Romans 13:11-14 - Part 2

While you're getting yourself settled, please go ahead and take out your copy of God's Word and turn to the book of Romans, chapter 13.

Romans 13 · chapter mention

!

Father, we truly do need you.

We need you in everything that we do, in every hour and moment of our short days.

We need you, Father, to sing praises to your name.

We certainly need you for the understanding of your Word.

So I pray, Father, this morning that you will bless the words that I speak,

that they will be right and true,

that they will properly send us in a direction that honors and glorifies you in everything.

And I pray for all of us, Lord, you will apply it by your Spirit to our hearts,

that no one who's here this day will leave the same,

that we will leave this place with a greater and deeper appreciation for the personal work of Christ,

that we will want to make him known everywhere that we go.

We pray all of this in his precious name. Amen.

So we've been preaching through the book of Romans, and we have arrived at verses 11 through 14.

We dealt last week primarily with the first two verses there, verses 11 and 12.

But join me in reading, and I'm actually going to back up a bit and begin reading in verse 8.

Oh, no one anything except to love each other.

For the one 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 covet,

and any other commandment are summed up in this word.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Besides this, you know the time, that the long 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.

So recall, as we've been working through Romans, that we get to the end of chapter 11

and Paul sums up his doxological statements, right?

He's finished laying out the truth of the gospel for us,

that we're saved by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone forever.

And he praises God for that in the doxology there found at the end.

And then he turns at the beginning of chapter 12 to appeal to us,

to say to us, in light of these great truths, these mercies of God, as he calls it there in verse 1 of chapter 12,

we are to present our bodies as living sacrifices.

That is, all of us.

We're meant to give all of who we are now in response to the fact that God has redeemed our souls.

He goes on to talk about what this is now going to look like,

how it's going to play out in our living.

And in verse 9 of chapter 12, he says,

Let love be genuine.

Abhor what is evil.

Hold fast to what is good.

And I propose to you that the very essence of godliness,

if I ask for a word to explain what godliness is,

a proper response would be love.

Not the love that we speak about in the world,

not the romantic comedy type of love,

but the superseding, the unconditional, the Christ-like type of love.

And he went on to expound about that,

what this love looks like in various ways to different peoples and people groups.

And then in verse 8 of chapter 13,

he expands that to speak of this continuing debt of love.

Something that we're going to be constantly working towards,

constantly paying back.

Our lives are to be characterized by this very love.

Because love is the fulfilling of the law.

In the beginning in verse 11, he says,

Besides this, in addition to the fact that love is the fulfilling of the law,

you know the time.

You have a knowledge of the time.

And we talked about what that time is in verse 11 and 12.

There's a metaphor of the daytime and the night.

He uses this metaphor to explain to us a truth.

And that truth is that the salvation is nearer to us than when we first believed.

Not that we are working in these days to gain salvation,

but that we are eagerly awaiting the full and final realization of that salvation,

the glorification, if you will.

When all things will be complete and all things will be made new.

When the kingdom of God that's been begun in Christ will be finally and fully finished.

So we see that we live between the times.

We're kind of at a juncture there.

And not that we're in this gap between the times,

but in the overlap between the two.

Between the reign of sin and death

and the coming full and final reign of Christ.

I also propose to you that our knowledge of time

also includes the knowledge of who we are.

We are the ones who live with the revelation of Jesus Christ

in this sinful world.

We have the weight of our flesh pulling us one direction.

We have the Spirit of God guiding us in the other.

And this Paul is proposing to us

is how it is that we are to cast off and put on.

So what is it then that we are to cast off?

We're going to be looking at the last half of verse 12 and 13 and 14.

He gives us some specific things,

which I believe are just a sampling of things.

I don't believe this is an exhaustive list

of what we're to cast off,

but we can categorize these things here.

He talks about in 13,

orages and drunkenness,

sexual immorality and sensuality,

quarreling and jealousy.

And if you'll allow,

I'll categorize them in this way.

One, we're to cast off being outside of our minds.

The word here translated in the ESV

is orages,

means carousal.

It was the Greek term used initially

to speak of the celebration of a war,

or a victory over war,

or in a game,

in a competition of sport.

It was the celebration that followed it,

but it had developed

into much, much, much more than that.

It developed into a licentious celebration,

a losing your mind

over the celebration that you're having.

And interesting here,

it's connected to

this idea of substance abuse,

which often accompanied

that type of celebration.

as well as,

as the word translated here,

orages.

People stepped out of their rational thinking

in the celebration of things,

and he's coupled those together

as he's done in Galatians 5.21,

and Peter does it as well

in chapter 4, verse 3,

of 1 Peter.

