Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light (Ephesians 5:14). The midnight hour is almost upon us, and it’s time to be wide-awake in the Lord. He is doing everything He can to wake up people all over the world. Calamities like never before are taking place all around; and the Lord is sounding the alarm crying, “Awake, thou that sleepest! Wake up!”

Jesus needed the disciples to stay awake and pray with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane when He was going through the greatest trial of His life. Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me (Matthew 26:36-38).

Jesus had spent many days and nights with the disciples, teaching and training them and getting them ready for what was to come. Jesus knew He would be arrested, tried and die on Calvary; and He wanted them to know about it and be able to face that great trial, but they were not ready.

In the Garden of Gethsemane that night, Jesus had checked on the disciples three different times and found them sleeping. He scolded them saying, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray (Matthew 26:40,41); but they didn’t do it. He finally told them, Sleep on now (Matthew 26:45). Then He let them be.

Because the disciples fell asleep on Jesus, they ran away when the soldiers came; and they forsook Jesus during His awful trial and crucifixion. If you go to sleep on Jesus, you will forsake Him too. You have to stay wide-awake to have the light of the Gospel and the light of the Rapture to come, and the Holy Spirit is doing everything He can to keep God’s children alive in the Lord.

Pray, Fast, Live in the Word

Many people today have very little knowledge or no knowledge at all of the Rapture because they are spiritually asleep. Even many Christians are drowsy, so they don’t have the Gospel light of the end-time signs or of the soon-coming of the Lord. It’s awful to be sluggish and drowsy. A person who is asleep can do no more work than a dead person can, so nothing gets done.

Three steps are a must to remain awake—prayer, fasting and living in the Word. You must pray Bible prayers through the divine blood of Jesus. You have to pray like Jesus prayed and be able to say, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always (John 11:41,42).

You have to fast through the Word and live in the holiness, righteousness and purity of the Word. You have to live in the love, faith and peace of the Word.

Awake, thou that sleepest, and gird yourself with the whole armor of God so you will be ready for whatever is coming in this last hour. So many people are afraid of what is happening today and of what tomorrow holds, but children of God are not to be afraid. Jesus said, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27).

If you don’t stay awake in the Word and in the promises of God, you will be afraid. If you don’t stay awake in the prophecies of God, you won’t know what the Lord has said about this hour. Take everything that is happening in the world today to the Word of God, and you will find that it is like reading or listening to the daily news.

Everything God said is coming to pass, so you must be ready and stay ready for Christ’s return. The only thing you should have left to do is help bring in the final harvest of souls. Jesus said, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15).

Peter Failed

Peter didn’t just fall asleep; he failed and even backslid when Jesus was being tried. When Peter was asked if he had been with Jesus, then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man (Matthew 26:74). Big Simon who had helped Jesus make miracles backslid to the bottom.

Jesus had blessed Peter and used him again and again. At one time, Peter had possessed such great faith that he had walked the waters. Jesus had looked after Peter in such a beautiful way, and He had healed his mother-in-law when she was very sick; but Peter still went to sleep.

I’m sure Peter was a great fisherman; but one day, Jesus said to him and his brother, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him (Matthew 4:19,20). Peter left the world behind to follow Jesus, but he still went to sleep on Him when He needed him the most. Let that be a lesson to you.

We are living in a critical hour. You have to stay awake and spend much time with the Lord, but some people can’t seem to spend even one hour with Him. Every night before you go to sleep, you should check to see whether or not you stayed awake in the Lord all day. You never want the Lord to say to you, “Could you not watch with me just one hour?”

In the Garden of Gethsemane that night, Jesus knew His disciples were going to be tried like they had never been tried before. You too are going to be tried in this hour like you have never been tried before. Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you (I Peter 4:12).

Be Like Jesus

Are you sleeping, or are you wide-awake? Are you looking for Jesus to come? Are you about your Father’s business? Jesus stayed awake from the time He started His ministry until it came to an end in the Garden of Gethsemane, and He tried to teach His disciples to do that too.

Jesus could stay awake and talk to the Father all night long. And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God (Luke 6:12). I’m sure Jesus did that many nights.

