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I greet all of you in the blessed name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Romans chapter 13, verses 11 to 14. As we look at the recent events happening around the world—the COVID-19 pandemic, the war between Russia and Ukraine, the economic crisis, the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, and other calamities—do we really believe that our Lord Jesus is coming soon? And if we truly believe that we are living in the last of the last days, what is the right approach to living our lives in the end times?

This is what we want to learn from today's passage, which is taken from Romans 13:11–14. The title of our message is "Awake from Your Slumber." To fall into a slumber means to be sleeping. Here, it does not mean being physically asleep, but rather being spiritually asleep—spiritually inactive and complacent, dozing all the way to eternity. We do not want that to happen to us. So, what must we do?

Firstly, we need to understand the time. Let us begin with verse 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." In other words, Paul was saying, since you know the time as revealed to you through the Holy Scriptures, then you must not be spiritually sleeping; you must not be complacent and indifferent. Now is the time for you to wake up.

In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 16, verses 2 and 3, when a group of Pharisees and scribes tried to test Jesus' authority, they demanded that He perform a sign from heaven. Jesus answered and said unto them, "When it is evening, ye say, 'It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.' And in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowering.' O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?" Jesus was rebuking their understanding of what God was doing before them. The Messiah, the promised Redeemer, was standing right in front of them. He had taught them wonderful doctrines; He had done miracle after miracle, yet they did not recognise Him, nor did they accept His teachings. God was very gracious to them, and they were at that very time of redemption, but their spiritual blindness prevented them from seeing all these things.

What about us, my friends? In our modern context, perhaps some of us are very capable of understanding the different signs, as in the times of the market. We know when to invest in properties, we know when to invest in business, when to invest in shares; we even know how to tell others about marketing strategies—that is, in the physical realm. What about in the spiritual realm? Do we understand the spiritual times in which we are living—that we are living in the last of the last days, that Jesus is coming very soon? If not, why not? If we do, what are we doing about it?

If we truly understand these present times, then you and I would be living with this heavenly perspective. We would look at everything around us with a spiritual perspective. We would use our time wisely. We would teach our children not only to excel in their academic studies but, more importantly, to be spiritual. Indeed, our time is limited. Our opportunity is very brief. The time to take heed and to obey is now; there is no time for complacency, no time to be indifferent.

The Apostle Paul says that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: "for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed." Paul was not speaking to the unsaved, the unbelievers, those who were spiritually dead. He was speaking to the genuine believers whose spiritual laziness made them appear and behave as if they had no spiritual lives. Have you ever encountered someone who professes to be a believer, but the way he or she lives his or her life gives no indication that that person has any spiritual life at all? "For now is our salvation nearer than when we believed" does not mean that the believers were not saved. Here, Paul was referring to the completion of salvation because the Christians who had believed in the Lord Jesus Christ were already saved.

You see, at some point in time, the people had believed—that was in the past. And so, at this point, as Paul was writing to them, their salvation—their complete salvation—was nearer than in the past when they first believed. That is what it means. This salvation refers to the final future redemption—that is our glorification. If I may put it this way: we were saved in the past—that is our justification. When you and I were converted, we are being saved in the present—that is our sanctification. Every day of our lives, we are being sanctified. We will be saved in the future—our glorification, our ultimate complete perfection as children of God. We are not perfect yet, but we shall be one day when our Lord Jesus returns.

Colossians 3:4 says this: "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." In Revelation 22:11, Jesus Himself promised, "he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still." Why? Because He says, "Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." When the Lord Jesus comes in the clouds, those who were dead in Christ—who had passed away, their bodies buried in the graves, their souls went to be with the Lord—will be resurrected first, and their bodies will be united with their souls in a glorified body. Then, those who are alive in Christ—those who are still alive when Jesus returns—will be caught up in the Rapture to meet the Lord Jesus in the air, and in the twinkling of an eye, their physical bodies will be transformed into a glorified body.

My friend, isn't it true that if you were saved 50 years ago, let's say today, you are closer to your ultimate final salvation—that is, your glorification—than you were 50 years ago? So, how can you be spiritually sleeping when you know that your complete final salvation is so near? We do not know and can never know the hour of Christ's coming, but surely we know that it is about 2,000 years closer than when Paul wrote this letter to Rome. We know that we are nearer to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ than any generation in history. As we live each day, we come one day closer to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let this sink into our hearts and be applied into our lives. Each day we live, we are one day closer to the Lord's return; we are one day closer to our final complete ultimate salvation, our glorification.

So, Paul says, wake up! It is high time to awake out of sleep. Have you ever gone into your child's room to wake him up and found him so deeply asleep that all he wanted to do was to go on sleeping? I believe you have experienced that, and I also believe that you understand that the situation of the church in our time is very much like that. The world is perishing, yet Christians are sleeping. Jesus is coming soon, yet Christians are sleeping spiritually, and they do not want to wake up. It is far much easier and comfortable to just go on sleeping, dozing all the way to eternity.

