continuation of the first part......
Today, people are exhausted and weighed down, and their senses are dumb spiritually. There is a need to be watchful, for the enemy will attack when we least expect. While righteous men sleep, the enemy does not sleep. The Bible says, “Be sober, be vigilant for the devil, your adversary walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” Evil lurks in every corner when the righteous people are weary. The disciples slept the sleep of weariness and we see where it landed them.
3. The sleep of Samson: It is very sad to know that many men are sleeping the sleep of Samson. They leave their wives at home and locate a local Delilah somewhere and are sleeping there. To worsen their case, their friends who will come and smoke cigarette at their funeral are encouraging them to die. Samson, whose birth was prophesied by an angel, a supernatural man, could not withstand the lap of Delilah.
Judges 16:19: “And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.” The seven locks of head stand for perfection.
WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE SLEEP OF SAMSON?
It is the sleep of presumption. That is the spirit of “I can handle it, no problem,” the spirit of over-confidence. Samson knew that he was in danger for Delilah was after the secret of His power, but he could not help himself. Delilah made him to sleep on her knees and she cut off his hair. When he awoke due to the cry of the Philistines, he said, “I will go out like other times.” But the Bible says that he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. He was surprised that day because he had presumed that everything was still okay. Then his eyes were pulled out and he was made to grind pepper in the mill of the enemy. It is wrong to presume that you are safe and therefore place yourself in danger. One day, you may wake up and find that the Lord has departed from you.
4. The sleep of the sluggard: A person who will sit for exams and is sleeping eight hours everyday will end up a failure. Proverb 24:30-34: “I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding, and lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well. I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep; so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.”
Many Christians are very lazy. They don’t want to do the Lord’s work. Just as a lazy person cannot do well physically, also a lazy person cannot do well spiritually. Laziness is the reason people give excuses for not doing what they are supposed to do. For example, they would complain that Bible studies usually take time and that is why they do not attend. Many are inactive when it comes to sowing the seed to the kingdom. Lazy people lack spiritual exercise. Family worship and Bible study are foreign to them. Just as a lazy farmer will not receive the best crop, a lazy Christian too will not receive the best from the Lord. The sleep of carelessness that many people sleep cannot fetch them anything from the Lord.
5. The sleep of Eutychus: Act 20:7-12: “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep; and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third floor, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, trouble not yourselves, for his life is in him. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.”
This is the longest sermon in the Bible. Here was a man who had a bed at home and could have slept at home, but he did not do so but came to the house of God and decided that everything they were saying there was sleeping tablet and he started sleeping. And as he slept, his enemy that pursued him to the meeting said, “We shall use you to disgrace them here.” He slept until he fell down. If a fellow would be sleeping like that while a message is going on, it shows that he will not be useful at a night vigil. He would be a useless disciple.
One of the things that has captured especially this country is that there are some people who wake up in the morning while believers are still sleeping and take over the whole day. They give orders to the day to co-operate with them while Christians are still sleeping. If you wake up at 8 a.m. and pray a five-minute prayer, and later you say, “I don’t know how today went,” that is the sleep of Eutychus.
6. The sleep of the foolish virgins: We have their story in Matthew 25. They did not have sufficient oil in their lamps and yet they were sleeping.
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHETHER YOU ARE ALREADY DEEP IN SPIRITUAL SLEEP?
1. When prayer ceases to be a priority to you.
2. When you become content with the spiritual knowledge that you have already acquired.
3. When your biblical knowledge is not applied inwardly. You just go to church, hear the message and read the Bible but you cannot apply them inwardly. They have no effect on your thought life or on your way of life.
4. When thoughts about heaven and eternity cease to be regular in your life. You don’t think about heaven. It does not cross your mind that this world is not a permanent place. You are only concerned about material wealth. It is a sign of spiritual slumber. You forget that our period on earth is temporary, that very soon all you have acquired in this world would become raw materials for fire.
5. When services in the house of God hold no delight for you. You are not interested in what goes on there.
6. When spiritual discussion becomes a source of embarrassment to you. For example, in your office, talking about Jesus or spiritual things becomes highly embarrassing because you know that those around will certainly know that you are not behaving like a Christian.
