Please turn in your Bibles this morning to Romans chapter 13 as we hear Paul admonish us to wake-up from our spiritual sleep. Think about when you got saved, the joy, the excitement, you couldn’t tell enough people about Jesus and His soon return.
Then, as the days, months, and years go by, you lost that joy, that excitement and you no longer tell people about Jesus and His soon return. You can become complacent, stuck in a rut you might say, and you know the difference between a rut and a grave, don’t you? Just the length and the depth and if you keep sleepwalking in that same rut it won’t be long till it becomes a grave!
Folks, I think at times we have lost the perspective of what people need even though we have the answer. Let me show you what I mean with the following story:
Douglas Maurer, 15, of Creve Coeur, Missouri, had been felling bad for several days. His temperature was ranging between 103 and 105 degrees, and he was suffering from severe flu-like symptoms. Finally, his mother took him to the hospital in St. Louis. Douglas Maurer was diagnosed as having leukemia. The doctors told him in frank terms about his disease. They said that for the next three years, he would have to undergo chemotherapy. They didn’t sugarcoat the side effects. They told Douglas he would go bald and that his body would most likely bloat. Upon learning this, he went into a deep depression.
His aunt called a floral shop to send Douglas an arrangement of flowers. She told the clerk that it was for her teenage nephew who has leukemia. When the flowers arrived at the hospital, they were beautiful. Douglas read the card from his aunt. Then he saw a second card. It said: “Douglas I took your order. I work at Brix florist. I had leukemia when I was 7 years old. I’m 22 years old now. Good luck. My heart goes out to you. Sincerely, Laura Bradley.” His face lit up. He said, “Oh!”
Its funny: Douglas Maurer was in a hospital filled with millions of dollars of the most sophisticated medical equipment. He was being treated by expert doctors and nurses with medical training totaling in the hundreds of years. But it was a salesclerk in a flower shop, a woman making $170 a week, who – by taking the time to care, and by being willing to go with what her heart told her to do – gave Douglas hope and the will to carry on.
- Bob Greene, “From One Sufferer To Another”, Chicago Tribune, August, 1987
As we go through our study this morning, we will see too, that if we take the time, we may not have the degrees, the glamour, but we have the answer, the hope that people are looking for, what people need, for they are crying out for help, and true help, everlasting help will only come from Jesus!
Starting in Romans chapter 12 Paul begins his fifth and last main division of his letter to the Romans, which continues through Romans 15:13, and it is a section that deals with application, applying the things of God to our lives! Paul has spent 11 chapters telling us all that God has given to us, all the blessings, and now he calls us to walk accordingly, to apply the things of God to our lives.
And as I have said in our studies in Romans, before you can apply the things of God to your life, before you can walk as He desires, you must consecrate yourself to God, surrender your will to His or as Paul put it, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1-2.
It is out of that we can use the gifts that God has given to us to build up the body of Christ, we can love our brethren, we can submit to the authority of government, we can love our neighbor. For some, I guess the question is “Why the rush? Why are you in such a hurry? Relax! Chill! We have plenty of time, don’t we?” To answer that question, how much time do we really have, let’s begin reading in Romans chapter 13, starting in verse 11 and see what the Lord has for us this morning.
Paul just finished speaking on loving our neighbor and he makes some powerful points on what love does and what love does not do. You see, if we truly love our neighbor then we won’t commit adultery! If we truly love our neighbor then we will respect their life! If we truly love our neighbor then we will respect their property! If we truly love our neighbor then we won’t make up false accusations about them, we will respect their reputation! If we truly love our neighbor then we will not be jealous of what they have but rejoice in what God has blessed them with! It is as Paul said, on a positive note, “Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Romans 13:10.
Then Paul moves into this section, which seems almost out of place. He is calling for us to awaken out of our spiritual sleep! The days are growing shorter till the Lord returns so don’t waste them. Walk properly, walk not as you use to before you were saved, but put on Christ, let Him fill your life so that as you walk, His nature, His character will flow from your life!
What in the world does that have to do with what Paul was speaking on before, love? I don’t believe this is a new idea but flows from what Paul was saying about love for without it, you can’t walk in true love, God’s love! You see, you can’t love the unlovable without Christ! You can’t love those who are mean to you without Christ! You can’t love those who take advantage of you without Christ! Thus, Paul says, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” Or as The Amplified Bible puts it, “But clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah), and make no provision for [indulging] the flesh [put a stop to thinking about the evil cravings of your physical nature] to [gratify its] desires (lusts).” Romans 13:14.
