What is the significance of God telling us to "wake up, sleeper" (Ephesians 5:14)?

This verse is not a quotation from the Old Testament, though it is probably an allusion to Isaiah 60:1. We very easily fall victims to spiritual sleepiness, since the influences of the world are so soporific. Then we become like men sleeping amongst those dead in trespasses and sins. We are the living and they are the dead, and there should normally be the sharpest distinction between us. If we sleep amongst the dead we all appear very much alike. The call is to awake and arise that we may be in the sunshine of the Christ. Then it is that we are clear of all fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness and, being luminous ourselves, the fruit of the light is manifested in us.

How vile and unsavoury are the lusts of the flesh, they are the very antithesis of the holiness, purity, and sweet odour of what we have just considered. Such things should not therefore be named among those who are set apart for God; our conversation too should be pure, and even what is called harmless jesting is not convenient, thanksgiving being more suitable for Christians. Those who walk in uncleanness cannot have part in the Kingdom of Christ and of God, for all there is pure and holy, like God Himself; and spite of man protesting his religion and philosophy, the wrath of God will assuredly fall on all who have disobeyed the commandments of God. Why then should we have fellowship with those upon whom God's judgment is about to fall? Like them, darkness once marked us, it was the principle of our moral being, the controlling force of our lives, so that not a single thought or action of ours was in harmony with the will of God. Now we are light in the Lord, having derived this nature from God and as having come under the authority of the Lord Jesus, where God and His will are known. We are to walk then as children of light, transparent in all our steps, nothing covered up in our movements, manifesting the fruit of light in all goodness, righteousness, and truth, proving in the path of His will what pleases Him. The works of darkness bear no fruit, for God, so that we are not to participate in them any more than with those who do them, but rather are we to expose such works by the manifestation of what is divine. Things are seen in their true character when the knowledge of God is brought to bear upon them. The light that reveals God exposes everything inconsistent with His nature and character.

Although every true believer is alive spiritually, some are so influenced by present things as to be little different, in their practical life, from the men of the world. Such are not dead, but through earthly mindedness, worldliness, or lethargy are asleep among the dead. They are called upon to awake, and to arise from the company in which they are found, that the invigorating rays of the heavenly Christ might shine upon them, to energise them afresh, and to bring them renewed joy and blessing. Our every step is to be taken with care, directed by divine wisdom in a course the worldling has never known or trod, and every opportunity for the manifestation of good, where all is evil, is to be seized with earnestness. In such a world there is no occasion for the Christian to be foolish; his business is to learn the will of the Lord.

The Christian should thus, (not only abstain from ungodly ways, but) abjure all fellowship with those who practise them. Rather should he expose them; not necessarily directly attacking the world's practices, but by consistent godliness reproving iniquity. Men's secret sins, which have as large a place now as in Paul's days, are too shameful even to name; but they are exposed, and their true character declared by the light, for light manifests all things. Such exposing will not bring love, but rather hatred, to the witness, as our Lord Jesus said, "Me it (the world) hates, because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil" (John 7:7). In His case the darkness hated the light: it was too much for them.

Therefore is the believer to awake if sleeping, and arise from among the dead. Sorrowful condition for a saint to slip into! Of what value as a witness to God and the truth is a sleeper? Thanks be to God, such are not dead: the spark of divine life is there, and can never be extinguished; but they have sunk into a state of spiritual torpor, having thus lost their enjoyment of heavenly grace, and their usefulness in testimony. The Spirit also arouses in Rom. 13, but there reminds us of the nearness of our salvation, the night being far spent, and the day at hand. Here such sleepers among the dead are exhorted to arise; and, as the apostle adds, "Christ shall shine upon thee." Only thus can the believer reflect anything of God to a hostile world.

Such exhortations remind us of where we are — in an enemy's land. We shall not need in heaven to be told to walk carefully, to redeem the time, and to lay aside folly, and understand what the will of the Lord is. The days are evil: hence the need of the Spirit's admonitions.

In verse 14, a sleeping man is called to "awake," not a dead man: he is a believer, but alas! in what a state. A man, when he is asleep, is no better than a dog asleep. They are both insensible to everything around. Dog and man snore together. But when the believer, who has sunk down into worldly associations, is thus aroused (for he is not dead, but among the dead, and grievous to say, apparently one of them), nothing short of Christ Himself is his light. "Arise from among the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." The light is there when he awakes, and Christ is the measure of it for him. We must have an object. Sanctification is objective, and not subjective only. A man is holy to something, that is, it is not merely a state in itself, though it be such, in ordering and regulating my ways; but in the occupation of heart and mind with an object, my heart is consecrated to that object, and so sanctified, one outside of me, into whose image I am transformed as I contemplate His glory. Christ should ever be that object, and the secret of real progress is personal attachment to Himself. Mary Magdalene is an example of this; others waited till sunrise to come to the sepulchre, but she came "while it was yet dark." It was ignorance, of course, to seek the living among the dead, but it was ignorant affection. She tells the disciples, and they come too, and then go back to their homes - to their breakfast: but will this do for Mary? No; she has found her way back to the sepulchre again. All the world to her was but an empty sepulchre, if Jesus were not there, and her heart, full of Him, was lonely in it; and to her Jesus shows Himself, sending her with that wondrous message to His brethren, which told them of the new relationship in which they now stood - He was ascending to His Father and theirs, His God and theirs. (John 20)

