Word of Salvation – Vol.51 No.7 – February 2006
This Present Time
A Sermon by Rev John Haverland
on Romans 13:11-14
Scripture Readings: Eph 6:10-18; 1 Thess 5:1-11; Rom 13
Theme: In view of our imminent salvation Paul urges us to put off the deeds of darkness and live lives in keeping with those who follow Christ.
Congregation.
We live in uncertain times. None of us know what the future holds or what tomorrow will bring. It is impossible to predict what will happen next year or in the next decade.
We also live in times of rapid change. As we look back over the past few decades we are amazed at the transformation that has taken place in this country and in the world – changes in technology, in politics, in the composition of many countries with immigration, as well as huge changes in moral standards.
In the words of our text, the apostle Paul urges us to understand “the present time”. We need to know what is going on. We need a sound grasp of the day and age in which we live. Yet Paul was not thinking of our immediate situation in this country, nor was he thinking about what is happening with our present government, nor did he have in mind the current political situation.
Rather, at the beginning of this chapter he wrote about all governments during this present age; about the institution of government itself and its purpose and task. The government has been established by God to uphold the right and punish those who do wrong. They are to uphold the law – ideally, the law of God.
Paul then explained what God requires in his law. He mentioned a number of the commandments, all of them from the second table of the law dealing with our relationship with each other, with our neighbours. All of these commandments can be summed up in this one rule; love your neighbour as yourself. Love is the fulfilment of the law.
Then he went on to give an incentive for keeping this law. We ought to love our neighbour because we are living in this present time in which we are anticipating the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. That Jesus is going to return ought to be a powerful motivation to put off the deeds of darkness and live in the light. This is the main message of these verses. We will explore this under three commands: wake up; put off; put on!
1. Paul told these believers that they needed to WAKE UP!
He told them that they had to understand “the present time”. He was referring to the time between the first coming and the second coming of Christ – to this whole period in which he was living, and we are now living. The Scriptures call this period “the last days”. This is the “day of salvation”. This is the opportunity to hear about the Lord Jesus, to respond in faith, and to live out our faith in obedience to his law.
Paul urges his readers to “wake up from your slumber”. He is referring to this in a spiritual sense. His words suggest that they were spiritually sleepy and easygoing, lethargic and casual. They were being lulled to sleep by the world around them and the pleasures of Roman society. They were also getting spiritually sleepy with the idea that Jesus may not return for quite a while yet. We now know that was true! His coming was a long way off from that first century time.
But Paul’s point is that we should always be alert. We don’t know when Jesus will come, so we need to be awake, on the lookout, ready and waiting; like the five wise virgins who had oil in their lamps; like the servant whose master found him busy when he returned.
Does that describe you? Are you awake? Are you alert for Christ’s return? Are you watching for when he will come? Are you looking forward to that? Are you busy doing what the Lord wants you to do, or are you preoccupied with your own thing? Are you being active in the church and kingdom of the Lord?
“The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber.”
Paul gives the reason for this: “because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed” (verse 11b).
The word “salvation” usually describes all that God has done, is doing, and will do for his people – past, present and future. Here, however, he is thinking primarily of the future; he is referring to our final inheritance. In Romans 8 he described this as “the glorious freedom of the children of God” and as the time of our adoption as sons and the redemption of our bodies (8:21,23). The salvation coming in the future will be the full revelation of all that God will give to his people – all the glory and beauty and majesty of heaven! Our final glorification!
This salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. That day of Christ’s return is steadily drawing closer. Each day edges us closer to that final salvation. Each year brings us nearer to that grand and glorious day. This is why you need to wake up and believe and keep active and be obedient! Because Christ is coming!
He expresses this same idea in another phrase in verse 12: “The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.”
By “the night” he refers to this present age. It is true that Jesus has come as the Light of the world; and it is true that we are the children of the light, living in this present situation. It is also true that the light of the knowledge of the glory of Christ is going out into the whole world. But, having said all this, this is still a time of darkness, especially in comparison to the glory and brilliance that will be ours in heaven.
How could he say that the night is nearly over when almost 2000 years have past and Jesus still hasn’t returned? He could say this because the return of Jesus is the last major event we are waiting for. That is “the day” that is “almost here”. All the other major events of our salvation have taken place – the birth of Jesus, his death, his resurrection, his ascension and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit.
There are still things that will take place before Jesus returns, but the main event to come is the day of his return. This is the next major occasion on God’s calendar of salvation. This is what we are waiting for. This is our hope and expectation. In this sense Jesus is coming “soon” (Romans 16:20; Revelation 22:7,12,20).
So we need to understand the present time as these last days before the return of Jesus and we need to wake up and be alert and active.
2. Following on from this, we need to PUT OFF the deeds of darkness (vs 12).
It is not enough to understand the time in which we live; we must also act appropriately.
The deeds of darkness are described in verse 13 in three pairs of phrases.
Don’t participate in “orgies and drunkenness”. The word orgies can also be translated as carousing or revelling. It originally referred to night parades through the streets in honour of the pagan gods; then it was used of the feasts and drinking parties that went late into the night. These activities have been part of every sinful culture throughout the history of the world and they are certainly present today. The lowering of the drinking age to 18 in New Zealand and Australia has only meant that even younger teenagers are involved in drunken parties.
Drunkenness sets the stage for “sexual immorality and debauchery”. Drunkenness encourages immorality.