So that's the picture

that we're being given here

of an example,

a sampling of something

that we are to cast off,

being outside of our minds,

not being in control

of our very faculties.

Secondly,

improper sexual desire.

He says to cast off

sexual immorality

and sensuality.

Now sexual immorality here

is not the Greek term

pornea,

which is where we get

the term pornography from,

but rather koite,

which is the improper use

of the marriage bed.

The improper use

of the marriage bed.

Sex outside of marriage

or sex within marriage

done improperly.

Right?

But gentlemen,

you're not off the hook

because the Greek term

doesn't mean that,

because the term

sensuality would include,

would be all inclusive

of those types of acts.

Shameless excess

and absence of restraint.

That's what it means.

We're to cast this off

as well.

Thirdly,

we're to cast off

the desire

for preeminence

or control.

We see this

in quarreling

and jealousy.

The idea here

behind quarreling

is an antagonistic

competitiveness

that seeks

the highest recognition

possible,

the Greek phrase here.

And jealousy,

zealos,

it's where we get

the word zeal from.

Right?

Used in the positive

in a number of places

in the scriptures,

but it's used negatively

when the self

is the object

of one's zeal.

So,

the seeking of gain

for yourself,

we're meant to

cast that off

as well.

Now,

some translations

use this term

cast off

and they say

instead,

lay aside,

which is a good

way to think of it.

To toss it away.

It's the idea

of disrobing

without the intention

of putting the garments

or garment

back on.

To put it off.

To lay it aside.

I kind of like

cast off in the ESV

because it has

this picture

of tossing it

away from your

very being.

If you've ever

done much manual labor,

you've probably

found yourself

in a situation

where you've so

disgusted your clothing

that the serious

consideration is

just to throw it away.

I don't know

that I ever even

through cycles of washing

want to re-wear

this clothing.

I've done that.

I've just said,

put it in a bag

and get rid of it.

It's that idea.

I'm going to take it off

without the intention

of ever putting it

back on.

It's a discardment

of it.

It's a rejection

of it.

Have any of you ever,

I'm asking this rhetorically,

have any of you ever

received pajamas

at Christmas?

You get the Christmas PJs,

right?

You get up in the morning

and you've got on

your pajamas,

you're comfortable,

you're lounging around,

you get the new pajamas

and you're likely

at that moment

to take a break

in the opening

of Christmas presents

to go put on

the new comfortable clothes,

right?

You're going to run off,

you never go put on

the nice clothes

that you get for Christmas

to sit around the house

and open things,

but if it's a new pair

of sweatpants,

right?

When I was a kid,

I got the sweatpants

with the new elastic band

because you had to have

a good tight elastic band

around your ankle

in those days,

right?

You want to go put on

the new comfy pants

and bring them back.

My mother buys

for all the grandkids

for Christmas every year

a new pair of pajamas

and we do this

on Christmas Eve

and my favorite child

to,

that changes,

we change all the kids,

we take a picture of them,

it's really fun.

The older ones,

Jed and Britton,

they run off to their rooms

and go change.

My favorite though

is LJ,

who is three,

who wherever he is,

whatever he's wearing

is coming off

right there

and he's putting on

the new pajamas,

he's so excited about them

and this picture's in my mind

of casting off

because he does not care

what happens

to the old pajamas,

right?

He's getting them off

as fast as he can,

he throws them to the side

and there they would stay

if somebody else

didn't come along

and pick them up

on his behalf.

That's this picture

of casting it off,

of putting it away

from us.

So,

what then are we to

put on?

Right?

At the end of verse 12

he says,

let us cast off

the works of darkness,

which he's expounded

upon here now,

and we're to put on

the armor of light.

The implication here

is that we're dressing

for a battle.

If we're to walk

as those

who walk properly

in the daytime,

Paul's suggesting to us

that that's not going

to be a stroll.

That's not going to be

an easy little jaunt

through the park,

but it's going to be

a battle.

He uses this term

armor.

We must necessarily

put on the armor

of light.

In a parallel text

to this one found

here in Romans,

1 Thessalonians 5,

5-9,

Paul writes,

you are all

children of light.

Children of the day,

we are not of the night

or of the darkness.

So then let us not

sleep as others do,

but let us keep awake

and be sober.

For those who sleep

sleep at night,

and those who get drunk

are drunk at night.

But since we belong

to the day,

let us be sober.

Here's the point

I'm driving to.

Having put on

the breastplate

of faith and love,

and for a helmet

the hope of salvation.

For God has not

destined us for wrath,

but to obtain salvation

through our Lord

Jesus Christ.

Christ.

