This is the last of the four part series on Dreams with my Father. In the last three, we talked about How to reach the dreams that God has placed in your heart and make them a reality. Today the title of my text is
WAKE UP! To follow the Dream that your Father has placed in you.
MAIN TEXT Romans 13:11-14
11Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers;
the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; 13let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness , not in quarreling and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with Jesus Christ and do not think about how to gratify the desires of sinful nature. 14Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
( Explanation of story leading up to this chapter .. In CHAPTERS 12-15: )
Earlier, Paul admonished, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God –– what is good and acceptable and perfect" (12:1-2). He then went on to explain in detail what that means (chapters 12-15). Now Paul says that faith must give rise to appropriate conduct. Christians must "lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light" (13:12).
In order to WAKE UP! To follow the dream God has placed in you, we first need to …….
I. Listen to the alarm clock
Romanos 13: 11
11Besides this, you know what time (Greek: kairon –– from kairos) it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers;
Story – On of my least favorite things to do is to hear my alarm clock start buzzing. I do not like waking up. But I need the alarm clock in order to get out from my beauty sleep!.
It is so hard to get motivated sometimes. But we need to wake up and get going. Motivation is difficult
STORY – Of man falling into the grave after the other man. Heard a voice out of the dark corner – You cant get out of here . BUT HE DID!
"Besides this" –– or "And do this." Do what? Love one another (vv. 8-10).
"you know what kairos it is." There are two Greek words for time –– chronos and kairos. Chronos has to do with chronological time –– clock time –– the time by which we keep daily appointments. Kairos has to do with special time –– special moments in time –– the forks in the road that make all the difference –– moments with the potential to determine destinies. Paul uses kairos here, signaling that he is speaking of a significant moment in time.
The time I spend with my children is KAIROS time. The Kodak moments. We need to wake up to appreciate these moments.
"it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep." Night is the time for sleep, but "the night is far gone" (v. 12) and "the day is near" (v. 12). Paul wants believers to be awake and alert to greet the coming of the dawn.
"For salvation is nearer now than when we became believers." It seems clear that Paul is referring to the Second Coming and that he believes it to be imminent. Paul, however, never claimed that Jesus would appear in his lifetime, but said instead that Jesus would "come like a thief in the night" (1 Thessalonians 5:2).
I believe that we are living in the end of times.
Church are we ready for when Christ comes? If Christ were to come right now in this service in Iglesia Central would you be ready?
Wake up!!!
After we wake up and listen, we then need to do the completely unexpected. We need to LET GO of this world
II. Let Go of this world
Romans 13:12
VERSE 12:
12the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside (Greek: apothometha –– put off) the works of darkness and put on the armor of light;
Let us lay aside the works of Darkness
THE FIRST THING THAT WE SHOULD DO AFTER WE HIT THE ALARM CLOCK AND WAKE UP IS
PRAY
Story – I have a prayer closet at home that Kristie and I go to daily.
Let us lay aside the works of Darkness
WHAT ARE WORKS OF DARKNESS???
Television sets . LCD PLASMA WHATEVER, Ipods, DISTRACTIONS FROM THE WORD OF GOD.
SIN. Those things you shouldn’t do or look at..
How do we put on the armour of lIght? Read your Bible. Pray – make a prayer closet
CHURCH – WE ARE IN THE END TIMES. Just look at the world we live in today!
Story – a lady went to the jewelry store and asked the clerk if she could look at a gold cross. The clerk looked down over the display case and asked her – “ do you want a plain one or one with a little man on it”?
THE DAY IS NEAR!!!!
"the night is far gone, the day is near." This imagery "flows consistently with our Blessed Hope!. (...1 Cor 15:20-28). Christians therefore live in the interval between the early signs of dawn and the sunrise itself, and their behavior must be appropriate for the day, not the night
"Let us then lay aside (apothometha –– put off) the works of darkness and put on the armor of light." It is not enough to put off works of darkness. We must put on armor of light to prevent the darkness from returning.
