The Pathway of Safety; or, Counsel to the Awakened

By the Right Rev. Ashton Oxenden, D.D. 

Chapter I: WHAT IT IS TO BE AWAKENED

We all know what natural Sleep is.  The body has for a time lost its power.  It is, to all appearance, dead and motionless.  The eyes see not; the tongue speaks not; the hands and feet move not.  Its state is like that of a watch when it is not wound up.

            We all know, too, what it is to be aroused from such a sleep.  We are brought back to life, as it were.  We have fresh powers given to us.  Our sight is restored, and all our lost energies return.

            Now, there is such a thing as spiritual Sleep – the sleep of the soul.  Alas! Many souls are thus asleep.  Is it not so?  Else how is it, that when we are told of ‘a wrath to come,’ so few are taking steps to escape it?  How is it, that, when heaven is offered to us, so few are seeking it? – that although Christ has shed His blood, so few are caring for it?  Ah! It is too true that men are asleep, as regards their souls and eternity.

            If we want to know how it is that this sleep has come upon us, we have only to look at Genesis 3; or Romans 5.  We there learn, that when sin had once made its entrance into the world, man became a fallen creature; his soul, from that moment, was stunned as it were; a deadly slumber crept over it.  And hence it is that we see men all alive as to worldly things, but all asleep, and even dead, as to spiritual things.

            And was it not once so with you?  Perhaps you may have lived ten, twenty, or even forty years, without any real concern about your salvation, or about the world to which you were hastening.  In your earliest days you were solemnly brought to Christ; you were given to Him in baptism; you were numbered among His sheep; you were marked as one of His; the Good Shepherd received you into the arms of His mercy.  But, oh, how soon you forsook Him!  You still bore His honored name.  You still called yourself a Christian, and others called you so too; but that was all.  It might be said of you, as it was of the Christians at Sardis, ‘You have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.’

            Think what your state was at that time.  You heard of heaven; but you thought little about it.  You heard of hell; but it seemed like an idle tale that you had no need to attend to.  You heard of a Savior; but His love did not reach your heart.  You believed Him perhaps to be the Savior of the world: but you never applied to Him to save you.  He seemed only as a stranger afar off; and you cared not to draw near to Him.  You heard of eternity; but the passing things of time were all that you troubled yourself about.  You made preparation for days and years to come in this world; but no preparation was made for that world which is eternal.  You were keen-eyed and zealous enough about the things of earth; you followed with much eagerness its recreations and employments; but those things which concerned your soul were either altogether neglected, or done slowly and heavily; and your spirit moved like Pharaoh’s chariot when the wheels were off.  You read God’s word occasionally, perhaps daily: but it was a dull book to you: it did not interest you; it only reached the surface.  You repeated, day by day, words of prayer; but you never prayed.  There was no heart-work with you.  You listened to sermons: but the Gospel passed over your mind, just as the bright sunbeam glides over the closed window without ever entering in.  There was light all around you – a blessed light from above – but your heart was closed, and not one ray reached it.

            And what must we say of you all this while, but that your soul was asleep – fast asleep; not dozing merely, but buried in a deep, sound slumber?  There was no feeling, and no life in it.

            But perhaps now, through God’s grace, your state is altogether changed.  You see things clearly, which a few months, or a few years, back, you did not see at all.  You are now awakened.  You feel an anxiety, which you never felt before.  Your one chief inquiry is, how you may obtain pardon, and how salvation may become yours – how you may be forgiven and accepted by God now, and how you can be admitted into the blessed company of His saints hereafter.  You are much in the sane state as the Prodigal, when he ‘came to himself,’ and said, “I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’” (Luke 15:17-19).  It is with you as it was with Lydia, when ‘the Lord opened her heart.’ (Acts 16:14).  As great a change has taken place in you as in the apostle Paul, who, from being a blind persecutor of Christ, became one of His most zealous and devoted followers.  From your eyes, as well as his, the ‘scales’ have fallen; and ‘whereas you were blind, now you see.’ (Acts 9:18; John 9:25).  It is true, you do not yet see all, for there is some darkness remaining in you; but still you see much that you never saw before.

            And do you not yourself feel like a man awakened out of sleep?  Do you not seem to be almost in a new world?  Do you not feel those words to be most true in your case, ‘If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new?’ (2 Cor. 5:17).  A new life seems to open before you; you have new feelings within you; new objects to live for; new hopes to cheer you; and you have entered upon the service of a new Master.

            Think, my dear friend, how great has been God’s love to you, how great is the forbearance He has shown you, and the patience with which He waited for your return to Him.  He saw you careless and rebellious, and when He called you, you refused; but still He spared you.  Again and again you resisted the Holy Spirit; and yet that Spirit strove with you, till at length He won you over to Himself.  Oh, what exceeding love was this!  Who can tell the length, and breadth, and height, and depth of it?  And this God, whom you have slighted, and disobeyed, and trifled with – this God is still ready to bless you, and to make you happy!

            And now you wish, I think, to serve Him 0 do you not?  You can now see that an earnest religious life is the only life that can give you peace.  And it is your heart’s desire to live such a life.  You almost envy those who are true Christians, and you wish to be one of them.  In short, your present purpose is to cast in your lot with the people of God. 

