The 1^st Sunday of Advent

SERMON

Text: Romans 13:11-14

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 licentiousness and lewdness, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.

In Christ Jesus, whose blessed Advent we anticipate with joyous expectation, dear fellow redeemed:

As the end of the 1^st Century approached Jesus appeared to St. John in His Revelation and told John to convey a special message to the Christians in Ephesus. Jesus commended them for their work, their patience, their faithfulness to the truth, and their perseverance. However, He went on to say that He had one thing against them for they had left their “first love” (cf. Revelation 2:4). The situation at Ephesus is certainly not an isolated one, for any group of Christians who are zealous for the Lord’s work can begin in time to see their zeal decline.

St. Paul, in our text, similarly warned the Romans even as he does us of spiritual “sleep!” It is rather easy for any Christian, even a sincere Christian, to begin in time to relax and drift off to spiritual sleep unaware of the dangers around him or her. Just as Jesus told the Ephesian congregation, “Repent and do the first works” (Revelation 2:5) urging them to renewed vigilance, so St. Paul urges all of us, “Awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed!” As we begin this Advent season, I urge you AWAKE, DEAR FRIENDS, OUR SALVATION IS DRAWING NEARER!

I.

In view of that fact let us put on the armor of light! St. Paul writes, “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.” St. Paul frames his thought by using the opposite concepts of “darkness” and “light”, which are used routinely in Scripture when contrasting the devil and sin with God or our Lord Jesus Christ and righteousness. The devil is called the “ruler of darkness” (Ephesians 6:12), while Jesus is called the “Light of the world” (John 9:5). St. John writes in his First Epistle, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1:5b-6). Given those facts, we will surely want to “cast off the works of darkness!”

But what specifically does St. Paul have in mind? Let us contrast the “armor of light” with the “works of darkness.” In Ephesians 6:10-18 St. Paul identifies the various components of the “armor of light.” He speaks of “truth…righteousness…the gospel of peace…faith…salvation…the Word…and prayer.” These are the pieces of armor St. Paul urges us to put on. Contrast these, then, with the “works of darkness” inspired by Satan. St. Paul would have us put on “truth” and put off "lying!" Satan is the father of all lies. As God’s children we are to speak only the truth, and to do so in love (cf. Ephesians 4:15). We are living in a culture, however, which thinks little of the truth. Should you tell the truth? Take a poll to see if the truth is popular, and if not, tell a lie! Dear friends, let us not believe such things, nor compromise ourselves by believing that little "white lies" are not harmful. Anything that undermines truth undermines our character and is a work of darkness! St. Paul urges us to put on “righteousness” and to put off "self-righteousness." The righteousness, which makes up our armor, is the righteousness of Christ imputed to us by God in view of our faith. Satan on the other hands would seek to lead us to place our faith and confidence in our own goodness, blinding our eyes to our failure to keep God’s standard of perfection and so to our need for a Savior. St. Paul urges us to put on “the gospel of peace” and to put off "fear." The gospel message of God’s love for us in Christ is intended to remove fear and instill confidence and joy! Satan on the other hand uses fear to torment us. Let us speak our Savior’s message boldly without fear in order to drive out fear! St. Paul urges us to put on “faith” and to put off "skepticism." The world is filled with skeptics—individuals who claim nothing is certain and religious faith is only for the weak. Faith, however, is the confident trust that we place in our heavenly Father, because He is the omnipotent and omniscient God who loves us, watches over us, and will return for us! St. Paul urges us to put on “salvation” and to put off "worldliness." We put on salvation when our gracious God shapes our lives and attitudes. We put on salvation when our greatest desire is to be with our God and fulfilling His purpose for us in life. Let us not allow our lives and attitudes to be shaped by the world in which we live, for the world will inevitably lead us away from God and His gracious, good will. St. Paul urges us to put on “the Word” and to put off "human opinions." Contrary to human opinion, truth does exist and can be obtained if only we look to its source, the Bible. The opinions of man will come and go, but God assures us that His Word will last forever (cf. Isaiah 40:8). St. Paul urges us to put on “prayer” and to put off "blasphemy." Prayer is the intimate communication we have with our God, while Satan would have us utter blasphemous words both to and about God! AWAKE, DEAR FRIENDS, OUR SALVATION IS DRAWING NEARER! Let us put on the armor of light!

II.