7. When things like leisure, sports, recreation, entertainment, etc. take a large part of your time, sleep has crept in and if you don’t wake, up the enemy will come and sow tares or lay eggs if they have not already done so.
8. When you commit the sin of the mind and body without your conscience pricking you.
9. When the aspiration for holiness is no longer paramount in your heart. When you look for Scriptures to back up your unholy behaviour, you know the truth but you are running away from it. People can always recognize the truth when they see it and they can always know when they are trying to wriggle away from the blunt truth. The truth may be bitter and unpalatable but it is very stubborn. No matter what you do to it, it will stand looking at you. If you knock it down, it will stand. You throw it away, it will stand. You bury it, it will come up. It is very stubborn. It may take time to manifest, but it must manifest.
10. When acquisition of worldly material is the major part of your thinking.
11. When you are singing Christian songs and chanting Christian words just from the lips and not from the heart. Surrendering to Jesus, only what is convenient is a sign of spiritual slumber.
12. Taking the Lord’s name in vain shows that you are sleeping. You talk about the Lord as if He was your houseboy. Saying that He has spoken something when He has not spoken: you did not receive a revelation and you say you did.
13. Watching dirty movies and T.V shows and reading impure literature is a sign that you have already slept. A lot of people can stay glued to the T.V for hours without sleeping but immediately you say, “Let us pray” they sleep off.
14. When with the slightest excuse you avoid spiritual duties, you have slept.
15. When you are contended with your lack of spiritual power and you no longer seek power from high. The first key to spiritual power is lack of rest in your soul because you are not satisfied with your present level.
16. When you pardon your sin and your laziness by saying that God understands, you are spiritually sleeping.
17. When you as a Christian can easily adjust to the life style of the world. You dress differently to church and differently outside. It is a sign that you are spiritually asleep. If you still crack dirty jokes with unbelievers, or they feel at ease in your company to do whatever they like, then you are asleep. The correct position is that they should find it very difficult to do or say certain things before you.
18. When you are willing to cheat your employer, you have slept.
Today, people are exhausted and weighed down, and their senses are dumb spiritually. There is a need to be watchful, for the enemy will attack when we least expect. While righteous men sleep, the enemy does not sleep. The Bible says, “Be sober, be vigilant for the devil, your adversary walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” Evil lurks in every corner when the righteous people are weary. The disciples slept the sleep of weariness and we see where it landed them.
3. The sleep of Samson: It is very sad to know that many men are sleeping the sleep of Samson. They leave their wives at home and locate a local Delilah somewhere and are sleeping there. To worsen their case, their friends who will come and smoke cigarette at their funeral are encouraging them to die. Samson, whose birth was prophesied by an angel, a supernatural man, could not withstand the lap of Delilah.
Judges 16:19: “And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.” The seven locks of head stand for perfection.
WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE SLEEP OF SAMSON?
It is the sleep of presumption. That is the spirit of “I can handle it, no problem,” the spirit of over-confidence. Samson knew that he was in danger for Delilah was after the secret of His power, but he could not help himself. Delilah made him to sleep on her knees and she cut off his hair. When he awoke due to the cry of the Philistines, he said, “I will go out like other times.” But the Bible says that he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. He was surprised that day because he had presumed that everything was still okay. Then his eyes were pulled out and he was made to grind pepper in the mill of the enemy. It is wrong to presume that you are safe and therefore place yourself in danger. One day, you may wake up and find that the Lord has departed from you.
4. The sleep of the sluggard: A person who will sit for exams and is sleeping eight hours everyday will end up a failure. Proverb 24:30-34: “I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding, and lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well. I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep; so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.”
Many Christians are very lazy. They don’t want to do the Lord’s work. Just as a lazy person cannot do well physically, also a lazy person cannot do well spiritually. Laziness is the reason people give excuses for not doing what they are supposed to do. For example, they would complain that Bible studies usually take time and that is why they do not attend. Many are inactive when it comes to sowing the seed to the kingdom. Lazy people lack spiritual exercise. Family worship and Bible study are foreign to them. Just as a lazy farmer will not receive the best crop, a lazy Christian too will not receive the best from the Lord. The sleep of carelessness that many people sleep cannot fetch them anything from the Lord.
