Romans chapter 13 and beginning in verse 11. Preach a message about the return of Christ and being prepared and ready and watchful for the return of Christ. In verses 11 to 14, notice what the Apostle Paul says. And do this knowing the time. that now it is high time to wake out of sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 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. Let us walk properly as in the day. not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. You join me in prayer. Heavenly Father, I come to you in prayer and I thank you for this scripture that calls upon your church to wake up. The time is drawing near for the return of Jesus. Lord, help me to present this message to every heart. May each of us be receptive to your word and help us to be doers of the word and not just hearers only. Help me as I preach this morning, I pray in Jesus name. Amen. In verses 8 to 10 that I shared last time, Paul calls upon believers to love one another as God would have us to. And it is so important in light of the days in which we are living to fulfill that command. Because notice again at verse 11, he says, and do this knowing the time. Do this commandment, love one another, knowing the time. Do you know what time it is in God's prophetic calendar? Well, I'll tell you what time it is. I've been a student of prophecy for 45 years, and I'm telling you, Jesus Christ is coming again soon. And before he comes again, Things aren't going to get better. Things are going to get worse. This world is going to become increasingly dark and increasingly sinful, increasingly violent. You need to know what time it is. And in a world where hatred will increase, where there will be more conflict and violence, In society, in the church, we ought to love all the more. The church ought to be a refuge from the hatred of the world. We ought to find love in the body of Christ. And so Paul calls upon the church to wake up. Be aware of the times in which we are living. Jesus Christ is coming again. And the fact that he's coming again ought to affect how we live now. And we'll see that in our text of scripture this morning. But Paul's not the only one who calls upon the church to live differently in light of the return of Christ. In 2 Peter 3, verse 11, Peter says, Since all these things are to be destroyed, what manner of men ought you to be in all holy living and godliness? In 1 John 2, 28, it says, Little children abide in him that when he appears, We may have confidence and not shrink from Him in shame at His coming. Now why in the world would we shrink in shame at the return of Christ? It's as if we've not been living right. And so in light of the return of Christ, we ought to live godly lives, holy lives. And this morning, I want us to be transformed by the truths of this text of scripture that we will be watchful and living as the Lord would have us to live. Now, Paul, in this text of scripture, uses an analogy. An analogy of soldiers lying asleep in the darkness and then over the horizon, whispers of light begin to shine and it's time to wake up and bugle sounds revelry and the soldiers are called upon to get up, wake up. Put on your armor, get ready for the day. And so in this text of scripture, there are basically three commands that Paul gives to the church. And the first is wake up. Paul says in verse 11, and do this knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep. Do you see the urgency in Paul's call to wake up because of the time in which we are living? Now, when he says here, wake up, he's not talking about physical sleep. He's talking about being spiritually asleep. So he calls upon Christians not to be spiritually asleep. Now, in what way might we be spiritually asleep? We can be spiritually asleep when we are not watchful and aware of the times in which we are living. We can be spiritually asleep when we are not living as the Lord would have us to, but all caught up in the sins of this world. We can be like old Samson, asleep in the lap of Delilah, indifferent to what's really happening around us. Folks, the devil is working overtime right now. This world is sinking deeper and deeper into darkness and deception. We need to wake up and realize the times in which we are living. We also need to wake up realizing that the return of Jesus Christ is drawing ever nearer and we need to be watchful and alert. Before Jesus comes again, the Bible warns that there will be increasing deception and darkness. Temptation will abound and Jesus said, watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. The church folks needs to wake up to the times in which we are living. We need to wake up to the dangers that will increasingly abound as we get closer to the return of Christ. The Bible warns that many believers will become apostates and we must not be among them. We need to wake up. You know what, Napoleon? said when he looked upon the vast teeming population of China, he said, there lies a sleeping giant. We better not wake him up. Folks, China is no longer a sleeping giant. They're becoming a dominant force in our world. Well, might I use that analogy to say what could happen if the church would wake up? We have the power of the Holy Spirit. We have the power of the Word of God. We can make a great difference in the lives of people, but we must wake up. And Paul gives several reasons why we need to wake up in this text of scripture. First of all, because it is time to wake up. In verse 11 he says, and do this knowing the time. Knowing the time. You know, we had that wonderful time change last night. You know, and that clock woke us up an hour early this morning. The alarm sounded saying it's time to get up. You need to get up and get to church today. We need to understand that it's time to wake up, that God's alarm clock is sounding, warning that the dark days are upon us before the return of Jesus Christ. Verse 12 says the night is far spent, the day is at hand. The Bible warns that it will be nighttime in this world before the brightness of the return of Jesus takes place. Do you know that? Do you know what time it is? You know, in God's prophetic clock, We are in the last days. And actually, the last days began with the coming of Jesus Christ. Do you know that? Indeed, God promised that he would send a Messiah. And he did that. God promised that that Messiah would suffer as a sacrifice for sin, according to Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53. And he did that. God promised in Psalm 110 that his anointed one would rise from the dead. And he did that. God prophesied in Psalm 116 that he would be exalted to the right hand of God. And he did that. The prophets and Jesus himself said that the Holy Spirit would be poured out upon all flesh in the last days. And he did that on the day of Pentecost. God gave prophecies that the Jews would someday return to their land after being scattered to the nations. And beginning in 1948, he did that. And in 2006, for the first time, there were more Jews living in Palestine than in any other country on earth. God has done what he said he would do. The time is drawing near. Jesus predicted that the gospel of the kingdom would be preached in all nations and then the end would come. Well, folks, the gospel more and more is being preached. to all nations, the time is drawing near. In second Thessalonians chapter two and verse 11, the Bible predicts that there will be mass deception in the last days so that people will believe the lie. Well, folks, we've had a taste of that during the pandemic where government, big business, social media, The traditional news media all lined up behind narratives, which are becoming clear were not true. And yet they deceived millions and millions of people. Folks, we're living in the days where mass deception can indeed take place. We've already seen that. Folks, we need to wake up because it's time to wake up prophetically. But we also need to wake up because, as Paul says, our salvation is near. In the last of verse 11, he says, For now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. Well, you know, if the salvation that he's talking about, which by the way is not talking about our salvation from sin, but our final complete salvation. When Jesus comes again and we're glorified and we enter into the kingdom of God, that salvation is nearer than when we first believed. And if that was true back in Paul's day, how much more is it true today? That the salvation of the Lord, our salvation, the end of all these troubles and the entrance into the kingdom of God is nearer than we first believed. Oh, listen, just the anticipation of the return of Christ and the kingdom of God ought to cause us to wake up with anticipation. You know, when I was a boy growing up, there were two times every year that I would wake up early in the morning and no one had to wake me up. You know what those two times were? Christmas. Christmas. And for me, it was our annual vacation to Mexico Beach, Florida. I mean, I was so looking forward to that week. And man, just the anticipation of what I knew was going to happen caused me to wake up early. And the anticipation of the return of Christ ought to cause us to wake up spiritually. to know the time in which we're living, but then also we are to wake up, he says, because the night is almost over. He says in verse 12, the night is far spent, the day is at hand. Yes, the Bible warns that this world will become increasingly dark spiritually, dark with deception, dark with sin, dark with hatred and violence. The love of many will grow cold, Jesus says, in the last days. And that night is almost over. That night is almost over. So it's, it's, it's about it's time to wake up. Paul says, you know, I never would have thought I would live to see in our country, the kind of moral degradation that we're witnessing publicly as we're seeing today. The night is far spent. We see it right before our very eyes. So we know the return of Christ is very near. Just look at the signs of the times and you can see that the night is far spent and the return of Christ is at hand. If you look at 2nd Timothy chapter 3 verses 1 to 5, Paul gives a description of people in the last days. Read it. One thing he says that in the last days, people will lack natural affection. In the last days, even mothers will not care for their children, even kill their own children or cast aside their own children to be raised by others. The Bible warns in Revelation chapter 13 that this world is moving toward a powerful unified government beginning with the revival of the Roman Empire. Europe has already not only adopted a common currency, but they have adopted political union. The old Roman Empire, just like prophecy predicts, And as Russia becomes more of a threat, and as China becomes more of a threat, there's going to be more motivation for that prophecy to be fulfilled. In Revelation 13, the Bible says the Antichrist will require that no one can buy or sell without the mark of the beast. Well, how in the world can the government so control commerce that you can't buy or sell without their approval? Folks, it's already here. It's called digital currency. And our own country is moving increasingly toward that. Prophecy is being fulfilled the night is far spent in Revelation 18. talks about a world economic system and how it's going to collapse just before Jesus Christ comes again. Folks, we're already in a world economic system, unlike no other time in human history. The Internet has made this possible. The World Economic Forum. Have you heard of that? Have you heard of the International Monetary Fund? Have you heard about the World Bank? Everything is being set up to fulfill the prophecies of Scripture. The night is far spent. The day of the return of Jesus Christ is drawing near. And folks, what does this mean? That means that we don't have much time left. If we're going to win souls for Christ, if that loved one of yours is going to be saved, you better pray now. You better share the gospel now. You better invite them to church now. because the opportunity will be long gone before too much longer. Jesus said in John 9, 4, I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day. The night comes when no man can work. Ephesians 5, 16 says we need to redeem the time knowing the days are evil. And so we must work while we can. 1 Thessalonians 5, 6 says, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. Jesus said in Matthew 25, 13, watch therefore, for you do not know the day or the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. Wake up, look about you, study the scriptures, be aware of prophecies that are being fulfilled right before our eyes. We need to realize the times in which we're living and the return of Jesus Christ is drawing increasingly near. And so Paul calls upon the church, first of all, to wake up. Are you spiritually alert today? I'm glad that you're here today because there's a lot of folks that are just sleeping, totally unaware of where this world is heading. totally unaware that their eternal destiny is about to be sealed in the coming days. Wake up. And then the second thing Paul calls upon the church to do is to take off what is associated with the darkness. In verse 12, he says, the night is far spent. The day is at hand. Again, picture soldiers asleep. The sun begins to rise, revelry sounds, and they're called upon to lay aside the garments that they sleep in and to put on their armor, put on their weapons, get ready for the battle. Cast off. what is associated with darkness. And Paul gives three examples of the kind of darkness that we Christians need to cast off, especially realizing the days in which we're living and that Jesus Christ is coming again soon. And the first is worldly partying is what I'll call it. He says in verse 13, that we are not to walk in revelry and drunkenness. That word revelry originally referred to a festive procession in honor of the God of wine, Bacchus. They would go through the streets at night getting drunk and engaging in immorality before the night was over. And then it just came to mean any kind of carousing and partying of that type. Listen, Paul says the world does that kind of thing. Unbelievers do that kind of thing, but there's no place for drunkenness in the Christian life, according to Ephesians chapter 5 in verse 18. Folks, there's an epidemic of drunken partying, like Paul talks about among high school students, on the college campuses. Right now it's time for spring break and thousands and thousands of college students will engage in the very thing that Paul is talking about here. And you know what? Some of the Christian young people are going to be going down to the beach and engaging in the very same kind of activities. And some of them may not come back alive. We need to wake up. We ought to cast off the works of darkness. We ought not to be taking these drugs that people are taking and getting high. There's no place for that. And let me tell you something else I've observed is more and more churches are becoming more tolerant in their attitude toward alcohol. We even got some ministers that have been gotten in trouble with drinking problems. Paul says, cast off the works of darkness. Cast off immorality, he goes on to say, not in lewdness and lust. That word lewdness is based on the Greek word for bed. Things that take place in a bed, immorality that takes place in a bed. God gave sexual experience within the marriage relationship and outside of that is not condoned by the Lord, but be rejected by the Christian. He also mentions not only lewdness, but also lust. And that's not the normal word translated lust, but it refers to behavior that normally would seem shocking. And yet some people shamelessly engage in such behavior, not in the cover of darkness, but out in the open. People that are committing adultery with someone else and doing so publicly, engaging in expressions of love publicly. You have homosexuality being displayed publicly. You have transgenderism these days displayed publicly. Not a bit ashamed of what they ought to be ashamed of. That behavior even Christians are being caught up in in these last days. I tell you, there's a lot of shameless, lewd material on the internet. And when Christians view that junk, they're more likely to imitate it in their own lives. We ought not to be doing it. And so Paul says we need to cast off the works of darkness, like drunkenness, revelries, partying, like that. They ought to cast aside immorality. And I know if you're a traditional Baptist, you're saying, well, preach it, brother. Preach it. Tell those sinners, including those Christians that are led astray into doing those things. You need to tell it, preacher. Well, I tell you what, Paul moves on to something that Baptists do a lot of. You see that in the last part of verse 13? We're also to lay aside strife and envy. Strife and envy. Strife refers to conflict that results in a competitive spirit. Who's going to be on top? You remember how the disciples had strife among them over who's going to be greatest in the kingdom of God? Strife over who's going to Be on top in the leadership of a church, for example. Oh, listen, there's so much strife in this old world. So much conflict, so much fighting, so much ethnic battles, partisan political battles, violent assaults. That's true of unbelievers. And you look at television and the movies and media, it's everywhere for that all not to be true of Christians. Yet it's all too common. And that's why Paul says we need to love one another, verses 8 to 10, and do this knowing the time in which we are living. You know, Jesus said, as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of Man. How was it in the days of Noah? Violence, corruption abounded. We're living in those days, but that ought not to be true of believers. Let me tell you how we avoid the sins of darkness that Paul warns about. He says in the last of verse 14, Make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. You know, it's one thing to face an unexpected temptation, and in a moment of weakness, yield to that temptation. But it's a whole other thing to actually place yourself in a situation where you know you're going to be tempted. That's what Paul means here. Make no provision for the flesh. Give no forethought to placing yourselves in tempting situations. You know, if you watch certain movies, you know you're going to be facing some temptation with your eyes. You know, if you go to certain places that you're going to be facing temptation there. And so we need to lay aside the works of darkness, giving no forethought to fulfill the lust of the flesh. And so Paul says we need to wake up. We need to cast off the works of darkness. Don't live like this old sinful world. And then finally he says we need to put on our day clothes and equipment. Put on your armor. Put on your battle gear. We are in a struggle against darkness. We must be ready. And so what are we to put on? He says in this text of scripture, verse 12, let us put on the armor of light. Let us put on the equipment of light to push back the darkness, whether it's our armor or our weapons. And so what are we to put on? First of all, make sure you have the sword of the Spirit. Remember, Ephesians chapter 6 talks about put on the armor of God. You need the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. In the days in which we're living, where lies and deception will increasingly abound, you need the Word of God to battle the lies of the devil and the lies of this old world. You know, We're living in a day where even the plain truth of Genesis 1.27 is being denied. You know what Genesis 1.27 says? God made them male and female. That's it. Male and female. And yet we're living in a day where that truth is being denied. You need the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit. You need to take up righteousness. In 2 Corinthians 6-7, Paul speaks of the weapons of righteousness. Ephesians 5-11 says, Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. As we live in an increasingly godless and perverse world, our lives ought to be lived as righteously as we can, as an open rebuke to the sins of this world. Likewise, in verse 13, Paul says, let us walk properly not shamelessly, not unbecomingly, but we ought to live properly as God would have us to live. Oh yes, this world loves the darkness, but we ought to manifest the light of righteousness. We ought to equip ourselves furthermore with love. Verses eight to 10, this world is in conflict and more and more hatred, but Christians ought to practice love. Romans 12, 21 says, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. We ought to do loving good works for others. First Thessalonians 5, 8 says we're to put on the breastplate of love. Wake up, put on what you ought to be wearing as a Christian. And finally, we need to put on prayer. We ought to be praying. Ephesians 6, he talks about put on the armor of God. And he concludes in verse 18 by saying, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, being watchful to this end with perseverance and supplication for all the saints. Listen, folks, The days ahead are going to be more and more difficult for the child of God. We need to be supporting one another in prayer. We need to be praying for one another like never before. So we need to put on the armor of light, the weapons of light, the sword of the spirit, love and prayer and righteousness. But finally, he says we need to put on verse 14, the Lord Jesus Christ. Put on Jesus, folks. Put on Jesus. You know, if you're a Christian, Jesus is already on the inside. But the question is, is he manifest on the outside? Do people see Jesus in you? Do people see that you are Christ like in how you talk and how you live and how you worship? We ought to do as Jesus would have us to do each and every moment of our lives. We ought to put on Jesus. Let others see Jesus in you, as the great hymn says. Be on the outside who you are on the inside. I'm a Christian. I'm going to live like Jesus. I'm going to talk like Jesus. I want others to see Jesus in me and especially in these last days. And so, folks, It's time to wake up. It's time to cast off the works of darkness. It's time to put on the weapons of armor of light. It's time to put on Jesus and live as a Christian ought to live and be ready for the days of spiritual battle, which will precede the return of Jesus Christ. Are you ready for his return? Years ago, when Dwight Eisenhower was president, he vacationed in Denver, Colorado, and he got word about a six year old boy who had, who was dying of terminal cancer. who had a wish to see the president. Well, since he was there in Denver, he decided to pull up to that boy's house in his presidential limousine, walk up to the door and knock on the door to see that boy. And his dad came to the door having no idea the president was coming for a visit. And there he was in some old blue jeans and old ragged shirt and a day's growth of beard and the president announced why he was there for and he called his boy and he took him out to the limousine and talked to his boy a little while and then sent him on back into the house. And for the next several days, that father was saying, man, what a way to meet the president. I had no idea he was coming to my house that day. Well, folks, Jesus is coming again. And if you don't wake up, and if you don't cast off the works of darkness, and if you don't put on the armor of God and the sword of the spirit, And if he comes without you being aware, you're going to be ashamed when you see him rather than glad to see him. You need to be ready for the return of Jesus Christ. I wonder if there's someone here today who's not ready for the return of Jesus because you're not saved. You haven't come to that time where you've repented of your sins and put your faith in Jesus Christ who died for you on the cross. Well, listen, listen, the signs of the times are pointing to the near coming of Christ. The time is drawing near when it'll be too late for you to be saved. You can't wait until you're old and on your deathbed. You need to be saved today. And then Christian, are you ready for the return of Jesus? Are you spiritually alert to the times in which we're living? Do you have unconfessed sin in your life that you need to cast off? Are you serving the Lord? Are you living for the Lord? Do people know you're a Christian? Are you a witness for Christ? Listen, we need to be ready for the return of Jesus. Would you join me in prayer? Heavenly Father, I thank you that Jesus is coming again. He came the first time to save us. He's coming a second time to judge this world and to save his people with a final and complete salvation. Lord, help us to be ready for the return of Jesus. May we give heed to your word this day. And I pray you would have us to respond during this time of invitation as you would have us to. And I pray and ask this in Jesus name. Amen.