I'm old enough to remember America before Starbucks. Does anybody else remember that, back in the day, the best part of waking up was Folgers in your cup? Anybody know what I'm talking about? You didn't need to go somewhere to get coffee. You could get it at home. It was this radical time that I used to live in, and I remember this thing, Starbucks started to be a thing. And I was like, oh, this is some passing trend that will fade away. I didn't realize I would be passing Starbucks for the rest of my life. After that, my roommate in college, he got a job, and he told me, I'm going to be a barista at Starbucks. I was like, a barista. I've never heard of that. That sounds weird. And he said, I'm going to make frappuccinos. And I was like, frapa, what is this? I was very confused as to what was going on. And then my roommate told me the part that just boggled my mind, that they opened at four o'clock in the morning, and that he had to get there at 330, and I was like, why are you doing this? Made no sense to me. As someone who, in college, was more late night than early morning, I was just like, what are you talking about? You're going to be getting up when I'm going to sleep. Like, what is the happ? I mean, why would you wake up when it's still dark, when it's still the night and go and get ready for the day. It was like this mind-boggling concept, and that concept of, while it's still might, you need to get up and get prepared for the day.
That is the analogy that Paul uses in Romans 13:11-14. So, I want to invite everybody to turn to these verses. And I have been so blessed to study these verses, to preach these verses, I can tell so many people are already being encouraged and challenged by these verses. I don't know why these aren't more quoted verses, why they aren't people's favorite verses. Let me introduce a candidate for your new favorite verse here today and Romans 13:11-14. And I want you to see how it's this idea that, yes, it's night, but the day is coming, and we need to get ready. We need to get dressed for the day. So, this is The Sunrise Sermon from Romans 13:11-14. And out of respect for God's word, I invite everyone to stand for the public reading of Scripture. And I want to encourage you to give this your full and undivided attention, because if you are my brother or my sister in the Lord Jesus Christ, this is where you live every single day. Romans, 13, verse 11.
Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
That's the reading of God's Word. Please go ahead and have a seat. And the verse 11 begins with an expectation that you would know the time. Besides this, you know the time. Paul expects the saints in Rome to know what time it is. Now he's already referred to the time a few times already in the book of Romans. Let me just show you a few real quick. In Romans 3:26 it talks about this present time that God wanted to show us he is just and the justifier of the one who has the faith in Jesus. So, if you know anything about Romans, one of the main teachings is the doctrine of justification by faith, that God is righteous and he wants to show us his righteousness in the Gospel. He's righteous to judge sin, and he also can declare the sinner righteous because he has judged Jesus. He can justify you. And so, if you believe in Jesus, God declares you righteous in the present time. How about Romans 5:6, where it talked about, “While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” Is anybody here thankful today that Jesus died for your sins on the cross? We're going to remember that with communion here at the end of the service, like that was the right time. The right time is when God wants to justify people who believe in Jesus. He sent Jesus to die for us. How about this one? Romans 8:18, and it says this, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time,” this time that we're in now, “are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” So, in this present time we're living in, is the day of salvation. It's time to put your faith in Jesus. It's time to see how much he loved you, to die for you. “And even though we suffer in this time, we look forward to the glory that is coming,” because Jesus is coming back. And when did he say he's coming, everybody? Soon. He's coming at any moment. And that's the thought that Paul wants to give us here. You know what time it is? It's the time where Jesus is near. It's the time where the day, the great day of the Lord, is hastening fast. He says, “The day is at hand,” the night time is almost over. The night is far gone. It's almost spent, and it's time for the sun to rise. It's time for Jesus to return, and so get ready for the day. Get dressed for the day. That's what he's saying here.
So, this is a little bit different than what we have already learned in the book of Romans. This is like an exclamation point here in these verses at the end of Romans 13. He's already said, based on all that God has done for you, but now he wants you to look forward and see what is still yet to come. So, if you're with me here in chapter 13, look at verse 11. “Besides this, you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep.” He's expecting that you're already awake, and if you're not awake, hopefully this sermon, it becomes your wake up call, because you should know what time it is. It's time to wake up because “salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.” That's what he says in verse 11.
Now, that's different than how we usually talk about salvation. Soteria is the Greek word. It's where the study of soteriology, the study of salvation comes from. And so, he's saying, salvation is nearer than when you first believed. Now, most people at church these days, we refer to salvation as when we believed in Jesus. That's when we got saved. Usually, if you're a Christian, it's something that's already happened in the past. But that's not the way he's using salvation here. He's talking about the fullness of salvation. When Jesus comes back, you will get to see Jesus face to face, you will see him shining in the light of his glory. And when you see Jesus as he is, you will be made like him. You will become like Jesus. Just as Jesus has a resurrected body, you will get a new body. Just as Jesus has been glorified, you will be glorified. You will be sinless, just like Jesus, and that is nearer to you now than when you first believed.
So, he has taught us how to look back on being justified in the past, but now he's trying to teach us how to look forward to being glorified and to see that is the ultimate day that is coming, and you want to be dressed and ready for the day. So go back to Romans 12:1, because I really think chapter 12, verse 1 started a thought. And now Romans 13:11-14, this is like the climax of this whole teaching on how we should live. Because of Jesus, and in chapter 12, verse 1, he said, “I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” So, we've been talking about this logic. Does it make sense to you that, because Jesus died for you and gave his body as a sacrifice, that we should then offer our bodies as living sacrifices for Jesus. Does that make sense to you? Okay. Well, then, that's how we're going to go live. And then Romans 12 and 13 have been teaching us how to live that way. And it's in Romans 12:1, by the mercies of God, because God did not judge you for your sin, but he, in this time, sent Jesus to die for your sin, and he justified you, declaring you righteous. Well, okay, because of that, how should we now live? But then when, by the time we get to Romans 13:11, we're not looking back at past justification. Now, he wants us to see the salvation that is yet to come. And even though we went through Revelation this summer, and we said that Jesus is coming soon, I still hear people at our church regularly imply that they're not expecting Jesus to come back any time in their lifetime; they don't have this imminent expectation that the night is almost over and the sun is about to rise because the day is at hand.