So it's safe here

to say,

when Paul's talking

about this armor

of light,

that he's talking

about the armor

of faith,

and love,

and hope.

We're to put these

things on,

and more specifically,

in verse 14,

we're to put on

the Lord Jesus Christ.

Back in Romans.

We're to put on

the armor of light,

which is,

to put on

the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ.

There's another place

in the New Testament

that Paul speaks

of putting on Christ,

and that's found

in Galatians 3.27,

where he says,

for as many of you

as were baptized

into Christ

have put on Christ.

Notice the change

in time frame here.

Those of us

who are believers,

who have been baptized

into Christ,

have put on Christ.

So the understanding,

then, again,

is that we're

between two worlds.

We have put on Christ

as Christ's redeemed ones,

and yet we're also

to continually

put him on.

We're to put him on

because we've already

put him on,

if you'll allow.

So that begs

a question, then.

How?

How?

What does that even mean

to put on

the Lord Jesus Christ?

It's not a garment

that we can wear,

you see?

How do we put on

the Lord Jesus Christ?

2 Corinthians 4.6

gives us a clue to this.

God who said,

let light shine

out of darkness,

has shown in our hearts

to give the light

of the knowledge

of the glory of God

in the face

of Jesus Christ.

We have beheld Christ.

Christ.

We have seen him

in all his magnificent glory.

Anybody can read

of him in the scriptures.

We have the revelation

of him.

This is why I will

always and forever

argue

that the call of God

in our lives

is an effectual call.

That when he shows us

Christ,

we will necessarily

respond,

yes,

and please.

Right?

We have beheld

the most glorious thing

we can possibly behold

in all of eternity,

forever,

in the person

and work

of Jesus Christ.

So why is it then?

Why do we so easily,

so readily,

turn back

to sin?

Why do we put off

the garment

and pick it back up

and put it back on?

And I think the answer

to that,

at least in part,

is that we are

finite

in our senses.

We can touch things

and feel things

and taste things

and smell

and see,

if I haven't said that already.

Right?

We experience the world

in these ways.

And sin

is easy

to gratify

those types

of senses.

Right?

It's easy

to see the value,

the short-term value,

albeit,

in some of these things

because it's so readily

available for us.

So,

if then we choose

sin

over the glorious

ways of Jesus Christ,

what I propose to you

is that we're not

tasting,

we're not seeing,

we're not

feeling

Jesus Christ.

You set the

pleasures that are

available to us

from the things

of the world

and the things

of Christ

on a scale

and the scale

in an amazing,

immeasurable way

tips to Christ.

The things of earth

will go strangely dim

in the light of what?

Christ's glorious

grace.

So,

so let's talk about this

a little bit more,

this idea,

and to further

explain it,

I want to use

another biblical metaphor.

So,

Paul's been talking

about not being

of the night,

but rather being

children of the day,

walking as those

who walk

in the day.

Another common

biblical metaphor,

which is found

often,

particularly in the

Psalms,

is of men

with divided hearts.

For example,

Psalm 119,

Psalms 119:2

verses 2 and 3,

reads,

blessed are those

who keep

his testimonies,

who seek him

with their whole heart,

who also do no wrong,

but walk in his ways.

And here we see

that language of walking,

just like we've seen

in Romans chapter 13.

Romans 13 · chapter mention

Right?

Blessed are those

who keep his testimonies,

who seek him

with their whole heart,

who also do no wrong,

but walk in his ways.

Walk in the Greek

means to behave,

the act of behavior.

In the Hebrew,

it's a manner of life.

Same thing, right?

Synonymous here

in this way.

Psalm 119.10 reads,

With my whole heart

I seek you.

Let me not wander

from your commandments.

Psalm 86.11,

Teach me your way,

O Lord,

that I may walk

in your truth.

Unite my heart

to fear your name.

Do you see

the connectivity

between us

having undivided hearts,

hearts that are together

and focused

and the obedience

that comes with that.

Right?

Putting on the Lord Jesus Christ

that we may walk

as those who walk

in the day.

John Calvin said

of Psalm 86.11,

those of you

who think he's a scary guy,

listen to these

beautiful words.

Right?

In the word unite,

there is a very

beautiful metaphor

conveying the idea

that the heart of man

is full of tumult,

drawn asunder

and as it were

scattered about

in fragments

until God

has gathered it

to himself

and holds it together

in a state of steadfast

and persevering

obedience.

To cap off

the Psalm,

Psalm 119.32

and I love this one,

it says,

I will run

in the way

of your commandments

when you enlarge

my heart,

which can also

be rendered

when you set

my heart free.

Right?

Here is Psalm 119,

more than likely,

David wrote it,

right?