Verse 14. The men of this world are dead, and the Christian who walks according to the spirit of this world is as if he were dead, slumbering amidst the dead, dreaming, it is true, sometimes about his wretched position; but as to action, he is there amongst the dead; he does not know what to do, and how should he know? The same may be said of all that, in the Christian, which morally can be called sleep. It is a most sorrowful state in contrast with that which is described to us above. Christ cannot enlighten a soul thus placing itself among the dead; He can work in order to awaken such, but He does not give light to them that are asleep, to those who do not awake from among the dead. Since the light makes all manifest, there is a needs-be that the Christian should awake, and Christ will give him light. It is Christ Himself who is the source, the expression, and the measure of light for the soul that is awake. What use is light to him who will walk in darkness?

(Vv. 11-13). Already we have been warned against having fellowship with evil workers. Now we are warned against fellowship with the works of darkness; we should rather reprove them. To speak of the things that the flesh can do in secret is shame. The light of Christ reproves the evil that it exposes. In Christendom people cannot publicly commit gross sins that are openly committed in heathendom. The light in Christians is too strong. Alas! as the light declines sins again become more public and open.

(V. 14). The unbeliever is dead to God. The true believer, if not heeding these exhortations, may fall into a condition of sleep in which he is like a dead man. In such a condition he will not profit by the light from Christ. The exhortation to such an one is, “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” It has been well said, “It is Christ Himself who is the source, the expression, and the measure of light for the soul that is awake.”

(Vv. 15-17). Thirdly, we are exhorted to walk wisely. Learning from the first fourteen verses that the true measure for a right walk is God's nature of light and love, we are to profit by this teaching, and “walk carefully, not as unwise but as wise.” In an evil world the Christian will need wisdom, but this wisdom is in regard to what is good. So, in another Epistle, the Apostle can write, “Be wise as to that which is good, and simple as to evil” (Romans 16:19). Our wisdom will be seen in redeeming the time, and understanding what the will of the Lord is. The days are evil, and if the devil could have his way there never would be a time or opportunity for that which is pleasing to the Lord. To do good we shall, as it were, have to seize the occasion from the enemy. If understanding the will of the Lord, we shall often find that an evil day can be turned into an occasion for doing good. Nehemiah, by prayer and fasting, learnt the will of the Lord concerning His people, so that when the opportunity came, in the presence of king Artaxerxes, he seized the occasion (Nehemiah 1:4; Nehemiah 2:1-5). It is possible to have a great knowledge of evil and yet be ignorant of the will of the Lord, and thus still be “unwise”.

Ephesians 5:14. — The Scriptures alluded to seem to be Isa. 52 and 60, but the application here is clearly to believers, slumbering among dead men or things, from which they are called to arise, that Christ may give them light, not life, which would be their first need as unbelievers. Let me add, that in the parenthetical ver. 9, the true idea and word is "the fruit of light is in all goodness," etc.

We need to refer back once more to Ephesians 5 for we have not read the whole passage there concerning the light. There are two further things said there about the light which I would just like to add to complete the picture. In verse 9 Paul continues after exhorting them to walk as children of light with the explanation, “for the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth”. We have seen that that light is connected with life in God’s mind and will, and now also with goodness, righteousness and truth. These would be the visible things that can be experienced. The goodness of God is an outflow of the love of God. Then follow righteousness and truth.

Then Paul continues in verse 13 more on the line of holiness, righteousness and truth, but it is very important to see that the light of God never contradicts His love. This is seen in the second and third epistles of John. The message of the second epistle is that there can be no real love without light, whilst the third says that there can be no real light without love. Here it is said in another way, firstly that the fruit of light is in all goodness, etc., but then in verse 13 that all things have their true character exposed by the light and are made manifest, for that which makes everything manifest is light. “Wherefore he says, Wake up, thou that sleepest, and arise up from among the dead, and the Christ [not love] shall shine upon thee”. Christ is ever the true light. We have no light in ourselves, so even if we as Christians are called light it can only be light “in the Lord”. It might be that this light in our practical lives is so dimmed that we are in need of this call, “Wake up, thou that sleepest”! We are not dead but alive, born again Christians, but if we live a worldly life we are like a sleeper amongst the dead. The Greeks in their mythology said, ‘Sleep and death are twins’, because you could hardly distinguish them. So a true believer who has life in himself by believing in the Lord may be so worldly that outwardly he cannot be distinguished from those in this world – but those in the world are dead whilst he is not. It is impossible once having life to die again in a spiritual sense, but it is quite possible to be a sleeper among the dead. I heard from several brethren who in the last world war had found wounded persons on the battle field who were unconscious, and they thought they were dead because they could not distinguish them. What a sad thing if a believer is in such a condition that outwardly he can no longer be distinguished from somebody in the world. Then this voice comes to those spiritually asleep, “Wake up, thou that sleepest [not who are dead], and arise up from among the dead, and the Christ shall shine upon thee”!

Yes. A man asleep is in darkness. "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee" (Isaiah 60:1). This will be the word to Jerusalem one day. Spiritual sleep means that your affections are dormant; and you have sunk to the level of those dead in sin.

"Awake thou that sleepest," the sleep of moral inattention.