reference is made to an Old Testament passage. Alford and Eadie think it a reference to Isa_60:1 : “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” Here are the three thoughts of a condition of darkness, an arising, (according to the best interpretation,) and a consequent illumination from the Jehovah-Messiah. Another opinion, as old as Theodoret, is, that the three clauses are three lines of an early Christian hymn:
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Awake, thou that sleepest,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ shall give thee light.
Both the rhythm and the poetic imagery confirm the supposition that we have here one of the earliest fragments of Christian hymnology. With great plausibility, therefore, Braune blends the two suppositions, that the words are a versified paraphrase of Isaiah’s words. This view, though unsusceptible of demonstration, removes all difficulty. There is no more improbability that St. Paul should quote a paraphrase of Isaiah from an early hymn of the Church than from the Septuagint, as he more than once does.
Awake—The concrete darkness which St. Paul’s Ephesians once were (Eph_5:8) is now transformed to human beings wrapt in night and darkness. They are lying in what Meyer expressively calls the sin-sleep and the sin-death. A double stratum of slumber and deadness lies upon them, the slumber denoting the indifference, and the death the moral incapability of depraved man to arouse himself into holiness and salvation. For the sin-sleep there is an awake; for the sin-death, there is an arise, a resurrection. For, with the call and in the call a power is imparted. Each dead man may revive; each sleeper may awake, if he desires and wills the bliss of life. All are alike called; and it is the free obedience of man that renders the call “effectual.”
Light—The gracious light by which they themselves may become light, and walk fearlessly in the full light of the literal day.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 14. Wherefore] With regard to the fact that whatever…
14. Wherefore] With regard to the fact that whatever is really brought to light, in the sense of true spiritual conviction, becomes light.
he saith] Or possibly it (the Scripture) saith. See note on Eph_4:8.
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Awake, &c.] These words occur nowhere in the O.T. verbatim. St Jerome, on the verse, makes many suggestions; as that St Paul may have used an “apocryphal” passage, exactly as he used words from pagan writers (e.g. Tit_1:12); or that he utters an immediate inspiration granted to himself, in prophetic form. Thomas Aquinas (quoted by Vallarsius on St Jerome) suggests that we have here the essence of Isa_60:1; where the Lat. reads “Rise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem, for thy light is come &c.” Surely this is the true solution, if we add to it the probability that other prophecies contributed to the phraseology here. Dr Kay (in the Speaker’s Commentary) on Isa_60:1 writes, “In Eph_5:14 this verse is combined, in a paraphrase form, with Isa_51:17, Isa_52:1-2. The Ephesians had been walking in darkness, as dead men … but the Redeemer had come and the Spirit been given. Therefore they were to awake (ch. Isa_51:17, Isa_52:1) out of sleep, and arise from the dead, that Christ the Lord might shine upon them, and they again shed His light on the Gentiles round.”
To the believer in the Divine plan and coherence of Scripture it will be abundantly credible that “the Lord” (Jehovah) of Isaiah should be the “Christ” of St Paul (cp. Isa_6:5 with Joh_12:41), and that the “Jerusalem” of Isaiah should have an inner reference to the True Israel (Gal_3:29; Gal_6:16), in its actual or potential members.
Dr Edersheim (Temple and its Services, p. 262), suggests that the Apostle may have had present to his mind language used in synagogue worship at the Feast of Trumpets. Rabbinic writers explain the trumpet blasts as, inter alia, a call to repentance; and one of them words the call, “Rouse ye from your slumber, awake from your sleep, &c.” Some such formula may have been in public use. Bengel makes a similar suggestion here. But this would not exclude, only supplement, the reference to Isaiah.
Another suggestion is that the words are a primitive Christian “psalm” (1Co_14:26); perhaps “the morning hymn used each day by the Christians in Rome in St Paul’s lodging,” or “a baptismal hymn.” Here again we have an interesting possibility, for such a “psalm” may have given or influenced the phrase here. But the introductory word “He, or it, saith,” seems to us to weigh decidedly for the view that the words are, in essence, a Scripture quotation.
sleepest … the dead] The sleep is more than sleep; the sleep of death. But death itself is but as sleep that can be broken (Mat_9:24) to the Lord of Life. On spiritual death see above, on Eph_2:1.
shall give thee light] Better, as R.V., shall shine upon thee.—The idea, by context, is not so much of the light of conviction, as of that of spiritual transfiguration (2Co_3:18; 2Co_4:4-6). The thought of “being light in the Lord” runs through the passage. It is a light consequent upon awaking and arising.—Another, but certainly mistaken, reading gives, “thou shalt touch Christ” The “Old Latin” followed it. It is due, in part at least, to the close similarity in form of two widely different Gr. verbs.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (14) Wherefore he (or, it) saith.—This phrase is used…
(14) Wherefore he (or, it) saith.—This phrase is used (as also in Jas_4:6) in Eph_4:8 to introduce a scriptural quotation; and the most natural completion of the elliptical expression is by the supply of the nominative, “God,” or “the scripture,” from the ordinary phrase of quotation or citation. But no scriptural passage can be adduced which, with the fullest allowance for the apostolic freedom of quotation, comes near enough to be a satisfactory original of this passage. The nearest is Isa_60:1, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee;” and this is certainly very far off indeed. Nor is the case much helped by blending other passages (as, for example, Isa_26:19) with this. Some additional verbal coincidences may be gained, but at the expense of still greater diversity from the spirit of the passage as a whole. Hence we are driven to conclude that the quotation is not from Holy Scripture. Yet the very form shows that it is from something well known. An apocryphal quotation is imagined by some, but with no knowledge of any quotation at all resembling it. Others have supposed it a traditional saying of our Lord (like Act_20:35); but the form seems decisive against this. On the whole, it seems most likely that it is from some well-known Christian hymn. In the original a rhythmical character, rough, but by no means indistinct, strikes us at once. The growth of defined and formal expressions—mostly, it is true, of embryo creeds of Christian faith, as in 1Co_15:3-4; Heb_6:1-2; 1Ti_3:16, in the last of which the acknowledged difficulty of etymological construction in the true reading may perhaps be best explained by the supposition of quotation—is notable in the later Epistles, and especially in the “faithful sayings” of the Pastoral Epistles. The use of some liturgical forms is traced with high probability to a very early date. The embodiment of popular faith in hymns, always natural, was peculiarly natural as adapted to the imperfect education of many early converts, and to the practice of trusting so much to memory, and so comparatively little to writing. Some such usage certainly appears to be referred to in the celebrated letter of Pliny to Trajan, the first heathen description of Christian worship.
Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead.—The word “awake” is used in our version to render two different words: one which properly means “to wake,” or “be awake,” or “watch,” as in 1Co_15:34; 1Th_5:6; 1Th_5:8; 2Ti_4:5; 1Pe_1:12; 1Pe_4:7; 1Pe_5:8); the other, as here, which properly means “Up!” “Rouse thyself!” preparatory to “arising” and coming forth. The exhortation in both forms is common enough (see especially the famous passage in Rom_13:11-14); but the following words, “Arise from the dead,” are a bold and unique exhortation. Generally we are said to be raised up from the death of sin by God, as in Rom_8:11, “He that raised up Christ from the dead shall quicken your mortal bodies;” or Rom_6:11, “Reckon yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God;” or Col_3:1, “If ye are risen in Christ.” Here the soul is described as hearing the Saviour’s call, “Come forth,” and as itself rising at that call from the grave. If distinction between the two clauses is to be drawn, we may be rightly said to “awake” out of lethargy and carelessness, and to “arise” out of the deadness of sin.
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Christ shall give thee light.—Properly, Christ shall dawn upon thee. The word is virtually the same which is used for the literal dawn in Mat_28:1, Luk_23:54. The same idea is strikingly enunciated in 2Pe_1:19, where prophecy, looking forward to Christ, is compared to “a light shining in a dark place,” “till the day dawn, and the Day-star arise in your hearts”—He, that is, who is “the bright and morning star” (Rev_22:16). Christ, as the “Day-star,” or as the “Sun of Righteousness,” is already risen. The soul needs only to come out of the darkness of the grave, and the new rays shine down upon it, till (see Eph_5:7) they pervade it and transfigure it into light.
(3 c.) In Eph_5:15-21 the Apostle passes from lust and impurity to the cognate spirit of reckless levity, and the love of excitement, of which drunkenness is the commonest expression. He opposes to this the united forces of soberness and sacred enthusiasm, each tempering and yet strengthening the other.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Therefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise…
Therefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. This is evidently intended to give an additional impulse to the Ephesians to walk as children of the light; but a difficulty arises as to the source of the quotation. There is no difficulty with the formula, "he saith," which, like the same expression Eph_4:8, is clearly to be referred to God. But no such words occur in the Old Testament. The passage that comes nearest to them is Isa_60:1," Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord hath risen upon thee." The simplest and best explanation is, not that the apostle quoted from any lost book, but flint he did not mean to give the words, but only the spirit of the passage. This is evident from his introducing the word "Christ." It must be owned that the apostle makes a very free use of the prophet"s words. But the fundamental idea in the prophecy is, that when the Church gets the light of heaven, she is not to lie still, as it" she were asleep or dead, but is to be active, is to make use of the light, is to use it for illuminating the world. The apostle maintains that the Ephesian Church had got the light of heaven; she, therefore, was not to sleep or loiter, but spring forth as if from the grave, and pour light on the world. The changes which the apostle makes on the form of the prophecy are remarkable, and show that it was to its spirit and substance rather than to its precise form and letter that he attached the authority of inspiration.
The trumpet-call of the gospel.
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Since it is light that manifests, there must be a rousing voice to awake the sleeper, that the light of life may be poured fully upon him.
I THE PERSON ADDRESSED. "Thou that sleepest." Sleep is an apt figure to describe the sinner.
1. He lives in an unreal world, full of dreams and fancies, quite unconscious of the real world around him. The sinner dreams of safety and peace. He is carnally secure (Rom_13:10; 1Th_5:6) He may even walk in his sleep.
2. He is wholly unprotected against danger. If he knew of his danger, he would not be asleep. He needs, therefore, to be roused.
3. His work is wholly suspended. So long as the sinner sleeps in spiritual death he does no good, he gets no good, he cares for nothing. The figure of the text is, therefore, very expressive.
II THE COMMAND ADDRESSED TO THE SLEEPER. "Awake ... and arise from the dead." The first thing is to open the eyes; but we are not to suppose that the sinner has any power of himself to open them, any more than the man with the withered hand had power to stretch it forth before Christ said, "Stretch forth thine hand." It is the light which Christ is to shed upon the sleeper that will awake him. Just as the sun in the natural heavens, shining upon the eye of a sleeper, awakes him, so the beams of the Sun of righteousness end the sleep of death.
1. The cry, "Awake!" is the voice of love. A mother"s love will lull her child to sleep, but if the house is on fire, it will take another turn, and startle the child from its slumbers.
2. The cry, "Awake!" is the voice of wisdom. The sinner loses much by sleeping. The thief pilfers by night. The tare-sower goes forth in darkness to sow his seed. If you sleep on till death, you lose everything.
