Sinner Asleep in Danger – Charles Spurgeon
IT is said that on the great river of America, there was once seen a canoe some miles off Niagara floating down the stream, and as the current turned it so that those on the bank could well perceive it, they saw that the paddle was shipped and an Indian was lying in the canoe fast asleep. They shouted as best they could to awake him, for they knew well the imminent hazard of the poor wretch. They shouted, and called aloud, as they ran along the bank, but it was of no use. He had either been drinking or had been so fatigued that his slumber was most profound, and the canoe went floating on, continually increasing its pace. It dashed at last against a headland, and spun round in the torrent; and they said one to another, “He is safe, the man will be awakened. Such a start as that will surely arouse him, and he will paddle out of danger.” But no, he went right on until the roaring of the fall was near, and then the course of the boat was so rapid that none could keep up with it, and it went whirling on faster and faster. So profound was the Indian’s sleep, that for awhile even the roar of the fall did not awaken him; at last he was aroused, and then he grasped his paddle; but it was all too late; he was borne onward, and the last that was seen of him was his standing bolt upright in the boat, as it plunged over the abyss, and was never seen or heard of more. Ah! my fellow men, how like is this to those of you who are asleep and are borne onward by the treacherous current. That fever, that sick-bed, like a headland jutting into the stream, methought it would have made you think. That frail bark of your was twisted round and round. O that your soul had but been aroused from its slumber! The noise of Hell may well be in your ears, and the sound that comes up from the abyss of terror may well arouse you; but alas! I fear you will sleep on until the cataract of destruction shall be just before you in the pangs of death, and then, alas! full of horror, you shall seek escape when escape is no longer possible.
