10/12/25 Romans 13:11-14 “GET UP!”

09 Oct 10/12/25 Romans 13:11-14 “GET UP!”

10/12/25     Romans 13:11-14         “GET UP!”

We are heading into another season of fall.  At least we don’t have major elections this year.  I don’t know about you but I get really tired of all that.  But I guess that it is a very necessary part of a free country.  I really don’t take elections that seriously because I have watched elections for many years.  The cycle is that everyone gets all excited about a candidate or a cause.  There are all sorts of rhetoric for both sides and then we vote.  Then all is forgotten.  The candidate will fade into the system and whatever happens will happen no matter who the candidate is.  And causes come and go with no regard to any rhyme or reason for the issues in the first place.   But the real trouble with elections in the past 40 years or so is that they create a lot of hate.  It used to be that all was forgotten but now no one forgets.  This is shown when the IRS targets someone or group in retaliation.  These are the things that need to be fixed and you know what?  We hear things about this being fixed but in the end, nothing really happens.  Apparently, the IRS is above the law as are members of Congress.  It makes one think a little.  Is this what Jesus had in mind for His people?  As we continue to look at Romans, let’s see if this is right and also let’s figure out what time it is.

Does anyone here still use an alarm clock?  Do you like it?  As a result, do you really know what time it is?  Some of us remember when the first Gulf War was in 1991.  Everyone was in an uproar about that.  I was working at the Post Office at that time and they even put out a commemorative stamp honoring the Gulf War.  Anyway, there were also those people who predicted that this was the beginning of the end times.  Do you remember?  I was quite susceptible as I was a new Christian.  People wrote books telling us how they had it all figured out that the world would end.  Of course, that didn’t happen as we are still here.  The books they wrote ended up in the bargain bin as their predictions expired.  Then we had the millennium scare of 2000 when the world was going to end.  We look back and chuckle about these things while at the same time we are sure that the current blood moons will be the end of the world.  I find these things interesting but I’m not going to bet the farm on them.  You see, I’m not sure I know what time it is and I think that most if not all these authors don’t know what time it is!  So I ask you, do you know what time it is?

We haven’t talked about this for a long time but I would like to remind you that the Bible is written on several levels.  The two I refer to most are the broad overview that includes everyone.  The other is the narrower view that is about you.  There are many places we can read about the end of the world for all people and at the same time we can read the same words to mean the end of time for me.  Do you see what I mean?  Today’s reading covers two or maybe three levels.

First of all, what time is it in your life?  I think that for the most part we are all Christians here today.  However, there may be someone who has never given themselves to Jesus Christ thinking that there is lots of time left.  You may think that knowing Jesus is too restrictive at this stage in life.  You may think that you only need Jesus a little on Sunday morning and the rest is up to what you can do.  I’m here to tell you today that this is stinkin thinkin in its finest hour.  This is the part where people turn off the pastor but please wait just a minute.  When you get to know Jesus as your personal Savior, you will be free for the first time in your life, the very first time.  As you go about your world, there is nothing that you can do by yourself, Jesus is always present whether you like it or not, or know it or not.

Another thing here is that you don’t know when your end will come.  You may have a lot of time to make this decision or you may die tomorrow.  Of course we rationalize that these things only happen to other people and not me, I won’t die tomorrow.  I have lots of time left.  My question is, ‘how do you know?’  Luis Palau, the famous evangelist, was doing a crusade in Mexico City several years ago.  At the end he gave the altar call and hundreds of people came forward to give their lives to Jesus.  However, there was one young girl in her late teens who decided that she wanted to think about this a little first so she left.  She was hit by a car in front of the stadium and died at the scene.  She didn’t have time to think about it and you may not either.  You don’t know what time it is in your own life and that’s a fact.

Now Paul isn’t leaving out the believers in this either.  Basically, he is telling you believers to wake up.  You have been stumbling around long enough.  You kind of believe.  You are luke warm Christians at best.  One of the things that happen both then and now is that we gradually get pulled into the world and its view of everything.  We are to get ourselves out of this darkness.  We are not to indulge in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery and not in dissension and jealously.  Can you imagine the people Paul was referring to here?  We have been told many times that ancient Rome was a terrible place filled with all kinds of sin and vice.

Just as a clarification here, I would like to clarify what is meant by sexual immorality.  Paul didn’t have the New Testament.  He only had the Old Testament and that is what he is referring to here and in many other places.  Any time you read about sexual immorality in the New Testament, it is referring back to the Law in the Old Testament.  This includes a wide range of immorality that is spelled out in the Law.  So when someone tells you that such and such a behavior isn’t specifically mentioned in the New Testament, they are wrong.  Any behavior like this that is mentioned in the Law is covered under the term sexual immorality.  Don’t let the world pull the wool over your eyes.  Don’s let Satan fool you!  Wrong behavior is wrong behavior whether or not our promiscuous society tells us so or not.  We are under the love and law of Jesus Christ first and foremost.

Anyway, back to the question ‘do you know what time it is?’  Paul is both warning and reassuring us about how things are.  We live in a world that is darkened by Satan.  I wish I could pull some punches on this but there is no way around it.  Satan is to blame.  You can blame it on Republicans or you can blame it on Democrats.  You can blame it on most anything you want but you will be wrong.  Satan is dancing in delight was we continue to get darker and darker.