So, point number one, let's get it down like this: “You've got to believe the best is yet to come.” You've got to believe the best is yet to come. Faith always looks to the things not seen, so your faith should be a motivation, compelling you into the future. The best day of your life will be the day that you get to be in the presence of Jesus. And way too many of us get caught up in the here and now, rather than getting ready to be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord, and so, we will always be with the Lord forever. And so, our faith is going to become sight when we behold the glory of the Lord. And so, if you're just talking about salvation in the past tense, Romans 13:11 is trying to get you to look to the future, the future grace that is coming when Jesus is revealed. That future grace is going to be even more glorious and more precious to you than the grace you have so far received, to the point where Paul's like, we're closer to salvation now as we look to the future than when we first believed. So, are you only motivated by the past? I don't know if that motivation is going to be enough. You need to be motivated by the future grace that is coming to you in the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord that is coming soon. And even so, many people talk about all the events going on in the world and how evil the world is getting. It definitely seems like we're getting near the time. And yet, why aren't many believers thinking, yes, every day, one day closer to seeing my Lord Jesus? That's the idea in verse 11.
And so, because of that, he wants to use this darkness and light analogy, this night and day. Look at Romans 13:12, “The night is far gone,” like the night is almost over. I just feel so bad for those people, those baristas, who have to get up in the middle of the night to go sling some coffee, right? Like it's still nighttime, but we know the nighttime is about to end. That's what he's saying. The day is at hand. The day is right there. And so, because, yes, I understand the world is dark and the world is evil, but that's about to end, and the glory of Jesus is about to shine. And so, because Jesus is about to come back and bring the fullness of our salvation, so then let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. Okay, so he's saying so we should be living then, not in the night time, not in the darkness, but we should be living for the day.
Now, I struggled with this, obviously, seeing my friend, my roommate, get that job. I was like, I would never want to do that, because I had a hard time waking up in the morning. Does anybody else want to admit maybe it's a present-day struggle for you? For me, growing up, my dad would wake me up in the morning. If you don't know, my dad's nickname for me was “Half A Job Bob.” That's what he used to call me. And the reason wasn't because he was a mean dad. It's because I literally did half a job. That's why he called me that. And he would say, “How long will you lie there, you sluggard?” That's how he would wake me up in the morning. And I thought, Dad, that's a little harsh. And then I realized it was actually the third time he tried to wake me up. So, he was a little frustrated by that point, right? Because I had a hard time waking up. And even in college, when I have this roommate, he's going to work at Starbucks, I'm like, that sounds terrible. I don't want to wake up early. But that's the idea here.
And you’ve got to understand the culture at the time, when Paul's writing this to the saints in Rome, they don't have all these lights that we have. They don't go into their house and just flip on all this electricity that they can just block out the sun and sleep in late, or crank up the lights and stay up all night. That wasn't really how anybody was thinking. You got up when the sun came up. If you didn't get up when the sun came up, you were a slacker. That's what you were. And, in fact, if you were going to go have a hard day's work, if you're going to work in the field or with the animals, or you have a skill, you have a trade, and you're going to go do work, you might want to get up when it's still dark and get that work going as soon as you can, because the heat of the day, the scorching time of the day, is coming, and you might want to finish your work before the heat really gets going. And so, this idea that workers, and I'm sure many people here, have to do this where I'm up before the sun, I'm already going, I've got a lot of work today, and I need to be ready for the day. He's taking that common, everyday, relatable mindset, and he's saying, that's how we need to live our whole lives. Don't live like the night is going to go on forever. Live like the day is at hand. Walk properly, like you're living in the day. I know Jesus isn't back yet but live in the light of Jesus. That's what he's saying here. Look at Romans 13:13. “Let us walk properly as in the daytime.” We are not people of the night. We are in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, there are so many cross references we could go to, and one of the concerns I have about these verses is that they're so familiar. They sound like so many other great verses that people just immediately bounce to the other great verses, and they don't really pay attention to these verses. So, there's a lot about darkness and light. There's a lot about night and day. We could talk a lot about 1 Thessalonians 5. There are a lot of references we could go to. I want to just stay here with these verses. And they actually give us here three sets of two sins, three examples here of nighttime living, of darkness living. We need to get rid of these works of darkness. But here they are first set, you can see in verse 13, “not in orgies and drunkenness.” It sounds like some kind of party that you would go to, “not in sexual morality” or sensuality, some kind of private sexuality outside of marriage here. And then, “not in quarreling and jealousy,” some kind of ongoing strife, rivalry, argument. So, here's examples of what he means, don't do the works of darkness. Don't live in the night. That's like partying and drunkenness. That's like sex outside of marriage. That's like people who just want to fight and get into it because they're jealous of other people.
