xxix. 8. _It shall be even as when an hungry man dreameth,
and behold he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is
empty._
This passage describes the disappointment of the Assyrians, whose
imagination had feasted on the conquest of Jerusalem. The simile is
striking. A man in extreme hunger or thirst will dream that his
craving is satisfied. He awakes to feel the privation more acutely.
The text may be applied to the case of a man disappointed with the
world, awakened to a sense of its emptiness, concerned for his soul.
There is a sense of sin, danger, need. On the day of Pentecost the
awakened cried, "What shall we do?" Thus the Philippian Jailor. We
will address this state of mind--
+I. In words of sympathy.+ The awakened solicitude is justified
by--1. the value of the soul; 2. the fact of sin; 3. the reality of
danger; 4. the provision of the gospel; 5. the call of God; 6. the
unsatisfactoriness of neglect; 7. the flight of time.
+II. In words of caution.+ 1. Beware of relapsing into indifference
(H. E. I., 1479-1490). Many are awakened and anxious, but it does not
endure. Herod heard John gladly and did many things. Transient
impressions are like Ephraim's goodness (Hos. vi. 4). Some are
excitable but fickle. When the charm of novelty departs, their
enthusiasm departs. Religion experiences similar treatment. Nor is it
from yourself alone that you are exposed to this peril. You will meet
with those who will endeavour to repress your earnestness. They will
commend a moderate attention to religion, but will counsel you to
wait until you are older, &c. A quiet, sober, decent attention to
religious duties is well enough, but they cannot see the necessity
for making religion the primary concern. Beware of such advisers.
This is a matter in which earnestness is demanded. Keep fresh and
vigorous in your mind the considerations by which you were first
awakened. Salvation is either the supremely important thing the
gospel declares, or it is nothing. Is the sick man too anxious for
health, too attentive to the physician's directions? When the
starving man has dreamed of food, does any one repress his eagerness
for the reality when, on awaking, he finds it was only a dream?
Beware lest either unsympathising friends or your own weakness
administer the opiate that will send you back into the slumber of
indifference from which you have been awakened. 2. Beware of assuming
that you are converted because you are awakened. Awakening is not
conversion. Conviction is not conversion; it does not necessarily end
up in it. Pharaoh said, "I have sinned." It is a hopeful
circumstance; a step on the road; attention called to the disease;
disappearance of the dream. The awakened on the day of Pentecost were
directed respecting conversion. 3. Beware of finding comfort anywhere
else than in the gospel. Performance of religious duties; prayers;
peaceful feeling, you know not why; impression that you are forgiven.
It is untempered mortar; it will not bind the walls. Nothing less
than faith in Jesus.
+III. In words of counsel.+ Comply at once with the call of the
Gospel. Christ's work is all-sufficient. Faith and repentance is
submission at both points. The call is--1. Gracious. 2. Immediate. Do
not delay; do not wait for the Spirit nor anything else. You are a
man, not a machine. You must obey the Gospel. The Spirit is working
with the Gospel.--_John Rawlinson._