(14) Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
I pause over this verse. Who is the speaker but God the Spirit. And to whom doth the Lord speak but to the Church? The promise with which the verse ends, proves this. For to whom is Christ promised but to his Church, both Jew and Gentile ? And, in whatever sense we consider the call, either to awaken in the first act of regeneration, or to rouse from a sleepy, drowsy frame, in the after stages of life; the call is most blessed. For Christ, in both instances, and in every other, is the sole life, and light of his people. Let us consider it under both.
If we consider the words, as addressed to the unawakened, before the act of regeneration hath taken place; they are the sweet voice of God the Spirit, in calling the sinner, dead in trespasses and sins. For I hope the Reader need not be told, that the child of God, though given by the Father to the Son before all worlds, and by virtue of that gift preserved in Jesus Christ, before he is called; yet, until God the Spirit, by his sovereign power, hath called from darkness to light; he is as much in the Adam-nature, dead in trespasses and sins, as all the fallen race. He is unconscious of his high interest, neither in a capability of enjoying it. Reader! pause over the subject. And if the Lord in mercy hath wrought this saving change in your heart, will you not feel the blessedness of what Paul said to the Church of the Corinthians, when reminding them of their former state of unrenewed nature. And such (said he) were some of you! But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God! 1 Corinthians 6:11
There is not, perhaps, a subject upon earth equally affecting, as when a child of God, escaped the shipwreck of a fallen nature, got on shore, through sovereign grace; looks back, and beholds the dreadful gulph he had been taken from. He sees the multitudes stranded, and sinking, never more to rise. He beholds thousands, not more undeserving than himself; lost forever. He stands amazed at are wonders of distinguishing mercy. He feels constrained to lift an eye to the God of his salvation, and with the astonishment of the Apostle, he exclaims: Lord! how is it that thou hast manifested thyself to me, and not to the world! John 14:22
If we consider the words of the Holy Ghost as addressed to those of the regenerate, which in time past were called out of darkness, but are now fallen into a sleepy frame; the promise is equally the same, for it is Christ only that can give light. We have a striking example of the kind, in the instance of the Church, as recorded Song of Solomon 5:2. The Lord Jesus had just before been regaling his Church at his banquet, and feasting her with his love. But, from the body of sin she carried about with her, she soon after fell into such a cold, and lifeless state, to the love-calls of Jesus, that though she knew his voice, yet she pleaded the most frivolous excuses to keep away. Reader! it is our mercy, that as in the first instance of awakening grace, so in all the after manifestations of it, the revival begins with the Lord. We love him, because he first loved us. And it is our mercy also, to learn our nothingness out of Christ. One of old, well taught of God, thus expressed himself in the view: hold thou me up, and I shall be safe! Psalms 119:117. If for a moment only, the Lord withdraws the arm of our support, our faith finds no holdfast. It is, I confess, distressing, yea, very distressing, thus to learn, what poor creatures we are. Nevertheless, if nothing short of such humblings, will serve to convince our proud hearts, that it is in Christ alone our strength and righteousness are to be found; spiritual poverty, and leanness, are blessed things, which ultimately tend to endear Christ.
I must not dismiss the view of this sweet scripture, before that I have added one word more, for the comfort of the Lord's people, under such dead and lifeless frames, which bring on leanness in the soul. Painful, and shameful, as they are, yet let every child God, who hath known, and experienced, the regeneration of the soul, learn to make a right estimate between the sleepy dying frames of a believer, and the dead state of the unregenerate sinner, dead in trespasses and sins! There is an immense difference; and the issue must be different. The one is the frailty of the saint; the other, the hopeless state of the sinner. And let the child of God, while mourning over his calamity, recollect, that in that mourning the soul is pining after Christ, though not enjoying Christ. Christ is still known, still desired. And sure I am, that where these sweet graces are in the soul, there Jesus dwells, however unconscious for the time the soul is of his presence. Holy mourners after Christ are promised to be comforted. Matthew 5:4. And it is blessed, when in a sorrowful frame, Jesus is looked for; though more desirable when we hold him fast, in the Bethel visits of his manifestations, or galleries of his grace. Song of Solomon 7:5.