Welcome to our service for today. It's great to come again and to worship our God, to pray to him, to sing to him, to hear his word. And as we do so, let us come before him in silent prayer. So let us pray. We're going to begin by reading from Revelation chapter 5 verses 8 to 14. It's a wonderful call to worship as we read of the worship that's going on in heaven. When he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb. each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song saying, worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals, for you were slain. purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God and they will reign upon the earth.' Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the land that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing. And every created thing which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, to him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing, and honor, and glory, and dominion forever and ever. And the four living creatures kept saying, Amen. and the elders fell down and worshipped. Well let us draw near together in prayer, let's pray. Oh our God, we praise you that Jesus is worshipped, that he is worshipped in heaven as he ought to be worshipped. We thank you that he is the lamb who was slain. And by his death, we have been purchased and made a kingdom and priest to our God. And we thank you that in the future we shall reign upon the earth. Lord, we ask that you would help us now as we bring our worship, may we worship you from the heart, may we come with undistracted minds, may we bow before you in humble worship. Please be with us, our God, we pray to the glory of your name, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen. We're going to begin now with He is exalted. Let us sing to His glory. He is exalted, the King is exalted on high. I will praise Him. He is exalted forever, exalted, and I will praise His name. He is the Lord. Forever His truth shall reign Heaven and earth Rejoice in His holy birth He is exalted, the King is exalted on high He is exalted, the King is exalted on high I will praise Him He is exalted, forever exalted And I will praise His name He is the Lord, forever His truth shall reign We come now to a time of confession. So let us come before our God and confess our sins to Him. Father, we know that You know all things. You made everything. You are aware of everything. You know us. You know our past. You know our present. You also know our future. You know everything there is to know about us. And that means, Lord, you know our sins better than we know them ourselves. You not only know our actions and our thoughts and our words, but you know the very intentions of our hearts. You know that they're corrupt. And that everything we do, and even every desire we have, is tainted. And Father we confess this to you and we ask again your forgiveness. And there may be some special ways we need forgiveness today. Maybe there's some things we've done this week or even this day that we're aware of and that you are not pleased about, Father, we pray that you would forgive us. We thank you that there is abundant forgiveness through Christ. We praise you that he paid the full price for our sins. And as we come and we confess and repent of our sins, we're assured that there is forgiveness. And so, Lord, we want to cling to that today. And we ask, Father, that not only would you forgive us, but that you would also change us, that you would send your Spirit in fuller measure, and that He would bring about an internal cleansing, and that we might more and more look like the Lord Jesus. Be with us, we pray, we ask in His name. Amen. Let us hear from God's word, these words of assurance from Isaiah 53 verses 3 to 5. It's a wonderful prophecy of the coming Lord Jesus and what he was going to achieve. Listen to these words. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised, and we did not esteem him. Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. that He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him and by His scourging we are healed. What an amazing announcement this is. That the Son of God would come and be despised and forsaken and be called a man of sorrows. And He did that for us. He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Brothers and sisters, let us look to Him alone, placing our full confidence in this crucified Son of God who took your sin and my sin upon Himself up to the cross and paid their price in full. Indeed, there is forgiveness for you. Let's sing together, Man of Sorrows. For the Son of God who came, Ruined sinners to reclaim, Alleluia, what a Saviour! Mocked by insults harsh and rude, In my place condemned He stood, Sealed my pardon with His blood, Alleluia, what a Saviour! Guilty, helpless, lost were we, Sinless Lamb of God was He, Sacrificed to set us free, Alleluia, what a Saviour! He was lifted up to die, it is finished was his cry, now in heaven exalted high. Alleluia, what a Saviour! We come now to a time of prayer. So let us approach our God together with confidence. Our Father, we bow before you because you are great and holy. But we also come before you with confidence because we have the Lord Jesus Christ as our advocate who is now with you, Father. He speaks in our defence. He's answered all the just charges against us because of our sins and so now we can come with great confidence and we thank you for the Holy Spirit who is our