Yeah, that's the kind of stuff you want to cast off, and you want to put on the armor of light. You want to walk in the daytime. So, he's using this idea, are you ready for the day? And then he's starting to get specific about what that means. That means you're not engaging in these things, because you're focused on the Lord Jesus Christ. So, he says here in Romans 13:12, “put on the armor,” or the weapons of light. And then verse 14. And Romans 13:14 is the verse I really want to get to, where he says, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” So, he set up this idea of getting ready for the day. The night's almost over. The day is at hand. And so, when it says “put on” here, it's the idea…It's the Greek word enduo. We'll throw it up here on the screen. It's the idea of getting dressed. It's the idea of clothing yourself. You’ve got to put on the light and don't walk in the dark. And then really, what he's going to tell us to put on, as a command in the imperative in verse 14, is you’ve got to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. So hey, when you get ready for a day, what do you do? Well, there are two things you’ve got to do to get going when the sun isn't shining and it's early and it's dark, and you want to wake up and seize the day, well, you’ve got to get out of bed, and then you’ve got to get dressed for the day. And so, this idea right here, well, you’ve got to put off these works of darkness. There are things that you’ve got to stop doing, and then there are things you need to put on. There are things you need to clothe yourself with.
Okay, so this idea of you put off the old way of living before you knew Jesus, the way of darkness, the way of the night, put those things away, put them to death. And then there's a whole new way now that you can walk in. And when it says the word “walk,” it's a very common idea throughout the Scriptures, the way you walk, that's like your lifestyle, that's your code of conduct. That's the pattern of your behavior. When it says walk, it's not just talking about one thing you did here or bad thing or one good thing you did over here. It's talking about the direction you're going in your life. And so, it says, is the direction that you're going, where you're putting on the day and you're putting on the light, or are you still stuck in the darkness and the night? Are you into the parties? Are you into sex outside of marriage? Are you into quarreling and arguing and jealousy? Where are you at here?
So, this, again, this is a very important and common concept, not just the darkness to the light part, but this idea of putting off the old person and putting on the new person, now that you are in Christ. If anyone is in Christ, he is a what, everybody” A new creation. The old is gone and the new has come. And so, this idea that we need to put on the new life we have in Jesus, we could turn to so many passages about this. Let me just throw a few of them up here on the screen. We'll start with Galatians, 3:27, “If you've been baptized into Christ, you have put on Christ.” You are now clothed with Christ, is the idea. It's not just you living your life by yourself. You're now living with Jesus, and Jesus is now in you. So, when it says baptized, the word baptized means “to place into,” so we often use the word baptized about people being placed into water where it's like they've been cleansed from their sins, and they have died to their old life, and then they've risen to a new life in Christ. Water baptism is a symbol that you've already been placed into Christ. We're going to do some baptisms next weekend here at the church. Very excited about it. When people give that public profession of their faith, well, they've already put their faith in Jesus before they're getting baptized, and that moment that they trusted in Christ, that's their real being placed into Christ. And if you've been placed into Christ, you now wear Jesus. You now have a uniform. You now have a jersey that you can put on Jesus.
This is how it says it in Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4 is one of the chapters that really gets into this dynamic of taking off the old garments and putting on the new person in Christ. In Ephesians 4:24, it says, put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. And hopefully you've heard about this. If you want to learn more about putting off the old and putting on the new, Ephesians 4 is the chapter for you. Or you could go to Colossians 3, which talks about putting sin to death, putting away anger, put it all off. And then it says, and have “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator.” So, the moment you believe in Jesus, and if it's happened already in the past, as soon as you believed in Jesus, you have put on Christ. But even now, you still need to actively put on Jesus. You need to continue to be renewed. You need to continue to say, no, I'm taking off that old way of living, and I'm putting on the new way of living, taking off those works of darkness, putting on the armor of light.
So, we have a way that we talk about this. We talk about this as sanctification, where you're becoming less and less like the old you, and more and more new, like Jesus. And we say, there's this little dance that we want to do where we step away from the old sin and we step into the new way of righteousness. We call it “The sanctification” what everybody? The sanctification two steps. So, let's get that down for point number two: “We want to dance from night to morning light with the sanctification two-step,” everybody. We're dancing all night. As long as you are a Christian, whether you just became a Christian, maybe you'll become a real believer in Jesus this very day. Or whether you have been a believer in Jesus for decades, you are always going to have to keep putting off the old and putting on the new until the day comes and you see Jesus, and you're made like Jesus, and you're perfect and you're sinless until that day comes. This is something we're all commanded to do. This is the ongoing work of God in our hearts. It's sanctification. It's progressive. The longer we walk with Jesus, the more we learn how to put off the old way and to put on the new way. And so, we call it the two-step. Now we started this in Romans 6, talking about the two-step. We brought it up again in Romans 12, earlier this year. Now we're getting this like climactic section of Scripture. When we get to chapter 14, he's going to start talking about the church there and how they interact with one another. And so, this is really, like the climax of this focus on how you should live in your sanctification.
And I want to ask you, are you making progress in your life? Like, are you just somebody who's like, I'm saved in the past? And yeah, I guess someday I'll be glorified in the future. But right now, it's just kind of all the same. It's all plateau, it's all lackadaisical, it's all lethargic. Or can you actually say, no, things I used to think, say, and do, I'm putting them away, and I'm learning new way to live because of Jesus. Are you making progress? Would your spouse think you're making progress? Would your children? Would your one another's in your fellowship? Would they think, wow, you are growing. You're maturing, or are you just kind of the same? Because these verses are calling for some action. They're saying, hey, there are things you’ve got to cast off, and there are things you’ve got to put on.
Now, I want to really focus on Romans 13:14, because it doesn't just say put on righteous actions, or it doesn't just say put on new ways to live, verse 14 says… it may be better than any other verse...It says, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and I hope you don't,” when you hear that, you don't just kind of like, oh, that's just scripturese, or that's just cliche. No, that's three different names, three different titles, describing who he is. That he is the Lord. The Lord means that after he rose from the dead, Jesus has been exalted to the name that is above every name. And Jesus has authority over all things spiritual in heaven and over all things physical here on earth. Jesus is the King of all life. Can I get an amen from anybody on that? Okay, so he's the Lord. So, you’ve got to think, wow, look at who Jesus is. But then his name, Jesus was given to Joseph before he was born. You shall name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their what? So, here's the Lord who humbled himself to be born as a baby. Here's the Lord who died in your place on a cross. So, he's your Savior. It's personal. He's got this this power and authority that you can't even imagine. But then, it's so personal, because he could have easily cast you out, and he came and died in your place, and then it calls him the Christ. Christ, that's like Messiah, that Christ means anointed one, like he's the one that has always been God's plan from the very beginning. God could say, right after there was sin, that from the seed of the woman would come someone who would crush the head of the serpent. God could say to Abraham, from your nation, all the families of the earth will be blessed. God could say to David, on your throne will sit a king, and he will reign forever and ever, King of Kings, forever and ever. They're going to write songs about this guy, because he is the one, and the government will be upon his shoulder.
That's who we're talking about here, the one that an eternity past, God had a plan, and it was the Christ, the one ywhen you wake up on Tuesday morning and you're already feeling tired and there's a lot to do and you're stressed out, you can put on the Lord Jesus Christ. What this verse is saying is you don't have to try to live life by yourself anymore. You can be more than you. You can really have a power. You can really have a love. You can really have God's sovereign plan. You can put it on. You can be clothed with Christ when you wake up on Tuesday. You can be dressed for the day. You've got Jesus. Can I get an amen for everybody on that? How many of us are wasting Days of Our Lives still trying to do it ourselves, when we could be putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. How many days did you waste this week, this year? Oh, here we go. Another day. Just got to get through it. Wasted. Nothing good will happen on that day. How many days when you get up and you put on the Lord Jesus, is it like, wow, I thought today was going to be brutal, but look what Jesus did.
See, a lot of people will claim they believed the gospel in the past, but they don't believe the gospel on Tuesday morning. They don't believe that they actually can live with the power and ability because of Jesus, because he died to pay for all their sin, and because he rose from the dead, so they could have a new life, that they could actually live Tuesday, not like the old way they used to live it, but the Jesus way. That's people who really believe in the gospel. It makes a real difference in the way they seize the day. Are you one of those people, or are you just barely surviving trying to get through? Hey, when you get dressed for the day, put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let's get this down for number three: “You can't do the day without Jesus.” You can't do the day without Jesus. I mean, if there's one thing I want everybody at this church to know, it's this right here. You need Jesus every day of your life and, any day you try to do it without putting on Jesus, it will be a fail of a day. Go with me, everybody. Let's turn to John chapter 15. John 15. Jesus teaches us how to abide in him. He says that famous line, “apart from me, you can do,” what everybody? Not one thing, not one thing. You wake up, you're not ready, you stumble out of bed, you try to get some clothes on, you go into your day. You don't do it with Jesus. How many good things are going to happen on that day? How much fruit are you really going to bear for the Kingdom? How much glory is God really going to get for your life? How are you going to seize space and time, so it echoes for eternity. You will waste that day. You will waste every day that you try to live apart from Jesus. And that's what he's saying here. Look at it. Verse 4 of John 15, “Abide in me, and I in you.” This word, meno, it means “to remain, to stay.” “You remain in me. I remain in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. “I am vine, you are the” what are we, everybody? We are the branches. “If branches don't get the life of the vine, they fall off and become firewood,” is what happens. I have no life in and of myself. The only life I have is coming to me through Jesus. And so, I have to remain in Christ. I have to abide in Christ. Every day I live, I have to live with the life of Jesus. Sometimes people, they see me running around here, they're like, you look busy. You seem like you're doing a lot. How do you do it all? Here's the answer, I don't! That's how I do it. I don't do it. I wake up in the morning and I declare my dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and I put on the Lord.
In fact, by the power of the gospel of Jesus, I have now become a person that prefers to wake up early in the morning. You know what time I often wake up, not because I have to be somewhere, but because I want to be with Jesus. I often wake up at four in the morning these days, sometimes I wake up before my alarm. Excited this week because I knew we were going to be talking about this during one of those mornings, I drove over to Starbucks just to have compassion on those poor people, those baristas making frapple. What's over there? I felt so bad for those guys. I mean, it was so dark. Do you know the beauty of when it's still nighttime? Have you learned about this? Nobody texts you; nobody calls you. Nobody comes in and says, hey, can I do this right now? Nobody's expecting you to be anywhere. You can drive the streets, nobody cuts you off. Nobody's getting in your way. I mean, the only people I saw on the streets were some very interesting characters around here, but it was mostly empty, nobody but me and Jesus. Best time of the day. I'll tell you what, just me and him, Jesus. If anything's going to happen today, you have to do it. I'm asking you to do it. I need you to do it.
Do you know the quality of this time? Do you know what I'm talking about? Is this your favorite time, too? The time you get to spend with Jesus, no interruptions, no distractions, just you and him, secret time between you and the Lord. Do you know what I'm talking about? See, that's what it gets to here. Well, how do you abide in him? How do you remain in him? Well, look what he says later on. He's using the whole vine and the branches that you have to get your life from him, because you don't have it in yourself. And then he says this in verse 7. Everybody, look at John 15:7, “If you abide in me.” Well, what does that mean, to remain or to stay in Christ? He says, “and my words, abide in you. Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this, My Father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” So, when he says, If you're going to abide in me, if you're going to put me on, if you're going to be clothed in me, to use Romans 13 language, well, then my words need to abide in you.
