Wake-Up, Clean-Up, Dress-Up

WAKE-UP, CLEAN-UP, DRESS-UP

Rom. 13:11-14 MSG

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. I heard about this old country farmer. He’s taking his nephew camping for the first time. His nephew had five degrees. He’s one of the smartest men alive. They set up their tent and quickly fell asleep.

2. In the middle of the night, the farmer woke up his nephew. He said, “Look up! What do you see?” The nephew said, “I see millions of stars.” The farmer said, “I know that but what does that tell you?”

3. He said, “Astronomically, it tells me there are billions of galaxies. Meteorologically, it tells me it’s going to be a beautiful day. Theologically, it tells me God is a great creator. What does that tell you?” The farmer shook his head and said, ”It tells me somebody stole our tent.”

B. ILLUS: WARBLER BIRDS DETECT STORMS

1. In East Tennessee there's a bird known as the Golden Winged Warbler. These birds recently did something unusual a few days before a supercell storm hit—they started fleeing their nests.

2. Researchers were testing whether the warblers, which weigh "less than two nickels," could carry geolocators on their backs. They can. With a big storm brewing, the birds took off from their breeding ground and travelled 900 miles in five days to avoid the tornado-producing storms.

3. The Warblers apparently knew in advance that the storm was coming. Scientists believe that there's some kind of infrasound frequency that alerts them that the storms are coming.

4. LESSON? If we know that the storms of judgment are coming, we should find a refuge. [Science Daily, Cell Press journal, Current Biology 12-18].

C. TEXT

“But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!” Romans 13:11-14 MSG

D. DANGERS OF GETTING SLEEPY

1. IT LEADS TO ACCIDENTS- Studies show that driving after considerable sleep loss is just as dangerous as driving drunk because your reaction times are impacted just as badly.

2. HURTS THE LEARNING PROCESS- When you’re sleepy you can’t focus and you can’t store memory well.

3. IMPAIRS JUDGMENT- When you’re sleepy you can’t reason well, correctly react to situations, or make correct decisions.

4. NOT ALERT TO DANGER – I once knew a girl who sleepwalked out into middle of a street and laid down. She was lucky a car didn’t run her over.

5. DISTRACTED BY DREAMS – for Christians, spiritual things don’t seem real & they think this world is all there is.

6. People BECOME INACTIVE when they get sleepy.

7. Paul gives us 3 steps for us to take to be ready for Jesus’ coming: “WAKE-UP, CLEAN-UP, DRESS-UP”

I. WAKE-UP

“But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed.”

A. MANY HAVE BECOME DISTRACTED and weren’t ready when Jesus came back. Biblical examples are:

1. the five foolish virgins who ran out of oil (Mt. 15:1)

2. the rich man and Lazarus (rich man was completely selfish, Lk. 16:19-31).

3. the disobedient steward who forgot his orders (Mt. 24:45, 48-51),

4. the branch that didn’t abide in the Vine, Jn. 15:6.

5. those who said ‘Lord, Lord,’ but had deceived themselves into thinking they were doing their Master’s will, but weren’t (Mt. 7:21).

B. ILLUS.: EXPECTING JESUS (2ND COMING)

1. A man named Paul was awaiting for a technician to arrive to repair his refrigerator. He was surprised to get a text from the appliance company which read, “Jesus is on his way and is expected to arrive at approximately 11:35 a.m.” Paul soon discovered the technician’s name was indeed Jesus (Hay-SOOS).

2. We, of course, don’t know the “day or hour” of Jesus’ return (Mt. 24:36). What difference might it make in our day-to-day priorities if we DID know the moment our Savior was coming back? Maybe we would intensify our diligence in serving the Lord!