Let us walk properly as in the day! St. Paul writes, “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in licentiousness and lewdness, not in strife and envy.” What does St. Paul mean when he urges us to “walk properly”? He tells us in the verses prior to our text, “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does not harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” Romans 13:8-10). Walking properly simply means to walk in love!

In contrast St. Paul identifies three issues of abuse that our God wants us to avoid—the abuse of alcohol, the abuse of sex, and the abuse of one another. Our world glamorizes the use of alcohol, and yet it can prove so deadly! To be sure, the Scriptures do not condemn the moderate use of alcohol by those of legal age, but it does condemn the abuse of alcohol, which leads to drunkenness. We must be careful not to send mixed messages as Christian adults. To condemn the use of illegal drugs by the youth of our country and then turn around and abuse alcohol is hypocritical and justly identified as such. I encourage all of you of legal age to be mindful of St. Paul’s words and careful when it comes to your holiday planning this year. If your plans include the use of alcohol, use them moderately and responsibly. Do not become involved in drunken revelry, but rather walk properly as in the day!

Secondly, St. Paul warns against the abuse of sex. Sexual freedom in our country as led many to become slaves of their every sexual passion. The TV shows and movies of our day set standards that are completely immoral, in which sexual encounters are the expected end of virtually all dates. Living together has become the norm with the choice of relationships, whether homosexual or heterosexual, viewed as completely a matter of personal choice and above any and all criticism. No, my dear friends, the Scriptures condemn all sexual relationships outside of the marriage of one man to one woman. Do not be deceived by our world, nor become partakers of other men’s sins. Turn off the television or walk out of the theater when the message of the world flies in the face of the truth of Scripture. Do not allow your reason or emotions to suggest that as long as you love the person you are with sexual relations are permissible in God’s eyes even when you are unmarried. Living together outside of marriage is contrary to God’s will. It is an attack on His institution of marriage, and, listen carefully, it deprives the individuals involved of the fullest blessing God intends through physical sexual union. Let us avoid “licentiousness and lewdness” and rather walk properly as in the day!

Finally, our God does not want us to abuse one another. St. Paul urges us in 1 Corinthians 10:24, “Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.” The exact opposite of that is “strife and envy” which we are to avoid. We cannot walk properly when we are plotting to harm others, and when our chief concern is always and only our own good. AWAKE, DEAR FRIENDS, OUR SALVATION IS DRAWING NEARER! Let us walk properly as in the day!

III.

Finally, let us put on the Lord Jesus Christ! St. Paul writes, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” "Clothes make the man" is a common saying in our world today. What we wear and how we wear it sends messages about who we are. St. Paul urges us Christians to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ!” How in the world can we do that? In Galatians 3:27 St. Paul writes, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Putting on Christ means that Jesus is at the center of my life and that He controls the choices of my life.

Our Lord has loved us. He came into this world two thousand years ago for one purpose and one purpose only—to give His life as a ransom for our own (cf. Matthew 20:28). He came because had He not come, we would be lost forever in eternal punishment for our sins. Let us recognize the grave position we were in! With Christ, we are God’s children destined to receive eternal life, while without Christ, we would be lost forever, justly punished in view of our sins. To have Jesus at the center of our lives, means that we have been led by the Spirit of God to trust in Him for forgiveness of all of our sins and for the gift of life through His saving work. It means that we rejoice in His grace and take comfort in His forgiveness.

To put on Christ then means that He who has redeemed us now leads us. We turn to Him with joy and seek His direction for our choices. The music I enjoy; the company I keep; the books I and magazines I read; the hobbies I undertake; the entertainment that I seek; the way that I spend my resources and free time, are all decisions that I want to make in harmony with the will and wishes of my Savior.

I received as a gift over the Thanksgiving Day holidays the biography of William Borden. Borden was the son of a very successful and wealthy American businessman as the turn of the last century. Instead of falling prey to the world in which he was living, Borden was led by the Spirit of God to commit his future to His Savior. He prepared from early on to become a Christian missionary to the Chinese. Unfortunately, Borden died as a young man while enroute to his mission field. His eyes were open, however, and his life was a testimony to the coming Christ and of the urgency of being prepared for Christ’s return at any time!

Let us not fall into spiritual sleep, brethren, but rather let us AWAKE FOR OUR SALVATION IS DRAWING NEARER! Amen.

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting