MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
ILL. A few years ago my wife & I made a trip to Dallas. And when we got there we found that the local TV stations & newspapers were all reporting what to them was a major news story - the swarming of a Taiwanese cult into a Dallas suburb.
Nearly 200 cult members had already moved into this neighborhood, & more were arriving almost every day. Newspaper & TV reporters interviewed cult members & reported that they seemed to be a peaceful but somewhat strange group. Only a few local residents had any concerns about them. But the cult did have some rather curious practices & beliefs.
Each cult member wore a pointy-top hat, saying that it was through the point of the hat that they receive messages from God above. They also believed in reincarnation, & the leader of the cult introduced his son & another boy, saying that in a previous life one had been Jesus & the other, Buddha.
But the reason they were receiving so much attention in Dallas was because they also believed that on a certain day that spring, this world as we know it would suddenly end as God dramatically comes to earth, descending right there in that neighborhood. And they all wanted to be there to welcome His coming!
ILL. But they weren't the only ones talking about the end of the world. In fact, one TV channel dedicated 10 whole hours of prime time to programs about the "last days", highlighting ancient prophecies, the location & meaning of Armageddon, & possible ways by which the earth might be destroyed.
I watched that for a while, & then switched channels, only to discover that another channel was featuring programs about Nostradamus & his predictions concerning the end of the world.
If you remember, as the beginning of the new millennium approached, we were bombarded with articles & TV programs warning about preparing for the chaos that was sure to come. And we are still hearing those kinds of warnings!
B. Now Jesus said that "no man knows the day & hour" which God has chosen. So we have no way of knowing just when "the last days" will be.
But as I read my Bible & look at the world around me, it seems that there are things going on today in society, in governments around the world, & even in some churches, that indicate something is getting ready to happen. We cannot continue the way we're going without something happening as a result.
We just don't know when! But the Apostle Paul does have something to say about how we should be living as we face our "last days", whenever that may be.
APPL. Now, I can't control what the rest of the world does, but I can control my own life. In Romans 13:8-14 the Apostle Paul mentions 3 things that as Christians we must be doing.
I. EXHIBIT GENUINE LOVE
A. The first one is to exhibit genuine love to those around us. Vs. 8 says, "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another..."
1. I will never be able to pay the debt of love that I owe to my parents. They provided me with a good home, & brought me up in an atmosphere of love & faithfulness. They taught me the essential values of life, & modeled them for me in their own lives. I owe them more than I'll ever be able to calculate.
2. I owe a debt of love to my wife. We share something really special. We met when she was still in high school. We attended Dallas Christian College together. We fell in love & got married & we had children.
We went through some rough times, & also some good times together. We experienced becoming grandparents & then great-grandparents. And now we're getting old together. That's really special, & I owe her a debt of love that I'll never be able to pay.
3. I owe you a debt of love, too. Eight & 1/2 years ago you asked me to become your preacher, & I've tried to be faithful in serving God & you. And God has blessed our time together.
Your love & concern has always been evident, & we'll never be able to pay the debt of love that we owe you. It just continues to get bigger & bigger with each passing day.
In vs's 9-10, Paul goes on to say, "The commandments, 'Do not commit
adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not covet,' and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule:
'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."
ILL. Do you understand what "love is the fulfillment of the law" means? Let me illustrate it this way. Let's say that you have a 5-year-old boy, & you tell him what the rules of the family are.
You say, "Now in our family we take a bath almost every night. And you keep yourself neat. You wash your face & brush your teeth & comb your hair. You don't hit girls or fight with them, & you always treat them with respect."
The little boy says, "Why?" And you answer, "Because those are our rules &, besides, they're the right things to do. And if you don't keep these rules you'll be punished."
So he obeys. Maybe he doesn't want to. But he obeys because you have made it quite clear what the law is in your family.
But then the 5-year-old becomes 15 & everything changes. You don't have to tell him to take a bath anymore, or comb his hair. You don't have to tell him not to hit girls & to be nice to them, because he has discovered girls for himself, & he is particularly attracted to one of them.
Now it is no longer your law that causes him to be nice to girls. Love has taken over that responsibility. Love thus fulfills the law. That's what Paul is talking about here.
APPL. Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love God with all of your heart & soul & mind & strength, & also to love your neighbor as yourself.
He said that all of the commandments are summed up in these two, for if we really love God & we really love each other the way we should, then keeping His law will come automatically because love fulfills the law.
II. A COURAGEOUS COMMITMENT
A. The second thing Paul says we must do as we live in these last days is to have a courageous commitment. Listen to what Paul writes in vs. 11.
"And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed."
He is saying, "Wake up! Don't be indifferent to what is going on around you. It's not a time to sleep. It's a time to be wide awake!"
ILL. Remember when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane & He took Peter, James, & John with Him into the inner part of the garden? And He said to them, "Sit here, & watch & pray."
