“Wake up [thou] that sleepest, and arise up from among the dead, and the Christ shall shine upon thee." (JND Trans.) Hereby are we warned that it is possible for a saint to be asleep among the dead, and, not only is it possible, but how many instances do we see around us, and how easily might we ourselves be overcome by this deadly stupor. In that unhappy case, he hears nothing, sees nothing, nor can he communicate anything to others, and though he be not a dead man, yet, so far as these things go, he is as good as dead. Is not Samson asleep on the knees of Delilah a striking and solemn illustration? How soon he lost the locks of his Nazariteship! And then, with his eyes put out and himself bound with fetters of brass, he was made to grind in the prison house. What a pitiable spectacle! Nor was this all, for when the lords of the Philistines gathered themselves together to do honor to their god, and their hearts were merry, Samson was called from his prison to make them sport. To such humiliating and degrading depths may a man descend who sleeps among the dead. What a warning to us! Is any Christian in that state? An earnest voice bids him wake up and quit that company. To be asleep is bad enough; to be asleep among the dead is worse. Not only is there the arousing call, but with it the exceedingly gracious promise, "Christ shall shine upon thee"—not a mere gleam of light, but Christ shall shine full-orbed upon the soul. This is grace indeed!