So, there's a real conversation that you can have with Jesus. This is the Word of Christ. And as you study the Word, I mean it literally calls him “the Word.” It is the revelation of God to us through Jesus Christ, and as you study the Word, you hear Jesus, and his words get on your heart. And then guess what you do? You ask whatever you wish, based on what you're learning from the words of Jesus. You then repay to him. You ask of him, and what does he promise that “when my words are in you ask me whatever you want, and it will be done for you, and you will bear fruit, and you will bring glory to God, and everybody will know you're one of my people, because it won't just be you living it'll be me living in you.” So, getting into the Word and responding to God in prayer are the building blocks of how I put on the Lord Jesus Christ, how I clothe myself with Christ. You can run through the day and try to do it yourself. Or you can let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.
That's one of my most helpful verses in my life. We'll throw it up here in on the screen. Colossians, 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” How does it say the Word of Christ should dwell in us, everybody? Not hurriedly, not in a rush, not checking it off my list, because I’ve got a lot to do today. Not just audio Bible as I'm driving somewhere else. Richly> Richly like eating a beautiful champion pecan pie. I'm just going to take one bite at a time, because that thing is rich, and I’ve got to just chew it for a minute. I’ve got to let it just sit for a minute. And how do I know that the Word of Christ is in my heart? Well, when you feel like you want to start singing, that means you're close. When you start thinking, I can't wait to share this with so and so, that means you're close, when you start feeling not like, how am I going to make it today? But Lord, I can see what you're going to do today. Then the word is dwelling in you richly. I think people act like, well, how long, how much time do I have to spend? I don't know. How long does it take till you're not trying to do it yourself, but you're in Christ, and you're abiding in him.
Now, one of the cross references that really helped me a lot in my life is seeing the connection between Colossians 3:16 where it leads to psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, and Ephesians 5:18-19, which also talks about psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. But instead of saying, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,” in Ephesians 5:18, it says, “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery.” That's just a waste of time. “But be filled with” who everybody? The Spirit. And then when you have the Spirit, guess what you want to do? You want to address one another, and you want to sing these psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, and you’ve got a melody in your heart, and you want to give thanks to God, because you're not just thinking about your day and your life anymore. Now you're thinking about God, and it's not just you living, it's the Spirit of God living in you.
Okay, so on Tuesday morning, when you wake up, you don't just have your spirit. If you're a believer in Jesus, you have the Spirit of the Almighty Lord Jesus Christ living inside of you, and that should change the way you seize the day. If you've got this, to be filled with the Spirit, I mean, it's like when you're in step with the Spirit, when the Spirit is causing you to walk in God's ways. People are saying things where there could be quarreling, but you're giving a kind answer. There are advertisements trying to get you to look at them, but you don't even care about looking at them. There are places you could go where you could get into trouble like everybody else is, and you don't even want to go to those places, because you're filled with the Spirit. And you're thinking about what he has for you to do that day. In fact, you're thinking about this person, and how could you encourage them, and you're thinking about your neighbor, and how could you evangelize them? You're not even thinking about the deeds of darkness. You're in the light of the Lord because you are filled with the Spirit of the Living God. Does anybody here know what I'm talking about?
And I talk to a lot of people at this church, and I remember one guy, he and I went on a walk early in the morning when the sun was rising. We were walking through all these businesses around here one day, and he's like, I don't know about you, but I'm just going to sin every morning; when I wake up, there's going to be sin. And he's just given this idea that I hear a lot of people say, which is, since we're not there yet, since we're not perfect yet, since we're not sinless in the image of Jesus yet, well, since sin is inevitable, what can we really do about it? We're all just going to end up sinning. And here he is just giving me a bunch of this on this walk. And I remember, I turned and I looked this guy in the eyes, and I said, “You know what, I one hundred percent disagree with what you're saying right now. Because when I wake up in the morning and it's just me and Jesus, and I get his words in my heart, and I pray to Jesus, and I get filled with the Spirit, at that particular time, when I'm filled with the Spirit, I'm not thinking about sinning. In fact, what I've learned is my goal is to get the Word of Christ so on my heart and to be filled with the Spirit, that if I need to do it in the morning, and then I need to get a refill at lunch, and then I need to do it when I get home at the end of the day, like basically all I'm ever trying to do is let the Word of Christ dwell in me richly, so that I can be filled with the Spirit. And as long as I'm doing that, I'm not thinking those thoughts of sin. I'm thinking about the Lord Jesus, Christ.” And so, I don't know what you believe in that argument between me and my friend. If you think, well, we're going to sin, so what does it matter what we do? Know what the scripture is telling you to do is put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Get filled with the Spirit, get the words of Jesus on your heart. Because some days, if you just try to do it, you're going to hit the wall. But on the days you're filled with the Spirit of Jesus Christ, you can run through walls. It's amazing. It's amazing what you can do when it's not just you doing it, but Jesus is doing it in you.