3. The cry is a voice of command. Who commands? It is he who redeemed you with his precious blood.
4. It is a voice you have often heard in sermons, in sickness, in sorrows, in calamities.
III THE PROMISE TO THE SLEEPER. "And Christ shall give thee light." The light that comes from Christ can reach even the dead: "The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live". (Joh_5:25) The dead are not quickened before they hear his voice, but his voice causes them to hear and live. Christ will give you light to carry you out of the society of the dead into the companionship of the children of light, because it has already introduced you into the fellowship of the Father and the Son. "Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the amour of light. T.C.
Ver. 14.
Awake!
I A DESCRIPTION. A particular kind of man is here addressed that sleepest;" the dead.
1. The man is asleep. His sleep is spiritual indifference. Whether or no he has an abstract belief in religion is not of the slightest moment. He may be an atheist or he may be orthodox of the orthodox. So long as he is sleeping it matters little what he might have been doing had he been awake. The sleeper may have his eyes open to secular interests; he may have a quick intellect in speculation or a vigorous energy in business. Yet angels who see that he is unconscious of the greatest realities must regard him as a dreamer or at best as a restless sleep-walker.
2. This sleep is a sign of death. It is more than sleep. It is unnatural and impossible to a soul in full energy. Spiritual perceptions must have been dulled and spiritual powers paralyzed to admit of this blindness and stupor in regard to Divine things.
II A CALL. Awake! Up! Arise! A loud voice disturbs the sleeper.
1. God calls, sometimes
(1) in providence, rousing the careless soul by the shock of some sudden change; and often
(2) in the gospel, for it is the duty of the preacher to speak in trumpet-notes, not merely to teach the attentive but also to rouse the listless.
2. It is important to respond to this call; for sleep is
(1) a sinful neglect of duty;
(2) a foolish loss of blessings he who sleeps till the full day never sees the glory of the sunrise; and
(3) a dangerous condition the longer a man sleeps the more difficult will it be to awake, and meanwhile death and judgment may be upon him.
3. It is possible to awake. The spiritual sleep is partly voluntary and semiconscious. As a man sometimes knows that he is dreaming so he may be made aware that he is spiritually asleep and may rouse himself if he will. There is rousing power, too, in the Divine voice. It vexes a man to have his rest disturbed, but as one who wakes the sleeper when his house is on fire it comes for his deliverance and he will do well to bestir himself.
III A PROMISE. "Christ shall shine upon thee." There is something to wake up for. Christ is the Light of the world. His people are now "light in the Lord." He brings to the waking soul truth, purity, and joy. When the storm rages and the dark night lingers, and to wake is only to take up again the burden of sorrow and grope in the hopeless gloom, a man has some excuse for sleeping. Despair may sleep. But the Christian finds a bright morning responding to his opening eyes. We are not to wake only to kindle a poor light for ourselves. We are rewarded for waking by the cheering brightness of Christ. We must rouse ourselves, however, to enjoy it. The people that sit in darkness see the great light only when they awake and arise from the dead. W.F.A.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise…
Eph_5:14
Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
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A call to slumbering souls
I. The character of those addressed.
1. If you allow yourself in the practice of known wickedness, your conscience is asleep.
2. If you live in the customary neglect of self-examination, you are in a state of slumber.
3. If you have never been in any degree affected with a sense of your guilt, and of your dependence on the mercy of God in Christ, you are among those who are asleep.
4. If you have no conflicts with sin and temptation, you are in a state of slumber.
5. The prevalence of a sensual and carnal disposition is a sign of spiritual death.
6. Stupidity under the warnings of Gods word and providence, indicates such a state of soul as the Scripture compares to sleep.
II. Apply the call.
1. This awakening must suppose and imply a conviction of your sin, and a sense of your danger.
2. This awakening from sleep, and arising from the dead, implies a repentance of sin and turning to God.
3. They who have awoke from their sleep and risen from the dead will experience the properties, and maintain the exercises of a holy and spiritual life.
III. The encouragement--Christ shall give thee light, shall shine upon and enlighten thee.
1. This may be understood as a promise of pardon and eternal life on your repentance.
2. The words farther import Gods gracious attention to awakened souls, when they frame their doings to turn to Him. The call is, Awake, arise from the dead, repair to the Saviour. Say not, We are unable to discern the way. Christ will shine upon you and give you light. Say not, We are unable to rise and walk. He will meet you with His grace. Arise, He calleth you. He will guide your steps. (J. Lathrop, D. D.)
Awake
I. Images of the sinners state.
1. Sleep. This state, though usually benign and refreshing, is sometimes one of great danger. The traveller who sleeps when exposed to excessive frost, the sailor who sleeps upon the mast, are examples.
2. Darkness. This is emblematical of ignorance, error, and iniquity, and especially of the want of any certain prospect for the future.
3. Death. The insensibility, powerlessness, and immovableness of the corpse are an awful representation of the sinners state.
II. Representations of the sinners need.
1. Awakening.
2. Enlightening.
3. Raising to life.
The ministry of our Lord Jesus affords us many and striking instances of the exercise of a Divine power in these ways.
III. A revelation of the sinners hope.
1. A Divine command: Awake! arise! There is something for man to do in order that he may enjoy the blessings of the gospel.
2. A Divine promise: Christ will enlighten thee. (Clerical World.)
The Church aroused
I. The state of mind into which a Christian may sometimes get.
1. The insidious character of it,
(1) A Christian may be asleep and not know it. Indeed, if he did know it, he would not be asleep.
(2) A man who is asleep may be kept in very good countenance by his neighbours. They may be in the same state, and sleeping people are not likely to be very active in rebuking one another.
(3) One who is asleep may have taken care before he went to sleep to prevent anybody coming in to wake him. There is a way of bolting the door of your heart against anybody.
(4) A man can do a great deal while asleep that will make him look as if he were quite awake. For instance, some people talk in their sleep, and many professors will talk just as if they were the most active, the most earnest, the most gracious, the most warm-hearted people anywhere.
2. What is the evil itself? It is an unconsciousness of ones own state, and a carelessness of such a kind as not to want to be conscious of it. The man takes everything for granted in religion. He seems, too, to be perfectly immovable to all appeals. The best argument is lost on a sleeping man, and then this slumbering spirit spreads itself over everything else. There is a heartlessness in the manner in which everything is gone about.
3. Now, two or three words upon what makes this evil of Christians being asleep a great deal worse.
(1) It is this: they are Christs servants, and they ought not to be asleep. If a servant is set to do a certain duty, you do not continue him in your service if he drops off asleep.
(2) It is so bad for us to be asleep, too, because it is quite certain that the enemy is awake. You recollect old Hugh Latimers sermon, in which he says that the devil is the busiest bishop in the kingdom.
(3) And meanwhile souls are being lost.
4. What is it that sends us to sleep?
(1) We are inclined to slumber from the evil of our nature.
(2) It is easy to send a man to sleep if you give him the chloroform of bad doctrine.
(3) The sultry sum of prosperity sends many to sleep. Fulness of bread is a strong temptation.
(4) In some people it is the intoxication of pride.
(5) In others it is the want of heart which is at the bottom of everything they do. They never were intense, they never were earnest, and consequently they have such little zeal that that zeal soon goes to sleep. This is the age of the Enchanted Ground. He that can go through this age and not sleep must have something more than mortal about him. God must be with him, keeping him awake. You cannot be long in the soporific air of this particular period of time without feeling that in spiritual things you grow lax, for it is a lax age--lax in doctrine, lax in principle, lax in morals, lax in everything--and only God can come in and help the Pilgrim to keep awake in this Enchanted Ground.
II. Christs message to those of His people who are asleep.
1. Jesus speaks this in love. He would not say awake, were it not the kindest thing He could say to you. Sometimes a mothers love lulls her child to sleep, but if there is a house on fire the mothers love would take another expression and startle it from its slumbers; and Christs love takes that turn when He says to you, Awake! Awake! awake!
2. It is His wisdom as well as His love that makes Him say it. He knows that you are losing much by sleeping.
3. It is a voice, too, which you ought to own, for it is backed up by the authority of the person from whom it comes.
4. It is a voice which has been very often repeated. Christ has been saying, Awake! Awake! to some of us many hundreds of times. You were sick, were you, a few months ago? That was Christ, as it were, shaking you in your sleep, and saying, Awake, My beloved, awake out of thine unhealthy slumbers!
5. A personal cry--Thou. Not, Awake all of you; but, Awake thou! Shall I pick you out one by one?
6. He puts it very pressingly in the present tense. Awake! awake now. Not a few years hence, but now. This moment.
III. The promise with which Christ encourages us to awake--Christ shall give thee light. What means this?
1. Instruction.
2. The light of joy. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ the Spiritual Light
I. The characters here addressed. Asleep, dead--expressions applicable to the natural state of man.
II. But to such the gracious invitation is given--Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. This invitation or command, very naturally divides itself into two branches--the external call of the gospel, and the internal call of the Holy Spirit.
III. The promise that is made--And Christ shall give thee light. We have already observed, that sin has darkened the understanding, depraved the affections, and rendered us insensible to every form of moral worth. It is altogether the result of Divine power, therefore, to enlighten the understanding, to purify the heart, and to bring us into subjection to the obedience of Christ. In closing our discourse, we observe--
1. That none will be able to urge, at the last clay, that they were compelled to sin, or prevented from forsaking it, by the providential arrangements of God.
2. Nor can you say that you have not sufficient means and opportunities for obtaining the blessings of redemption.
3. None will be able to say that they humbly, earnestly, and perseveringly sought the assistance of the Holy Spirit, without obtaining it.
4. Neither can you plead your inability to obey God, as an excuse for continuing in sin. (A. Gilmour.)
The sinner called
1. These words plainly suppose the person to whom they are addressed, to be in a state of darkness. For they who sleep, as the apostle elsewhere observeth, sleep in the night. He that followeth not Christ walketh in darkness, because the light of life shineth no longer upon his tabernacle.
2. The text plainly intimates to us that the sinner, or man of the world, to whom it addresses itself as to one sleeping, is in a state of insensibility. For no sooner has sleep taken possession of anyone, but forthwith all the senses are locked up, and he neither seeth, heareth, smelleth, tasteth, or feeleth anything. Present the most finished and beautiful picture before the eyes of a person asleep; he sees no more of it than if it was not there.
3. It appears from the text before us, that the world is in a state of delusion; for such is the state of them that sleep. And to what can the life of many a man be so fitly compared, as to a dream? Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. And first, the sincere penitent, who really and truly turns from sin to righteousness, and from the world to Christ, passes from darkness to light. Secondly, the sinner, by repentance, is brought out of a state of insensibility into one of sensibility. Thirdly, the penitent is translated from a state of delusion to a sound judgment and right apprehension of things, from shadows to realities: even as one awaketh from the romantic scenery of a dream, to behold all things as they really are, and to do his duty in that station in which God has placed him. (Bishop Home.)