advocate as well but an advocate that resides in our hearts And he helps us and guides us to pray. He gives us that confidence we need. He is the spirit of adoption by which we cry, Abba Father. He testifies to us that we are indeed children of God. And it's with that confidence that we want to approach you today. God we pray that you would be dear to us we do bring ourselves before you father we're a needy people and when we're in our right minds we feel our weakness we feel that we are but flesh frail and that we are sinful and and we are like the sheep described in Isaiah 53 that go astray. Lord we go in our own ways, we trust our own judgments, we disobey your word and we desire Lord that you would work in us and change us and transform us Oh Lord, how we desire to be more like Jesus and to walk in your ways. We pray, Father, for your ongoing work in us. We pray for your protection. Jesus told us to pray, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And so we pray that for ourselves and for one another. May we be wise in our fight against the evil one and his workers. May we resist. May we see him flee from us. May we, in an increasing way, overcome him. And help us, Father, to see the lies that are being spoken in our ears and in our heads and help us to reject those lies for what they are. We pray that more and more we would know your word and we would be able to spot the errors, the inconsistencies, even though they may be mixed up and with much truth. Father, we pray that you would help us to know in our own lives how we might serve you, how those specific areas of obedience So often, Lord, we get so caught up in the day-to-day and we fail to notice those things that you are calling us to. We pray, Lord, that we may learn to put aside those things of lesser importance and embrace those things of utmost importance. Help us to do what Jesus said and to seek first your kingdom and your righteousness. That the priority of our lives would be the kingdom that you have set up in your Son, the Lord Jesus. That we would see that this is an eternal kingdom, this lasts forever and we're part of it. And to be a part of it and contribute to it is the greatest thing we can do in this life. we pray for your grace. We ask also that we might seek your righteousness and that we would seek first to be clothed in the righteousness of Jesus so that we might be righteous in your sight but also we might seek to live righteous lives in the power of the Holy Spirit and so live for your pleasure and live for the good of others. Change us and transform us, Father. Make known to us all those areas in our lives that are not pleasing, both in terms of our outward behaviour and also in terms of the inner workings of our soul, those deep desires of the heart that are not right, corrupt, misdirected. We pray that you would be central in our whole lives. That our lives would be about you. That we would see more and more. It's not at all about us. And what happens to us is not that important. But to see that your name is exalted. To see that you are glorified by our lives. and to see that your church lives consistently with her calling. These things are the things that ought to be weighing upon our hearts. May they, Father, may they be of true concern to us. Father, we pray that you would help us in the particular struggles each of us are having. You know them through and through. We pray for strength. We pray to see them accurately. We pray to submit to them. We ask that we would not be rebellious and stubborn and strong minded and hard hearted, but we would be people that willingly sit at your feet and acknowledge you to be the Lord of all. And so Father, that as Jeremiah wrote in Lamentations, that we would sit silently, that we would accept what you've laid upon us. As Peter says, that we would humble ourselves under your mighty hand, that you may exalt us at the proper time. So Lord, help us to live this way, to live by faith. But in the midst of our struggles and our trials and our hardships, Father, help us to see that your grace is sufficient. As Jesus said to the Apostle Paul, May we know the truth of those words in our experience. Father, we do pray for those around us who are struggling too, those we love and care for. We pray that you would give us grace to love them and serve them, to not be impatient with them or judgmental, but to gently encourage them and lead them in your ways. May we be a help to them. May we bear one another's burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ. And so may we be a help and a strength to those around us. We pray for your church. We pray that your church would not be disadvantaged by these times of separation. We pray that we would make extra effort in furthering our relationships with each other and that we would make use of the technology that we have to be able to strengthen each other. Indeed, we cannot push aside the commands that you have given us to stir one another up, even daily, and encourage each other daily. We pray that we would not push those aside in such a time because of the added difficulty, but we would make extra effort, Father, because we do need to encourage one another, lest any be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Lord, we pray for our world, we pray for our leaders, for wisdom. We pray that the good news of Jesus Christ would be continually advancing in these days, spreading throughout this world. And we pray that we as your people and your church may be stirred up with a sense of urgency. as we know that that there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved but the name of Jesus and so people need to hear this amazing salvation that you have accomplished in your son Father, we pray for those who minister in other lands. We pray that you would encourage them and strengthen them and they would not lose heart though they face many and varied obstacles. So Lord, hear us in these things. We pray that you would continue with us in this time of worship. May your name be glorified and may we as your people be built up in your truth. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. We're going to come now to the reading of scripture and our first reading that relates to the sermon is from 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 verse 16 and on into chapter 5 and we're going to end at verse 10. 2nd Corinthians 4 beginning at verse 16 Paul wrote, therefore we do not lose heart. But though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know that if the earthly tent, which is our house, is torn down, we have a building from God. a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up, by life. Now he who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore being always of good courage and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith not by sight. We're of good courage I say and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Let's sing together, How Firm a Foundation. What more can he say than to you he has said, True unto Jesus, for refuge have fled. Fear not, I am with you. O be not dismayed, for I am your God. and will still give you aid. I'll strengthen and help you and cause you to stand, upheld by my righteous omnipotent hand. ♪ To the deep waters I call you to go ♪ ♪ The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow ♪ ♪ For I will be with you, your troubles to blend ♪ ♪ And sanctify to you your deepest distress ♪ The flames shall not hurt you, I only see your face. Your dross to consume and your gold to refine. The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to its foes. That's all all hell should endeavour to shake, Let's now come before the Lord in prayer as we turn our attention again to the scriptures and to fix our minds upon his word. Let's pray together. Father we thank you for your word. We thank you that it is trustworthy. We thank you that it is not the words of men but the words of God, words of truth, words of eternal truth. And Father, we do ask that you would give us an understanding mind and heart and that we would be prepared to hear your word today and that it would do its work in us and bring about change, change in our outlook, change in the way we see our lives, change also in our behaviour. Be with us we pray, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's turn then for our second reading. to the book of Romans. Romans chapter 13. I'm going to read the whole of chapter 13 but our time is going to be spent looking at verses 11 to 14. Let's hear Romans 13. Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God, and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause for fear for good behaviour, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid. For it does not bear the sword for nothing, For it is a minister of God, an avenger, who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience sake. For because of this you also pay taxes. For rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them. Tax, to whom tax is due. Custom, to whom custom. Fear, to whom fear. Honour, to whom honour. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another. For he who loves his neighbour has fulfilled the law. For this You shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not covet. And if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. Do this knowing the time. that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep. For now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light. Let us behave properly as in the day. not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. If you are a true Christian who has been born again, then you are not of this world. You're a citizen of heaven and you are waiting for Christ to return and for this world to end. You are longing to enjoy your true homeland. You are not of this world. You do not belong. You do not love the present world. That is the world which is under the rule of Satan. This perspective of the world and the coming of Jesus is not a mere comforting thought. that is meant to help us in our hardships, as if to say, don't worry, things will get better. Don't worry, the hardships of this life will be over and it'll be great in the future. Rather, this perspective on life is one that impacts the whole of life. The more this perspective of This not being our home and Jesus is returning and we're going to another place, the more this perspective takes root in our hearts, the more it expels the love of this world and the more you and I will live true Christian lives. This is our last sermon on being in the world but not of it and we're looking at Paul's exhortation to the Roman believers which concludes chapter 13 of his letter to them. As we work our way through these verses, verse 11 to 14, We're going to spend a fair bit of time at the outset on this expression that he uses in verse 11, knowing the time, knowing the time. That's going to take us through