The epistle to the Romans, chapter thirteen, at
verse eleven.
Romans, the thirteenth chapter, at verse eleven.
And that, knowing the time, that now it
is high time to awake out of sleep,
for now is our salvation nearer than when
we believed.
Sleep is a great blessing, for it is
God's provision for rest and recuperation after we
have expended our energies.
And oftentimes it is God's provision for the
regaining of health when we are ill.
You remember the disciples said to Jesus with
reference to Lazarus, if he sleep he shall
do well.
The ability to sleep well is the sign
of health and contentment.
And oftentimes restlessness, when we should be asleep,
I don't say always, but oftentimes restlessness is
due to a lack of trust in God,
a lack of that Godliness with contentment, which
is great gain.
And that is why the psalmist said, I
will both lay me down in peace and
sleep, for thou only makest me to dwell
in safety.
But any good thing out of place is
an evil.
To be asleep, for example, when our house
is on fire, may end in tragedy.
And to be asleep when we ought to
be at work is sloth.
And to be asleep when we ought to
be engaged in prayer and worship is godlessness.
That is why the wise man said, love
not sleep, lest thou come to poverty.
And drowsiness shall close a man with flags.
Go to the aunt thou sluggard, consider her
ways, and be wise.
There is also, of course, the sleep of
moral and spiritual apathy.
The sleep of spiritual sloth.
And that is the kind of sleep that
is referred to in our text.
And that knowing the time, that now it
is high time to awake out of sleep.
It is the sleep of spiritual indolence, of
spiritual indifference.
You will notice that Paul is here speaking
not to unbelievers, but to believers.
For only to such could he say that
now is our salvation nearer than when we
believed.
He reckons them with himself as being believers,
and he is speaking about some kind of
salvation that is nearer than when they believed.
And this is to remind us that even
believers need oftentimes to be aroused from spiritual
indolence, from carelessness, from indifference, from listlessness.
Now what is the particular reason that the
Apostle presses home in this particular text for
the arousing of believers from their spiritual sleepiness
or slothfulness?
That is the particular consideration that is before
us in this text.
The reason why the Apostle urges upon his
fellow believers that it is high time to
awake out of sleep.
Now it can be very simply stated that
the particular reason that the Apostle urges in
this text is the calendar.
It's well to look at the calendar, isn't
it?
That's exactly, in essence, what the Apostle Paul
is urging in this text.
The calendar.
That is the calendar of events, and the
passage of time.
Time has meaning, and that is why it
is so ungodly to be asleep when we
should be awake.
That is why it is wrong to be
asleep when we should be in prayer, and
wrong to sleep when we should be at
work.
Time is precious.
There is a time for everything.
There is indeed a time to sleep, and
it is a great blessing, and we all
know that very well.
But there is a time to be awake,
and it is just because time has significance
that sleepiness out of place is something that
contradicts our Christian profession, our Christian faith.
And it is a particular aspect of time
that the Apostle Paul has in view in
this particular text, because he's saying, and that
knowing the time, and that is the appointed
time.
What the Apostle Paul is reminding his readers
of in this particular text is that time
is running out.
That the whole expanse of time is moving
to an appointed season.
Knowing the time, that now it is high
time to awake out of sleep.
And then he specifies what he has in
mind.
For now is our salvation nearer than when
we believe.
Now what is the salvation that the Apostle
has in mind in this text?
When he says, now is our salvation nearer
than when we believe.
Well, if you look at the Expositor, you
will find various views expressed, but according to
the teaching of the New Testament, I don't
think there is any other alternative but this.
That the Apostle Paul is here referring to
salvation that would be completed at the coming
of Christ, at the glory of Christ's appearing.
The word salvation is used quite frequently in
the New Testament in that sense.
Of course it is used with reference to
the salvation that believers have in their possession
here and now.
And that salvation could not be spoken of
as nearer than when they believe, because it
is a salvation that is in the actual
possession when we believe.
