It's a delightful Summer.  I'm so glad we can all be here together today.  When I was in elementary school, there was a song that was taught to all of the students.  It wasn't in English, but it was in French and I didn't know what the words meant.  Perhaps you know the song as well.  (Tim singing)  "Frere Jacques, frere Jacques, Dormez-vous?  Dormez-vous?  Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines! Din, don, dan.."    I had no idea what that meant, but it was cute little French song.  By the way..that's probably the last time you'll ever hear me sing in front of a microphone.  It's was years later when somebody sang the same song "Are You Sleeping Brother John?". . And I started connecting the dots..that's what "Frere Jacques" meant in that little song.

Today I want to cover the subject of sleep and how spiritual sleeplessness mirrors physical sleep.  I want us to consider how God provides a way for us to stay awake and if we doze off..how we can reawaken to the truths of God.

First of all, let's take a look at the condition of sleep--the importance of physical sleep is critical to our lives.  That's a time when we have a lack of sensory perception.  A dictionary definition of sleep is:  a periodic natural state of unconsciousness.  Research shows that 15% of people would classify themselves as morning type people, or 'larks'. Another 20% would call themselves 'evening type' or 'owls'.  The remaining 65% are indifferent or mid-range.  My wife is a 'lark' and I am an 'owl'.  She wakes up happy in the morning and is most productive then, but if she tries to stay up in the evening it's a challenge for her.  I'm actually in between being a 'lark' and an 'owl', but I tend more towards being an owl.  My most productive time of the day is in the afternoon. That's when I have the most energy and I'm able to focus the most.  Prov. 27:14 He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.  Some people just don't like to get up and if somebody's happy as can be and they come to them just blessing them and say, "Wow! What a great day! How wonderful it is!"  They're excited and glad to be alive and just partaking of the joy of life and their friend just rolls over and counts it a curse. It's just terrible agony because they're getting up far too early.

I'm not covering this subject just because we had twelve relatives in the house with just one bathroom all week and stayed up late and got up early because there were two little kids aged three and five who always get up early and go to bed when they're tired.. boom! and that's it. So, we lived around that schedule. Sleep is a basic human need.  According to the National Institute of Health, sleep is a natural part of everybody's life.   But many people know very little about how important it is and some people even try to get by with very little sleep.  Sleep is something our bodies need to do. It's not an option.  Even though the exact reasons for sleep remain a mystery, we do know that during sleep many of the body's major organs and regulatory systems continue to work actively.  Some parts of the brain actually increase their activity dramatically and the body produces more of certain hormones.  Sleep, like diet and exercise is important for our minds and bodies to function normally.  In fact, sleep appears to be required for survival.  Rats who are deprived of sleep die within two to three weeks -- a time frame similar to death due to starvation.  An internal biological clock regulates the timing for sleep.  It programs each person to feel sleepy during the nighttime hours and to be active during the daylight hours.  Light is the cue that synchronizes the biological clock to the twenty-four hour cycle of day and night.  We can see that at home with our chickens.  When it becomes evening, the chickens go up to the roost.  It's still daylight, but they can see that the day is passing along  they get up in the roost.  Then they're up bright and early in the morning with the sun.  If we have baby chicks and we put them in a baby chick enclosure and we turn a light bulb on or a heat lamp on and keep the light on twenty-four hours a day,  they will eat a lot more because they think it's daytime all the time.  At least for that short time while they need the warmth, they will grow twice as fast. As soon as they grow out some feathers, we turn the light off and let them go to the daily cycle.

Sleepiness due to chronic lack of adequate sleep is a big problem in the United States and affects many children as well as adults.  Children and adolescents need at least nine hours of sleep each night to do their best.  Most adults need approximately eight hours of sleep each night (of course it varies from person to person)--some need less, some need more.  When we get less sleep, even an hour less than we usually need each night we develop what is called a 'sleep debt'.  If the sleep debt becomes too great --sort of like an overdrawn bank account, it can lead to problem sleepiness --sleepiness that occurs when you should be awake and alert.  That interferes with daily routines and activities.  That then reduces your ability to function.  Even if you don't feel sleepy the  'sleep debt' can have a powerful negative affect on your daytime performance, your thinking, your mood, and cause you to fall asleep at inappropriate or even dangerous times.  Problem sleepiness has serious consequences.  It puts adolescents and adults at risk for drowsy driving or workplace accidents.  I know that I have driven lots of long distance journeys in my life and I learned early "never drive sleepy".  It doesn't matter what the circumstances are.  If you want your next waking moment to be in a hospital in great agony (or if you wake at all), then drive sleepy.  I will stop no matter what and take a nap whatever the circumstances.