And so, do you know days like that? Do you know days where you got dressed for the day, you put on the Lord, and then walking in his power, in his Spirit, made you do things you would have never done those things before if it weren't for Jesus in your life. Do you know about that? Lot of people say they believe in the gospel at church. They do not believe in the gospel on Tuesday, when it's time for them to live the new life of Jesus Christ. And so, we’ve got to make sure, I hope, that from this point on, every day, you get dressed for the rest of your life. But don't just get dressed, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Make sure you're ready for the day. And then look what it says. Go back to Romans 13. The second phrase here, this is very clear, specific and definite language that can help you in your life. It says, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ,” using this relatable idea of getting clothed, getting dressed, and then make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. How many provisions should we make for the flesh? No provision. So, provisions, let's think that through the things that we need providing, right? Who brought a big old jug of water with you to the service here this morning? Does anybody have? You're going to carry that thing around all day long, because you're provided, right? Be gone, dehydration, right? You know what I mean? You're prepared. You're ready, right? Some of you, you really like to do you're the financial provider of your household. You have budgets. And you know, this is the money coming in. These are all the bills we're paying. This is how much we'll have left. This is how much we're going to save. Some of you are very meticulous. Some of you are not. But some of you are very meticulous in your financial provisions. You've got it all laid out. Some of you are into meal planning. Am I speaking to anybody right now? You're into meal planning? In fact, today is the big day. We're going to get all the meals ready for the week, and we're going to save money, and we're going to be healthy, and we're just going to win all week long with these meals that we have planned, because I'm going to make sure that this family eats good and healthy, and you've got a lot to say about that, right? Does anybody know who I'm talking about right now? Right? Some of you guys, you like, you will wake up when it is dark so you can go sweat in a stinky gym with other people, you know who I'm talking about, and you have plans. On this day, we're going to work out this part of the body, and on this day we're going to exercise this part of the body. And there's profit in that. The Scripture says there is profit in exercise, in going to the gym.
We make so many plans. Some of you, you've got a whiteboard at your house, and you're going to write things on the whiteboard tonight, and then we're going to do exactly what this whiteboard says every day this week. And if you want to bring up a suggestion, we'll consider that next week. But this week, we're doing this right here, and we've got it down to the hour, we've got it down to the dollar. And yet, when that temptation rises up, that same old sinful desire at the same old place, at the same old time. We act surprised, like I didn't know this was going to be here, and we made no plans to make no provision for the flesh.
So, if there's one plan we need to have going into this week. It's what I'm calling the “No Plans Plan.” How am I not going to give in to my evil desires this week? What is my plan for that? How am I making sure that when that temptation rises up within me, it needs to become sin like there is no room, no time, no money, no provision for that temptation turning into sin. That's what this verse is saying, that all of us are going to be tempted. So, the flesh, I’ve got this definition from Martin Lloyd Jones, “The flesh is your human nature, without the influence of the Spirit,” without the work of God, that's your flesh. It's evil desires. Jesus says, out of our mouth comes all kinds of evil things. And where do those evil desires come from? They come from our heart. They come from within. James 1 says, the reason you sin is you want to evil desires rise up within you. Now, there is evil out there in the world, and there is Satan out there with all of his schemes to get us to fall. So, there is evil that can come externally, but there are temptations that will rise up within everybody. And if you ever want to get an amen from a group of people at church just say, well, I have many temptations to sin, and everybody else can say, amen, because we can all relate to being tempted. The temptations that you have are common to mankind. Everybody here, we will have temptations, and I want to make that very clear, because we have some sincere people here among us, is that as soon as they think about sinning, like maybe they think about going to a place they shouldn't go, or they’re think about looking at something they shouldn't look at, or they think about how mad that person made them, and how hurt they are, and they really want to give that person a piece of their mind. Or they start to have this thought when somebody cuts you off, I could get really angry right now. Okay, that's called temptation. That's where you're realizing an evil desire is rising up where you want to sin. Just thinking that you could sin is not yet sinning. You are going to think, I want to do something evil, and what are you going to do to make sure that when you think that thought, there is no provision for that thought? What is your “No Plans Plan,” that when those desires come up, and they do for everybody, okay, this idea that if you're a Christian long enough, you won't be tempted anymore, yeah, it's called when Jesus comes back. So, temptation is a reality in these bodies, in this world, with Satan and the rest of the demons doing what they're doing right now. There will be the opportunity to send the prospect of sin, the desire rising up where you want to sin. What is your “No Plans Plan” to cut that off right there and make sure that you do not sin. That's what this is saying. Make no provision for the flesh.
Let's get this down for point number four: “You will be tempted, so make no plans to sin,” what we're calling the “No Plans Plan.” What is your way that you are not going to sin when you are tempted? You might even be able, if you sit down and think about it, some of you already know it well. I usually get tempted on this day, at this time, because I'm around that person, or because I'm by myself, because it's been I'm usually tired around that time, I'm easily irritable. I usually see that person around then and they invite me to go do this. You might already know where the temptation is coming from, and you could already figure out how you are not going to commit that sin. You're not going to provide for that in your flesh. So, if you think, well, there's not going to be any temptation, I'm fine for you. Then, 1 Corinthians 10:12, “He who thinks he stands take heed lest he” what? Who here thought you were over a sin. And then as soon as you thought you were over it, you fell back into it. Can I get anybody honest here today? Right? You think you're past temptation, you're ready to fall, okay? But when we are tempted, and the temptation is common to man, God is faithful, and according to 1 Corinthians 10:13, “He always provides a way of what? Escape. So, when you are tempted, there is always a way out that's based on the goodness and faithfulness of God. So, there will be temptation, but there will be a way not to sin, and so you make no provision for the flesh. Not at all. Okay, so, this is what I'm asking. When you sin, are you like, well, I sinned. We all sin. You sin. I sin. Everybody sins. What are we to do? We're just humans. That's what we do.
