Now, Our Salvation is nearer
“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; For now, our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.” Romans 13:11
We are entering into a testable moment of time in our lives. Not only in terms of virtual church services. Not only in terms of Coronavirus restrictions. But most importantly, in terms of spiritual growth and development.
Spirituality doesn’t mean something on the inside or is private. Spirituality includes both our physical and emotional life. Our spiritual life includes us as a whole, our whole being.
St Paul, says, “You know what time it is; it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep” (Romans 13:11). We cannot afford to be sluggish in our spiritual life. We cannot afford to neglect it. And that’s exactly what we are doing with our whole lives. We have life to prepare and meet the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ and enter into His eternal joy. St Paul continues, because “salvation is closer to us now than when we became believers”
Do you know what time it is? Many people are living in their own world, and they don’t know what’s going on spiritually. They are not living in the real spiritual world. They don’t recognize what’s going on, and what is going to happen in this world and perhaps in their own lives. They need a wakeup call of some kind.
II Timothy 3:1-5 “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”
ILLUSTRATION: In India, 59-year-old P Jayaraj and his 31-year-old son J Fenix were picked up for questioning by the Sathankulam police for keeping their mobile accessories shop open during the lockdown on June 19. They were beaten by the police while in custody, leading to their deaths. While Fenix fell ill and died at the Kovilpatti General Hospital on June 22, his father died on the morning of June 23.
A Chennai-based news site stated that the father-son duo came out of prison in a disordered state with torn and bloodied clothes. He added that they complained of severe rectum pain and kept bleeding from their rectum.
The Federal quoted a friend of Fenix as saying, “Between 7 am and 12 pm on June 20, the father and son had changed at least seven lungies (waistcloth) each as they had become wet due to blood oozing from their rectums,” They were taken to a hospital after being released from prison, where the doctor allegedly declared the duo fit and able, according to the insistence of the local inspector. Fenix and his father were then taken to the judicial magistrate, but reportedly could not tell the truth of their torture due to repeated threats from the police.
Friends of Fenix, who were present at the police station when the police rounded them up, told the news outlet that for three hours they heard only the screams and cries of Jayaraj and Fenix. "Throughout the night, both of them cried for help and people residing about 500 meters away from the station could hear that,” the eyewitness reportedly said.
Dear Brothers, and Sisters in Christ! We are living in an ungrateful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, and brutal society. Rather than lovers of good, they are treacherous, rash, conceited, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.
II Corinthians 5:7-9 “We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So, we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.”
Some people live for play and pleasure when we should all be living to please God. Life begins with God and life ends with God. We need to sandwich God in between throughout our lives. He should be in the middle of everything we do in life.
Romans 13:11 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. How shall we prepare ourselves for salvation? What must we do?
1. Let us cast off the works of Darkness
2. Let us walk properly as in the Day
3. Let us Put on the Lord Jesus Christ
So, this is not a time for us to be groggy or sleepy. This is a time for us to be alert and wakeful. Jesus said it, over and over in the gospels, "Wake up! Be alert! Don't fall asleep! Keep your eyes open! Be on your guard! Look out!" Don't just get lulled to sleep by what's going on around you.
ILL.- The drunk husband snuck up the stairs quietly. He looked in the bathroom mirror and bandaged the bumps and bruises he'd received in a fight earlier that night. He then proceeded to climb into bed, smiling at the thought that he was able to sneak past his wife. When morning came, he opened his eyes and there stood his wife. "You were drunk last night weren't you!" "No, honey,” he said. "Well, if you weren't, then who put all the band-aids on the bathroom mirror?"
Church, it is now time to wake up. Do not be groggy or sleepy on the Lord. It is time to see the wickedness in this world and separate ourselves from it. It is time to be wide awake in the word of God. Do not fall into wickedness or hatred and evil. Do not let yourself fall into darkness.
I. Let us cast off the works of Darkness:
Romans 8:12 “The night is far spent; the day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”
Is there any darkness in your life? Any dark deeds? The works of darkness? Are there any dark thoughts?
ILL.-Robert Stevenson wrote a story. In his story two important characters of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll discovered a drug where he could transform himself into a man free of consciousness. Stevenson named this monster, Mr. Hyde. When Dr. Jekyll wanted to become Hyde, he ate a dose of this drug. And likewise, when Hyde wanted to become Jekyll, he could transform himself almost instantly the same way. But a time came when the evil Hyde was so great that he could not recover himself. He could not return to the kind and proper life of Dr. Jekyll. Against his will, he had now become Hyde. And much as he wanted to, he could not return to the life which Dr. Jekyll lived.
There are many people today who change into an evil Mr. Hyde in a variety of ways. Sometimes, it’s through drinking or drugs. These do transform people into evil people at times. Drinking and drugs make people do things they would not normally do, such as steal, fight, cuss, rant, rave, and even murder others. The truth is: we all have a dark side. If we were put in the wrong place at the wrong time, we’d all be in trouble!
But understand that the night is nearly over, and the day is almost here. So, let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. The point of scriptures and the Bible is: So, we may fight the dark side and the deeds of darkness. We must grow up and put these aside.
I Corinthians 13:11 ‘When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.” There is a point where we need to stop acting like children.