Another aspect of these verses is ‘what time is it for the church?’  I think we all know the answer to this whether we want to admit it or not.  I think that many if not most churches in this country are mere country clubs where you go to hear what you want to hear.  And if you don’t like what you hear, then you move to the next country club.  I also don’t think that I’m that good a preacher.  I’m just different than your country club preachers because I try to lay it on the line like Paul was doing.  There is sin in our world and there is only one way to overcome it and that is with Jesus Christ.  There is a place called heaven and there is a place called hell and it is your choice as to where you will go.  The other thing I try to do differently than your feel good country club preachers is that I will make the invitation for you to accept Jesus into your heart if you haven’t already done so.  These are just some things that need to be done or we cease to be a church of Jesus Christ.

So in answer to what time is it for the church, I would hold up an alarm clock and tell you that it is time for the church to wake up.  Our job is to glorify God and serve one another.  I have a feeling that we do a barely adequate job of serving others and most churches do a terrible job of glorifying God.  Everything we do as a church and as people of God should be to hold God up to the highest with praise and adoration.

And of course what time is it for the world.  We have covered this over and over.  The question becomes are we close to the end times.  If you read what Jesus tells us in Mark 13 and Luke 21 you find that many of the things happening today could be read as heading to the end times.  We are having terrible famines around the world.  We are having brutal wars and rumors of more wars.  There have been terrible earthquakes and pestilence which goes right along with famine and drought.  All the signs are there and maybe we are in the midst of the beginning of the end times.

Now I want to stop and make a confession here.  I cannot talk about this anymore.  We all know that the world is corrupt and evil, far beyond any human repair.  We all know that the church has been on a slow slide for decades and it looks like it will get worse, although some say we are on a slight rebound.  We also all know that our bodies aren’t eternal beings and we will all die someday, maybe even tomorrow.  I can’t talk about these things any more today, because when you step back and look at it, it is just be too depressing.

I’m not sure but it might have been getting to Paul also.  You see, Paul had so much good news to talk about that he didn’t stay on the negative.  Like Jesus, he pointed out the negative and then moved on to the positive with a flare.  Paul tells them to clothe themselves in Jesus Christ.  I have known people who do this every day.  I have known people to put on the armor of God every day.  I mean that they go through the motions of putting on these things.  These have been some of the most patient, kind people I have ever known.  They wear Jesus every day.

I knew a man once who would give anyone the shirt off his back if they asked.  One time a crook took him for $100 or something like that.  It didn’t faze him in the least.  He told me that if the man had really needed the money, he could have missed the opportunity to be Jesus for him if he had withheld the money.  And by the way, this man was loved by everyone he met.  I knew another man who I used to work with who was similar to this.  He would help you no matter what was going on in his life.  He would drop everything and help.  These people wore Jesus Christ every day.  Their reward was ‘just knowing’ that they had done the right thing.

Now I think that all of you folks are pretty nice people.  But you know what?  Generally, I never get to see you because we are all online here.  Many of you are the just as nice when you leave your doors as you are when you are watching.  However, some of you may take a little work on being nice all the time so this is what I want you to do.  Try your hardest to be the nicest person you can be all the time not just some of the time.  No matter who crosses your path, be nice to them, even if they aren’t nice people.  Mentally keep track of how you feel when you are so nice.

You see Paul is calling us out of the darkness to be in the light all the time.  He knows as well as anyone else that we all have a dark side.  It is there in all of us.  But the good news is that you can put it behind you.  You may end up putting on Jesus every day like some of the people I know but the result will be a better life for you and just about everyone who comes across your trail.

So instead of using your time to think about whatever vice you have in life whether it be big or little, spend your time thinking about the opposite.  I’m not sure how it works but I have read about this kind of opposite therapy and it really works for some.  And you can increase your chances of opposite therapy working if you invite Jesus into the therapy.  Jesus Christ doesn’t want you in whatever kind of darkness you are in.  He wants you to be out in the light helping Him celebrate His love.  This is what is meant by clothing yourself in Jesus Christ.

If this doesn’t work, then imagine that you are actually putting on a cloak and sandals every day.  Imagine that you love your enemies.  Imagine that someday you may be able to walk on water.  Imagine that your faith can move mountains because it can.  When you begin to clothe yourself in Jesus Christ, suddenly all things are possible.  There is no limit to what you can do if you just remain in Jesus Christ.

Sometimes making a good habit takes a little time like putting on Jesus Christ every day.  And it all begins by you getting out of bed.  You can’t get dressed if you lay in bed all day.  Look what happened to Samson.  He fell asleep and didn’t get up.  Delilah had his hair cut off and he lost all his power.  There are many things that may keep us in bed like battling illness, temptations and spiritual afflictions.  I’m saying to you today, wake up!  Get up and put on Jesus.  It is the same thing for our churches.  It is the same thing for the world.  Get up!

Then put on Jesus Christ.  Your alarm clock only gets wound once and no one can tell you what time it is on your clock.  So ‘Get Up’ and shed the clothes of darkness.  Shed them and the burn them.  You don’t need that kind of garbage.  Satan is the only one telling you that you do and we need to toss him out on his ear.

Jesus Christ will be coming soon whether it be for the world to see or if it is just for you or me.  Be ready for Him no matter what.  Don’t be working for Satan when the time comes.  Be working for Jesus.  Jesus came to this world 2000 years ago with your name on His lips.  He loves you more than any one of us can imagine.  Plus, He will give you all He has if you just faithfully follow Him.  Get up and follow.  Thank you, Jesus, for first loving us.  Let’s pray.