If you didn’t turn your clocks back last night and you were here one hour early what would you have done??
Being at the wrong place at the wrong time is awkward isn’t it? Sadly, many Christians today are living their lives at the wrong place or at the wrong time or both.
We have been learning from the Letter to the Romans. We have noted that the letter was not only for the Christians in Rome 2000 years ago, but is also for us today. The letter states the truths about God and people, and that salvation from God’s judgment because of sins is only through faith (belief and complete trust) in Jesus Christ. Jesus who is God became man, died on a cross, was buried, rose from the dead, discipled many, ascended back to heaven and is now seated at the right hand of God. Do you believe all of this about Jesus Christ? If you do, then you are a Christian!
But this same Jesus stated that He will return to earth, not as a baby again, but the King of kings and Lord of lords. How soon do you think will Jesus return back to earth??
What reasons do we have, to think that Jesus can return soon, even imminent (at any moment now)?? – (signs of the times, no more prophecies which needs to be fulfilled for His return to happen, the New Testament Scriptures states the imminency!)
Our passage this morning states this fact that “the day”, the return of Christ to earth, is almost here! Please grab a Bible and open it to Romans 13. Let us pray together our commitment to God’s Word before reading……….
Read along with me now Romans 13:8-14…………..
We had noted that Romans 1-11 lays the foundation for the Christian faith. Romans 12-16 give instructions to Christians on how to live on earth while waiting for the glorification to occur which brings every Christian to heaven in perfection.
(show salvation chart) – Romans 1-11 talks about life prior to the cross and what the cross of Jesus Christ did for us. You become a Christian by believing in Jesus Christ and what He did for you! Romans 12-16 tells Christians how to live on earth as they anticipate complete salvation, which the Bible calls Glorification!
Romans 13:11-12 tells us what time it is right now in God’s clock! Let us take a closer look at these 2 verses; because if we don’t get this right, we will not have the right motive or the power to do what God calls us to do.
We are to understand the present time! What time is it?
The passage gives us clues: look again at the end of v11 and beginning of v12………
Now, aren’t we saved when we believed in Jesus Christ? What is God talking about then when He says that our salvation is nearer now? If we go back to our chart, God is talking about the future complete salvation of Believers of Jesus Christ when they are completely changed and taken to heaven. Because of the glory of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, all Believers of Christ will also be resurrected and glorified in the future; that is the time when Christians are completely saved! The time between the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of all Believers of Christ is the time we are living now; it is the time of sanctification, the Church Age, and the Time of Grace! Here is the point: The “Time of Grace” is the time we are in now BUT it will soon end and it can happen at any time!
Have you heard this one?
An elderly Florida lady did her shopping and, upon returning to her car, found four males in the act of leaving with her vehicle. She dropped her shopping bags, and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream at them at the top of her voice, "I have a gun and I know how to use it! Get out of the car, you scum bags!" The four men didn’t wait for a second invitation, but got out and ran like mad, whereupon the lady, somewhat shaken, proceeded to load her shopping bags into the back of the car and get into the driver’s seat. She was so shaken that she could not get her key into the ignition. She tried and tried and then it dawned on her why. A few minutes later she found her own car parked four or five spaces farther down. She loaded her bags into her car and drove to the police station. The sergeant to whom she told the story nearly tore himself in two with laughter. He pointed to the other end of the counter, where four pale white males were reporting a car jacking by a mad elderly woman described as white, less than 5’ tall, glasses, and curly white hair carrying a large handgun. No charges were filed. A case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time!
It is very important to know what time it is and where you are at! For us Christians, we must grasp the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ can come back to earth at any moment. And of course knowing and living with the fact that our God will appear to us at any moment should impact how we live.
But even though we are bound for heaven, our Christian lives on earth can sometimes be difficult, can’t they?
Let’s pause for a moment to quietly pray. Meditate on our Scripture of the Week: The night is nearly over; the day is almost here! In other words, troubles on earth will soon be over; we will be with Jesus soon! Pray about this for yourself, for your family, and for your church family……….
And so, how should we live, as we wait for the soon appearing of Jesus Christ on earth?
v11b: Christians, wake up from your slumber! We already noted a similar message: Don’t be a Christian Zombie, be a WAMB! Are we thinking about God always with our attitudes, minds, and bodies? Let us all be awake for the Lord for He is coming soon! Don’t be a Christian zombie, Worship God always with you Attitude, Mind, and Body!
v12b……….
You’ve heard it before; Say no to sin, say yes to God!
v8a…….If you owe something to someone, work on paying it back. Now of course, we Christians give gifts to one another. Let’s not confuse gifts with debts; and this is true for both the giver and the receiver. Don’t give a gift when you expect something in return; that would not be a gift, that would be a debt!
v8b-10: We are to love, not bring harm, to anyone, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ!
v13: is pretty straightforward; but maybe this thought might help: Do everything as if God has a spotlight on you! Why? – because God does has a spotlight on all of us Christians!
v14……….. Jesus is always the answer!
Remember the first B of the Full Armor of God??
Always put on the Belt of Truth! Allow Jesus to hold you up always! No this does not mean Jesus will steal something from you but to embrace you and help you keep everything together for s purpose!
