And that knowing the time
That it is day and not night, the Gospel day, the day of
salvation; in which the grace of God shines forth, like the sun
in its meridian glory; life and immortality are brought to light,
righteousness and salvation are revealed; and so a time not for
sloth and sleep, but business; in which the saints should active
in the exercise of grace, and discharge, of duty; owing no man
anything but the debt of love; and that the dawn of grace, and
day of spiritual light had broke in upon their souls, and
dispelled the darkness of sin, ignorance and unbelief; that the
darkness was past, and the true light shined, and the sun of
righteousness was risen on them: all which they full well knew
and were conscious of, and therefore should observe,
that now it is high time for us to awake out of
sleep;
since sleep is for the night, and not the day; the Alexandrian
copy reads, "for you". This is to be understood, not of the dead
sleep of sin, in which unconverted persons are, to be awoke out
of which is a work of divine power; but of the carnal security
and drowsy frame of spirit which sometimes attend the churches
and children of God, the wise as well as the foolish virgins; and
lies in grace being dormant in, the soul; in a backwardness to
duty, and a slothfulness in the performance of it; in resting in
the outward duties of religion; in lukewarmness about the cause
of Christ; in an unconcernedness about sins of omission and
commission; and in a willingness to continue in such a sluggish
frame: all which arise from a body of sin and death, and an over
anxious care for the things of the world; from a weariness in
spiritual exercises, and an abstinence from spiritual company and
ordinances and from outward peace and liberty: such a frame of
spirit, when, it prevails and becomes general is of bad
consequence to the churches of Christ; the spirit of discerning,
care and diligence in receiving members, are in a great measure
lost, and so they are filled with hypocrites and heretics; Christ
absents himself from them; leanness of soul is brought upon them;
and they are in danger of being surprised with the midnight cry:
the methods God takes to awaken his people out of such a sleep
are various; sometimes in a more gentle way, by the discoveries
his love, which causes the lips of those that are asleep to
speak; sometimes by severe reproofs in the ministry of the word;
and sometimes by sharp persecutions in providence; and at last it
will be done by the midnight cry: the argument, showing the
reasonableness of awaking out of sleep, and that it was high time
to do so, follows,
for now is our salvation nearer than when we
believed;
by which is meant, not temporal salvation, or a deliverance from
the persecution the saints endured in Judea, from their own
countrymen, by the departure of them from Jerusalem, a little
before its destruction, by the destruction of that city, and the
peaceful times of Vespasian; but a spiritual and eternal
salvation: not Christ the author of it, who was come to effect
it; nor that itself, as obtained, which was now done, finished,
and completed; nor the application of it to their souls, which
also had been made; but the consummate enjoyment of it in heaven,
the salvation of their souls at death, and both of soul and body
at the resurrection; consisting in a freedom from every evil, and
in a full possession of all that is good and glorious: this is
brought nearer to the saints, to their sight and view, as their
faith grows and increases; and they are nearer the enjoyment of
that than when they first believed; and which is a strong reason
why a sluggish, slothful frame should not be indulged; what,
sleep, and heaven so near at hand! just at their Father's house,
ready to enter into the joy of their Lord, into his everlasting
kingdom and glory, and yet asleep!