Of this portion of Scripture, Morris tells us: “Putting on Christ is a strong and vivid metaphor. It means more than put on the character of the Lord Jesus Christ, signifying rather let Jesus Christ Himself be the armor that you wear.” What are you filling yourself with? What are you immersing yourself with? Whatever it is will flow from your life! May it be Jesus for as we read His Word, surrendered to His Spirit in obedience, we will have put on the Lord Jesus Christ and this must be done every moment of every day for the rest of our lives or else whatever you are filling yourself with will come flowing out! Don’t give room for the flesh to resurrect itself!
This too is dealing with our love for people, that we don’t ignore them but have a passion to share Jesus with them as we walk in Christ! You can’t help but see Paul’s concern also for the people of God, to stir them up, to awaken them out of their spiritual sleep because the Lord’s return is getting closer, which also means so is the tribulation period for those that don’t know the Lord! The point is this, there is a world of people out there who don’t know the Lord, who are drowning in a sea of sin and they need Jesus. They may not see it that way now, but they are crying out for help. Thus, it is time to get up and get out to reach them with the Gospel message. It is not time to be complacent, lazy, to fall back to our old ways, the time is short don’t waste it!
I’m sure we all have seen those movies, fictional ones, that truly move us, get us involved in the drama, the story. You know, the cheering for the good guys and calling for the bad guys to be done away with. Crying over situations, yelling to warn a person that there is a person in the room, but again, it is only a movie, they are not real, and yet look at how we are moved by them!
I remember the first Rocky movie, now what are we on Rocky 20 or something! As I sat there I was cheering for Rocky, the underdog and then when Apollo Creed came out, booing for him, the bad guy, at least in the first Rocky movie! And at the end, as they are going the distance, as Rocky is knocked down, I was calling for him to get up, don’t let this guy beat you! The reality is, it was only a movie! If any of you have been to a movie with me you know that I do get involved with the story line. I have been to comedy’s where someone, not sitting with us, said she was more entertained listening to me laugh than with the movie! Folks, the thing we need to remember is this, these are stories with actors and actresses and they are not real, as real as it may seem!
Now, to put things into perspective, to share with you something that is real and to see if it does move us like the movies do, did you realize that the number of people who die every year is some 60,000,000 give or take a few, or about 2 deaths every second! Out of that some 40,000,000 die not knowing the Lord, entering into eternity apart from Him! That means every second 1½ people die outside of Christ! Does that move you or are you just sleeping?
You see folks, this is not a movie, it is the real thing. If we have the love of God in us, then it will flow out of us to minister to others the Gospel message. You see, the reality is, Jesus said in John 8:24, “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am [He], you will die in your sins.” Thus, since we have the answer to eternal life, which is Jesus, we need to share that with people, as Jesus said in John 20:23 after His death and resurrection, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Now some have mistakenly taken this to mean that there is a special group of people who have the power to forgive sins, but that is not what this is saying, only Jesus can forgive sins! Jesus is telling us that we have the message of forgiveness that is found in Jesus and for all who receive it you can proclaim to them that their sins have been forgiven, and if they reject Jesus then you have the power tell them that their sins remain, they are going to die in their sins apart from Christ! That is what we can extend to people!
I realize that many people in this nation feel there is no problem, life is good, and you can eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die! You need to grab for all the gusto you can while you can! Folks, if that were true, which I don’t believe it is, then why in the world are people apart from Christ so depressed, discouraged, losing hope? You doubt that? Listen to the following information regarding an addiction this nation has regarding antidepressants. And please understand, I do believe that there are some who need these drugs, but we hand them out like candy today! Just look at the commercials for these drugs, we all would fit the category to be on a drug like that if that were the correct criteria for it, but it is not!
The title of this story is, Antidepressants Lift Clouds, but Lose ‘Miracle Drug’ Label. Here are just a few excerpts from this article. We are told:
Scrambling to regain their competitive edge, the drug manufacturers are searching for new molecules that are more effective and have fewer side effects. They are tweaking the chemical structures of existing drugs and reharnessing old standbys for new uses, marketing them for everything from social phobia to generalized anxiety and severe premenstrual distress.
Psychiatrists argue that such conditions are real illnesses that cause unnecessary suffering. But others say the impression conveyed by smiling faces in some television commercials for antidepressants is clear: almost anyone could benefit from them.