Here, however, let me throw in a word or two of caution – not to discourage you, but because it is very needful that you should be sure of your ground as you go on.

            There is such a thing as an awakening of the feelings, without any awakening of the heart.  I have known persons touched by a sermon, for instance, so that their tears have flowed, and they appeared to be spiritually aroused.  Their affections have been so moved that they have fancied at the time that they could give up all for Christ.  For the moment they seemed to be roused, and desirous of living a new life.  And yet all quickly passed away, ‘as the morning cloud, and as the early dew.’  There was no inward work of the Spirit upon the heart.  The soul was in fact still asleep.  It was disturbed a little, but never fairly awakened.

            Examine yourself, then, closely, and see whether a real inward change is taking place, and whether the Holy Spirit is now at work, within you.  And if it be so, let me tell you what will be your feelings.  You will not only be ready to acknowledge your sin, but you will feel bitter sorrow for it.  The thought of having sinned against God will make you unhappy.  You would give worlds to recall the past.  It grieves you now to think of hours and days that you have wasted; of Sabbaths misspent; of a neglected Bible; of many an idle word that you have spoken; of many a hard saying that escaped your lips; and of the evil temper, which perhaps you tried so little to curb.  The thought that you have lived so much to the world and to self, instead of living to Christ – that you had a gracious and loving Savior, though you knew Him not – that you have again and again grieved the Holy Spirit by the hardness and coldness of your heart—all this, and much more, rushes into your mind, and pierces you to the very quick.  All the ten thousand sins, in short, that you committed, or had the will to commit, though you lacked the opportunity, now come up before you.  The recollection of these painful facts fills you with keenest sorrow.  You feel that you can get no rest, until you find it in Christ; and the one great desire of your heart is to live a life of holiness and devotedness to His service.

            But I have another word of caution for you.  Some may try to persuade you that you are not truly converted, unless you can give a clear account of all the particulars of your awakening.  But this is altogether a mistake.  It is not necessary to be able to say how, when, or where, you were first religiously impressed.  ‘The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.’ (John 3:8)  As to the precise manner in which you were awakened, it matters little.  The great question is whether God has by any means savingly aroused your soul; and if so, you cannot be sufficiently thankful.

            Neither, again, is it necessary that the experience of all Christians should be precisely alike; indeed, facts show that it is not so.  God leads some in one way, and some in another.  Because one Christian may have gone through this or that particular stage of feeling, it does not follow that you should have felt just the same.  We are not all brought to God by the same means; neither does the self-same process go on in every heart.  Some are not led to believe Christ, and to love Him, without passing through severe trials and painful conflicts.  They are snatched as ‘brands from the burning;’ they are ‘saved with fear,’ ‘pulled out of the fire.’  In other souls the work of grace has proceeded unobserved by those around, and even perhaps almost unknown to the individual themselves.  Their hearts are naturally docile, and are as easily moulded as water is to the shape of the bottle into which it is poured.  Of course I do not mean that they are born Christians; but they become so by such a gentle and gradual change, that they miss much of that severe conflict which others pass through.  After all, it matters little how we were first brought to God: the great question is, have we been savingly brought to Him?  Are we grieved for our past sins?  Do we long for holiness of heart?  Are we cleaving to Christ, and serving Him? 

            Now, before we go any further together, let me ask you to pause for a few minutes, and put up a short prayer to God.  Perhaps that following may help you:-- 

A THANKFUL PRAYER FOR ONE WHO IS AWAKENED. 

            O Almighty Father, I confess to Thee how utterly worthless my past life has been.  I have sinned against heaven, and before Thee, and am no more worthy to be called Thy child.  But, in Thy great mercy, Thou has brought me out of this my ruined state.  Thou has given sight to my blind eyes, and awakened my slumbering soul.  O my God, I heartily thank Thee for this.  Blot out, I beseech Thee, for Jesus Christ’s sake, all my sins, known and unknown, past and present; and make me henceforth to be Thy true servant.

            Blessed Lord, work in me a real inward change.  Do Thou begin it, if it is not already begun, and carry it on, if it is.  May it be indeed Thy work.  Oh! Let me not deceive myself in so great a matter.  May Thy blessed Spirit enlighten me, teach me, and comfort me.  Leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.  Enable me from this hour to give myself, heart and soul, to Thee.  I desire to devote myself to Thy service, and to be all that Thou would have me to be.

            Give me faith, that I may believe in Christ, and live closer and closer to Him day by day.  Give me courage, that I may make a bold stand for Christ.  Give me strength, that I may resist temptation.  Give me meekness and lowliness of heart, that I may walk humbly with my God.  Make me Thine now, and Thine forever.  Grant this, I beseech Thee, for Jesus Christ’s sake.  Amen. 

The Pathway of Safety; or, Counsel to the Awakened, Ashton Oxenden

**************************************************** 

PREVIOUS CHAPTER  --   NEXT CHAPTER

To get past "Truth Speaks" go to www.Godsgwg.com and click on the "Weekly Word" button.  To be taken off the subscription list send an email to Chuck_Long@juno.com and inform me to do so.