Wake Up And Shine

Romans 13:11-14 (KJV) And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.

Wake Up! Judgment Is Coming. Be The Light.

“It is high time to AWAKE out of sleep”. I preached this text years ago in Lexington, Tennessee, and a young man named “Brent” got upset with me. His mother was on medication, and often went to sleep when attending our services. Young Brent thought I was talking about his mother going to sleep while I was preaching, and later led an attack against me because of it.

I’m not talking about anybody going to sleep in the service. If you need to sleep, go ahead … just don’t snore! This text is not about something as simple as napping during the preaching. The Apostle speaks to the Church:

vs 11 KNOWING the time, that now it is HIGH TIME
to awake out of sleep

As the Apostle looked at what was going on in Rome, he knew that Rome was not far from collapse. Any nation that wanders far from God’s Laws will eventually crumble.

The Roman Empire, started as a Republic (much like America), had degraded further and further from Biblical morality. Homosexual and Heterosexual sin was winked at, and Pedophilia as well as bestiality was not even considered criminal. The morals and the morality of the nation moved closer to Sodom and Gomorrah, and the judgment of God was at hand.

Israel had moved away from Yahweh, and thought that Jerusalem would stand forever. Judaism put its faith in the priests and the sacrificial laws. How did God respond? In 70 AD Rome would sack Jerusalem, and destroy the Temple! Even today the Temple is not rebuilt, but the Muslim Mosque Al-Aqsa (Dome of the Rock) stands on the ground that the Jewish Temple used to be.

vs 11 KNOWING {eidō} the time, that now it is HIGH TIME
to awake out of sleep

Word Study: If the judgment of God came on Rome, and on Israel, won’t the same judgment come on America? Paul said “KNOWING the time”. The word translated “KNOWING” is the Greek eidō, which means “to see or perceive with the senses”. Our nation has turned from following the Spirit of God, and chases after the flesh, after sin and self. Flesh is everywhere. Nothing is withheld from the imagination. Darkness seems to reign. Those who are supposed to be Christian icons are exposed as Judas Iscariots, wolves in sheep clothing. The Christian sees the darkness, and says with the Apostle:

1 John 5:19 (ESV) We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

The devil is in the world, and working hard through the lost to further his kingdom of darkness. But we who are Christians have seen the SON RISE. Not SUN but SON. Jesus is the Light of the world. His people are to be the Light of the world. Jesus told us …

John 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

How fo we bring Jesus into the world? We walk with Jesus. We let Jesus Christ shine through us. If you are born again by the Blood of Christ and by the power of God’s Holy Spirit, you are NOT part of the darkness. You “HAVE THE LIGHT OF LIFE”.

John 8:12 (KJV) I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

We do not walk in the flesh and in the darkness. We walk in the light with our God. Our God is a Light Bringer. The very first command that God gave in human history was “Let there be LIGHT”, and there was LIGHT (Genesis 1:3). The enemy satanic forces want to bring darkness, and will bring darkness if they can. We who are Christians indeed are “delivered from the power of darkness, and are translated into the Kingdom of Christ” (Colossians 1:13). The Son has risen. We who believe on Him are His children. We are called to speak and act so as to …

Acts 26:18 (KJV) … open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith …

We are called to SHINE in this dark world, to let the light of God shine through our words and actions.

Your Salvation Demands You Walk In The Light

Paul next says something than many do not understand. He says …

Romans 13:11 for now is our SALVATION NEARER THAN when we believed

“OUR SALVATION IS NEARER”? What do you mean, Paul? I thought when I was “saved”, that this was what happened the day I believed on Jesus. That’s true.

Acts 16:31 (KJV) … Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved …

Romans 10:9 (KJV) if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

When you repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ YOU ARE SAVED (at that moment). You are actually SAVED from the wrath of God.

You see, God HATES sin. God must JUDGE sin. Jesus told us:

John 3:17-19 (KJV) God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. [18] He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [19] And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

God sent Jesus Christ, His Eternal Son, into the world to be our SAVIOR and LORD. When you receive Jesus as such, believing that His death on the Cross paid for YOUR sin, believing He is resurrected from the dead and your LORD now, then YOU ARE SAVED from the WRATH OF GOD.

God SAVED Israel from Egypt when He parted the Sea for Israel, but drowned the enemy army in it.

