"Please, sir, don't wake him up!" by H. A. Ironside
I remember years ago when I was a young Salvation Army officer, we were conducting an open-air meeting, and a man stepped out and told how he had been a drunkard, how he had been down in the depths of sin, and how God in grace had spoken to his soul in the Salvation Army hall, and he, penitent and broken, had yielded himself to Christ and trusted Him as His Saviour. He told how Jesus had given him a new life and a new nature, and now everything was different. As that dear man was giving his testimony, urging others to come to Christ, a very well-dressed man in the audience who looked as if he ought to have known better, stepped forward and cried, "Wake up, old man, you are asleep, you are dreaming! There is nothing in it! Wake up!" A little girl ran through the crowd and caught the man by his coat and said: "Please, sir, don't wake him up! Sir, don't wake him up!" The man looked at her and said, "What do you mean?" "Don't wake him up. That is my daddy, and before he went to sleep like this, he was such a bad daddy. He was drunk nearly all the time and he beat Mama and beat me and we never had enough to eat. But since he began to dream like this everything is different. Now he is so kind, so good, and we have all that we need at home. Please don't wake him up!"
In the eyes of the worldling that man was a fool. But he was a fool for Christ's sake, and he had the wisdom that cometh down from above. Friend, face it honestly for yourself. Are you one of the devil's fools? Or are you willing to be a fool for Christ's sake? Are you going on denying God and rejecting His testimony and priding yourself that you don't need to be instructed by the Word of God, living in self-righteousness and in covetousness and in unbelief? Or do you know Christ as your own personal Saviour? Oh, if you have never known Him before, you can know Him now. I would like to introduce you to Him. I would like to take you by the hand and bring you face to face with our blessed Saviour. I would like to hear you say to Him: "Lord Jesus, I am coming to Thee as a poor sinner; and if Thou canst do for me what Thou hast done for thousands and millions of others, I am ready to trust Thee tonight." He will take you up in grace and make you a new creature and deliver you from your sins and your folly, and He will give you the true wisdom that comes from above. The world will dub you a fool. The world will think perhaps that you are out of your mind, but you will know that you have the wisdom that is given by God Himself.
From Divine Priorities and Other Messages by H. A. Ironside. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, ©1945. Chapter 3.
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