I will run

in the way

of your commandments

when you set

my heart free.

Children of light,

our hearts

have been set free.

We're no longer

slaves to sin.

We've been,

the bondage of that

has been broken for us.

We don't have to go

on sinning.

We don't have to be those

who dwell in dark places.

We've been granted

to be those

who walk in the light

and that is the point

that Paul is driving us to.

This knowledge of the time,

recognize who you are.

Right?

Not only that you should

live this way,

it's the fulfilling

of the law.

Right?

But that you can.

It's possible

that you might live

sinless lives.

It's been granted to us.

You recall the story

of when the Pharisees

brought the woman

to Jesus,

wanted him to condemn her.

You know the story.

He reaches down

and writes in the sand.

We don't know

what he wrote in the sand.

I would presume

it was the sins

of the men,

the accusers.

Don't really know.

But then he stands up

and he says,

you who is without sin,

throw the first stone.

And of course

they all drop their rocks

and walk away.

Right?

What does he say

to her after that?

Go and sin no more.

It does not mean

that we will.

I'm not standing here

to tell you

that I live

a sinless life.

I do not.

But it has been granted

to me

the ability

to do so.

And we should live

as those

who've been set free

from the bondage

of sin.

So back in

our text,

Romans chapter 13,

Romans 13 · chapter mention

here's kind of

a further clue

trying to bring us

back around

and pull this idea

together for you.

Verse 14 says,

but put on the Lord

Jesus Christ

and make no provision

for the flesh

to gratify its desires.

The one is subservient

to the other.

So notice

that the putting

on the Lord Jesus

is the way

in which

we make no provision

for the flesh.

And here's how.

The word provision

translated here

means literally

forethought.

Forethought.

So put on

the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is how this

could read.

And don't let

any thought

in your head

that will lead

to a sinful desire.

Not just

to the gratification

of the sinful desire,

but even

the desire

itself.

Paul's not saying

here,

put away

those things

that are a temptation

to you

to act on sin.

He's saying here,

cast off things

that will even

tempt you

to desire

sin.

He's getting again

at the very root

of who we are,

which is what?

It's the heart.

If we're putting

on the Lord Jesus Christ,

we will be people

of undivided hearts.

And we will

then necessarily,

as an outflow

of that,

we'll walk

in his ways.

Romans 12.2.

Let me back you up.

I always want to

show you context.

It's so important.

Paul didn't

write these

as little

jotted notes

and then somebody

put them together

in a collection

later on.

He wrote this

as a train

of thought

for us.

Romans 12.2,

he says,

do not be

conformed

to this world,

but be

transformed

by the renewing

of your mind.

Be transformed,

changed,

shaped.

It's continual

action that's

taking place here.

that we might

have hearts

that are

undivided.

So I ask

the question,

and some of you

may feel like

I haven't answered

it yet,

and that's okay,

because I haven't

completely.

How are we

to put on

the Lord Jesus

Christ?

So in part,

I've said

that we experience

him.

We behold

him.

We see him

in our lives

and in the lives

of others.

So how do we

do that practically?

Right?

If you want to

jot the notes,

what am I going

to do this week

to experience

Christ in a newer

and a deeper way

that I might

cast off the

works of darkness?

That I might not

live in that way,

but I might live

in the way of the

light?

How am I going

to do that

practically?

Break it down.

It's not all

that complicated.

There's no mystic

answer I'm going

to give you.

Some special

key to unlock

this.

Practice

the graces

that have been

given to you.

For example,

read your

scripture.

It is the

revelation

of Jesus Christ.

We talked about

this morning

in Aletheia Way,

didn't we?

Even those

Old Testament

stories.

The grand

heroes of the

Old Testament.

There are truths

to be mined on the

surface of all

of those stories

and there's the

truth that we

always want to

get to and that

is the person

and work of

Jesus Christ.

Take, for example,

the story of

David and Goliath.

Right?

A beautiful

story of an

obedient boy

who, in the

face of great

danger, faced a

giant to deliver

the Israelites.

Right?

What's the truth

in that?

Can we learn

things about being

obedient to God?

Sure.

Can we learn

things about God

being able to

accomplish things

with small means?

Absolutely.

Right?

But what is the

truth?

That David is a

type of Christ.

That coming to

defeat sin and

death on our

behalf, notice

that the

Israelites stood

by and watched

as he went and

slayed the giant

that was Goliath.

Right?

That's the

truth.

It's everywhere

in the scriptures.

From the very

beginning to the

very end, it all

speaks of Christ.

Spend time in

this book.

Church, we

don't know the

scriptures the

way we should.

I put myself in

that category.

Right?

