The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-25
WHEN CHRISTIANS SLEEP
ENERGY is SUSPENDED
Rev. ]. c. Christie Has for His
Subject The Sleep OF In
sensibility.


THE Sleep of Insensibility" was the topic
on which Rev. j. g. Christie preached at
the West Washington-street Presbyterian
Church, yesterday morning. His text was
l Thess.. Y, g. He said:
when Christians sleep. all missionary or
aggressive energy is suspended; the minis
ter sleeps in the pulpit; the nearer sleeps
in the pew. Neither closes his eyes, but the
mind j. OFF upon the wings of the wind and
while the man is literally awake. he is really
and truly asleep. Now. long men are
asleep in this moral sense. they do no good
they get no good, and they actually care for
nothing. Souls may perish at his thresh-
old; the ignorant may be unenlightened;
the heather may be unvisited the poor and
the afflicted may DC uncared for. But he
cares little for them they care for him.
Besides ne is immovable 10 all appeals.
He processes to be servant of Christ,
but he does not serve Him, for he is indif-
ferent, and would rather slumbeT. This
slumbering spirit spreads itself over every
thing else He does not enjoy the wore +;
its texts are meaningless and commonplace
10 him. He does not wait on the preached
word with much heart and perhaps as sell
dom he can. If he comes TO the prayer
meeting he goes away without wrestling
with the angel OF mercy.
When a Christian falls asleep he may be
all unconscious of danger. but danger may
be near. He lays himself open to the devil;
he lies down and falls asleep the en-
chanted ground till Giant Despair hauls him
away TO Doubling Castle ana mauls him
with his iron club He lays himself open 10
evil passions which like serpents Irvine
round and round his heart and Sting him to
the quick. So while professors are asleep
they raise no cry for the living bread, for
they have no sense of hunger. Besides. they
may be doing much that might make people
imagine they were anything but asleep. PeO-
pie can talk and walk in their sleep, and
so may professors; they may have fine
dreams and grand projects and after all they
may be asleep.
1T is easy To send a man asleep with the
chloroform of bad doctrine. If a man
makes up bis mind that IL does not matter
what one believes. of course he falls COM
fortably asleep and feels no trouble at all
in the matter of religion.
Another cause Is too great and absorbing
an interest i'm things of the world. ii is
hard to fix line that proves to be the mar
gin of forbidden things. but il is pos
slble TO be absorbed even IN lawful Things
so as to be sent sound asleep. The things
of this world-business. science literature.
amusements, enjoyments employments-in-
trinSically right. may become the means of
bringing this deep sleep of the soul.
Everyone knows that there is something he
likes exceedingly, and that if he were to
give full swing TO his liking il might become
a dominating and enslaving passion. An
other cause is spiritual pride. Let Il man
get proud of his spiritual condition and that
will soon send him asleep.
THE one hope of those who are suffering
from the sleep of spiritual insensibiity is
the apostles admonition: Awake Open the
eyes and let i'm the light Open them 10
Gods word-to God i'm His word. to God in
His works but above all, 10 God i'm the
conscience; awake to the realities of the
natural and spiritual life; awake to duty;
awake to the work of life. Awake while
your head is clear and your heart is tender
and your hope is not dulled by the expert
ence of failure
"SoOn the awakening must come There
are sometimes sad awakenings from sleep
in this world. 1t is sad to dream by night
of vanished joys, to revisit old scenes, and
dwell once more among the unforgotten
forms of the dead. and to awake with the
morning light TO the aching sense of our
loneliness again. 1t is very sad for the
poor criminal. dreaming of home and limo
cence and happy days. to awake TO the
horrors of the execution morning.
But far more awful than any awakenine
which earths daybreak brings. shall be the
awaking of self-deuded souls when they
are reused from the dream of life TO meet
a forgotten God in Judgment