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7 UP
Rom 13:9-14
Rom 13:9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
Rom 13:10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Rom 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
Rom 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
Rom 13:13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Rom 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.
I Know that the title of my message sounds like a famous Soft Drink. You know there slogan - "We are the Un-cola". If you think about that - it is not a bad slogan. Basically what they are saying is that Everyone is drinking cola - Why not be different? Why not stand out and think for yourself and don’t just follow the crowd.
The passage we have read is like that this morning. This is a radical passage of Scripture. It is not suggesting that we keep the law in order to be justified (if you believe that Paul is saying this you have not read the prior 12 chapter of this book). What he is saying is that we need to be the UN-PEOPLE - not the UNCOLA but the unpeople. We are not to act like the lost people of this world. We are not to go along with the flow. God has called us to be different. We are to be peculiar.
I have no idea how 7 UP came up with the number Seven in their name but - - I looked - and sure enough. There are 7 "Ups" in this passage of Scripture.
T/S Let me share with you the 7 UP in this passage.
Let me read V-11-14 and you try to pick them out as we read. There are 7 UP found here.
1. WAKE UP V-11 WAKE OUT OF SLEEP
A. The challenge of this passage of Scripture is to Wake Up. The word "AWAKE" is used many times in the Bible. Most of the places it is used to simply refer to waking someone from a natural sleep. Sleep is a wonderful thing about which many, many studies have been done. It is necessary to life.
However ,there are those places in God’s Word where "Sleep" - "Wake" & etc. is used as a Metaphor. GIVE SOME EXAMPLES:
EPH. 5:14 - AS IN THE CONDITION OF LOST OR SAVED:
Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
Daniel 12: - AS FOR THE STATE OF SAVED IN RESURRECTION:
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame [and] everlasting contempt.
B. Verse 11 is one of those passages that uses the word "AWAKE’ in a metaphorical manner and not literally.
It is use in the same way we use the phrase, "Wake Up and smell the coffee".
A. People hate an alarm clock.
B. It is a dangerous thing to wake people out of sleep. They don’t want to be awaken. However, this is exactly what the Word of God does.
C. Actually the Bible is more like a piercing siren in the midst of a black night of sin. It is like waking to the smoke alarm. It causes panic - A flashing red light.
Many towns have tornado warning sirens. Waking in the middle of the night by the screaming sound of an alarm like that.
1. God’s word say we need to WAKE UP to the consequences of living life without being born again.
(. .except a man be born again he shall not enter into the kingdom of God)
2. Wake up to the consequences about continuing to walk in sin.
(except you repent you shall likewise perish.)
3. Wake up to the impending judgment.
(It is appointed to man once to die and after this the judgment.)
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Heb 12:31
THERE IS ANOTHER DANGER ABOUT THE ALARM. IT’S GETTING TO ACCUSTOM TO IT. Tell of the man who lived in any apartment with a clanging radiator. The building Super said, "You know if you listen - it sounds like a fire crackling. Soon he was sleeping like a baby until they put in a new radiator.
2. WISE UP V-11 KNOW THE TIME
WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE ARE NOT THE SAME THING:
Wisdom is the ability to put knowledge into practical application.
Remember, Jesus said, You people can read the sky at night to know what the weather is going to be but you are not smart enough to read the signs of the time.
3. LOOK UP V-11 OUR SALVATION IS NEARER
When you see all these things coming to pass - Look up for you redemption draweth nigh.
LOOK UP TO HIM IN THE MORNING AND WALK WITH HIM ALL DAY.
Psa 5:3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
LOOK UP TO HIM IN THE TIME OF TROUBLE:
Psa 40:1 I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. 2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. 3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
4. BACK UP V -11 WHEN WE FIRST BELIEVED
We need to go back to the day we met Jesus.
Psa 30:3 O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
REMEMBER - REMEMBER - REMEMBER
5. CLEAN UP. V-12 CAST OFF THE WORKS OF DARKNESS
People are a real mess when they first wake up.
C. It definitely take some preparation to get ready to meet the people of the world. Mouth wash, soap, (the ladies take a lot longer than the men).
D. Is it any wonder that the world looks at most Christians and thinks "I don’t want to be like that." Most of them are in a state between the alarm and the morning shower. The world see most Christians unbathed and unshaved - stiff and with morning breath.
6 DRESS UP V-12 PUT ON THE ARMOR OF LIGHT
ALSO V-14 - PUT ON THE LORD JESUS
A. Getting dressed for the Lord comes in two stages.
1. Casting of the clothing of darkness.
2. Putting on the clothing of light.
B. You cannot wear the clothes of darkness into the light.
C. We are told that we are to dress in armor. That tell me that when we step out we step out into a war, a fight. We have a battle to wage every day of our Christian life.
D. We are to put on Christ.
Gal 4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,
HOW DO YOU PUT ON CHRIST?
In the new Birth
In Baptism
In church membership.
7. STAND UP V-13 LET US WALK
Stand up and be counted. Make you life count for something.
CONCLUSION:
When I was a boy there was a song that said, "Enjoy yourself - it’s later than you think . . ." That just might be good advice only maybe it should say, "Prepare yourself, it’s later than you think