Exodus 14:13 (KJV) Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

God SAVED Hannah from childlessness, giving her the ability to birth the Prophet Samuel:

1 Samuel 2:1 … My heart rejoices in the LORD … because I REJOICE IN YOUR SALVATION

God saved Israel from the armies of the AMMONITES:

1 Samuel 11:13 … to day the LORD hath wrought SALVATION in Israel

Before His crucifixion an unknown woman came and bathed the feet of Jesus with her tears, and dried His feet with her hair. She anointed His feet – feet that would be nailed to the Cross – with precious ointment. Jesus told this woman:

Luke 7:49-50 (NKJV) Your sins are forgiven …. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.

It is God Who saves. “Salvation belongs to the Lord” (Psalm 3:8). God saves people from sickness, and suffering, from the enemy. But the greatest gift of salvation is when God saves us from His wrath when we believe on Jesus.

But when we read:

for now is our salvation NEARER THAN when we believed

This speaks of salvation as future tense. We are nearer to salvation – at this point – than when we first believed. You were saved – but you are not finished. God is working in you. Every day you as believers are closer to your final salvation. That is the day that we stand before Jesus, and see our Lord face to face. In that glorious place we call “Heaven” we will not sin, nor suffer, nor sigh. We will stand in the perfect Light of God, and we ourselves will be one with the Perfect Light. Oh, glorious day! My commentary notes:

“Salvation is the entire process by which God rescues sinful human beings from their bondage to sin, and gives them an overhaul from the inside out. Salvation is accomplished {by God} in three tenses—past, present, and future.”

Preach This! Every Christian HAS BEEN saved, IS BEING saved, and WILL BE SAVED. When you REPENT and RECEIVE Jesus as Lord and Savior, you are SAVED. The wrath of God is removed from your life, because what Jesus did on the Cross JUSTIFIES you, makes you right with God. But the Bible goes on to say:

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV) … we are {God’s} workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Once SAVED, God begins the process of SANCTIFYING us, making us more like Jesus. He does this through the Holy Spirit and the Holy Bible. We are BEING SAVED.

Our final salvation, GLORIFICATION, comes when we meet Jesus face to face in glory. This is what Paul was talking about when he wrote for now is our salvation NEARER THAN when we believed. Christians, our time is limited on this earth. We are to be “redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16). The darkness is great, but God’s Light is greater. You do not know when your assignment on this earth will end! Further, you do not know when the judgment of God will come on this earth, or on this nation.

The Saved Walk With God In The Armor Of Light

Romans 13:12 (KJV) The night is far spent, the DAY is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.

The problem with evil and darkness is that it destroys all that it touches. The works of the flesh, also known as sin, bring death (Romans 6:23). Wise King Solomon wrote:

Proverbs 10:16 (KJV) The labor of the righteous leads to life, the wages of the wicked to sin.

Nations that reject God and cling to the flesh will ultimately find destruction! The Prophet said:

Isaiah 2:12 (KJV) For the day of the LORD of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty

All who are arrogant, pride filled, me focused. All who rebel against God and believe themselves immune to punishment.

God will destroy sin by the Cross, or by His wrath!

Isaiah 13:6, 9 (KJV) Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. … He will destroy its sinners from it.

A judgment day is coming. It came on Rome, and the empire that ruled the world fell into ash and ruin. Oh Beloved, if America does not return to the Lord, or to some semblance of Godly morality, we shall fall as well.

Joel 1:15 (KJV) Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is at hand; It shall come as destruction from the Almighty.

In Noah’s Day, to get on the Ark was to rise above judgment. In our day we “CAST OFF THE WORKS OF DARKNESS”. We realize the danger of sin. We walk as children of Light:

Ephesians 5:6-9 (ESV) Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true)

If Noah had not gotten on that Ark, he would have drowned with the lost world. Beloved, we must not be in the darkness with the lost. The Scripture says:

Ephesians 5:11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

Shine for Jesus! Shine the light of God’s Word on the unfruitful works of darkness. Do not be like the lost, but like Children of Light. Our Vacation Bible School was based on these verses:

Ephesians 6:11-18 (ESV) Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

You Are Either Light Or Dark

Romans 13:13 Let us walk HONESTLY, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

Word Study: The word translated “HONESTLY” is the Greek euschēmonōs, which means “in the proper or prescribed way”. I remember the hardest part of basic training as an airman was to learn to march in formation. As the drill instructor called out the cadence, “Left, Right, Left, Right”, we were supposed to rhythmically keep step with the instructor and with one another. If you went against the instructor’s call, you didn’t just hurt yourself, but you hurt the unit. If the clown in front of me was walking “Left” when he was supposed to be “Right”, I’d step on his heel, stumble, and the guy behind me would step on my heel. The whole group got out of step!