Of the state of spiritual death and the misery thereof
First: The miserable state of the unregenerate, represented under the notions of sleep and death; both expressions intending one and the same thing, though with some variety of notion. The Christless and unregenerate world is in a deep sleep; a spirit of slumber, senselessness, and security is fallen upon them, though they lie exposed immediately to eternal wrath. Just as a man that is fast asleep in a house on fire, and whilst the consuming flames are round about him, his fancy is sporting itself in some pleasant dream; this is a very lively resemblance of the unregenerate soul. But yet he that sleeps hath the principle of life entire in him, though his senses be bound, and the actions of life suspended by sleep. Lest, therefore, we should think it is only so with the unregenerate, the expression is designedly varied, and those that were said to be asleep, are positively affirmed to be dead; on purpose to inform us that it is not a simple suspension of the acts and exercise, but a total privation of the principle of spiritual life, which is the misery of the unregenerate. Secondly: We have here the duty of the unregenerate, which is to awake out of sleep, and arise from the dead. And the order of these duties is very natural. First awake, then arise. Startling and rousing convictions make way for spiritual life; till God awake us by convictions of our misery, we will never be persuaded to arise, and move towards Christ for remedy and safety. Secondly: But you will say, if unregenerate men be dead men, to what purpose is it to persuade them to arise and stand up? And that this is the state of all Christless and unsanctified persons, will, undeniably, appear two ways.
1. The causes of spiritual life have not wrought upon them.
2. The effects and signs of spiritual life do not appear in them; and therefore they are in the state and under the power of spiritual death.
1. If all Christless and unregenerate souls be dead souls, then how little pleasure can Christians take in the society of the unregenerate! Certainly tis no pleasures for the living to converse among the dead. It was a cruel torment, invented by Mezentius the tyrant, to tie a dead and living man together. The pleasure of society arises from the harmony of spirits, and the hopes of mutual enjoyment in the world to come; neither of which can sweeten the society of the godly with the wicked in this world.
2. How great and wholly supernatural, marvellous, and wonderful is that change which regeneration makes upon the souls of men! It is a change from death to life: This My Son was dead and is alive again. Regeneration is life from the dead (Luk_15:24). (J. Flavel.)
Conviction
Conviction is the first step in the new life. It is essential to conversion, as the action of winter is necessary to the growth of spring.
I. Conviction is produced by the power of the truth.
II. Conviction awakens the guilty conscience.
III. Sometimes conviction is transient. A mere play on the feelings cannot produce a permanent change.
IV. There are instances of special means used to produce conviction. St. Pauls conversion.
V. Conviction is genuine when salvation is sought. The gaoler at Philippi.
VI. Conviction sometimes comes too late to save. Belshazzar. Dives. (The Weekly Pulpit.)
Men asleep and dead in sins, called to awake
I. The state we are here supposed to be in by nature.
1. A state of sleep. This implies--
(1) Ignorance.
(2) Insensibility.
(3) Security, carelessness, unconcern.
(4) Indolence and sloth.
II. The exhortation given to such. God calls thee by His Word; by His ministers, whom He raises up, qualifies, and sends forth, chiefly for this end; by His providence, affliction, health, adversity, prosperity, the sickness or death of friends and relations; by His Spirit, which enlightens thy mind, awakens and informs thy conscience.
III. The gracious promise made to those who take the exhortation. Christ shall give thee--
1. The light of knowledge as to Divine things.
2. The light of comfort and happiness.
3. The light of life. (I. Barrow, D. D.)
Our natural state, and its remedy
I. What the text calls us to believe.
1. That our natural state is a state of darkness. Light in the external world is the element or medium by which we see other objects. Darkness precludes light, not by extinguishing the sense, but by rendering it useless. Three gradations may be stated, three degrees of darkness, as it affects the soul and its perceptions.
(1) That in which the soul has no perception at all of spiritual objects or the things of God, which are, to it, as though they were not.
(2) That in which it sees the objects as existing, but is blind to their distinguishing qualities and relative proportions.
(3) That in which the qualities are seen, but not appreciated; they are seen to exist, but not seen to be excellent or the reverse. Not so much a darkness of the mind as of the heart--a blindness of the affections as to spiritual objects.
2. A state of sleep. This is more than darkness. The man who is asleep has his senses sealed; not his sight merely, but his other senses. External objects are to him as though they were not. All that lies beyond this life and its interests is veiled from his view, and might as well not be. But while his senses are suspended, his imagination is awake and active. The more insensible he is of that which really surrounds him, the more prolific is his fancy in ideal objects. His life is but a dream. His illusions may be of a pleasing and agreeable nature; that will only make the awakening more dreadful. It is related by one of those who witnessed and experienced a late explosion, that when it occurred he was asleep, and that his first sensation was a pleasant one, as though he had been flying through the air. He opened his eyes, and he was in the sea! May there not be something analogous to this in the sensations of the sinner who dies with his soul asleep, and soars, as he imagines, towards the skies, but instantaneously awakes amidst the roar of tempests and the lash of waves upon the ocean of Gods wrath?
3. A state of death.
(1) The suspension of the faculties is permanent.
(2) No power of self-resuscitation.
(3) The whole frame hastening to putrescence.
