Many do not recognize the fact as they ought, that Satan has got men fast asleep in sin and that it is his great device to keep them so. He does not care what we do if he can do that. We may sing songs about the sweet by and by, preach sermons and say prayers until doomsday, and he will never concern himself about us, if we don't wake anybody up. But if we awake the sleeping sinner he will gnash on us with his teeth. This is our work - to wake people up.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of awakening individuals from their complacency in sin, highlighting the struggle against spiritual apathy.
Catherine Booth's quote speaks to the spiritual vigilance necessary in aiding others who may be unconsciously trapped in their sins. It suggests that the greatest threat comes not from external forces alone, but from a state of spiritual slumber where individuals fail to recognize their need for awakening and redemption. By illustrating that Satan thrives on this ignorance and complacency, Booth calls for active engagement and the courageous endeavor to awaken the 'sleeping sinner' to a life of awareness and spiritual awakening.
In practice
During a sermon, one might say, 'As Catherine Booth highlighted, it is crucial for us to awaken the sleeping sinner around us.'
A barracks is meant to be a place where real soldiers were to be fed and equipped for war, not a place to settle down in or as a comfortable snuggery in which to enjoy ourselves. I hope that if ever they, our soldiers, do settle down God will burn their barracks over their heads!
Self-preservation, nature's first great law, all the creatures, except man, doth awe.
It is impossible, in principle, to explain any pattern by invoking a single quantity.
The absence of the will to live is, alas, not sufficient to make one want to die.
Mysticism has been in the past and probably ever will be one of the great powers of the world and it is bad scholarship to pretend the contrary.
Living in a society, instead of on a desert island, does not relieve a man of the responsibility of supporting his own life.
The only constant factor in life is our feelings and attitudes toward life. One of the few things that we have total control over is our own attitude.
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