In children, sleepiness increases the risk of accidents and injuries as well.  Lack of sleep can have a negative effect on children's performance in school, on the playground, in extra curricular activities, and in social relationships.

Inadequate sleep causes a decrease in performance, a decrease in concentration, and a decrease in reaction times.  How many times have we heard about an accident because someone fell asleep?  It causes a decrease in the consolidation of information learning .. in other words, you can't 'connect the dots' very easily. If you're tired you just miss a lot of details. Inadequate sleep can cause increases in memory lapses, accidents and injuries, behavior problems and mood problems.

A lack of spiritual rest can cause spiritual sleepiness -- a condition of being unaware of one's spiritual surroundings.  When we go back and read Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.  This is a mention of the kind of rest God sets as an example.  God set the example for mankind to rest on the seventh day of the week to become physically and spiritually recharged.  Getting adequate spiritual rest includes the admonition in Hebrews 10:25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.  We're not to forsake assembling so that we might learn more about God's law and encourage each other.  When we don't have sufficient spiritual rest  and when we don't have sufficient spiritual food and encouragement, then we're subject to spiritual sleepiness.  Just as we learned about the problems associated with physical sleepiness, so all of us could be at risk for spiritual sleepiness.

Previously in our spiritual lives, we were all asleep and at some point, because we're here, we know that we were called out of that sleep.  A parent waking up a child uses a combination of senses.. such as the sense of touch.  I know that my dad told me that when he was in the army that one of the things that the recruits would do to each other was to take a very tired recruit and dip his hand into a pail or bucket of warm water while he was sleeping and the poor fellow who was the subject of the hoax or of the practical joke had his hand in warm water and he dreamed of going to the bathroom and that's what he was doing when he woke up.  What a terrible way to wake up.  Remembering that, I thought I would try that out on some college guys.   It works on college guys, too who are really really tired.  If you put their hand in a bucket of warm water, they wake up feeling absolutely terrible.  

I rarely use an alarm clock, but on occasion I use an alarm if I've been up particularly late the night before or perhaps I have a plane to catch or an appointment to remember.   Once in a while, I use the alarm clock feature on my cell phone as a reminder of something important that's coming up. I've even used my cell phone to wake me up after a short daytime power nap.   But spiritual alarm clocks are also a variety of means to help wake us up spiritually.  Just as the light is a cue that synchronizes the body's biological clock to the twenty-four hour cycle of day and night, so does spiritual light show us the correct way to go.  Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.  God uses his word as a light to show us the way.  In fact, some of the most effective alarm clocks are those that don't make a sound but they flash a light.  You may have seen or used those kinds of alarm clocks.  There are two different kinds.  There's one kind that you plug in and it's timed for several minutes before you wake up to start flashing.  First it will flash a small light, then the light gets more intense and more intense until the time you should be awake and then there's a big flashing light that stimulates through your eyelids to make you wake up.  Then there's the kind of alarm clock that just gradually,like the sunrise, lightens up the room and wakens you naturally.  I've always threatened getting one of those because I want to wake up feeling natural and refreshed.

God also uses sound--such as a trumpet as a way to wake up and announce to his people.   We can read about the announcement of the Day of Atonement:   Leviticus 25:9  Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land.  In other words, it's  a sound..it's an alert.  It's like an alarm clock.  It's making people aware of something, an alert.     Number 29:1  ‘And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no servile work. It is a day of blowing the trumpets to you.  It's an announcement -- it's a wake-up call.  It's a signal that it is the Feast of Trumpets.

I know that alerting people to something wakes them up out of their regular routines.  There was a very small church in the rural neighborhood where I grew up .. it was a  country church.  The cemetery came first, which was their first need and then they built the church next to it.   When I was a lad, I would hear the bell ring and the church bell would ring and the number of times it rang indicated the age of the person who had just died.  If it was a child, there would only be a few rings.  If it was a middle aged person you'd hear thirty or forty rings and an older person even more rings.   Whenever the bell would ring, everybody would stop and listen and count because in pioneer days that was the means of communicating who it was that had died. Everybody knew then where to focus, because people lived then in communities that were within three miles of that spot and they all knew each other and they would know approximately who it was, if not exactly who it was.  Everybody would stop and go into high gear if the family needed help.  There were preparations to be made.

There was another sleep example in the Bible at the time of the judges.  One of the judges was Ehud. This was a time when Ehud was delivering the people of Israel and he had escaped after  the delivery.  He had carried tribute and had tricked the king of Moab and had escaped and he came back and announced that the king of Moab was dead.  Judges 3:26-27   26 But Ehud had escaped while they delayed, and passed beyond the stone images and escaped to Seirah. 27 And it happened, when he arrived, that he blew the trumpet in the mountains of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mountains; and he led them.  He made the announcement with a trumpet, he made everyone alert.. just like the bell ringing from the church.  It as to alert everyone from their normal way of life that was going on.  They were now alerted that something was different now.  It woke them up from their regular routine.

God's alarm clock is a sure thing.  1 Cor. 14:8  For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?  There is a time when the alarm clock will go off.  And that trumpet..people won't wonder is that the real thing or not.  'Is that just me hearing something?  Was that just an extra loud click on the alarm clock or was it the real thing?'   For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to battle.  God's alarm clock is sure.  It's going to be a sure trumpet to wake us out of our slumber or our daily routines.

When we're called out of our sleep, who are we called out of our sleep by?  When children are sleeping, the parents will wake them up in order to go to school.  You've probably heard about the mother who said, " Johnny, it's time to get up and get ready for school," and he just groaned and rolled over.  A few minutes later, "Johnny, come on it's time to get up. It's time to get to school."  And Johnny just groaned and rolled over.  The mother was finally insistent, "You must absolutely  get up now in order to make it to school."  The son says, "Do I have to?" The mother says, "Yes, you are the principal." There are times when parents (which is a parental responsibility) must wake their children --to get them up for the day's activity because children don't have the maturity to do that.   God calls whom He will and God sets our spiritual alarm clock.

John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.  God is going to set the alarm clock.  He is going to call whom He will.  He will select us, He will awaken the people that He wills from their spiritual slumber.  John 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.  That reinforced it in that same chapter.   The apostle John was reinforcing that God will do the calling.  He operates the alarm clock -- He will trigger our calling in each of us.

There was someone else who was called back in First Samuel at the time Eli was the priest in Israel. He had delivered to him the child of Hannah after she prayed to God because she was barren.  She prayed and asked God for a child and if He would give her a child she would dedicate that child to the service of God.  God honored that prayer and young Samuel was born and when he was several years old (I think he was seven years old), he was given to the priest Eli at the temple to learn the temple service.  As a child, he went to live with Eli the priest.

1 Samuel 3:1-12    And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision. 2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; 3 and ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; 4 that the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. 5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.  6 And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.  [That must be irritating. Here's an old man who can't see very well and he's caring for a boy who's about seven and full of energy who comes bounding in and wakes him up and says, "You called me?  Old Eli says, "No, no go back to bed. Go back to sleep."] 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him.  [Samuel wasn't aware of this.  He wasn't aware and alert as to Who it was who was calling him.] 8 And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. [Eli was being stirred up.  He was being awakened as to what was happening to little Samuel.] 9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.   How many of us follow those instructions?  When we read God's instructions to respond to the calling of God, how many of us answer as Samuel did?  11 And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. 12 In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.   Things were beginning to happen and at a young age, Samuel was called to be a prophet of God and God trained him in the house of Eli and replaced Eli's house with the prophet Samuel.

Alarm clocks are preset by God.  On Holy Days, we read in Leviticus twenty-three and Deuteronomy sixteen that God set apart the Holy Days for his plan for salvation.  He set in motion the weekly and annual Holy Days as a reminder of the plan of salvation of mankind and the growth of that spiritual family.   God is in charge of the timing of the universe.  Those that have studied the creation and know the path the sun takes and its position in the milky way and the position of the milky way and the universe, and the planets -- they see all have a precise schedule that they follow as they revolve around the sun.  And the planets that rotate on their axis like the earth have a precise schedule so that we can set our clocks by them.  The moon is on a very precise schedule and then the tides operate by the moon.  There are clocks that are in nature that are preset by God.

But there's one thing that only God the Father knows.   God the Father is the only one who knows exactly the time of the return of Jesus Christ to this earth.
Matthew 24:36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.  God sets the timing of everything.  He sets the 'alarm clock' and He knows when the time is right for the return of Jesus Christ.  That doesn't mean that we know, but instead it says precisely we don't know.  But, we know that God has set that timing.

Our job is to be awake, alert, to be sober, to be watchful and if we don't there are consequences for not being awake.  There are physical consequences if you don't wake up when you're supposed to.  I was raised in the house that my father was born in and his father before him was born in that house.  It's a frame house that was on the prairie and it was a two-story house.  The stove was an oil stove -- at first it was a wood and then coal stove which was in the main part of the house and there was a grate in the ceiling.  The heat from the downstairs would rise through the grate in the ceiling to heat the bedroom right above the main room in the house.  I was a young man when my father explained to me that his father never climbed the stairs in the house in his memory to wake him up.  He didn't have to.  He took the coal poker and he put it up into the grate and he would rattle it 'clang, clang, clang, clang'.  The expectation was that before the clatter and the clang stopped, they would have presented themselves before the stove down below and that's where you got dressed from your bed clothes into your day clothes.  Come to think of it..I never saw Grandpa climb the stairs either.  He never needed to climb the stairs. Everybody knew he meant business when he would rattle the poker in the ceiling grate.  There were consequences for not waking up and nobody wanted to know what Grandpa would do if you didn't come down the stairs.

There are other biblical example of the consequences of not being awake and alert.  Deborah was a judge in Israel and she was called by God to be a decision maker, to be a judge to lead them out of captivity.  Israel was fighting King Jabin at that time who was the head of the Canaanite people.  Judges 4:4  Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time.  Sisera was the captain of the Canaanites under King Jabin and it wasn't going well for them because God was on the side of Israel.  Judges 4:15-22  15 And the Lord discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet. 16 But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left.  The enemy army was being destroyed, but Sisera their captain had run away.

17 Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.   Sisera thought he had a safe place to stay and he was the only on left.  They had tried to destroy Israel and it didn't work and their own  army was destroyed. 18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle.  He'd been running. He was tired.   He was escaping, or so he thought.19 And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.  What does milk contain?  The amino acid tryptophan which helps people who are tired already to go to sleep. 20 Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No. 21 Then Jael Heber’s wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. 22 And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.  24 And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.  This sealed Sisera's fate because he was fast asleep and weary.  At a time of great stress for him, he slept right at the very time when it was the most important for him to be awake and he put his trust in the wrong people and died because of it.  There was an opportunity there, but he was not watchful or mindful of the danger that he was in.

  We're familiar with the story of Samson and Delilah.  Delilah repeatedly tried to trick Samson so she could find out the secret to his power, his strength. He said if you braid my hair and if you do this or that -- if you do all these things then that will take my strength away and she was trying all of these things .  Each time after she did that, she would do whatever it was he said would render him helpless and then she would say, "The Philistines be upon you, Samson."  Judges 16:14,19, 20 ..And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.  He broke them open and went away.  It meant nothing to him --he was not confined. 19 Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him.  She kept trying it and got him to go to sleep one more time and she shaved off his hair and of course his power left him because he did not hold true to God's expectation of him.  Verse 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. He thought it was just like the other times and he'd just break loose.  But he fell asleep and didn't pay attention.   

1 Samuel 26:7,12     7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the trench, [they had built some kind of defensive fortification] and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster: but Abner and the people lay round about him.  12 So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's bolster [around his waistband]; and they gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awaked: for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the Lord was fallen upon them.  This was a time when  the future king, David was fleeing from King Saul and King Saul was searching after David to do him in.  David saw where they were camping and so David crept up to a sleeping Saul.  His army was close by, but they were all sleeping.  Sleep in this case was detrimental for Saul, but was actually helpful for David.  This was symbolic for Saul to realize that God was with David, but Saul had a hard time understanding that.

Spiritual poverty is likened to sleepiness.  Proverbs 6: 1-10 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,

2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.

3 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.

4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.

5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

If you're going to be surety, which means put up collateral for somebody when they want to borrow money or some such thing..it's interesting that statistics show that 70% of the people that borrow money or have somebody cosign, the cosigner has to pay off.  This is really speaking to that issue.  Don't be asleep about this.  Be aware of it.  Be well aware of what you're getting into.  Don't give sleep to your eyes or eyelids means both physically and rhetorically.

6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,

8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.

9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

It will just keep coming and keep coming and that's not just physical poverty but also spiritual poverty if the spiritual is neglected.  Little by little, little by little..pretty soon you'll wonder where you are.  Proverbs is full of the tidbits of wisdom.

Proverbs 10:5 He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.  Right now we're at a time of spiritual harvest.  The fields are white to harvest.  There are many people out there desperately crying for the knowledge of God.  They may not even realize they are --but they are anyway.  It's not time for us to sleep..during that harvest.  This is the end time.

Proverbs 19:15 Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.  If you don't pursue the knowledge of God, you will hunger for it and you may not even realize why.  You're just going to have that spiritual hunger.

Proverbs 20:13 Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.  Let's take advantage of what we have available now.  We've got a wonderful church website--we've got printed Bibles that much of mankind has not had throughout history, so we have the opportunity to learn much --to grow in understanding.

There's a responsibility and a reward to heed the call to awaken.  The responsibility we have is that the Church of God is being judged now.  1 Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?  There's a distinct responsibility we have to be awake to be aware of what God expects of us.  There's a promise to all of mankind who heed that call of God.  

Matt. 19:17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.  You must heed the call of God by keeping the commandments.

Hebrews 11:7  By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.  Noah had an awareness of what was happening.  He had a hundred years to build the ark so he had to keep this awareness.  He knew that he couldn't go slack on his responsibilities during that time.  Do you suppose he got a little tired?  Do you suppose that it took a lot of trees?   First he had to make the tools.  He had to have the ax or the saw and the plane and all the tools that it took.  After the tools, he had to gather the timbers.  To do that he had to make the wheels for the carts.  He had to train the horses or whatever beasts of burden he used.  There was a lot of preparation that went into it all.  After a while, you'd think that he'd probably get tired.  And yet in his mind he knew --because God put that knowledge within him that it was critical to prepare an ark as he was told by God and by doing so he became an heir of righteousness.

We have daily, weekly and annual reminders to answer the 'alarm clock' call.  So many of us use the daily alarm clock so that our lives proceed with order.  There's no need of an alarm clock if you use a natural method -- one glass of water will get you up at 6:00 A.M. -- two glasses of water and you'll be getting up at 5:00 A.M. (Everybody has their own pattern.)  I know that historically according to the history writers that's what the Indians used in order to wake up in the wee hours of the morning ..the quantity of the water they drank..because they didn't have a wrist watch or alarm clock or a grandfather clock on the wall.  They would drink one, two, or three cups of water depending on when it was their turn to get up because they also were watchful for their own safety.

After using an alarm clock for a while, we can often train ourselves to get up without that alarm clock but we still set an alarm clock just in case certain stresses in life overwhelm our bio rhythms and we don't want to miss our airplane schedule.  We don't want to be late to work.  We don't want to miss an important appointment.  Along with our morning alarm clock, we usually establish some kind of bedtime so that we can get the next day to go well.  My wife tells how her parents set a bedtime for all the children at 7:30 P.M. It was their expectation that all the children would be in bed and even as an adult when visiting her parents, it was time to go to bed at 7:30.  I didn't have that early of a bedtime.  I do have one daughter who is a 'lark' and the others are 'owls'.  The 'lark' daughter, I remember would get very concerned by 9:00 P.M. if she wasn't already in bed and asleep. The first time I heard this, she was eight or nine years old and she looked at the clock and said, "Oh, no!  I must be getting my sleep. I have to get up in the morning." She was always up by six so she was aghast that it was 9:00 P.M. and she wasn't in bed sleeping yet. (Only one of my children did that.)