That is the salvation the Apostle Paul has
in mind earlier in this epistle when he
says, I am not ashamed of the gospel
for it is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth.
And again a little later on in this
same epistle he says, with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation.
And therefore he is thinking of the salvation
that comes into a person's possession by faith.
And it's not something that is future, it
is something that is in possession here and
now.
But the word salvation is quite often used
in Paul and in other places in the
New Testament in the sense of the future
salvation.
That is the salvation when it would be
completed, consummated at the coming of Christ.
The word redemption is used often times in
that sense also.
Redemption is used with reference to what is
completed in the finished work of Christ.
It is used with reference to the redemption
that the people of God enjoy here and
now, but it is also used with reference
to the redemption that will be completed, that
will be consummated and perfected at the coming
of Christ.
And Jesus used the word redemption in that
sense when he said to his disciples with
respect to his second coming, be ye not
afraid, lift up your hearts, because your redemption
draws now.
And it is in that sense that the
apostle uses the word redemption earlier in this
epistle when he says that we are waiting
for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
Likewise the word salvation is quite often used
in the New Testament in that sense.
And of course it is very important to
recognize the unity that there is between the
salvation now in possession and the salvation that
will be completed and perfected at the coming
of Christ.
There is a unity and there is a
continuity, but we must remember that it is
at the coming of Christ that that salvation
will be perfected.
And so when Paul says for example in
the epistle to the Philippians, work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling, for it
is God that worketh in you both to
will and to do of his good pleasure.
Paul is not talking about the salvation that
believers have now in their possession by faith,
because that salvation is not worked out.
It's a gift of grace, and there's no
working of ours in connection with it.
He's thinking of the salvation that would be
completed.
And it is that salvation that he enjoins
believers to work out, work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling, for it is
God that works in you both to will
and to do of his good pleasure.
Or again, when the apostle says in the
first epistle to the Thessalonians, God hath not
appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The context will clearly may indicate that he
is referring to salvation as completed.
He has not appointed us to the judgment
of God, but to the salvation that will
be perfected and completed at the coming of
Christ.
Do you also remember that in the epistle
to the Hebrews, when the writer is referring
to the angels, he says, are they not
all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for
them who shall be heirs of salvation?
Heirs of salvation.
And you can't speak of heirship except with
reference to something in the future.
They're heirs of salvation.
They're not heirs of the salvation they have
now in possession, because it is in possession.
But they are heirs of the salvation that
is yet to be revealed.
That is what is in view when it
is said that the angels are ministering spirits
sent forth to minister for them who shall
be heirs of salvation.
And again, in the same epistle, epistle to
the Hebrews, in the ninth chapter, you remember
that he says Christ was once manifested to
bear the sins of many, and unto them
that look for him shall he appear the
second time without sin unto salvation.
And you see, that clearly indicates that it
is the salvation that will be manifested when
Christ will come.
He will be manifested the second time without
sin unto salvation.
That is, unto the complete, perfect salvation for
the people of God that will be bestowed
upon them when Christ will come again the
second.
And the apostle Peter likewise uses this word
salvation in that very same sense when he
says of believers that they are kept by
the power of God through faith unto the
salvation that is ready to be revealed at
the last time.
The salvation ready to be revealed.
And it is unto that terminus, unto that
goal, that they are being kept by the
power of God through faith.
Now it is that salvation, therefore, that Paul
must have in view in this text.
When he says now we have salvation nearer
than when we believe.
He is thinking of that great event in
the future when the salvation of the people
of God will be completed.
And it is that salvation that is nearer
than when we believe.
Now there are certain lessons which we must
divide from this statement of the apostle.
Lessons relevant to the particular exhortation that he
gives in this, the earlier part of this
version, that knowing the time, the season, that
now it is high time to awake out
of sleep.
And the first lesson that we must divide
from this teaching of the apostle as from
various other teachings of the New Testament is
that it is that salvation that is the
hope of the people of God.