4. A state of guilt. Alienation from the love of God.
5. A state of danger. Exposed to the wrath of God.
II. What the text calls us to do. The real ground of mens indifference to this matter is their unbelief. They do not really believe what they are told as to their state by nature. Where this faith really exists, it shows itself in anxious fears, if not in active efforts. The souls first impulse is to break the spell which binds it. But this it cannot do; in itself it is helpless. Hence the exhortation has added to it the necessary promise--Christ shall give thee light. Repentance and faith are conditions of salvation; but the Author of our salvation is the Giver of repentance, the Author and Finisher of our faith. God forgives us freely if we repent and believe, but we can just as well make expiation for our sins, as repent and believe without Divine assistance. But (it may be asked) will not this doctrine tend to paralyze the efforts of the sinner for salvation? And what then? The more completely his self-righteous strength is paralyzed, the better. No man can trust God and himself at once. Your self-reliance must be destroyed, or it will destroy you. But if, by a paralysis of effort, be intended a stagnation of feeling, and indifference to danger, I reply that this doctrine has no tendency to breed it. Suppose it should be suddenly announced to this assembly that a deadly malady had just appeared, and had begun to sweep off thousands in its course; and that the only possibility of safety depended on the use of a specific remedy, simple and easy in its application, and already within the reach of every individual, who had nothing to do at any moment but to use it, and infallibly secure himself against infection. And suppose that while your minds were resting on this last assurance, it should be authoritatively contradicted, and the fact announced, with evidence not to be gainsaid, that this specific, simple and infallibly successful, was beyond the reach of every person present, and could only be applied by a superior power. I put it to yourselves, which of these statements would produce serenity, and which alarm? Which would lead you to fold your hands in indolent indifference, and which would rouse you to an agonizing struggle for the means of safety? I speak as unto wise men; judge ye what I say. Oh, my friends, if there is any cure for spiritual sloth and false security, it is a heartfelt faith in the necessity of superhuman help. The man who makes his helplessness a pretext for continuance in sin, whatever he may say, does not really believe that he is helpless. No man believes it till he knows it by experience.
1. Light dispels that blindness of the heart and affections which disables us from seeing the true qualities of spiritual objects. That which before seemed repulsive becomes lovely; that which was mean is glorious. That which was pleasing or indifferent is now seen to be loathsome. The beauty of holiness and the ugliness of sin are now revealed in their true colours. Nor is this all. The light which beams upon us not only rectifies our views of what we law before, but shows us what we never saw.
2. Light, then, is the remedy; but how shall we obtain it? It must be given to us. If it comes at all, it comes as a free gift.
3. Christ alone can give it. This world, to the believer, is a dark, perplexing labyrinth, and in its mazes he would lose himself for over were it not that ever and anon, at certain turnings in the crooked path, he gets a glimpse of Calvary. These glimpses may be transitory, but they feed his hopes, and often unexpectedly return to cheer his drooping spirits. Sometimes he is ready to despair of his escape, and to lie down in the darkness of the labyrinth and die. But as he forms the resolution an unlooked for turn presents a distant prospect, and beyond all other objects, and above them, he discerns the cross and Christ upon it. Look to Christ then! look to Him for light to dissipate your darkness, to arouse you from sleep, and to raise you from the dead. (J. A. Alexander, D. D.)
Christ the Light Giver
That the great intent of Christ in the gospel is to call people out of their woeful estate by sin into the marvellous light of His salvation. This is the great truth here represented; and to clear it up to you--
I. Observe how woeful and dangerous the present case of carnal unregenerate men is. It is represented to us under the notions of spiritual sleep and spiritual death; which I shall speak of both generally and apart, and then conjointly and together. First: To speak of them generally, and apart.
1. They are asleep in sin, whereas the regenerate are awakened (1Th_5:5-6). Here, then, is their misery upon the first account, they sleep in sin; and a great misery it is.
(1) Because their insensibility and security make their other sins more dangerous.
(2) Though they sleep, their damnation sleepeth not (2Pe_2:3).
(3) The sun is up, and shines into their windows (Rom_13:11).
2. The next notion is spiritual death; for we are bidden to Arise from the dead, which showeth this sleep is deadly (Eph_2:1). How are we dead? Two ways--
(1) Dead as we are destitute of spiritual life;
(2) Dead as we are destitute of the favour and peace of God.
Secondly: Let us speak of these terms conjunctly; the one helpeth to explain the other. When we hear that man sleepeth in sin, possibly we might be apt to be conceited that mans heart is not so corrupt as it is, and are ready to say of it, as Christ did of the damsel whom He raised to life, She is not dead, but sleepeth (Mat_9:24). Therefore we must take in the ether expression to help it. We do not only sleep in sin, but are dead in trespasses and sins. So, on the other side, when we hear that we are in the state of the dead, we may misconceive of Gods work in conversion, and press the rigour of the notion too far, as if He wrought upon us only as stocks and stones; therefore we must take in the other expression; we sleep in sins. Life natural is still left us; there is reason and conscience still to work upon, though we are wholly disabled from doing anything pleasing to God; that is to say--
1. We have reason. Thou art a man, and hast reason, and therefore art to be dealt with by way of exhortations. God influenceth all things according to their natural inclination, as He enlighteneth the world by the sun, burneth with fire, so he reasoneth with man.
2. We have conscience (which is reason applying things to our case), and can judge of our actions morally considered with respect to reward and punishment, and accuse or excuse as the nature of the action deserveth (Rom_2:14-15).
3. That we have a natural self-love and desire of happiness (Psa_4:6), There be many that say, Who will show us any good? (Mat_13:45-46). So that, though we are dead, so as to do nothing savingly and acceptably, yet we must remember that we are also asleep, ignorant, slight, careless, do not improve our natural reason, conscience, and desires of happiness to any saving purpose, and will not mind things. Both together giveth us a right apprehension of our woeful condition by nature, that we are corrupt, and so are said to be dead; and senseless and secure, so we are said to be asleep, mindless of our danger and remedy.