The word translated as sexual immorality is literally the word “bed” and here refers to sexual relationships outside of marriage. That, of course, is always wrong; but here Paul is referring to immorality that it is carried to excess. The word debauchery refers to a complete loss of shame where people have no restraint on their sinful behaviour. Again we can see plenty of examples of that in our culture in parties and night clubs and pubs and on the streets of our cities.
These evils lead to “dissension and jealousy”. One sin leads to another. Drunkenness and immorality will lead to strife and arguments. It will produce fights and trouble. It is quite common for fights to break out at drunken parties and for the police to be called in to settle things down.
The first two pairs described here are both plurals which suggests frequent repetition. This was a pattern of behaviour, a lifestyle of sin and evil. Paul wrote this letter from the Greek city of Corinth and he addressed it to believers living in Rome. Both cities were full of these evils, as is our present society.
You are to “put aside” these deeds of darkness. Don’t take part in them. Don’t participate in these parties. Don’t associate with such drunken and loutish behaviour. Don’t get drawn in to the immorality. As a Christian you must stand aside from all this.
But Paul takes this even further. Not only must you avoid practising these things, but he also says, “and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”
The sinful nature is described as our “flesh” in some translations. It refers to our human nature in its fallen and sinful state. It is dark and deceitful and ugly. When you become a Christian, that sinful nature is defeated, but it is not destroyed – it is still there. And it tempts you; it has strong desires; it tries to pull you down; and so you need to fight against it. All believers know something of this; all Christians experience this battle between the flesh and the Spirit, between our old sinful nature and our renewed nature.
Part of the strategy in fighting against the desires of the sinful nature is to refrain from even thinking about these things. The Greek word used here refers to forethought or foresight. Some sins are spontaneous and impulsive – done on the spur of the moment without thinking. But many sins are premeditated, pondered, planned, contemplated in the mind and imagination. Thinking about sin weakens your defences against it; it breaks down the walls of resistance; it makes it more do-able, more likely, more possible.
Don’t think about how to gratify your sinful desires. Don’t plan ahead for sin. Instead, deal drastically with sin. Be careful what you see in magazines and what you read in books. Steer well clear of the pornography on the internet. Don’t watch movies that promote sexual immorality and debauchery. Remember, thinking precedes doing. Put off the deeds of darkness and don’t even think about them.
3. Instead, PUT ON what is good and right and pleasing to God. These are described in a few phrases in these verses.
Put on the armour of light (verse 12).
We have already seen that Christian life is a battle. We are fighting against our old sinful nature, and against the temptations of the world, and against Satan himself. If you are going to cope with these attacks, you need the armour of God. We read about that armour that is described in Ephesians 6 – the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.
Are you well armed? Are you putting that on? If you go out into the battle without any armour you will be defeated by the enemy – you will not stand a chance!
Are you prepared for the battle so that you may be able to stand your ground against the forces of evil? “Put on the gospel armour, each piece put on with prayer.” Put on the armour of light.
Let us behave decently as in the daytime (verse 13).
Some people behave at night in a manner they would not behave in the day. They behave in a certain way when they are under the cover of darkness, when no one can see them.
Believers are to act decently, as people living in the day. Bear in mind that the Lord is watching all you do. He is looking over your shoulder at the computer screen; he is sitting next to you in the movie theatre; he is with you as you and your friends see that video; he listens in to your conversation at work; he watches you in your life at home with your wife, your husband, your children. Be sure that you behave decently, in a manner appropriate for a Christian.
Paul brings these positive statements to a climax when he writes: “clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ”.
The apostle gives Jesus his full title – The Lord Jesus Christ. He wants to emphasise that this Jesus is our Lord in heaven ruling all things. Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the One anointed to be our Prophet, Priest and King.
Those who have been baptised into Jesus through faith have already been clothed with Jesus Christ – we have already put him on. But this “putting on”, which happened in principle at the point of conversion, must also happen in practice in your day to day life.
To put on Jesus means to live close to him by faith, to remain in him by believing in him, to abide in him, to be united with him. It means that you submit to him as Lord and allow him to rule over your life so that your thoughts and attitudes and actions are all under his control. It means that Jesus must be your pattern and guide and example. You must try to do what he did showing the same “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Col 3:12). You must put on those characteristics and qualities that he showed in his life. You can only do all this through faith in Jesus as Lord and Saviour as you live in communion with him day by day.
It was these words of this text that brought Augustine to faith in the 4th Century AD. He describes the story of his conversion in his book Confessions. He tells how he was walking in the garden and he was in great distress because of his sin – for before his conversion Augustine had lived an immoral life. Then he heard a child’s voice from a nearby house singing, “Take it and read it, take it and read it.” He hurried back to another part of the garden where he had left a volume of Paul’s writings, snatched it up, and read the first passage he saw – these words we have been considering.
He wrote, “I had no wish to read further; there was no need to. For immediately I had reached the end of this sentence it was as though my heart was filled with a light of confidence and all the shadows of my doubt were swept away.” So began the Christian conversion of one of the greatest theologians of the Christian church. From then on he applied his remarkable mind to understanding the times in which he lived and writing about them.
Do you understand the present time? Are you taking in the broad perspective of this time between the first and second coming of Jesus?
To do this you must wake up from your slumber.
You must put off the deeds of darkness.
You must live in the day, putting on the armour of light, and clothing yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Is this how you are living in this present time?
Is this how you are preparing for the day to come?
Amen.