Now here we are touching on something which
I feel needs a great deal of emphasis,
and is oftentimes sadly overlooked.
And when it is overlooked, it reflects very
seriously upon the vitality and the genuineness and
the liveliness of our faith.
It is this salvation that is the hope
of the people of God.
It is not death that is the hope
of the people of God.
Death after all is an enemy.
It is perfectly true that at death believers
are made perfect in holiness as respects their
spirits, and they are translated into the very
presence of Christ.
So that Paul could say to depart and
to be with Christ is far better.
To be absent from the body is to
be present with the Lord.
Death should not be something to fill the
people of God with terror.
It's perfectly true that death for a believer
is a blessed event.
Precious in the sight of the Lord is
the death of His saints.
But after all, death is not the great
hope of the believer at all.
And we have a serious deflection from the
Christian hope, and therefore from the Christian hope,
when we are thinking of death as the
great hope of the church.
It is for that that they are groaning,
that they are waiting, because the whole expectation
of a true believer is gravitate when Christ
will come again the second time without sin
unto salvation.
That is the expectation.
That is the goal of the believer.
And if a believer does not have this
as his goal, it is because there has
been in his case, or her case, a
deflection from the teaching of the gospel, the
teaching of the New Testament.
You notice that, for example, in this very
epistle earlier, where the apostle says with respect
to the creation that it groans.
And not only so, but we ourselves also,
which have the first fruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for
the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our
body.
That's the resurrection hope.
When he speaks there of the adoption, the
resurrection, the redemption of the body, he is
thinking of that glorious consummation that will be
realized when Christ will come again the second
time without sin unto salvation.
And you find that very same type of
expectation reflected in the apostle, in the second
epistle to the Corinthians, when he says in
the fifth chapter, we know that in the
earthly house of this tabernacle where it is
all, we have a building of God, a
house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens.
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to
be clothed upon with our house, which is
from heaven.
If so be that being clothed, we shall
not be found naked.
And the clothing that the apostle has in
view there is, of course, the clothing with
the resurrection.
That's what he groans for.
Not that we would be unclothed.
He has no particular desire in itself to
die.
Not that we would be unclothed, but clothed
with time, that mortality might be swallowed up
of life.
And the mortality is that same immortality.
So when this corruptible shall have put on
immortality, incorruption, and this mortal shall have put
on immortality, then shall be brought to death,
is swallowed up in victory.
And again in the epistle to the Philippians,
you remember, he says, our citizenship is in
heaven.
From whence also we look for the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our
vile bodies, that it may be fashioned like
us, and clothed as follows, according to the
working whereby he is able to subdue all
things unto himself.
And it is that that the apostle calls
in his epistle to Titus, the blessed hope.
Looking for the blessed hope, and the appearing
of the glory of the great God, and
our Savior, Jesus Christ.
That's the hope, the expectation of a true
believer.
And there's something radically wrong with our faith.
There's something radically wrong with our hope.
If we do not gravitate in expectation, in
expectancy, in hope towards that great event, when
Christ will descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with
the trumpet of...
Now having established that very clearly from the
teaching of the New Testament, the next aspect
of this particular text that we need to
take into account is that Paul says, now
is this event, this salvation nearer than it's
nearer.
Now there's something there that we have to
take very seriously into account.
And you're perhaps not aware of the currents
of thought that are abroad in the world
at this present time, that are really in
direct contradiction.
But in order to state it positively, it
is just this, that there is a day
in the calendar when it will arrive.
That's what Paul is saying, it's nearer than
when we believe.
If you are thinking, for example, of an
event which is going to occur in the
year 1970, let us say on the 25th
of December 1970, well, you say it's nearer
than it was a year ago.
And that's just because there is the lapse
of time that makes the future lapse.
And when he therefore says, here now is
our salvation nearer than when we believe, he
is talking about the calendar of events.
And it is to this effect that there
is a day in the calendar of events
when this event will occur.