In verse 14, Paul shifts the metaphor, and speaks of putting on Christ.
"Note that here again Paul uses military language (’armor of light,’) as he does often (Eph. 6:10-20; II Tim. 2:3). There must be a reason for this. A good soldier does not lie down on the job, exerts himself to the full, has a definite goal in mind, uses effective armor, obeys rules. Does not all this apply also to soldiers for Christ?"
We need to obey our COMMANDER IN CHIEF, The Lord of Lords and the King of Kings!!!!!!!!!!
AFTER WE LISTEN AND WAKE UP, PRAY AND LET GO OF THE WORLD, WE then need to get out in the world and …..
III. LIVE as Christ lived
Romans 13:12-14
13let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness , not in quarreling and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with Jesus Christ and do not think about how to gratify the desires of sinful nature. 14Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Let us live honorably as in the day
Less of me and more of HIM
It is so hard to live as CHRIST!!
What is keeping you from living as Christ? Jealousy, Hatred, unforgiveness?
He who cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself – George Herbert
Story – A woman testified to the transformation in hter life that had resulted through her experience in conversion. She declared: I am so glad I got religion- I have an uncle I used to hate so much I vowed Id never go to his funeral. But now – Id be happy to go to it anytime
Its not about religion- Its about relationship. How is your relationship with Christ?
"live (peripatesomen –– walk) honorably." Elsewhere, Paul uses this word, peripatesomen, to admonish Christians to "walk in newness of life" (6:4) –– to "walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit" (8:4) –– and to "walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7).
A lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path – we use this in our Bible proclamation. WE WALK daily. Walking is putting one foot in front of the other. We make the effort.
WE NEED TO WALK with Christ daily
I have “ Hidden my Word in your heart that you might not sin against me”
Hidden is an action word because we need to find it. WE must work at finding the word
Why is it hidden?
Story – of military commanders in Iraq that hide weapons for their soldiers to find in the areas where they are to be campaigning.
We need to make the effort daily to find and use our weapons in this Spiritual battle!!!!!
"as (hos) in the day." Paul admonishes us to behave honorably. For one thing, such behavior is appropriate to who we are –– to whose we are. We are "children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness" (1 Thessalonians 5:5). Secondly, such behavior is important to our Christian witness.
Paul lists three pairs of sins that we must be especially careful to put off:
–– "reveling (komois –– carousing) and drunkenness."
–– "debauchery and licentiousness." These have to do with sexual sins.
–– "quarreling and jealousy." We are surprised to see these apparently minor sins in Paul’s short list of poisonous sins. Unfortunately, some congregations seem to think of quarreling almost as an in-house sport –– but Paul lumps it in with drunkenness and immorality as one of the principle works of darkness.
Paul includes a similar but more complete list of perilous sins in Galatians 5:19-21.
VERSE 14: PUT ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
14Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
"put on the Lord Jesus Christ." Paul puts "Lord" first in this threefold title, placing emphasis on the Lordship of Christ. When we "put on" Christ (in the sense that we make him Lord over our lives) temptation loses much of its power. When we look first to Christ for guidance in major decisions, he helps us to avoid dead ends and blind alleys.
"Christ is put on first in baptism (vi.3; Gal. iii.27), but we must continually renew that life with which we have been clothed .
This is probably the hardest thing- to start over every day and renew our lives
"make no provision of the flesh." "Put into very simple English, Paul is saying: Do not plan for sin; give it no welcome; offer it no opportunity. Kick sin off your doorstep and you won’t have it in the house"
CLOSING
Church we need to pray that God causes us to detest sin in such a way that we run from it the minute we see it
Story of KITE and little boy – How do you know its there ( asked the man as the kite became hidden in the coulds) – Little boy answered –every once in a while - I feel the string tugging
Stay connected to Christ in your dreams. Listen to him and Wake up to HIS world in you. LET GO of the distractions of this world and your fleshly worries and LIVE as Christ lived , as Christ wants you to live.