“The symptomatology is so broad and vague that almost any one of us could say, yeah, that is me,” Arthur A. Levin, director of the Center for Medical Consumers, said.
Antidepressants are now the second-largest class of prescription drugs, their sales exceeded only by heart medications. Last year, according to NDCHeatlh, a company that tracks drug sales, 7.1 million Americans took antidepressants, an increase of 700,000 over the year before.
Susan L., 45, a graphic designer in Manhattan who spoke on condition that her last name not be used, switched from an older drug to Prozac when it entered the market in the late 1980’s. At first she did well. But five years later, the drug lost its potency. In the years since, she has cycled through a series of drugs and drug combinations.
“I tried Zoloft, I tried Effexor. I was on Wellbutrin and Effexor for a while, now I’m on Wellbutrin and Celexa,” she said. “It’s still not that great. I couldn’t say that I’m happy.”
- Erica Goode, Antidepressants Lift Clouds, but Lose ‘Miracle Drug’ Label
That truly does say it all, Americans are not happy so they are resorting to drugs to make them happy. But, over time it too doesn’t make them happy so they need more drugs, different drugs, and combinations of drugs to make them happy! Years ago Americans tried to find happiness in things, buying this or buying that new toy! They tried to find happiness in all kinds of perverted sexual relationships outside of marriage! They tried to find it with this job or that job! Guess what, they didn’t find it, it didn’t last, and they are unhappy!
The solution – drugs to make you feel happy! How sad it is that it has come to that kind of logic, that kind of reasoning, that we need drugs to feel happy! Let me say this, and I am not ashamed to say it, the reason people are struggling so much, the reason they are not happy, is that they are not doing what they were created for and thus they are frustrated, they are unhappy, they are trying to fill that void in their lives and it is a God-shaped void that can only be filled with God, with Jesus. In Revelation 4:11 we are told the reason we were created, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
Again, folks, we have the answer to that condition they’re in and that is Jesus! Simplistic, maybe, but it is true! Thus, if He is the love of our life, if we have placed ourselves on the altar of sacrifice, giving ourselves as a living sacrifice unto God, then it will be reflected in our outward actions, our outward appearance. If not, all the make-up in the world will not cover up the flesh nature that will flow from your life. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ; fill yourself with Him moment-by-moment, day-by-day! Throw off those old, stinking garments of the night and put on the light of Jesus, put on the armor of light so that as people see us, they see the nature of Jesus come flowing through.
Please understand that, like it or not, as a Christian people are watching you, they are watching how you are handling yourself during those difficult situations, what you do when the storms of life come crashing down upon you! You see, as they are watching they are either going to be drawn to Christ through you or be pushed away from Christ through you.
If you think about that, of course it is true. If you are depressed, if you are anxious over a situation, if you are hopeless because of what is happening to you, they are thinking, “Man, if he has God and this is how it is helping him, I don’t need that! I guess I do need a pill!” You see, if God is not our strength then they will believe He won’t be theirs either, so why come to Him? I do understand that most people are not going around looking for Jesus, and if they are they will find them. But I will say this, I think many people are looking for help and as they see what you have in Jesus, that will draw them to desire to have that kind of help, they are looking for something!
Let me show you what I mean with this illustration. We are told that:
Robert Louis Stevenson tells of a storm that caught a vessel off a rocky coast and threatened to drive it and its passengers to destruction. In the midst of the terror, one daring man, contrary to orders, went to the deck, made a dangerous passage to the pilot house and saw the steerman, at his post holding the wheel unwaveringly, and inch by inch, turning the ship out, once more, to sea. The pilot saw the watcher and smiled. Then, the daring passenger went below and gave out a note of cheer: “I have seen the face of the pilot, and he smiled. All is well.”
- Robert Louis Stevenson
You see, as we keep our eyes focused on Jesus, no mater what may come our way, and it will; no matter how intense the storms of life will be, and they will be; we will have the peace of God in our lives calming our hearts or emotions and our minds or thoughts because He has given to us His peace that surpasses all understanding. It is as Paul said in Philippians 4:6-7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Or as The Amplified Bible puts it, “Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” And lastly, if you still didn’t get it, listen to The Living Bible and what it says of these verses, “Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don't forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.”
And thus, as the peace of God fills our lives and overflows our lives, others will see it and they will have to have that inner peace that only comes from God, not a absence of storms, but a peace through the storms of life! They will see Jesus in us! They will be draw to Him!
