IT’S TIME!
Romans 13:11-14, Isaiah 5:20, Psalm 80:7,17-19
By Chad H. Ballard
Introduction
Church, some of you may have noticed that I haven’t preached a word about the events of September 11, since the Sunday following those events.
That is not because I didn’t have anything to say. I always have something to say.
But it seems in this day and age we live in, we have become reactionary people. We want to be the first to say something, the first with the scoop if you will.
Well I’m just not cut out that way. The longer I live, the more value I see in observing and analyzing a situation, before I jump in on the bandwagon.
You may have noticed that the first story you hear about an incident is not always the most accurate. And as your pastor, I am much more about the business of telling the truth, than I am about telling it first.
So today, it is time. It is time for me to address the changes and challenges that face us as a church in these perilous times. But it is also time for you to take action.
God has spoken to my heart in a very clear way this week. The results are in; and some of you aren’t going to like what I have to say. But God will. His desire is for me to tell the truth. And that’s just what I’m about to do.
America was a great nation from the start. But that was no accident. Our nation was great because it was founded on Godly principles.
John Adams once stated: “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.”
He was saying that you cannot separate God from America and expect America to be great.
George Washington pointed out in his farewell address: “The two foundations for political prosperity in America are religion and morality. No one can be called an American patriot who ever attempts to separate politics from these two foundations.”
My, how America has changed. We are still wealthy. We are still strong. We are certainly a super-power. But people today, America is not great. We have turned our backs on God and our Godly heritage.
But we can be great again. Not by economic recovery or defeating Osama bin Laden; but by turning back to God.
While God didn’t cause the events of Sept. 11th, He certainly didn’t prevent them either. I believe that because of our Godly heritage, God had placed a hedge of protection around us, but when we turned our backs on Him, he removed that hedge. It may have been down for some time, but we didn’t know it until evil men executed the plans of Sept. 11th.
Look at Psalm 80:8-12. While this passage describes Israel, notice the parallels to our nation.
God has taken away His hedge of protection around us. And I want to show you why. Look at Isaiah 5:20: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”
Folks that verse describes our nation to the letter! And IT IS TIME we do something about it.
Read Romans 13:11.
I. IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP!
A. People, it’s time to break out of our spiritual laziness and get busy! The verse says our “salvation is nearer than when we first believed.”
1. Now it doesn’t take a prophet to figure that one out. We are always nearer to the return of Christ than we were moments ago. We’re nearer today than we were yesterday.
2. But we’re not promised tomorrow. So we’d better live like it’s the last day of our lives!
B. John 4:35 Jesus said, “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for the harvest!”
C. Have you ever looked at a wheat field? When they are ready to harvest, they aren’t white; they’re golden. So what did Jesus mean?
D. Well when a field of wheat has been left for too long without being harvested, a mold sets in and causes the heads of grain to turn white.
E. It’s time to wake up! Jesus is saying that the harvest isn’t coming soon, it’s come and gone and we’d better start salvaging what we can!
II. IT IS TIME TO CLEAN UP!
v. 12, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness…”
A. What are the works of darkness? The works of darkness are the sins that we allow to stay in our lives aren’t they?
B. Paul says in Ephesians 4:22-24, that we should, “…put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”
C. Now that is crystal clear. We cannot, as Christians continue to live in what we know is sin. So why do we do it?
D. Because we have become exactly the kind of evil people that Isaiah prophesied about. We call “good evil and evil good.”
E. We’ve made prayer in school against the law, while making the love of money a virtue. And don’t sit here and blame the politicians, because we elected them and they haven’t done anything that we haven’t allowed them to get away with.
F. All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing and we have done nothing for too long while we wallowed in the filth that our complacent culture has produced.
G. Church, it’s time to clean up!
III. IT IS TIME TO SUIT UP!
v. 12, “Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”
A. The Bible tells us, over and over again that “God is light.” So Paul is telling us to put on the armor of God. Well what is the armor of God?