We are children of Light, children of the Day. Get in step with Jesus. Not with the darkness, but with Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:5 (NKJV) You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.

You need to be what you are. If you are children of the night, then be that. Stop pretending. Judgment is coming your way. You are of the darkness. As Jesus said:

John 3:19-21 (NKJV) … the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.

You cannot be saved, and act lost. This is double mindedness. There is no such thing as a

Christian Thief
Christian Drunkard
Christian Pervert
Christian Whoremonger
Christian Pedophile
Christian Murderer

Yes, Christians do sin. There are times when we let the flesh have its way. But when this happens, the Holy Spirit convicts us. We CONFESS our sin to Him, REPENTING, placing it under the Blood of Calvary. Oh, praise God, we are being saved, but our salvation is not yet complete.

1 John 1:7 (NKJV) … if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

The Armor of Light is the Lordship of Christ,
Not The Lordship Of ME!

Romans 13:14 (KJV) But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.

We are told “PUT ON the ARMOR OF LIGHT”. We are told “PUT ON the LORD JESUS CHRIST”. If you have on the Armor of Light, if you are imitating the Lord Jesus and obeying Him, you need not fear the darkness. You are “more than conquerors through Jesus” (Romans 8:37).

Let me close with a Bible story that illustrate this. In 1 Samuel chapter 17 we hear about a young shepherd boy named David. King Saul and the Army of Israel were encamped in the Valley of Elah. A giant by the name of Goliath comes out and challenges the Army of Israel to a duel. Every soldier looked at Goliath – and put on the armor of fear and darkness. No one, not even the King, wanted anything to do with Goliath. King Saul was afraid to fight Goliath, and promised if someone would fight Goliath, “the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel” (1 Samuel 17:25). What a prize! Riches. A beautiful daughter. Tax exempt status. What’s to be hated? But no one wanted to fight Goliath.

Then David came up.

“I will fight this Philistine”. King Saul told David, “You are just a young man. This is a seasoned warrior. You can’t do it!” Saul was dressed in the Armor of Humanism, the Armor or Relativism, the Armor of Doubt. David told Saul,

“As a shepherd, I’ve been attacked by lions and bears. The LORD Who DELIVERED ME from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, will deliver me from the paw of this Philistine!”

David had the Armor of Light on him. He had put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Then Saul told David, “I have some armor, human made armor, that you need to wear while fighting Goliath.

David told Saul, “Thanks, but no thanks. I’ve got my armor on. I’ve never used your armor before, but I have used the Armor of Light. I’m going to trust in that.” You all know the story. David went out to battle Goliath, knocked him down with a sling and a stone, then cut Goliath’s head off with Goliath’s own sword (verse 51).

Fast forward a few years.

King Saul, who rewarded David for killing Goliath, now hunts down David. (This story is in 1 Samuel 21). David is a wanted man on the run. He goes to the Tabernacle, and asks the priests for some shew bread, aged bread that only the priests were supposed to eat. They give David the consecrated bread. Then David asked, “Do you have any weapons here?”

1 Samuel 21:9 (KJV) And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.

When David fought Goliath, he fought him wearing the Armor of Light. He put on the Lord Jesus Christ. But now David chooses humanism, man made armor. “Give me Goliath’s sword – there is no other one like it!” The sword was made for a giant, not for David.

David traded the Armor of Light for a human weapon. David traded the Armor of Light for fear. David “fled that day for fear of Saul, and ran to Achish the King of Gath” (1 Samuel 21:10). When his life was threatened, the David that was fearless before Goliath “changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard” (1 Samuel 21:13). He who would one day be the King of Israel lost his courage, and looked like an utter mad man.

He put on the wrong armor. The armor of flesh will not save you. The Armor of Light will. Children of light, walk as children of light. God protects His children. But if you are lost – REPENT. Turn and run into the arms of Jesus. Judgment day is coming. God’s wrath is not far from falling. Make sure you are on the right side.

Give yourselves to Jesus. For God’s glory, I pray. Amen.