You may be asking, "What time is it and why should I wake up?" Allow me to give you several reasons why you should wake up. Firstly, it is time to repent. In the Gospel of Luke chapter 19, verses 41 to 44, when Jesus was approaching Jerusalem, He saw the city and began to weep. Why did Jesus weep? Well, He said this: "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation."

What Jesus meant was that these people had been given so much time to repent of their sins, to turn to Him and be saved, but they had refused to do all that. As a result, the time of opportunity was coming to an end. The destruction of Jerusalem was coming and drawing very near. So, when Jesus saw that, He began to weep. That was a foretaste and warning of the judgment that will come upon every member of the human race. This is exactly the condition of the world today. Take a moment and consider all the events that have occurred. We don't have to go back to history; just recently, wars and rumours of wars, diseases, pestilences, calamities, and so forth. When we flip and read the newspaper, bad news after bad news—all these were already recorded in the Bible; all these were already predicted in the Bible. The recent events were a foretaste and warning of the judgment that will come upon anyone who has not trusted in Jesus Christ for his or her salvation.

Christ will be the judge. When we know in our hearts that the ultimate judgment will come upon all those who do not believe in the gospel, what will we do? When we know that our unbelieving loved ones—grandparents, parents, children, and friends—are still lingering outside the kingdom of God, what will we do? Will we not scream out, "Wake up! Judgment has not come yet, but it will come very soon! Repent! Turn to the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation before it is too late!" Once they draw their last breath, it will be too late.

The second reason why we must wake up from our slumber is because this is the time for gospel sharing. Maybe you can turn with me to Acts chapter 1, verse 6. This was after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, at the beginning of the founding of the Christian church. The disciples asked Jesus, "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel?" The Jews expected the Messiah to drive out the Romans who had occupied the land at the time. They wanted the Messiah to re-establish the Davidic kingdom and the independent state of Israel. They believed that Jesus was the Messiah, so they anticipated that He would fulfil this popular expectation. But Jesus replied that this was not what this time was all about. In other words, there was a time for everything. The day will come when He would do all that in His second coming, but this was not the time. Now, this is the time for gospel sharing. That was the reason why Jesus went on to say, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power; but ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:7-8).

So what must the disciples do? The disciples must take the gospel and preach not just in Jerusalem, but in Judaea, in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. They did that faithfully; churches were established, the gospel spread, and through the years, many faithful Christians obeyed this command to share the gospel. So much so that the gospel was shared even to you and to me, that today we can worship in this church in this suburb in Victoria. Some people spend lots of time trying to find out the exact date that Jesus would come or when the world would end. These are not things for us to find out; these are things beyond our finding out. What we need to know is that these are gospel times that God has given to us to take the good news about the coming of the Saviour, His death, His resurrection, that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. Tell it to everyone throughout the whole world.

Take a moment and think about this: if Heaven is a better place—which we all believe is true—why does God not save you and immediately take you to Heaven? Why does He allow you to remain on this earth for however long that period is? It could be 20 years, 30 years. For what purpose? What is time for if it is not for gospel sharing? Is your time on this earth all about making money? Is your time on this earth all about making a name for yourself, being popular, being famous, or just about enjoying yourself, eating, drinking, and being merry? If we think like that, then you will be most pathetic. My friends, do you really believe when Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me"? I believe every one of us in this room would say yes. Do we believe 100% that Jesus is the only way to salvation? Only Jesus saves; no one else can save a sinner. All of us will say yes. Souls are dying without the gospel, and if all we care about is money, if all we care about is our material things, our personal enjoyment, our earthly pursuits, how can that be? May the Lord remind us that we ought to wake up from our spiritual slumber because this is a time for gospel sharing.

The third reason why we must wake up from our slumber is because time is crucial. The Apostle James says in James 4:14, "For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." For that ye ought to say, "If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." Time is short, and if we want to serve God, we want to worship Him, we want to glorify Him, we better do it now because we do not have time forever. The return of Jesus Christ is imminent. When we say imminent, we are not saying that Jesus' return will happen tomorrow or the day after that. Imminent does not mean immediate; it means it can happen at any moment. Jesus will come, and He will usher in the final judgment at any moment. You and I must be ready to meet Him at any moment. If Jesus comes at this moment, are you ready to meet Him?

If you are a believer, you have to give an account of all the things He has given to you: your time, your resources, talents, and opportunities, and how you have rendered those things He has given to you for His glory. If you are an unbeliever, you will be judged and sent to the eternal lake of fire forever and ever. Anyone who understands about this crucial time will flee from sin to Jesus Christ and then live for Him and serve Him with all the strength He provides.