As Christians, some of us are the biggest doomsday prophets in the world. People look at us and they don’t see hope, but despair! Folks, we know the end of the story, GOD WINS! Yes, this world is only going to get worse, but don’t lose sight that God is with us! The message is Good News and that is what we need to bring to people, because if they are honest with themselves, they can clearly see the evil that is in the world! The message is and will always be Jesus, and thus, let’s keep it that way, let’s keep it JESUS!
It can seem like an overwhelming task that is before us, but don’t lose hope, because God is with us! Let me show you how one man can impact a nation. The book of Ezra deals with the return of the Jews back into the land of Israel after their Babylonian captivity. In Ezra chapters 1-6 we see the first group of people return home under the leadership of Zerubbabel, but only some 49,897 people returned with him in 538 BC, out of some 2 to 3 million who were still in Babylon, they had become comfortable there!
Then in chapters 7-10 we see the second group of Jews return from Babylon under the leadership of Ezra in 457 BC and this time only 1,745 returned. Ezra came to bring spiritual reform to the nation, a descendant of Hilkiah the High Priest who found the Book of the Law of God in the temple during the reign of Josiah. So now some 80 years after the first return, here comes Ezra and things were not going well spiritually speaking.
In Ezra 10:1-6 we are told, “Now while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing down before the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very bitterly. And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra, ‘We have trespassed against our God, and have taken pagan wives from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this. Now therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of my master and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. Arise, for this matter is your responsibility. We also are with you. Be of good courage, and do it.’ Then Ezra arose, and made the leaders of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel swear an oath that they would do according to this word. So they swore an oath. Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib; and when he came there, he ate no bread and drank no water, for he mourned because of the guilt of those from the captivity.”
Here is this man of God praying for the people, confessing his sin and the sins of the people, weeping over the condition of the people. He loved them so much it broke his heart to see where they were! Thus, as the people saw Ezra, his love for God, his compassion and concern for the people of God, the conviction of God fell upon them and they repented of their sins and got right with God!
Can you make a difference to those around you by putting on the Lord Jesus? Look at the response that Ezra had; of course God can do the same through us! People are watching us, desiring to have that peace, that joy we have which is found in Jesus!
Remember what Paul said in Romans 10:14-17, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!’ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘LORD, who has believed our report?’ So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
May we make a beautiful path for people to see Jesus by and for people to receive Jesus by as we share the Gospel, the Good News, we share the Word of God with them. Remember what Paul said about faith, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17.
You see, please believe that God’s Word is living and it is powerful and it is able to transform lives, because it can and will! If salvation was just a matter of the intellect, everyone would be saved, for it is obvious that there is a God, this just didn’t all happen by chance! But it is not a matter of the intellect but of the heart and thus, God’s Word, like a surgical instrument used by the Holy Spirit to cut away the hardness of man’s heart and open them up to Jesus, the only one who can truly help!
As I begin to rap things up this morning, listen to this story:
I am not a connoisseur of great art, but from time to time a painting or picture will really speak a clear, strong message to me. Some time ago I saw a picture of an old burned-out mountain shack. All that remained was the chimney . . . the charred debris of what had been that family’s sole possession. In front of this destroyed home stood an old grandfather-looking man dressed only in his underclothes with a small boy clutching a pair of patched overalls. It was evident that the child was crying. Beneath the picture were the words which the artist felt the old man was speaking to the boy. They were simple words, yet they presented a profound theology and philosophy of life. Those words were, “Hush child, God ain’t dead!”
That vivid picture of that burned-out mountain shack, that old man the weeping child, and those words “God ain’t dead” keep returning to my mind. Instead of it being a reminder of the despair of life, it has come to be a reminder of hope! I need reminders that there is hope in this world.
In the midst of all of life’s troubles and failures, I need mental pictures to remind me that all is not lost as long as God is alive and in control of His world.
- James DeLoach, associate pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Houston,
quoted in When God Was Taken Captive, 1989, p. 24
May we not forget that fact, that truth in our lives because there are a lot of people in this world who truly believe that God is dead – but He is not! Let’s give them that comfort, God is not dead but alive and desires a relationship with you. As Paul admonished us in these verses, “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake 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.” Romans 13:11-14. May we do that, put on the Lord Jesus and let our light so shine that they may see Jesus in us! You see, we can give to people the hope and the will to carry on, don’t sleep on that truth, awaken and spread it forth because the return of the Lord is drawing closer ever day!