We need to put some deeds aside and make time for God every day. When we allow the Lord into our lives and become busy serving Him, you will have little time for any kind of darkness or evil. There is only one cure for the deeds of darkness: fill up our lives by doing God’s will.
ILL.- Thomas Alfa Edison was once asked how he resisted temptations. He replied, “Never have any. I don’t have time.” The way to overcome the deeds of darkness is to fill your life with deeds of goodness!
II. Let us walk as Children of the Light:
Romans 13:13 says. “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.”
It's time for us, the people of God, to be honest with ourselves about where we are spiritually and practically. We need to make a mighty move for God now. We need to call out to God now in repentance and seek His supernatural intervention now.
Our churches need to rise up and pray like never did before, give like never before, believe like never before, stand like never before, and walk like never before. The need is great; the hour is late, and we must advance the gospel together to every part of the world. It's time to wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. It's time to be hopeful and alert and watchful.
It is time to be confident in the Lord. Psalm 31 illustrates the Psalmist who was surrounded by enemies who were setting out to destroy him. He says in verse 14, "But I trust in you, O Lord." In this world now, it is not a time to be fearful. It is a time to trust in the Lord and to be confident in Him.
"I say, 'You are my God.'" Even in these evil days and even in these times when the enemies of God are threatening the people of God and the ways of God. "I trust in you, O Lord; I say, 'You are my God' (vv.14–15). My time is in your hands. Now, that's a safe place to be. That's a great place to be!
Our time is not in the hands of fate. Our time is not in the hands of government bureaucrats or elected officials or the courts or pollsters or social architects and engineers. Our time is not in the hands of those who despise Christ and His gospel. God walks with us. God is there with us. Our time is not in our own hands, no matter how much we might try to control our own lives. Our time is in His hands. He's got the whole world in His hands! And aren't you glad our time— and this whole world—is all in His hands?
Haven’t you noticed how much bad stuff or evil stuff take place under the cover of darkness? Most people do their evil deeds at night when they are not easily seen. Sometimes, attitudes even change.
ILL.- Preacher Wayne Smith who used to say, “When it gets dark you ought to be home and in bed.” He thought everybody should be home at night and not out running the streets because that’s when people often get into various kinds of trouble.
Live like it’s daytime. Live like everybody is watching what you are doing. Live like God is watching what you are doing because He is! There are many things that people do at night that they wouldn’t do in the daytime where more people could see them. We behave like children of the light, like people who walk in the light of Christ.
Ephesians 5:8-17 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Be careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”
We are to behave like children of the light, as people of God. We must put on the armor of light even in this world, which is filled with darkness and temptations. When we put on the armor of light, darkness will not come near us, it will not tempt us, and it will not harm us. Let us wrap ourselves in his light and ordinance.
III. Let us Put on the Lord Jesus Christ
Romans 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”
We should be somewhat concerned about how we dress, but even more concerned about how we dress spiritually. We should be more concerned with our spirit than with our flesh. And how do you clothe your spirit? According to this text, we should clothe ourselves with Christ. And how do we do this? We spend time with Christ and with His Word. The more we behold Him in scripture, the more we will think like Him and be like Him.
ILL.- Actor Daniel Day Lewis played Abraham Lincoln in a movie and he won an Academy Award for that part. He was an incredibly good choice to play the part of Lincoln. He seems to have the ability to put himself into parts. It’s like he can become another person by studying that person’s life and character. And this is no different for us. We must study the person and character of Christ. The more we do this, the more we will clothe ourselves with Christ. And create for Ourselves an image that reflects Christ in our lives.
II Corinthians 3:18 “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” New Living Translation. “So, all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” We clothe ourselves with Christ by saturating our minds with scripture: reading the scripture, studying the meaning of the scripture, memorizing the scripture, quoting the scripture, and living out the scripture in our lives.
Where are you in life? And are you lost and wandering? If so, the apostle Paul has a message for you: ‘Put aside the deeds of darkness. Behave decently as in the daytime. And put on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is your only hope of a better life and a life that pleases God!’
Again, the apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:2 “In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. The hour has come for you to wake up from your sleep. For salvation is nearer than when we first believed. And we know that we have been justified, as if we had never sinned through the penalty our Lord paid for.
Romans 8:1, “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.” We understand this, and we are thankful he is coming again.
Church, I want you to know this salvation is not just in the past, but it is also in the present and looking towards the future. For our salvation is still at work. While we are of His body, we are still growing in His name. Salvation is at work in the midst of sin, salvation is at work in the midst of depression, salvation is at work in the midst of discouragement, and salvation is at work in the midst of alcoholism and drug addictions. Salvation is looking at the word of God and seeing Christ dimly in a mirror. The scripture says, you will know what salvation really all is about, when one day you see Jesus Christ face-to-face.
Church let us all prepare ourselves for God. Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. So, let us push aside the deeds of dark, behave as the children of light, and clothe ourselves in the image of God. Let not this pandemic situation push you away from God, but let it bring you closer to Him and His salvation. Do not buy time watching movies but buy time to meditate in God's word. Give no time to temptations and let yourself be busy in the light of God. Let yourself be busy in the scriptures of God. For our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. Amen.