Regardless of when Jesus would come, it can happen at any moment. But we also know that our days on this earth are very few. James says it is like “a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14). We may live up to 80 or even 90 years, or maybe today could be our last—only God knows. Time is truly crucial.

Our second point is the misuse of time. Look at verses 12 and 13: "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 armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying" (Romans 13:12-13). The imagery pictured here is a soldier who has been engaged in a night of drinking and partying, and he is still clothed with the garment of his sins, and he has fallen into a deep sleep. But when the dawn is approaching and the battle is at hand, it is time to wake up, throw off the clothes of the night, and put on the battle gear.

That is the picture we have here. To "cast off" carries the idea of forsaking or renouncing, and in this context, it speaks of forsaking the works of darkness. This is a general term that includes all the sins a person may indulge in, and God is grieved by all these sins. The figure of darkness is very interesting because we all know that darkness reminds us of how crimes are often committed at night, in a time of darkness, because they can easily go unnoticed, secretly. Prostitutes will roam the streets at nigh. Wild parties will occur when night comes. Thieves will do their wicked deeds in the middle of the night.

Nobody is forced into sin. None of us can say, "I have been forced into sin." When we sin, we sin wilfully. Nobody forces you to walk into the brothel. Nobody forces you to drink. Nobody forces you to gamble. Nobody forces you to click onto the pornographic website. Nobody forces you to cheat and steal. When you sin, you sin by choice—you sin wilfully. You wilfully clothe yourself with the works of darkness. So, the Bible says, "cast off," renounce, forsake all these wicked acts. And the only way you can do that effectively is to "put on the armour of light."

This armour of light is your only protection. This armour of light is the whole armour of God that we are all very familiar with. It is our protection against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:12 says, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." God's whole armour of light includes the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the feet shod with the preparation of the gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

My friends, if we are true believers, we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and we have the whole armour of God. In other words, we have every resource necessary to forsake the works of darkness, whatever they may be. We are expected to walk honestly, as in the day, in the light—honestly before God and before men. So, not only by our profession, but by the way we live our lives, our outward life must be consistent with our profession of faith. We must live an honest, sanctified life that reflects who we believe in.

"Not in rioting and drunkenness"—rioting has the idea of wild parties and immoral disorders, and it is always associated with drunkenness. "Not in chambering and wantonness"—the word "chambering" has the idea of going to bed with someone of the opposite sex, cohabitation, and dishonouring the marriage bed. "Wantonness" has the idea of sexual immorality. "Not in strife and envying"—the word "strife" has its root in self-will, "me and myself," which inevitably will lead to quarrels, contentions, and fights.

Think about this: Satan fell when he placed his will above God. In Isaiah 14:13-14, Satan said, "I will exalt myself… I will sit on this high mountain… I will be like this… I will be like that…” and then finally he said “I will be like the most High”—in other words, he will be like God. The same goes with Adam and Eve—when they placed their wills above that of God, they fell into sin. Ever since then, self-will has always been the root of every sin. People strive, fight, quarrel; they have personal and group rivalries. It carries the idea of building oneself up by tearing another person down. Just like in gambling, one man's gain is another man's loss. This idea of strife is a very consuming and destructive sin. Bethel BP Church is not exempted from this sin. No church, no matter how theologically sound and mature it is, is immune to this sin. Nothing can weaken and divide a church more than strife. Strife is always associated with envying or jealousy. Why do you strive against one another? Because you are envious of one another, or vice versa. Your envy of one another will inevitably lead you to strife. Believers must never live their lives like that.

That is why Paul says, "put off all these works of darkness." Do not participate in rioting, drunkenness, chambering, wantonness, strife, or envying. We must put off all these sinful characteristics.

Our final point is the correct use of time. Look at verse 14: "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof" (Romans 13:14). Making provision has the idea of planning ahead. Oftentimes, the sins that we commit are developed from wrong ideas and lustful desires that we allow to linger in our minds. The longer we permit those thoughts to linger, the more provision we make for our flesh to bring them to fruition. The psalmist says in Psalm 36:4, let me read for you, "The wicked devise mischief upon his bed”—that means lying on his bed, he was thinking about sinful things, devising, planning, making provisions. He "setteth himself in a way that is not good"—he has placed himself in a way that is not good for him. He "abhorreth not evil"—he starts to embrace evil; instead of hating wicked things, he loves them. It all begins in the mind.

If you notice, most wickedness is planned. Very seldom do you hear someone stumbling into sin. They plan to sin. It is common to hear of young men who look at their girlfriends and think of ways to cause her to commit premarital sex. It is common to hear of older men who plan overseas trips to engage in immoral activities on the pretence of doing business. Indeed, "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). So, Paul says, you who are believers, do not make provision for sin. You have the provision of the Holy Spirit indwelling in you. You have the armour of light. You have every resource necessary to forsake the works of darkness. Do not make provision for sin, but instead "put on the Lord Jesus Christ."

"Put on the Lord Jesus Christ" means to pursue the goal of Christlikeness—to be more and more like Jesus Christ, to live as Jesus lived, to live as Jesus has taught us, instructed us in His Word, to be more and more like Him. "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ."

You know, a soccer player may put on the jersey of a top championship club, but his performance, not his team uniform, will determine his true value. He can put on the best jersey, but if he does not play well, he will not be a good player. The same goes for a doctor who may put on the uniform of a well-known hospital, but it is his medical knowledge and expertise that will determine his true credential as a doctor. In a similar fashion, the person who receives Jesus Christ as his or her personal Saviour takes on the name of "Christian," but it is not the name of "Christian", but it is the quality of his Christianity, how he has lived his life, how he behaves, that determines his spiritual faithfulness, not the name, not the cross you wear on your neck, or the sticker you place on your car.

How do we "put on the Lord Jesus Christ"? Let me end by suggesting some practical ways. First, you must let the Word of Christ dwell in you. Colossians 3:16 says, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom." It is to let the word of Christ, which is the Word of God, dominate our thinking and then dominate our actions. As the Word of God moves in our hearts, it is that which the Holy Spirit will direct our lives. So, you and I must study the word of God daily, routinely allowing our thoughts to be saturated with the word of God, and then the Holy Spirit will use the word of God to direct our paths, to convict our hearts, to move us in a more special way. What have you been feeding yourself with—the Word of God or the things of this world?

The second thing is to submit to the Spirit's leading. That is to surrender our views, our intellects, our time, our resources, our talents, our treasures—everything—to the Spirit's control. Think about this: we believe that as true believers, we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, right? Who is the Holy Spirit? He is the third person in the Triune God; the Almighty God dwells in us. How should we behave when we know that the Spirit of God dwells in us? We have to die to ourselves. It is only when we empty ourselves of ourselves that the Spirit of God will fill us. I love this phrase that says, "As God takes residence in our hearts, He must be the president in our lives." He must be number one, not us. That is why we sing the hymn or the song, "It is no longer I that liveth, but Christ that liveth in me." You know, this song is best expressed in Galatians 2:20, where Paul said to the Galatians, "I am crucified with Christ:”—I died with Christ—”nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." So it's no longer that I that liveth, but Christ, the one who loved me, the one who gave himself for me—He lives in me.

Finally, consider Christ at every moment of our lives. Whatever things we say, whatever things we do, wherever we go, we must always consider Christ in our lives. A simple test of our faithfulness is to ask ourselves, "Will Christ be honoured if I do this? Will Christ be glorified if I say this or think about this? Will the testimony of Jesus Christ be affected if I behave in such a way? If Christ is standing beside me, will I still be doing the same thing?" My friends, we are living in the last of the last days. Jesus is coming soon. All the events in this world are pointing to His imminent return. We must wake up from our spiritual slumber. If we are true believers, we must understand that every moment, every day, every year, every month we have comes from Him, and God has a purpose to give us however many years, and we must faithfully use whatever time He has given for His glory.

Why do we ask God to bless us with good health and strength? Why do we ask God to bless us with many more years? To do what? Make more money and enjoy our days on this Earth? Heaven is a better place. We should ask the Lord to take us home. Why ask the Lord to bless us with many more years but to do His work? If you love Him, how can we not use the time He has given to us for Him and Him alone? If you are an unbeliever, one day you will have to bow before Jesus Christ, whether you bow before Him as your Saviour or you bow before Him as your Judge. Jesus Christ is Lord. So do not sleep and doze all the way into eternity. Once you swing into eternity, it is too late. Once you draw your last breath, there's no more opportunity for you to repent. Repent before it is too late. Believe in Jesus; He is the only one who willingly came into this world, lived a perfect life, and ultimately died on the cross. He shed His precious blood to save you. If you reject Him, you will stand before Him, and He will be your Judge. I pray that He will stand before you as your Saviour.

Let us pray. Our Father in Heaven, we thank Thee for this passage that we can consider, and we pray that Thou wilt teach us, remind us, and help us to understand time. Thou hast a definite time for everything, including our time on this Earth, and we ought to wake up from our slumber. It is the time to repent, it is the time for gospel sharing, and time is most crucial. We as believers must never misuse our time; we must not make provisions for sin, but instead, we must put on the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the correct way to use our time. We are living in the last days. Lord Jesus, come quickly; take us home. If Thou wouldst tarry and allow us to remain on this Earth, it is for the purpose of gospel sharing, and help us to be faithful to do Thy work, so that when we see Thee face to face, Thou wilt say to us, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of the Lord." This is what we want to hear from Thee. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.