And since it is a day in the
calendar of events, it is nearer than it
was a year ago.
It is nearer than it was two years
ago, or twenty years ago, or a thousand
years ago.
And there's tremendous significance in that fact that
there is a day coming in the calendar
of events when this salvation will be realized.
When Christ will come down from heaven in
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
the trumpet will sound, and the dead will
be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
And that means that history is moving to
Eternus, that what we know as time is
moving to its end, and it's rapidly moving
to its end.
Now no one knows the day or the
hour.
Jesus himself said, with reference to that in
the days of his flesh, of that day
and hour knows no man, not even the
angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the
Father only.
That is to say, he was expressing himself
as regards his human knowledge in terms of
the ignorance of that day.
It was not given to him in his
human nature, in his human knowledge, to know
when that day would occur.
We don't need to suppose that he is
thinking of it now, even in his human
nature, but in any case, no man knows.
And let not even the angels of heaven
know when this day is to occur.
But Paul is here reminding believers that as
far as their life span is concerned, or
was concerned, it was nearer than when they
believed.
And that is what is true also of
us.
We know not how far distant this great
event may be, but it's going to come
someday in the calendar of events.
There will be calendars in that day.
And there will be the first of January
to the thirty-first of December.
In that particular time, things will be going
on, as Jesus himself called us, marrying and
giving in marriage.
And they will not let it go until
the flood came and took them all away.
So shall be the coming of the Son
of Man.
And we must remember that.
That events will be going on according to
the regular routine of this world's history, until
then suddenly, in a moment, when no man
knows, he will come in the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory.
The day of the Lord will come as
a thief, in which the heavens shall pass
away with a great glory, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat.
The earth and the works that are in
it shall be burned up.
And it's going to come suddenly indeed, but
it's going to come in the calendar of
events.
Now for all we know it may be
a thousand years distant or two thousand years
distant, God has not revealed it to us.
But it still can be said with reference
to each believer, now is that salvation nearer
than when he...
And there is significance to that fact.
Because what transpires between death and resurrection is
not reckoned in the calendar of time.
It doesn't enter into this reckoning.
All that remains for us is what remains
of our earthly pilgrimage.
And that is why it is of significance
to say it is nearer than when we
believe.
The scripture makes it very clear claim, that
as far as the history of this world
is concerned, this world where you have the
calendar of events, there is no significance to
what will transpire between death and...
There is great significance for the believer himself
indeed, during that period that intervenes between death
and resurrection.
But as far as the calendar of events
in this world is concerned, it is not
reckoned.
Yet God has appointed that it may once...
And that period that intervenes is not reckoned
in terms of time.
However long it may be in terms of
our calendar, it's not reckoned in terms of
time.
And just as we may say, now is
our death nearer than when we believe.
So it can rightly be said with equal
significance, now is this salvation nearer than when
we believed.
Now that is what the apostle is urging
here as the reason why it is high
time to awake out of sleep.
That is the appointed season that we are
to know.
And that, he says, knowing the time, that
is knowing the appointed season.
And it is that appointed time in God's
ordination, in God's plan, that we are to
know.
Now you see, there is a definite connection,
therefore, between what proceeds in this passage and
what succeeds in this passage in relation to
that necessity of awaking out of sleep.
When Paul says here, and that, and that...
Note that word that in your English text.
And that, he is pointing back to what
goes before.
And he is saying, in effect, that all
the more so, is this necessary.
Since you know the time, since you know
the appointed season, since you are aware that
this salvation on the part of God is
appointed in His determinate purpose.
And what is that, that proceeds?
Well, it is just that which you have
from the eighth verse on.
O no man anything but to love one
another, for he that loveth another hath put...
Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not
kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not
bear false witness, thou shalt not covet.
And if there be any other commandment this
briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself.
Love worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore
love is the fulfilling of the law.
And it is all that that the Apostle
Paul has in mind when he says in
this verse, and that.
