River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1908-06-04

ual viii have the supremacy. The UNI
firing will be forever active.
In the ninth verse of the previous
chapter Israel is trying to wake UP
Jehovah. Awake, awake; put on
strength, o arm of the Lord" The
words of our text is Gods answer
to that prayer Awake, awake; put
on thy strength, o Zion" wake up
yourself" says the Lord. Il am not
asleep. No attribute of mine needs
repose. l am ready, willing, waiting
to exert my power, whenever you full
fill the conditions | have imposed"
We have not by prayer or eXertion to
induce God to bless us. But prayer
and exertion God requires for our
good. 1t would be no kindness in him
to bless sleeping Christians. They
would not know it, if he did. Let US
inquire:
1. What are the signs of sleep?
2. What are the causes Of sleep?
3. Why should we awake?
The Signs of Sleep.
Inactivity. If a man remains mo.
tionless on the lounge for three or
four hours, l take it for granted that
he is asleep. If he should continue
in that motionless condition for three
or four days, | should pronounce him
dead. If a Christian does nothing for
Christ, he is asleep. If he persists
in his course of uselessness, it is a
fair presumption that he is no Chris
tian at all. Life will express itself.
by their fruits We shall know them"
Insensibility to Slight Impressions.
If l wished to learn whether man
were asleep, l would not fire a can
non over him. Awake or asleep, he
would be aroused by that. l would
whisper to him or touch him gently.
The fact that you are startled by the
cannon-bocm of great crime is no
proof that you are awake. But how are
you affected by what the world calls
little sins? Disobedience of any kind
makes the wide-awake Christian smart
with pain.
Ill-Directed Effort People talk and
walk in their sleep, but it is all to no
purpose. Their talk is incoherent,
and their walk without aim. When
pastor and people, with all their
preaching and activities, have no
blessing, 1t is because they are
| asleep.
Causes of Sleep.
Inactivity One is not apt to go to
sleep while he is moving about. A
Christian active in winning souls will
not go to sleep. His activity will keep
him awake. Go to work. Exercise
your mental, moral and spiritual limbs.
Atmosphere. Certain climates put
people to sleep. So there are moral
and social atmospheres that seem to
be very good, but Christians who go
into them fall asleep. Prove to me
that the atmosphere of the theater, the
ballroom and the club are as good
as the prayer meeting; that first
class people go to these places; that
men and women whose characters are
above reproach patronize them; the
fact remains that these good people
are, as Christians, sound asleep They
are not awake to winning souls, con-
verting the heather, building up the
church.
Why We Should Wake Up.
1t Is Harvest Time. Christ looked
out upon the fields and declared that
they were ripe, waiting for the sickle.
To-day the fields are larger and the
grain just as ripe. Shame, shame,
thousandfold, on the Christian who
sleeps and takes his rest, while the
fields in which he might reap many
golden sheaves are all around him,
and the grain that invites his sickle is
being trampled by the hoofs of infidel-
ity and sin.
1t Is a Time of War, and the Enemy
Is Wide Awake. While we sleep, the
citadels of truth are being taken Our
very children are made captive by the
enemy.
We Are Watchmen, Paced by the
Lord on the Walls to Give the People
Warning. Sleep is treason. For the
private soldier to fall to sleep in the
midst of battle is bad enough, but for
the sentinel on whom depends the
safety of the army to sleep at his post
is criminal. And doubly criminal is
it. when those we love are in danger.
A father walked out through the fields
with his little bright-eyed boy, and lay
down to rest in an inviting shade. He
fell asleep, while the child played in
the grass around him. But on waking,
he could not see the boy. He called,
and only echo answered. Frantic
with dread, he rushed to the edge of a
precipice, and saw on the rocks below
the mangled form of his darling child.
Could he ever forgive himself for sleep
ing. when he ought to have known the
nearness of the danger? Father,
mother, that may be your portrait. Are
you at ease in your mind, sound asleep,
while your children are sporting on the
edge of the precipice of infidelity,
drunkenness, or worse? Wake up,
and seek their salvation.
Judges Indictment of the Saloon.
Judge William H. Wallace of the
criminal court of Kansas City, Mo-,
who has recently announced his candi-
dacy for the Democratic nomination
for governor on a straight law-en-
forcement, prohibition platform, makes
the remarkable statement in his official
declaration that Every murder case