Or when you sin, are you like, God, I'm so sorry I did that. Please help me not to do that again. Please help me right now to figure out how to cut that off, how to turn from that, how to not be in that situation. I don't want to do that again. Which one of those two people are you? Because way too many people are accepting sin, and this verse is saying, no provisions. What do you believe? Go with me to how Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew chapter 6. I just want to make sure that when you put on the Lord Jesus, you know certain things that he taught us to pray and that don't just know that this is what the Bible says, but you know it in such a way that you pray like this, like this is where you live. Matthew chapter 6, starting in verse 9. In the Sermon on the Mount, he teaches everybody how to pray. We know, according to Luke 11, his disciples wanted to learn how to pray because they saw Jesus praying so much. And the first half of the prayer is all about “Our Father in heaven, your name, your kingdom, your will. And then the second half of the prayer is our part of the prayer. And in verse 11, it says, “Give us this day our daily bread,” like I can't even live without Jesus; even in a physical sense, I can't get out of bed without Jesus. I won't have any provisions unless Jesus gives them to me. I need Jesus to live, even physically. But then look at what it says Luke 11:12, “and forgive us our” what everybody? “Our debts, as we also have forgiven our” who? Our debtors. Is it talking about owing people money in this passage, what does it mean by debt? It means our sins, the things that we have done, wrong that we could never repay, but we need you to forgive us for them based on the blood of your Son, Jesus.
I want to ask you, when was the last time you asked God to forgive you for your sins? Is that something you're praying about, like I need your help today? Is it like a regular prayer that you pray as often as you sin, you ask God to forgive you. Or is it possible that you are sinning and then just rolling on? Is it possible that you're even sinning, not even talking to God about it, and then doing more sin, not even talking to God about it? See that's not how he taught us to think. No, if I sin, I'm immediately like, whoa, that was wrong. I don't want to do that. And so, I’ve got to go and I’ve got to ask God, God, please forgive me, God. I mean, and sometimes, that will be very hard to do, because God, I was in that same situation that I've already prayed to you about so many times, and here I was giving in to saying that same thing, or looking at that same thing, or going to that same place, and wow, you are so gracious and merciful to forgive somebody like me. I really do believe that if I confess my sins, you are faithful and just to forgive me for my sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness because of the blood of Jesus.
Are you having that conversation with God, or are you just rolling on like that sin didn't matter. Jesus died because your sins matter. And when you just roll on from sin to sin without ever asking for forgiveness, that's not thinking the right way about life. In fact, then look what it says in verse 13, and “Lead us not into” what everybody? Temptation, because I understand the potential reality of evil desires rising up within me preemptively. Before I even want to do something evil, I'm already asking God, don't lead me into those desires. Lead me in your everlasting way. Fill me with your Spirit. Lead me to obey what your Word says. Please don't lead me into those temptations and then the evil that can come from outside of me, I need you to deliver me, to rescue me. I need you to save me today from that evil. So, look, if there's a sin that I have committed, I'm quick to short accounts between me and Jesus confessing my sin, and then I'm already anticipating the potential of more desires of the flesh, in temptation. Lead me away from it. Protect me from the evil that's coming towards me. Get me ready. Let my guard be up. Let me cut off all the avenues. Is that how you're praying? When you put on the Lord Jesus Christ, you're putting on armor, you're putting on weapons, you're putting on preparation that you know you could sin today, and your goal is to not do that. And so, you're asking for God's help.
Go with me to Ephesians chapter 5, because he says, make no provision. That doesn't sound like, well, I stop sin ninety-five percent of the time. Nine out of ten temptations I catch. Right? The goal here is there is no provision for any evil desire that will rise up within our flesh. And here in Ephesians 5, when Paul's teaching this, a very similar passage to Romans 13, when Paul's teaching about this, look at the nose that Paul gives us. I just want to draw your attention to three nos here in Ephesians 5. Let's start in verse 11. Ephesians 5:11, and you can write down, you can underline, you can circle these nos. Ephesians 5:11, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” Take no part in the dark. In the night, there are people, I just need to say this, there are people in this room, You're being invited to go to something, you should say no to that and not go to it. You should take no part in it. If you go to that thing, it could be a provision for your flesh. Don't go there.
I've been saying this in three services. After the last service, this lady runs up to me. She's like, I can't believe you just said that. Because I was invited to go to something today, I wouldn't have even been here at church. And I know people would have been drinking at this thing that I was invited to go to, and last night, when I was right now, my prayer to the Lord, I confessed, why do I even want to go to this? And I told those people, no, I won't be going. I'll be at church. I can't wait to listen to the sermon, and then you're telling me in the sermon, that's what I was supposed to do. You should have seen this lady. She's glowing. She's radiating. She's in the light of Jesus Christ because she took no part in the unfruitful works of darkness. Look what it says up here in verse 3. “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you.” Not even named among you. I remember reading a translation of that where it said, not even a hint of sexual immorality. Anybody ever heard that before? How much sex outside of marriage is acceptable? Not even a hint of it. None of it.
That's the idea here, that Paul is bringing no provision for the flesh. And I need to say this because one of the things, one of the bills that gets paid in our household these days, it's not just water and gas and electric. There's an internet bill that a lot of people pay at their house, and some of you. You need to get off the internet. You need to stop looking at things that you shouldn't be looking at, that the internet is allowing you to look at. And if you have access to the internet in a private place, that could be you making a provision for your flesh. And are you willing to be radical? If it's your eye, if it's your arm, whatever it takes. I want to cut it off. I don't want to give in to these evil desires. I don't even want a hint of it. I don't even want the smell of it. I want none of it anywhere near me, not anything like that.
Go even back to Romans 4. Look at chapter 4, verse 29. Here's another no that Paul gives. We're just taking those three sets of two sins in Romans 13 and now seeing them in Ephesians 5. Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth.” How many times is it okay to give that hurtful answer, to give that angry response. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth. That rotten speech, it's not giving grace to those who hear. It's not building the other person up. No, there comes a point where I'm saying something to hurt them just because they hurt me, where I'm shouting back at them just because they were shouting at me, where I don't want to talk to them just because of how they talk to me. And it says, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth.” So, the Scripture here is saying, make no provision for the flesh. How much arguing is okay? How much sexual immorality is okay, how much drunkenness partying is okay. No, make “No Plans Plans.” I want to plan to not give in to temptation. That is the idea. And how am I going to have the strength to do that? How am I really going to be able to live out this way? Well, it's not going to be me. It's going to have to be putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. So, wow. Romans 13:14, that every day we need to get dressed with we need to get clothed with the Lord, and we need to have a plan to not give in to our temptations, to make no provisions for the flesh.
Go with me to John chapter 6, as we prepare for a time of communion. You know, I want you to hear what Jesus said here. This is a very controversial chapter here in John 6, many people stopped following Jesus here in John 6 when he said this, if you know the context. Jesus did a miracle where he fed thousands of people with just a few loaves of bread and just a few fish. It was a miraculous multiplication of the food. And so now these people, they're following Jesus around, like he's McJesus, and they're ready for lunch. They're ready for more. Like, where is it coming from, right? And so, Jesus wants to direct their attention away from what he did for them to himself. And he's trying to say, the bread you need, the bread of life, the bread that came from heaven. So, he again, just like putting on clothes in Romans 13, just like getting ready for the day in Romans 13, he's using like this everyday thing we can all relate to, eating, drinking. And he's saying, no, no, no, no, no, you guys aren't getting it. It's not just that I'm going to provide something for you, it's you need me. And they're just not able to really see it. They're not able to see how much they need Jesus, even though he's right there in front of them. And so, this is what happens in verse 52, of John chapter 6. “The Jews then disputed among themselves, how can this man give us his flesh to eat?” See, they're still just caught up like, well, how's this going to work? We're going to eat his body? Like that doesn't make sense. They're just seeing it on the physicality. They're just seeing it on what they need every day in their lives. They're not seeing Jesus. They're just looking for what they're going to get. And so, look what he says in verse 53. “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.’” Unless you got Jesus, you have no life. “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day, for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him, as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father.” So, whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, see? So, he's trying to get them past the eating and the drinking. He's even trying to get them past the body and the blood, and people have been confusing this, even to this very day. Not only were the Jews confused about it at that time, people like, Oh, this is about communion, and if you just take communion, no, no, he wasn't setting up communion here. This isn't the night before he died. This isn't The Last Supper. This isn't when he went and prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, crying out because he was going to bear the weight of our sin. Jesus is just trying to say to a crowd of people that he fed, hey, what you guys really need is me. I'm the one who can give you life. And it's going over people's heads. In fact, look down at verse 60. “When many of his disciples heard it, they said, This is a hard saying. Who can listen to it? And Jesus, he knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, he said to them, ‘Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before. It is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and Life, but there are some of you who do not believe.’” For Jesus knew from the beginning who would not believe. He knew Judas would betray him. And then it says in verse 66 after this, “Many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So, Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’ And Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of” what, everybody? Eternal life. Do you see what Peter understood? It's not about the flesh or the blood. It's not getting caught up in some kind of thing like that, or taking communion? No, I need the words of Jesus Christ on my heart so I can abide in him. You're the holy one. I know who you are. You're the Lord, you're Jesus, you're the Christ. I've seen you. I know you.
See, I'm not asking anybody to go leave on Tuesday and try to be a Christian. I'm just asking you, on Tuesday, do you know Jesus, and will he be with you? And will you whatever analogy you want to eat, whatever analogy you want to use, you want to eat Jesus. You want to clothe yourself with Jesus. It doesn't matter what analogy you use, as long as it's Jesus. Well, you have Jesus on your heart. That's how you're going to find life.
And so, we're going to take these elements, and we're going to remember that Jesus gave his life for us through his body and his blood, and it's in his life that we have life. And so, we're going to give you a moment now to ask God to forgive you, to ask God to lead you not into temptation. We're going to give you a moment now to talk to Jesus, and they're going to play a song. Ryan and the team are going to play a song. You can sing the song, or you can just pray to Jesus, and then all come out and we'll all take this communion together. But I just want to encourage everybody here to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and to make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. Let's pray.
Father in heaven. We want to confess to you that way too many days we've just tried to do it ourselves, and we want to confess to you that a lot of times when we're tempted, we had no plan to not sin. And what do we even think in Father going into a day like we're going to do it, not even considering that those temptations, of course, they're going to be there again, and we need to be ready to say no to them. But we don't have the power to do it because we didn't put on Jesus. And so, Father, please use these words to change lives. Let this be the time for us to wake up. Let us learn how to wake up even when it's nighttime because the day is at hand. Let us believe that our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. Let us put off those old garments of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. And let us remain every day in Jesus Christ. Father, I pray for everybody here that when we get dressed, we will be reminded to put on Jesus. What an amazing Lord, what a merciful Savior. Yes, the very Christ, the one that all of history revolves around, he now lives in me, and because of him, I can live. Father, please don't let us go through the rest of this day without Jesus. So, please hear these prayers. Let us confess our sins. Please lead us not into temptations. Please hear us as we cry out to you now in Jesus’ name, amen.