II. The manner of our recovery out of this wretched estate.
1. In the general, it is by calling of us. Awake, arise (see 1Pe_2:9; 2Th_2:14).
2. More particularly, the order of this calling is set down in the text, in these two injunctions, Awake, and Arise from the dead. We are reduced and brought home to God two ways--either
(1) Preparatively and dispositively; or
(2) Formally and constitutively.
III. The next thing is, what a blessed estate Christ calleth them into; He doth not only rescue them out of the power of darkness, but He will give them light. Many things are intended hereby.
1. By light is meant the lively light of the Spirit, or a clear affective knowledge both of our misery and remedy.
2. Light is put for Gods favour, and the solid consolation which floweth from thence (Psa_4:6-7).
3. It implies eternal glory and happiness, to which we have a right now, and for which we are prepared and fitted by grace. A tender waking conscience is a great mercy, whereas a dead and stupid conscience is a heavy judgment; for then neither reason nor grace is of any use to us; we can neither do the functions of a man or a Christian while we are asleep. First: Awake thou that sleepest.
Consider these motives--
1. Doth it become any to sleep in your ease, while you know not God to be a friend or an enemy? yea, when you have so much reason to think that He is an enemy to you, for you are enemies to Him by your minds in evil works (Col_1:21).
2. You sleep in that ship that is swiftly carried to eternity, and are just upon the entrance into another world: Lest coming suddenly He find you sleeping (Mar_13:36).
3. Yon have slept out too much precious time already: The time past of our life may suffice us (1Pe_4:3).
4. Thou hast been long and often called upon. If God had not sought to awaken you, you had the better excuse: How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of sleep? yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep. (Pro_6:9-10).
5. Now is your time and season: He that gathereth in summer is a wise son; but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame (Pro_10:5). To lose time is sad, but to lose the season worst of all, and a season that bringeth profit as well as labour, as harvest doth.
6. Others care for their souls, and are hard at work for God; their diligence should awaken us (Act_26:7).
7. The devil is awake, and will you sleep? (1Pe_5:8).
8. If nature were well awake, it would disprove your courses as much as religion. Secondly: Arise from the dead; that is, be converted to God; for the voice of Christ doth not only conduce to awaken us, but to raise us from the dead (Joh_5:25). Look about you, then; entertain serious thoughts of getting out of a state of sin into a state of grace.
Take two motives to quicken you to this--
1. Better never be awakened if still we continue in our sins, for this aggravateth them (Joh_3:19).
2. Better never rise in the last day if we be not raised from the death of sin.
(1) Do not say, It is too soon; for we can never soon enough get out of so great a danger.
(2) Do not say, It is too late; for the work is yet possible, as short as your time is like to be in the world; and it will be your fault if it be not done. (T. Manton, D. D.)
Inattention to warning
It is said of birds that build in steeples, being used to the continual ringing of bells, the sound disquiets them not at all; or as those that dwell near the fall of the river Nilus (Nile), the noise of the water deafens them so, that they mind it not. Thus it is that the commonness of the death of others is made but, as it were, a formal thing: many have been so often at the grave, that now the grave is worn out of their hearts; they have gone so often to the house of mourning, that they are grown familiar with death; they look upon it as a matter of custom for men to die and be buried, and when the solemnity is over, the thoughts of death are over also; as soon as the grave is out of their sight, preparation for the grave is out of their mind: then they go to their worldly business, yea, to coveting and sinning, as if the last man that ever should be were buried. (Caryl.)
Insensible to Divine influence
The person here spoken of is first said to be asleep; and surely this gives the idea of one who may be surrounded by danger without knowing it; may be approached by enemies without perceiving it; may have the assassins blow aimed at his heart without attempting to repel it. In like manner, those by whom he is best loved may watch beside his pillow, and he is unconscious of their presence. A feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined, may be spread before him, yet his appetite is not awakened; riches and honours may be placed within his reach, yet his hand is not stretched forth to grasp them. And why? Because he is asleep. His eyes are closed, his ears are dulled, his senses are locked up by the power of slumber; and forgetfulness of his best interest, and inattention to outward objects, have come upon him. And thus is it with the unconverted man. He is surrounded by dangers which he heeds not; by enemies whom he regards not. The murderer of souls has struck at his heart and he has made no resistance. He may be active in worldly matters, and eager for worldly objects; but he has no eagerness, no activity for spiritual concerns. Wrath, and that eternal, is even now pursuing him; the bottomless abyss has yawned at his very feet, and is ready to engulph him; the thunders of the law are pealing forth their denunciations against him; and this immortal being remains heedless and unconcerned when there is but one step between him and the lake of fire. And there is an eye of love watching over him for good; there is a voice of mercy appealing to his soul; there is the marriage supper of the Lamb spread, and he is invited thereto; there are the unsearchable riches of Christ placed within his reach, with this encouraging inscription, Ask, and ye shall receive; yet he hears not the voice which cries, Look unto Me, and be ye saved; he sees not the bleeding form which stands between us and the stroke of Divine justice; the famished wretch hastens not to taste the feast; the beggars hand is not put forth to lay hold on the boundless treasures. He is asleep; and feels not, sees not, hears not, knows not these things. And yet he is often not devoid of strong feeling with respect to the things of this world; nor destitute of regard for the decencies of life. He may find, or think he finds, happiness in this very forgetfulness of God; nay, in his own way, he may make a profession of religion, and have a dreamy prospect of salvation to be hereafter received. He thinks that he may now give his faculties to earthly objects and to self-indulgence, that he may offer to God the service of the lip whilst his own passions and inclinations receive the adoration of the heart; and he flatters himself that he is happy now, and that he shall, unconverted and separated from the love of God as he is, be happy in His presence eternally. Alas! how delusive is this dream, springing as it does from the sleep of carnal security. When for a moment he thinks seriously, he finds himself not really happy, and when that hour comes in which the unawakened sinner shall be called into the presence of his Judge, where shall be all the joys either on earth or in heaven, which he promised to himself? It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty; or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he is faint and his soul hath appetite. His anticipations were but a dream, founded on self-delusion, and ending in bitter and irretrievable disappointment. (Bishop Ryle.)