verse 11 and the first part of verse 12 and the remaining verses we're going to look at answering the question, how should knowing the time impact our lives? So that's what we're going to be doing in our time together. Let's look then at verse 11 and this expression, knowing the time. These final verses, these four final verses of chapter 13 are a practical exhortation. Paul wants us to act appropriately as believers, particularly in the light of the time. Time, what the time is, often determines what is appropriate, what is appropriate behavior. In the morning, It is appropriate to get up out of bed and to put on our clothing for the day and maybe have breakfast and maybe we have a whole routine of things that are to be done in the morning. We also maybe have a night routine, things that are appropriate at night before we go to bed. Time determines what's appropriate. There's morning things, there's evening things. But that's true also of not just of the day but of the year. There are seasons, aren't there? And there's beginning of the year in January. We may have resolutions. Toward the end of the year we look forward to Christmas and we get things ready for Christmas. Depending on the season will determine our activities out in the garden. Again we see our activities, appropriate activities are to some degree determined by the time. Also our age, how old we are, determine appropriate, what activities are appropriate. If we're small it may be appropriate to get food all over our face and play with our blocks but as we get older we put away those things. As we draw to a close of our life there are other activities that we take up. So we see that depending on the time but depending on the time of day, depending on the month, the period of the year, depending on what year it is, determines to some degree appropriate activity. Now the problem is we usually stop there. We stop in terms of days and months and years. But there's another time category that Paul is far more concerned about and it's what we might call the epoch or the age. Paul often makes reference to the age that we are in and this is far more important than merely the day, the month or the year. We're often very narrow in our time perspective. And we zero in on our own lifetime. We rarely look beyond the span of our lives. But it is so important for us to do so. That is the Christian perspective. The Christian perspective does not stop with the span of our life. It takes in the fullness of history. And that's what Paul wants us to do. in this passage. An epoch is a chunk of history and that's what Paul is speaking of here. He's speaking of a time period, an age and as he's talking about this he's talking about it from God's perspective. He's in a sense looking at it in terms of God's calendar. looking at from the beginning of the world to the end of the world. And in effect what he is saying is that we are on the last page of God's calendar. Notice what he says, do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep, for now salvation is nearer. to us than when we first believed. Salvation here, the way Paul is using it, points toward the end of the world, the conclusion of history. And as he sees it, the world is rushing on toward that point. It's as if, as I said, we're on the last page of God's calendar. It's almost over. Salvation is nearer. In verse 12, he speaks of this same time period, or really he's speaking about the whole of history, but he now speaks of it as a single day. Verse 12, the night is almost gone, the day is near. It's as if Paul is saying that the day of history is drawing to a close. Now is night time and already we can see the first rays of light. Dawn is approaching. And so he goes on to say, or he says earlier rather, that now is the time to get out of bed because the day is here. History is almost over. Jesus is almost on his way back and he will soon arrive. Of course, as Paul is speaking in this way, it's not from a human perspective, but it's God's perspective. It's His calendar, not our calendar. Well, let me ask you, do you know the time? Do you know what time it is? It seems to me that we're a culture that is very concerned with time. We have our clocks, we want to know not just what day it is, but what hour, what minute, what second at times it is. But for all of our concern for time, we really don't as a culture know what time it is. Do you know what time it is? You should. See what Paul says to the Roman Christians. Do this knowing the time. He expects to some degree that they will know what time it is. What time it is in terms of God's timing, which is far more important than what our clocks say. Our time is almost over. And this is of vital importance. to the Christian. Throughout the New Testament Christians are presented as people that are waiting, waiting, waiting for this day of salvation, waiting for Jesus to return, waiting for the conclusion of history. It is the big day on our calendar. I'm just going to read a few verses that give this Christian perspective in terms of time and waiting for this final day. Paul writes to the Philippians in 3.20 and 21, for our citizenship is in heaven. from which also we eagerly wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly wait for a Saviour. And this is how the Thessalonians were described. The Thessalonians were new believers. Listen to how Paul describes them. 1 Thessalonians 1, 9 and 10. And how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God. And to wait for His Son from heaven. whom he has raised from the dead. That is Jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come. Again, God's people, these new believers are those who are waiting for Jesus to come back from heaven. Titus chapter 2, 11 to 13. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires, and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior. Again, there it is, looking for His return. And lastly, in Hebrews 9, verse 27, 28, in as much as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment so Christ also having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin to those who eagerly await him. See, that is how the Christians are described consistently as those who are waiting for Christ to return. This is not our home. We're not comfortable here. We haven't settled down and are happy simply to live out our days here on earth. We're waiting for Christ to come. Every day, brothers and sisters, we must remember what time it is, knowing the time. and saying to ourselves day by day and as we open our eyes in the morning, maybe today, maybe today, or even as we go to bed and go to sleep, maybe this night, maybe while I'm asleep, Jesus will return. And so we live in this world knowing the time. Well that leads us to our second point for today and the second point is that we must act appropriately knowing the time. What is Paul's point in mentioning this? Why does he say, knowing the time and that it's near and so forth? Well, Paul has a practical purpose, a practical purpose. This part of Romans is commonly identified as the more immediately practical. It focuses on how Christians are to live. The earlier part is more doctrinal, what Christians are to believe. So his point is practical and this is seen in verse 11. Our Virgin has at the beginning of verse 11, do this. Do this knowing the time. So his point is about doing. They need to do, they need to be active knowing the time. But the point is about doing. Just notice his logic here. His logic is that we need to live in the light of this truth. The truth of what time it is. The truth of Jesus coming. The truth of the end of the world. All of this should affect our doing. Well how should it affect our doing, our actions, our deeds? How should we live in the light of what time it is? Well there are two points that I want us to see under this heading. And the first is that we ought to live with a sense of urgency, knowing the time, knowing the time that salvation is nearer than when we first believed. Knowing this ought to move us with a sense of urgency in life. Again, I highlight, he says, do this knowing the time. Do what? What's he referring to as this? Well, it's really all that he'd been saying, I think, in chapters 12 and 13. We've read chapter 13. We saw that there was an exhortation to love and also to be submissive to our governing authorities. There are some more general commands in chapter 12. Do all of this. Do all of this knowing the time. Do all of this knowing that salvation is nearer. In other words, do all of this knowing that the time is short. The time is short. We should have a sense of that. and therefore a sense of urgency. Our time is short. Satan knows that his time is short. We're told that in the book of Revelation. And since he knows that his time is short, he wants to take advantage of all the time that he has. so also ought we to take advantage of the time that we have, it is short, we have a short time to do good, we have a short time to serve the Lord, we have a short time to bring glory to his name. But not only is the time short, but also we ought to live with a sense of urgency because there is much to be done. There is much to be done. The night is almost over. The dawn is at hand. It is now time to awaken from sleep. In other words, it's a time since the light of dawn is breaking through the darkness of our world. Now is the time to get up out of bed. There is work to be done. There is so much work that has been given to us by Jesus that is still undone. So now is not the time simply to put our feet up in front of the television. Now is not the time simply to enjoy the lives that we have and all the good things that God has given to us. Now is the time of activity. It's the time to awaken from sleep. This world in darkness and so desperately needs light and we are called to be the light of the world. On a daily basis people die and perish everlastingly. Throughout this world believers are being sorely tried and tested. Even in our own land while they may not be persecuted, thrown in jail, hurled before courts. Still they're being tempted by Satan and many are falling. Others are downcast and need to be lifted up. Oh there's brothers and sisters that need help. There are people that need to be served in Jesus' name. There's all kinds of needs in our world. Oh, we need to be up and doing. There is so much yet to be done. How many things we need to bring before the Lord in prayer. That part of what we should be doing is praying. How many prayers need to be offered to God. And the greatest need of all, the greatest need of all is for God's name to be on it. That is the most important thing in life, that His name is worshipped and praised and that His deeds are made known throughout this world for the glory of our Saviour. Jesus is coming and we must awaken ourselves. As Paul says, it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep. We need to arouse