Jesus’ Return and Our Living

Romans 13:11-14

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.

One benefit of regular church attendance is that it forces you to think about important things that you might otherwise ignore. This passage forces us to think about the fact that Jesus is coming back. Indeed every passing second nudges us closer to his return. This makes urgent our task of personal holiness. Therefore, we must cast off dark deeds and put on “the armor of light.”

Jesus is Coming Back

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. (v.11-12a)

Theologians have found that salvation occurs in three stages:

1. Past: Justification
2. Present: Sanctification
3. Future: Glorification

This passage refers to our glorification upon Jesus’ return, which is why I equate Paul’s reference to our nearing salvation to Jesus second coming. The hour has come to wake from sleep, the night is far gone and the day is at hand because our salvation nears as Christ approaches.

The fact that Jesus is coming back calls Christians to a certain wakefulness. When it’s important that I wake up, I have to put my cell phone, alarm set, in the bathroom. This way I have to physically get up and stumble in there to turn it off, thus helping me shake the sleep away. This image of awakening is what Paul calls to mind here in reference to Jesus’ return. Christians, Jesus is coming back. We must wake up.

Before we study what sort of wakefulness God is calling us to, let’s admit that Jesus’ return is a remote idea (at least for me). As I studied this passage I was struck by how disinterested I was in it all–as though it isn’t really going to happen. But if Jesus is to be trusted at all, it is going to happen. I will experience it, and so will you.

To get into this head space, let’s listen to a snippet of Jesus’ description of what this day will be like in Matthew 24:29-31:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Jesus told us that no one knows when this will occur (Matthew 24:36), but we do no that it will occur. So let’s imagine that it happened last Thursday, midmorning. What were you doing midmorning last Thursday? Picture what you were doing, where you were, whom you were with, what things looked like. And then imagine that the sun was suddenly darkened, the stars disappeared or came crashing to earth in a global event that violently grabbed the attention of every single living person. Imagine in that moment something powerful and glorious appearing in the clouds and the loud sounds of angelic trumpet blasts. Does this make it more real?

Of course Jesus didn’t return last Thursday. But what if I told you that he is going to return midmorning next Thursday. How would you live between now and then? Whatever changes you would need to make are the changes God is calling you to make, even though  you don’t know when Jesus’ is coming back.

Wake Up

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… (v.12-13a)

Often the Christian response to Jesus’ forthcoming return is evangelistic urgency. Jesus is coming back, so we need to tell as many people as possible about him. In fact, the Advent Christian denomination is based on this premise. This is good and right. But here God is prompting us toward moral urgency rather than evangelistic urgency.

Jesus is coming back, so we need to “cast off the works of darkness.” In Matthew 24:45-51, Jesus says that his second coming will be like a master returning home unexpectedly, catching his servants in whatever they’ve been up to in his absence (picture Downton Abbey). We want to be found faithful, doing what he instructed us to do.

Paul explains our preparation for Christ’s return in reference to clothing. If you’re expecting an important guest to arrive in the morning, you’ll wake up, take off your pajamas and get dressed appropriately. Similarly, we need to cast off our night clothes, the works of darkness; and put on our day clothes, the armor of light. More on this later; but for now, lets look at the list of examples Paul gives in verse 13.

Cast off the Works of Darkness

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. (v.12a-14)

Paul lists six examples of the dark works we must cast off in light of Jesus’ soon return:

1. Orgies. The Romans worshipped a God named Bacchus with a festival called Bacchanalia. This festival included extreme drunkenness, gluttony and then unbridled sexual activity. It seems likely that this is what Paul had in view as he penned this word. Now, we do not have public orgy festivals in Charlotte, NC (of which I am aware, anyway). But we do have a pornography epidemic, which is a sort of private orgy, with almost 30,000 people viewing online pornography at any given moment.
2. Drunkenness. Drinking isn’t a sin. Drunkenness is. Since it can be really hard to find the line between drinking and drunkenness, be very careful and take your alcohol decisions seriously.
3. Sexual Immorality. Since it’s mentioned twice in the same list, we need to carefully examine our lives for sexual immorality and cast if off in real, concrete ways.
4. Sensuality. This is doing what feels, tastes, looks, sounds good as opposed to what is good.
5. Quarreling. It is interesting to find these last two items in a list beside orgies and drunkenness. We have to see this as a dark deed just like sexual immorality and the like. If you are often at odds with people, you are the common denominator. Cast it off.
6. Jealousy. There are many sins involved in jealousy, such as discontent and pride. If you are a jealous person, it’s time to cast if off because Jesus is coming back.

So how does one cast off these deeds of darkness? By putting on the armor of light, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. You can’t just step out of your dark deeds. You must step out of them into something better. If you have been unsuccessful in trying to step out of your dark deeds, maybe it’s because you’ve not been stepping toward the Lord Jesus Christ.

Note that the Lord Jesus Christ is described as “the armor of light.” We must take off night clothes and put on armor because the Christian life is a battle, not a nap. If you’re a Christian struggling with pornography or drunkenness or interpersonal strife or jealousy, you’re not a freak. A Christian’s flesh continues to desire dark deeds.

Paul ends this passage with one last practical tip, so that’s how I’ll end this sermon.

Make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (v.14b)

On old professor of mine stopped going to the beach because he knew it was making provision for his teenage son’s flesh. Taking a young man to a swimsuit stocked beach is like taking an alcoholic to Oktoberfest.

Whatever dark deeds your flesh desires, you need to sever the supply lines. If it is sexual immorality with another person, end that relationship. If it is materialistic jealousy, stop exposing yourself to advertisements and magazines or whatever gratifies the desires. If it’s sensuality expressed through gluttony, plan your grocery store trips accordingly to cut off provision for your appetite.

Conclusion

Every passing second nudges us closer to Jesus’ return. This makes urgent our task of personal holiness. So cast off the deeds of darkness and put on the armor or light, which is the Lord Jesus Christ.

*After preaching this sermon, one of my people came up to me and said, “Want to know what I was doing midmorning last Thursday? I was having a colonoscopy. I’m glad Jesus didn’t come back just then.”

Discussion Starters

1. Is it hard for you to imagine or take seriously Jesus’ second coming? Why or why not?
2. Does the fact that Jesus is coming back currently affect your day-to-day life? Why or why not?
3. Why does Paul say that our salvation is nearing in verse 11? Aren’t those who trust and follow Jesus already saved? (See Romans 8:18-25; 1 Corinthians 15:5-57; Philippians 3:20-21)
4. How is it that quarreling and jealousy are included in the same list as orgies, drunkenness, sexual immorality and sensuality? In what ways are they the same?
5. Work together to gain a more comprehensive picture of “the armor of light” by reading Ephesians 6:10-20 and 1 Thessalonians 5:8.
6. How can we put on the Lord Jesus Christ? What are some concrete, practical steps we can take to obey this passage?
7. What are some practical ideas for cutting off provision for the flesh?

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