B. The armor of God is truth, righteousness, the preparation of the Gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the Word of God.
C. These are the attributes that we must make a very real part of our lives if we are to become the people of God again.
1. We must become a people that tell the truth always, even when it hurts our interests or us.
2. We must be a people who strive for righteousness, not selfishness.
3. We must be a people who have prepared ourselves to share the Gospel of peace that we find in Jesus, with our friends and neighbors.
4. We must place our complete faith in Jesus for our protection and blessings.
5. We must accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
6. And we must be a people who not only know, but also live, the Word of God.
D. Church, it’s time to suit up, because the battle isn’t around the corner, its all around!
IV. IT IS TIME TO SOBER UP!
v.13, “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.”
A. Folks, our drunkenness has gotten out of hand. Young people are drinking all weekend and showing up for church on Sunday morning with their eyes bloodshot and sadly, they’re learning from their parents.
1. You can’t condemn your kids and while justifying yourself for the same act! That’s foolish!
2. It is a sad day when parents sit crying at the funeral their son or daughter who died because of a drunken accident. It’s too late to get them back.
3. Let me share some statistics with you:
a. 70% of our population uses alcohol
b. 40% of patients in mental institutions are there because of alcohol use.
c. 33% of all suicides occurred with people who used alcohol.
d. 75% of all murders involved alcohol.
e. 80% of all violent crimes involved the use of alcohol.
f. 33% of our nation’s broken homes had family members who used alcohol.
4. So why don’t we do something about it before it comes to that?
B. Some of you have told me that the Bible doesn’t condemn drinking only drunkenness.
1. Well if drinking is so right, why don’t you bring it to church with you? You’re too ashamed to do that aren’t you?
2. Colossians 3:17 says, “Whatever you do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Folks, if you can’t do it in the Lord’s house, then you can’t sign His name to it, and you shouldn’t be doing it at all!
C. Let me to share some scripture with you.
1. Isaiah 5:11-12: “Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink; Who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them! And their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute and by wine; but they do not pay attention to the deeds of the Lord, nor do they consider the work of His hands.” Allow me to paraphrase: “Woe to those who’d rather party than serve God!”
2. Isaiah 5:22: “Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine, And valiant men in mixing strong drink.” How many times have you heard, “Man I drank a case and a half of beer yesterday” or “Man I was wasted last night”? In case you still don’t get it that would make you a hero in drinking wine.
3. Proverbs 31:4-6: “It is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to desire strong drink, lest they forget what is decreed, and pervert the rights of all the afflicted. Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to him whose life is bitter.”
a. Now I guess you have to decide: Are you living eternally or are you perishing? Are you a member of His royal family or not?
b. If you are a member of His royal family, you are commanded to be sober. Lest you forget His commandments.
c. But if you are not a child of God, you have worse problems than your drunkenness!
D. And don’t give me that, “Well Jesus turned the water into wine at the wedding” stuff! If you’ve got some wine that was made by Jesus and bottled by Paul, let’s all have some of it!
E. Otherwise, FOLKS IT’S TIME TO SOBER UP!
V. IT IS TIME TO BE RAISED UP!
v. 14 says, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”
A. It’s time to put on Jesus, and quit making provisions for the flesh.
1. The Colliers’ Dictionary defines provisions as “preparation made for a future need”.
2. People, when we turn back to Jesus, we want have any future needs for the things of this world, because Jesus has met every need.
B. I said America isn’t great right now, but we can be greater than we ever were. But we can only RISE AGAIN when we serve a Savior who ROSE AGAIN!
C. The time must come when the CROSS OF JESUS stands taller than the WORLD TRADE CENTER DID!
D. The time must come when we realize that we don’t live in America, America lives in us, and for America to be a great nation of God again, we must become great people of God again.
Conclusion
Church, it is time. It is time to WAKE UP, CLEAN UP, SUIT UP, SOBER UP, and only then, it will be time to be RAISED UP!