The spiritual rest doesn't mean spiritual sleep or spiritual death.  Spiritually, we have the Sabbath rest to prepare us for the coming week.  In this sense the Sabbath rest is not compared to sleep, but a time of refreshing.  We can refer then back to Genesis two when God ordained the Sabbath as a rest, not as a spiritual sleep.

But, we should use a spiritual alarm clock each day to make sure our spiritual lives proceed orderly.  Each day at Summer Camp, for example, they use a daily 'Compass Check'.  At the Home Office, they may use a daily 'Compass Check'.  In our own morning prayers, we should seek God's direction for our destiny for that day.

If we take a look at the model prayer given by Jesus Christ in Matt. 6:9-11  9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.  11 Give us this day our daily bread.  In other words..this is a daily prayer. It's a regular thing.  We're asking that God look to our well-being.  God instructs us just a few verses down: Matt. 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. This means if you seek first his kingdom all the essentials of life will be added to you.

The weekly spiritual alarm clock alerts us to the weekly Sabbath.  Heb. 10:24-25    24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:  25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.  That weekly spiritual alarm clock..the weekly Sabbath helps us to encourage each other as we assemble together and exhort one another and more so as you see the day approaching. (Of course that day means the return of Jesus Christ.)

We also have seasonal or annual spiritual 'alarm clocks', the Holy Days that God has set aside for our benefit as a reminder of his plan of salvation for all of mankind.  We've referred to Leviticus twenty-three and Deuteronomy sixteen.  How long would we remember the plan of God if there were no reminders?  If there were no weekly or annual 'alarm clocks' to wake us up -- how long would we be aware or alert to the coming events?  How would we have a prod for us to live a righteous life and receive the benefits and blessings of God?  How difficult would life be if we continually reaped the curses of living the wrong way ..a way that is hurtful and harmful to us?  Even Jesus Christ wondered at the proclivity of mankind to do the wrong things even though they suffered from making bad decisions.  We have the example in Acts nine when Saul was on the road to Damascus.  Acts 9:4-5   4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?  5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.  Here was Saul, a man who greatly persecuted the church who was in the process of being called by God to the service of the church and Jesus Christ Himself pointed out to Saul  --who was to become the apostle Paul -- that IT IS HARDER TO DISOBEY GOD THAN IT IS TO OBEY GOD. This was the apostle Paul's great awakening. He was no longer spiritually asleep.  From that point forward, Paul was in the service of Jesus Christ to do the will of God.

If we're not sleeping, then what should we be doing?  We read earlier about Samuel being awakened.  1 Kings 19:1-14  1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.

2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.

3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.

4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.

6 And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.

7 And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.

8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.

Elijah ran and hid.   9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?

10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.  Elijah thought he was the only one, so what did he do?  He ran away and he slept.  11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:

12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?  Look at all Elijah has just gone through.  He's just been threatened of his life ..told that Jezebel was going to kill him within twenty-four hours.  He made a very long distance travel -- left his servant behind so they couldn't tell there were two people traveling and point him out.  There was a wind so strong that it caused rocks to blow over -- there was an earthquake -- there was a fire -- and then this small voice comes out.  Do you think Elijah was softened up by this time?   14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.  We read in verse fifteen what God's instructions are to Elijah.  Until that time Elijah ran and hid.  He went to a cave and went to sleep.  He was afraid, but God instructs us as He did Elijah what to do specifically point by point from that point forward,  so we also should look for God's instructions.

What are God's instructions for us? This is the great tribulation before Christ's return.  Matt. 24:29-31  29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

That's a great awakening right there.  If you didn't know it before, you're going to know it then is what God is saying here -- that everyone is going to see the Son of man coming in the clouds with power and great glory.