Then Jesus went a stones throw away & fell on His face & prayed. The Bible says that He prayed so intensely that His sweat became as great drops of blood. But when He came back to Peter, James, & John, they were asleep. He did that three times. And every time they were asleep.
But Jesus was gracious. He said to them, "Your spirit is willing, but your flesh is weak."
I wonder how many times Peter, James, & John repented of that night?
How many times they must have looked back & said to themselves, "If we had only known that was going to be our last night with Jesus. We could have prayed with Him & encouraged Him. But we didn't know, & we fell asleep."
APPL. I wonder if the church is in that same position today? We're at a crucial point in history, & God is depending upon us. But so many are sleeping or insensitive to the times in which we live.
B. Paul also says that the day of our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. I believe that is true for a couple of reasons.
1. First of all, we're all getting older. And because we're getting older the day of our salvation is nearer than it has ever been before.
Psalm 90:10 says, "The length of our days is 70 years or 80, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble & sorrow, for they quickly pass, & we fly away."
And vs. 12 says, "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."
The Psalmist is saying that one of the wisest things we can do is to number our days. Now it has been a while since I was middle-aged. In fact, I'm on a downhill slide & it is going faster all the time!
So it's kind of sobering when you begin to number your days. But whatever age we are, the most sobering thought of all is that we have no guarantee that we're going to be alive tomorrow.
2. Secondly, the return of the Lord Jesus Christ is also nearer than it has ever been before. Paul writes in the first part of vs. 12, "The night is nearly over; the day is almost here."
Let me ask: How much longer do you think God is going to put up with the violence in our world? How much longer do you think God's going to allow same-sex marriage & abortion to eat away at our foundations?
How much longer do you think He's going to put up with drug addiction, & pornography & profanity? When is God finally going to say, "That's enough"?
ILL. On the dome of our nation's capitol are these words, "One God, one law, one element, one far off divine event toward which the whole creation moves." Our forefathers inscribed those words. And we're moving closer & closer to that day.
ILL. James Dobson, founder of "Focus on the Family" asked Christians these questions: "At what point are we going to quit retreating & sticking our heads in the sand & speak up? At what point will you rise to defend what you believe?
"Will you object," he asks, "if ... imperfect children are killed in our hospitals? Will you object if involuntary euthanasia becomes widespread in nursing homes?
"Will you object if the state assumes ownership of children & tells parents how to raise them under penalty of losing custody? Will you object if every teenager in America is given immoral advice & supplied condoms to implement it?
"Will you object if the university refuses to grant degrees to outspoken Christian students? Will you object if obscenity laws are repealed & child pornography is ignored?
"Will you object if Christian businesses are required to satisfy a quota of hiring homosexual employees, & will you object if churches are told to do the same? Will you object if the government tells your preacher what he can say from the pulpit? ...
"Will you object if every tenet of your faith is legislated against in congress & in state government? How long will we hide our heads & retreat? When will we awaken from our slumber?"
SUM. That's the question. As Christians, we need to have a courageous commitment as we face the challenges of our world today.
III. A MORAL PURITY
A. Finally, we must be morally pure. Paul goes on to say in vs's 12-14, "Let us put aside the deeds of darkness & put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies & drunkenness, not in sexual immorality & debauchery, not in dissension & jealousy.
"Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, & do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."
The Bible is constantly contrasting light & darkness. Light represents holiness & purity. Darkness represents sin & debauchery & immorality.
Every time the world sees Christians do the same immoral things that the world does, the name of Jesus Christ is dragged through the mud. That is why it is essential for us to prove that we're not all like that. There are some of us who want to be pure & who are willing to stand up for that which is right.
B. In these last days we ask God to help us exhibit genuine love to those around us, & to be courageous in reaching out to a lost & dying world for Jesus.
ILL. There is a book about Billy Graham titled "Prophet With Honor." From reading it, it is obvious that he could have become flamboyant, self-indulgent, greedy & rich. He could have done all kinds of things for himself that the world says are important.
Even though there have been those who have tried to find something wrong in his behavior, they've failed in their efforts. They've looked at his financial records, at his expense accounts, at his income. They've carefully watched his personal life & his family - & they couldn't find anything for which to condemn him.
Because through it all he has always been a man of moral purity, & he stood up for the things that really count.
CONCL. I want to be like that. And I want this church to be like that. I want us to be a lighthouse shining in the midst of a dark world, a place where people who are wounded & bruised from living in the world all week long can come & find acceptance & love & understanding & forgiveness.
I want us to be a courageous fellowship that realizes that the time is short, that it is time for us to pull it all together & do everything we can to communicate to a lost & dying world the wonderful message of salvation that we have in Christ Jesus.
If you're here & you don't know Him as your Lord & Savior, then we extend His invitation & invite you to come to Him as we stand & as we sing.