Jesus was always watching, and He knew exactly where He was heading. He knew exactly where He was in Bible prophecy. If you are a son or a daughter of God in this final hour, you must know where you are too. You must not waste time with those who will not believe or accept what the Lord has said. You have to move on to people who will accept the Gospel light. It is the business of every child of God to show Jesus to every soul possible, so you can’t fail God now.

If you live in the Word and in the light of the Gospel, you will have divine strength, divine power and vision for the lost. You will have the divine light that says people can be delivered from all kinds of sicknesses, diseases and bondages. Medical doctors can’t find a cure for AIDS, for many types of cancer and so much more; but anyone can be delivered through the blood of Jesus. That blood is the remedy for all sin and sickness, for all bondages and mental oppression.

Know the Hour

The wake-up call has come to the Earth. There are horrible tragedies taking place all over the world; but if you will lean on the Lord’s everlasting arm and trust in His Word every day, you will have no fear. You cannot be a child of the night; you have to be a child of the light. Jesus said, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8:12).

Those who are wide-awake have known these times would come because the Bible tells us so: This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come (II Timothy 3:1). But those who are sleeping have no idea, just as the people in the days of Noah and the days of Sodom and Gomorrah didn’t know what was going to take place. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all (Luke 17:27-29).

Jesus went on to say that people would be like that right before Christ’s second coming. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed (Luke 17:30). He also said, When ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it [His coming] is nigh, even at the doors (Mark 13:29).

Walk in the Light

All God’s prophecies are now being fulfilled. People are either going to accept the truth or not accept it. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness (II Thessalonians 2:11,12). So many people are in false doctrine today.

Our responsibility is to shine God’s love light to the world just as Jesus did when He was here. The Bible tells us, The people which sat in darkness saw great light (Matthew 4:16). Unfortunately, all of them did not come to the light. People can’t just see the light; they have to come to it.

Jesus came to Earth and died on the Cross so you and I could stay awake in this hour. There are billions of souls on Earth today, and so many of them are lost and undone without God. Many who claim to be Christians have only a form of godliness. Paul said, Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof (II Timothy 3:5). Such people don’t have real salvation. They’re not born of the Spirit of God, and they don’t believe anyone can live free from sin.

If you can’t live free from sin, the Bible says you belong to the devil. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil (I John 3:8). Paul said, Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God (Romans 6:13).

Are You Preparing?

It’s time for us to be wide-awake in the holiness of God’s greatness. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). Be ye holy; for I am holy (I Peter 1:16). The disciples were to have strengthened Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, but they went to sleep on Him; and God had to send an angel to help Him. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him (Luke 22:43). Jesus had prepared the disciples for that hour, but they failed. Will you go to sleep and fail the Lord in this final hour? Will He have to send someone else to take your place?

God has tried to prepare His children for this hour. He has held them close to His heart and given them insight about what to expect. Still, so many are drowsy. Are you one of them? Are you working for your Lord like you should? Jesus was always wide-awake; and He said, I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work (John 9:4).

Midnight is fast approaching, and only through the Holy Spirit will you stay awake and shine forth God’s love to a lost world. Only through the Holy Spirit can you love people like Jesus loved them and seek day and night for them to come to the Gospel light just as Jesus did.

After the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ, Peter finally received the power from On High he needed to keep him awake—the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Then he gave all, even his very life, for the Gospel. On the Day of Pentecost, the man who had once run away stood up unafraid and boldly preached to the people about how they had crucified the very Son of God. (That sermon can be found in Acts 2:14-40.)

Wake Up!

The Lord is saying to children of God in this final hour, Can’t you stay awake with me? There’s so much work to be done, and there’s no time to sleep. You must be wide-awake and connected with Heaven every day you have left. You must be storming the devil’s forts and tearing down his high places to rescue the lost, deliver the devil possessed and set the captives free.

It’s time for you to rise up against the powers of the devil and not fear him at all. God has almighty power; and He promised, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee (Hebrews 13:5). If you will be with Him, He will always be with you.

If you have not yet given your heart to the Lord, you are fast asleep; and it’s time to wake up so you won’t die and go to hell. Read the book of Revelation and know that all those judgments are going to be poured out upon the Earth during the coming Tribulation Period. You definitely don’t want to be here, so you must stay wide-awake if you want to escape.