 Matt. 24:32-44  32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

We are to be prepared.  Should we be sleeping?  We should be awake and sober and prepared -- spiritually awake.  

Matt. 28:18-20 [This is an additional part of our great commission.]   18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

We're to watch when these things may be so, so that we can be prepared because if we're preparing and preaching, then we certainly aren't sleeping -- we're doing what God expects us to do.  Jesus Christ had much to say about spiritual sleepiness.  We can read this in the parables.  Several of them were devoted to sleepiness.  We learned about the parable of the wheat and the tares and the time when a man sowed his field with wheat.   Matt. 13:25  25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.  It was while they were sleeping.  They weren't watchful.  They weren't paying attention.  The enemy came and sowed tares.  Did they find out right away?  No, it took time for those weeds, those tares to grow up. But, the seeds were  sown early, when the men were sleeping. Then the tares grew up while they were awake and watchful, but the seeds were already sown.

In Matthew twenty-five, these ten brides were waiting for the marriage and yet the marriage was delayed.  Matt. 25:5  While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.  This analogy means that they were spiritually asleep.  They were not paying attention so while the bridegroom tarried, they slumbered and slept.  It says they all slumbered and slept.  It didn't say half of them -- it says they ALL slumbered and slept.

Christ was praying with his disciples on the night before his crucifixion and Jesus Christ asked His disciples to watch with Him.  Matt. 26:  38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.  (In other words, "Be with me. Stay with me.")  40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?  He specifically asked them to be there to watch, yet they found it difficult to do because all of them were sleeping. 43 And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.  45 Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.  The time for watching was over. It doesn't matter if you sleep now.  That time is over so their time for  watchfulness should have been prior to that.

There's an example about the battle at the return of Jesus Christ.  Isa. 5: 27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:  (If you're going to be alert, you're going to fight the battle. You're not going to slumber when you're going into it. You're going to be prepared.)

Isaiah 56:10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.  A watchdog that is sleeping cannot alert someone as to the danger that is coming.  We visited the Thorncrown Chapel a couple of days ago to show the family what the fancy chapel looked like .. full of beams and glass, and we got there a few minutes after 5:00 and the gate was closed. The sign on the gate said the hours were from 9:00 A.M  to 5:00 P.M.  and there was no trespassing and "Guard Dog On Duty".  There were three cars of us family who had gone to see the Crownthorn Chapel and we all agreed we couldn't take a chance the guard dog was sleeping and just sneak up and take a look at this special place.  We decided to heed the sign and move on and perhaps come another day.   

But here, the dogs were sleeping -- the watchmen were sleeping.  Are we going to be sleeping watchmen or are we going to be prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ?  The apostle Paul was concerned for the spiritual attitude of the Church of God -- Rom. 13: 11 .. knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. He was trying to stir them up -- to say, 'You must be aware, awakened from your spiritual sleep because the time of Jesus Christ's return is closer.'   1 Thes. 5:1-8   1 Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.  We are to be aware, to be alert, to be prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ.  Even the elect however may be deceived.  We read that in Matthew twenty-four.  If we are awake,  we are watching and we aren't sleeping.  Matt. 24:22,24  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.   So, it's possible the elect could be deceived or it wouldn't have been written. We should ask ourselves, "Is it possible with us?"  Are we spiritually awake and are we spiritually alert?  Matt. 24:31  31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.  (That final 'alarm clock'..that final trumpet)
 
The solution is found in Matt. 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  Just as God has called us out of our spiritual sleep, we are to heed his call to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and in so doing.. we're to love God and keep his commandments.  He's provided an 'alarm clock' for us that we would not sleep through this critical time and that we would be prepared and watchful so that we can join in the marriage of the Lamb, that we would become the children of God and inherit the promises of Abraham.  That we would become priests and kings in the kingdom of God and that we would be granted the gift of eternal life in the family of God.   

Psalm 121:1-8    1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.

3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.

6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.

8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Our Father, our great God is not sleeping.  He's watching over us and it's our time to be watchful, to be mindful, and to be prepared for the return of Jesus Christ.