5. The sleep of Eutychus: Act 20:7-12: “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep; and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third floor, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, trouble not yourselves, for his life is in him. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.”
This is the longest sermon in the Bible. Here was a man who had a bed at home and could have slept at home, but he did not do so but came to the house of God and decided that everything they were saying there was sleeping tablet and he started sleeping. And as he slept, his enemy that pursued him to the meeting said, “We shall use you to disgrace them here.” He slept until he fell down. If a fellow would be sleeping like that while a message is going on, it shows that he will not be useful at a night vigil. He would be a useless disciple.
One of the things that has captured especially this country is that there are some people who wake up in the morning while believers are still sleeping and take over the whole day. They give orders to the day to co-operate with them while Christians are still sleeping. If you wake up at 8 a.m. and pray a five-minute prayer, and later you say, “I don’t know how today went,” that is the sleep of Eutychus.
6. The sleep of the foolish virgins: We have their story in Matthew 25. They did not have sufficient oil in their lamps and yet they were sleeping.
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHETHER YOU ARE ALREADY DEEP IN SPIRITUAL SLEEP?
1. When prayer ceases to be a priority to you.
2. When you become content with the spiritual knowledge that you have already acquired.
3. When your biblical knowledge is not applied inwardly. You just go to church, hear the message and read the Bible but you cannot apply them inwardly. They have no effect on your thought life or on your way of life.
4. When thoughts about heaven and eternity cease to be regular in your life. You don’t think about heaven. It does not cross your mind that this world is not a permanent place. You are only concerned about material wealth. It is a sign of spiritual slumber. You forget that our period on earth is temporary, that very soon all you have acquired in this world would become raw materials for fire.
5. When services in the house of God hold no delight for you. You are not interested in what goes on there.
6. When spiritual discussion becomes a source of embarrassment to you. For example, in your office, talking about Jesus or spiritual things becomes highly embarrassing because you know that those around will certainly know that you are not behaving like a Christian.
7. When things like leisure, sports, recreation, entertainment, etc. take a large part of your time, sleep has crept in and if you don’t wake, up the enemy will come and sow tares or lay eggs if they have not already done so.
8. When you commit the sin of the mind and body without your conscience pricking you.
9. When the aspiration for holiness is no longer paramount in your heart. When you look for Scriptures to back up your unholy behaviour, you know the truth but you are running away from it. People can always recognize the truth when they see it and they can always know when they are trying to wriggle away from the blunt truth. The truth may be bitter and unpalatable but it is very stubborn. No matter what you do to it, it will stand looking at you. If you knock it down, it will stand. You throw it away, it will stand. You bury it, it will come up. It is very stubborn. It may take time to manifest, but it must manifest.
10. When acquisition of worldly material is the major part of your thinking.
11. When you are singing Christian songs and chanting Christian words just from the lips and not from the heart. Surrendering to Jesus, only what is convenient is a sign of spiritual slumber.
12. Taking the Lord’s name in vain shows that you are sleeping. You talk about the Lord as if He was your houseboy. Saying that He has spoken something when He has not spoken: you did not receive a revelation and you say you did.
13. Watching dirty movies and T.V shows and reading impure literature is a sign that you have already slept. A lot of people can stay glued to the T.V for hours without sleeping but immediately you say, “Let us pray” they sleep off.
14. When with the slightest excuse you avoid spiritual duties, you have slept.
15. When you are contended with your lack of spiritual power and you no longer seek power from high. The first key to spiritual power is lack of rest in your soul because you are not satisfied with your present level.
16. When you pardon your sin and your laziness by saying that God understands, you are spiritually sleeping.
17. When you as a Christian can easily adjust to the life style of the world. You dress differently to church and differently outside. It is a sign that you are spiritually asleep. If you still crack dirty jokes with unbelievers, or they feel at ease in your company to do whatever they like, then you are asleep. The correct position is that they should find it very difficult to do or say certain things before you.
18. When you are willing to cheat your employer, you have slept.