And all the more so must you take
heed to these injunctions, to these exhortations of
the preceding verses, since you know the appointed
time.
And then you have the succeeding in very
close relationship to that, the night is far
spent, the day is at hand.
Let us therefore cast off the works of
darkness, and let us put on the armor
of light.
Let us walk honestly as in the day,
not in rioting and drunkenness, that is, not
in excess and
drunkenness, not in chambering, that is, not in
sexual excesses and wantonness, that is, not in
debauchery, not in strife and gambling, but put
ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make
not provision for the flesh to fulfill the
lusts thereof.
So you see that the whole preceding context
in this passage, and the whole succeeding context,
and all the exhortations that are involved in
these verses, from verse eight to the end
of the chapter, are bound up with what
he says in this particular verse, that now
is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
And it shows us the significance for practical
living in this world, for practical Godliness, is
the great truth, respecting the consummation of the
kingdom of God, and the consummation of the
whole time process.
Time is moving rapidly on.
The night is past, hence the day is
at hand.
And it is for that reason, in this
particular context, that it is all the more
necessary that we should awake out of our
spiritual sloth and attend to those things which
are the marks and the injunctions and the
criteria of Christian faith and of our Christian
hope.
We are drawing near the close of another
year, and it is well for us to
take the lessons that accrue to us from
the passage of time.
Time is not ending.
Time is moving to its consummation.
The night is already forespent.
That is to say, the whole temporal order
is already forspent.
The ages that are past have run their
course, and we are in what the New
Testament calls the last days.
That is to say, the last days that
will have their termination in nothing less than
the consummation of the whole of history, the
consummation of the whole time process.
And is it reasonable?
Is it compatible with our Christian faith that
we should be asleep, that we should be,
as it were, indifferent to the events that
are transpiring?
When a person is asleep, of course he
is not alive to his environment.
He is not alive to what is going
on.
Is it compatible with reason?
Is it compatible with our faith?
Is it compatible with our hope that we
should be, as it were, indifferent and listless?
Time is.
Oh, my friends, we are here, ushered into
the presence of eternal reality.
Now is this salvation.
And when we believe it, and it is
well for us to take heed, that we
should now realize the necessity of casting off
the works of darkness and putting on the
armor of light, that we may show our
affinity with that salvation, which will be manifested
in its completeness when Christ will come in
his own glory and in the glory of
the Father with the holy angels.
We are living in days, my friends, in
which the vices that the Apostle Paul condemns
in this passage are particularly manifest in the
world, and it is sad to say particularly
manifest in many instances even within the Church
of God.
The works of darkness, chamberings, sexual excesses, debauchery,
drunkenness, the riotings, all these things are the
manifestations of darkness, and they are the things
upon which the extreme judgment of God will
be executed when the day will arrive when
the full light will come utterly inconsistent.
It is for those who are the people
of God to have any business with that
which is the characteristic upon which the judgment
of God will be executed in its greatest
extremity and without any amelioration on the day
of his judgment will arrive.
There is the exhortation, my friends, that is
brought to bear upon us, and let us
take it to heart that night is far
spent and day is at hand.
Let us therefore cast off the works of
darkness.
Let us manifest ourselves to be the children
of light and the children of the day,
the children who will be manifested in that
great salvation which Christ will bestow upon his
own Church and upon his own people.
He will come again the second time without
sin unto salvation.
Let us pray.
O ever-blessed and eternal God, we pray
Thee that Thou wouldst quicken us to a
realization of the great issues that devolve upon
us and with which we are confronted as
we are hastening on to that judgment seat
where Christ will manifest Himself in His glory
and where He will bestow upon His people
according to His grace and minister unto all
His enemies that judgment that is equitable and
do Thou grant unto us that we may
take heed unto those things which are ours
now so that we may awake out of
sleep and that we may cast off the
works of darkness and put on the armor
of light and all for Jesus' sake and
in His name.
Amen.