ourselves, we need to wake up ourselves so that we can go and waken others, which includes both unbelievers and believers that need to be woken up, stirred up. How many are unprepared? Again here not just unbelievers but believers also, that is those that identify as believers that are in our churches, how many are unprepared for the return of Christ. Oh if we could just see it from the perspective of that day, just imagine Imagine we're there, it's the end of the world, we're standing before our God, we see Jesus as he is. We see the wonder of that day, the awe of that day, the terror of that day for many who are unprepared. And what if we were able to look back upon the day today? What if we were able to, from that future day, to come back in time and back to our own? How would we live? How different would things be? But we don't need to do that. God has given us enough in his word. He's told us of that coming day. that should be enough for us to awaken from sleep knowing the time, knowing the time by faith we see God's calendar and we now know that it's not time to be sleeping in a spiritual sense but to be up and busy and alive and awake and alert. Oh brothers and sisters This was a needed reminder for these Roman believers. And how much more, I think, is it a timely reminder for us? Because it seems to me that we've settled into our warm, cosy bed. We're enjoying our sleep or maybe it's we're aware that morning is coming but we look out and it's still dark and we think just a moment longer, just a moment longer. And everything in this world really that we experience is telling us to sleep a little longer. It's as if Satan is by our bedside and he's singing sweetly a lullaby to us to make sure that we do not awaken from sleep. He's there in effect tucking us into bed so that we're all warm and comfortable. He does not want us to be up and doing. He wants us to sleep a little longer so that He can carry out His destructive plans undisturbed. Brothers and sisters, don't listen. Don't listen to Him. Don't be fooled by Him. Don't be lulled to sleep by Him. It's time to awaken. Don't be found sleeping when Jesus returns. Be ready, be alert, have oil in your lamps, do the things that he has called you to do and remember the many warnings that Jesus gave to us about being ready for his second coming. Remember the story of the ten virgins and the five foolish virgins who were unprepared and did not have oil in their lamps. So that is the first thing. How should knowing the time impact Our lives, well, we ought to live with a sense of urgency. But secondly and finally, knowing the time should lead us to live distinctively Christian lives. Note that therefore, in the middle of verse 12. Reading at the beginning of verse 12, he says, the night is almost gone and the day is near. Therefore, since this is the case, knowing the time, the day is near. Therefore, let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. since the day is approaching, the day of Jesus' second coming, the day of judgment, the day of the resurrection of the dead. Therefore, let us live as Christians. Let us live distinctive lives. Let us live differently from all the others on the face of this world. This is a common argument we find throughout Scripture. That is that knowing the time, the time being brief and the time of Jesus' return, therefore we ought to live in a godly way. We see this argument repeated by various authors. The first is another reference by the Apostle Paul. We read it earlier from 2 Corinthians 5.9. Therefore, we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. Therefore, therefore, knowing that we've got a home to go to. Therefore, we want, in the remainder of our time, to live in a manner pleasing to the Lord. Let us hear from 2 Peter 3, 10-14. Peter says this, But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat. But according to his promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace, spotless and blameless. You see the same reasoning there. Because of this day of Jesus' return, the end of the world, a new heaven and a new earth, therefore live now in a godly fashion. 1 John 3 verses 2 and 3. Beloved, now we are children of God and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when he appears we will be like him because we will see him just as he is. everyone who has this hope fixed on him purifies himself just as he is pure. As we are waiting for the Lord Jesus to return we are wanting to purify ourselves just as he is pure. As we then think of the end of the world, as we think of the return of Christ, it should greatly impact the way we live. We should live distinctly Christian lives. It seems that this is the reasoning behind what is being said by these authors. As we think of the end of the world, we remember that this is not our home. We say to ourselves, I don't belong here. These that I live among, although I care for them and want the best for them, they are not my people. I don't speak their language. I don't follow their customs. I don't share their beliefs. I don't share their values. I don't share their dreams. Heaven is my home. And as I think of that place, And as I think of my belonging there, that my true citizenship is in heaven, I'm reminded to live that way now. Live as though I do not belong here. I belong in heaven and with my Saviour, the Lord Jesus. This is how we're to live. as Christians. This is the logic, if you like, behind it, I think. Well, how are we to live as Christians? Paul talks about that in the remaining verses and he does so under the metaphor of clothing. Listen to what he says. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. Notice this put aside and put on language. That's why I said Paul is sort of using a metaphor of clothing. He has already said that it's now time for us to awaken from sleep and it's as if he's saying, well, now it's time to get out of bed and to get dressed. and particularly as we think about what we're going to put on, we've got to put on appropriate clothing. In a sense what he's saying is that now it's time to take off your pyjamas because such clothing is not fitting for the day. Take off your pyjamas, put on your dress for the day in a similar way. We are to put off the deeds that belong to the darkness. And those deeds are, as Paul says here, carousing, drunkenness, sexual promiscuity, sensuality, strife and jealousy. These things belong to this world, but they do not belong to the world to come. They belong to this world, but not to our home. And so we are to put off such things and we are to live as people of the day. It's uncertain what day he's referring to, if it's just the metaphor or if he's actually referring to the day in the future, the new day, the new creation. We are to live as people who belong to heaven. as people who are part of this kingdom of Jesus. How do people live in the kingdom of Jesus? That's how we're to live now. And in verse 14, he uses another metaphor, which is a little more difficult to understand, but he says, we're to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, which seems to me to mean more than just act like him. I think it includes that. but more than simply act like Jesus, we're to see ourselves as united to Him. I've died with Him. I've risen from the dead with Him. I've been filled with His life. His Spirit indwells me. And so now I have to live, having put on the Lord Jesus Christ. it's as if as I'm clothed with Christ people see you look at me and they see not me but Christ this is how we are to live and so brothers and sisters we are to say no to the sins of this age we are to say to ourselves I am a Christian I belong to Christ. I represent him in this world. I am a citizen of heaven and therefore I cannot act the way other people act. I cannot live as a person in the darkness. I must show to them what it looks like to live, to be a citizen of heaven so that in a sense looking at me they can see what a citizen of heaven looks like. They can look at me and see that I speak a different language. They can look at me and see that I observe different customs and that I hold to different beliefs. You, child of God, are a Christian. Now live like it. Your citizenship is not of this world. You're a citizen of heaven. Now live like it. And so, brothers and sisters, knowing the time. Knowing the time. We're to live a life of urgency. Knowing the time. We're to live distinctly. Christian lives. May God help us so that indeed we will know the time and we will not live as those who belong to this world but rather we will be in the world but not of it. Amen. Let us pray. Our God, we thank you for your word. We thank you for these most glorious truths. We thank you that we can step back and we can view the whole of history. We can see where we are. We can see what's up ahead. And we long for the Lord Jesus to return. We long for this present evil age to be no more and for this new heaven and earth where righteousness dwells. We thank you, our God, that purely by grace you've made us a citizen of that land. And we ask that you would grant us every grace that we may honour you in the lives we live in this world so that we'll appear as citizens of heaven and not as those that belong here. Hear us, our God, we pray. May it be to your glory and honour. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let us conclude by singing Jesus, Your Blood and Righteousness. Jesus, Your Blood and Righteousness My beauty, O my glorious dress! Live, flaming world, in these array'd, With joy shall I lift up my head. Bold shall I stand in that great day, And none condemn me, try who may Fully absolved through Christ I am From sin and fear, from guilt and shame This stainless robe its beauty wears When all else fades with passing years No age can change its glorious hue The robe of Christ is ever new When from the dust of death I rise To claim my mansion in the skies Then this shall be my only plea That Jesus died and lives for me O let the dead now hear your voice! Let those once lost in sin rejoice! Their beauty this, their glorious dress, Jesus, your blood and righteousness. Let us draw near to God now as we conclude our time with prayer. Father, we thank you that you've given us everything we need to know in the Bible. We thank you for these powerful truths that have the power to transform our lives. And we pray that we would know their power at work within us. and so that all of our lives may be transformed and we may live in such a way as to bring glory to you and show that we're people of a different place. Strengthen us we ask, go with us, we need your power, we feel our weakness and we know more and more the filling of your Holy Spirit that we might walk in your might and we may resist the temptation to be conformed to this world and to be lulled to sleep by Satan. We may awaken and be alert as we go out into this world. Hear us our God we pray we ask in Jesus name. Amen.