Light
It is a remarkable illustration of the truth that material phenomena are designed to convey to us lessons of spiritual realities, that the language in common use to describe the latter is that of the former. For example, in this sentence we have the expressions sleep, death, light. All these are material conditions or things. Probably none of these symbolical expressions for spiritual things is so frequently used as that of light. Without entering into the disputed question as to the source whence this quotation is taken, whether it be a free adaptation of a passage in the book of the prophet Isaiah or whether (as some imagine) a fragment from some ancient Christian hymn, we can refer to not a few passages in the Old Testament in which a right spiritual condition is described as being a condition of light. In the New Testament, which is a record of the advent of Him who is the source of spiritual light, these passages are still more numerous. He is heralded as the Dayspring from on high who shall give light to them that sit in darkness. He is declared to be a light to lighten the Gentiles. He claims for Himself that He is the Light of the world. In Him is light, and they who receive of Him are no longer darkness but light in the Lord, for in Him the darkness is past and the true light now shineth.
1. Light was the first creation of God. His first recorded word is, Let there be light. Proceeding out of this creation of light comes all other creation until the end is reached and man is made in the image of God. In like manner light is the first creation of the gospel, which is the re-creation of the world.
2. Light needs no evidence of its presence. It proves itself. To the blind, indeed, it has no existence, and no explanation of it can make them understand it. But to such as have eyes to see, the presence of light makes itself known at once. The gospel light commends itself by its own light to those who are possessed of a clear spiritual eyesight.
3. Light is given in order that we may see where we are and amidst what surroundings we are placed. Apart from the gospel of Christ we can possess no, true view of life; we are overwhelmed by unsolved mysteries.
4. Light exists not merely that we may rejoice in the revelation of which it is the author, but that we may walk in it.
5. God called the light, day, and the day is given for work. Man goeth forth to his work and to his labour until the evening. I must work the works of Him that sent Me while it is day, the night cometh when no man can work.
6. Darkness is always fruitless (verse 11) while light is fruit-producing. The fruit of the light (for such is the true reading of verse 9, which is recognized in the Revised Version) is in goodness, righteousness, truth. Light is a necessary element in the formation of the fruit of a tree or a plant. Such if deprived of light becomes barren. How true a picture of the human soul upon which the Light of Life is not shining! (Canon Vernon Hutton.)
The Awakener is in every sleeper
God would not mock man by bidding him to awake out of death, and to arise to a new life, if the Awakener were not in the very midst of his soul to help him. God calls man from within himself. The Resurrection and the Life stirs in him, saying, Arise from the dead! and the man is already at the dawn of the heavenly life. As sunrise pricks the sleeper, and says to him, Arise! even so the hour cometh when the dead soul hears the voice of the Son of Man, and, hearing, lives. The gentleness of the Divine love opens a new day within the man, and ten thousand noiseless arrows penetrate and startle his soul. They are the life glances of the Quickener, to which the inner man responds, trembling in the pangs of the new birth, and, at the same time, blessing God with unspeakable gladness that he is alive from the dead and an heir of heaven. It happens daily that after the light has penetrated the eyelid of the sleeper, he recognizes it for a moment, turns himself, closes his lid, and sleeps again. Take heed, lest after the arrows of Christ, which are gentler than the light, have wakened your soul, you do not sleep on in death. (J. Pulsford.)
Christ our Light
The motto of the Northcotes is, The Cross of Christ is my Light.
A light needed
A man is out on a night that is as dark as pitch--a lamp is placed in his hand to guide him on his journey. Instead, however, of taking advantage of the light the lamp affords, the man says, I do not require this lamp; I know every step of the way; I will trust to my own judgment. That man, in a certain sense, does his best; he strives to keep the beaten track, and for that purpose he moves carefully and cautiously along. When, however, he makes a false step and tumbles into a ditch, or falls over a precipice, no one dreams of saying, Poor fellow! he could not help himself, he did his best. The man did not do his best. Had he done his best, and not been rash and foolhardy in refusing to avail himself of the lamp, he would have escaped the wounds and bruises that now burden him. (P. Robertson.)
Christ our Light
Christ is our only defence at the last. John Holland, in his concluding moment, swept his hand over the Bible, and said: Come, let us gather a few flowers from this garden. As it was eventime he said to his wife: Have you lighted the candles? No, she said, we have not lighted the candles. Then, said he, it must be the brightness of the face of Jesus that I see. (Dr. Talmage.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 14. Wherefore he saith. Who says, or where, is…
14. Wherefore he saith. Who says, or where, is uncertain. There is a similar thought in Isaiah 60:1,2 and Isaiah 26:19. He probably means that God, in substance, says. Awake, thou that sleepest. The sleeper represents one not converted. Arise from the dead. From death in sin (2:1). Conversion is often described as a spiritual resurrection (Rom. 6:4–6; Col. 2:12). And Christ. Christ gives light to all who come to him. The Greek quotation is in verse, and has been translated, Sleeper, awake; rise from the dead,
And Christ on thee his light shall shed.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.