It's a lot of

words found in

here, these 66

books of the

Bible.

But if we would

diligently study

this, we would

know it so

well.

It's a book.

So many of you

can quote from so

many other books.

What about this

one?

The most precious

book ever written.

It was written by

our Lord.

And beyond that,

we have the

Spirit of God to

help us understand

it, to discern

it, to apply it to

our living, to

bring it to

remembrance as we

need it.

It is alive and

it is active.

And if you have

not experienced

that, get busy

experiencing it.

Every day you

open the scriptures,

you will not have

your affections turn

towards Christ.

Do it anyway.

Keep after it.

It is a discipline

at times.

A great, great joy

at others.

Make it a habit

if you can.

Time permits.

Make it a habit

to do as George

Mueller did,

where when he

started reading his

scriptures in the

morning, he read

them until his

affections were set

on Christ.

Set on Christ.

That's how he

began his day.

That he might

behold Christ at

the very beginning

of the day.

That all that other

stuff would then

become filthy,

rags, to be

cast off.

Right?

Are you feeling

defeated in sin

and you don't

read your scriptures?

It's a place to

start.

Secondly, pray.

Church, we've been

given a great grace

in prayer.

We have been

granted by Christ

to approach God

at any time

of the day

with any

concern.

We can cast

all of our

anxieties and cares

on him because

he cares for us.

The Most High,

the Creator of

the universe,

by his might

and power,

he spoke it

into existence.

He now holds it

in its sway

with that very

same word,

wants to have

a conversation

with you.

Not just to hear

what you have to

say, but to

respond to you.

It's such a

blessing to pray.

If you appreciate

the Father,

part of Father

God, he wants

you to sit on

his lap.

Right?

And chat

about how your

day's going,

what's concerning

you.

And he wants

to speak

into your ear

about how

he is going

to work

through you

and for you

to accomplish

good in your

life.

Why do we not

pray?

Thirdly,

invest in the

church.

Notice that I

didn't say

attend the

church.

church.

It's an easy

thing.

I'm thankful

that every

single one of

you are here

this morning,

that you took

the effort to

get up, get

ready, to

show up.

That's the

easy part.

Right?

And it's not

all there is to

church life.

invest in it.

Get to know

people.

Share your

life with

them.

Right?

Serve.

Be involved

in these

ways.

Because if our

goal is we're

going to try to

behold Christ so

that we can

discard, we can

cast away the

works of

darkness.

You want to

see Christ in

the world?

Look at him in

his people.

He is

transforming us

day by day,

little by little.

And if you

will take the

time to get to

know somebody

beyond the

surface of

things and get

into the

spiritual of

things, you

will see that

he is working

in people's

lives.

He's causing

them to do

things that

they wouldn't

normally do.

Right?

He's making

them new

creations.

It's a work

that only can

be accomplished

by God.

You will be

amazed as you

spend time with

people in that

way of how

enthralled you

will become

with Christ.

So invest.

Invest in the

church.

Not necessarily

this one,

although we'd

love to have

you.

Get involved

with a group

of believers

and consistently

march it out

with them.

And then

fourthly, be

radically

obedient.

Go where

God calls

you to go,

whether that

is this

afternoon to

a neighbor or

to the ends

of the earth

someday,

wherever God

leads, go

there.

Because if

you go where

he's working

and inviting

you, you

will experience

him in that

place.

You will see

him in the

same way you

see him

working in

the lives

of people

in the

church.

You will

see him

working in

grand ways

in the

lost world.

Be

obedient.

Track

him where

he goes.

Our God

has a grand

mission.

He is calling

his church

out of this

world.

When he

is done,

all things

here will

come to an

end and

he'll establish

a new

heaven and

a new

earth.

It's getting

done,

everybody.

It's not

done yet,

but it's

getting done.

He doesn't

need us.

Hear me

carefully.

He does

not need

you, but

he loves

you.

He wants

you to

experience life

to the

fullest.

And you

know where

we're most

likely to do

that?

With

him.

Go be

where God

is.

Working

in this

world.

And you

will have

newer,

grander,

higher

visions of

Jesus Christ.

And when

you do

that,

casting the

garment off

and never

putting it

back on

becomes

easier and

easier and

easier.

The scale

always tips

heavily in

his favor.

If you're

finding yourself

fighting this

battle with

sin,

the woe is

me type of

Christian,

just can't

get a handle

on it,

you're probably

fighting it

wrong.

Fight it

by putting

on the

Lord Jesus

Christ.

Read about

him in

his scriptures.

Pray to

him.

Meet with

the church

that you

might see

Christ in

his people

and go

and be

obedient with

him in

the world

so that

you'll see

him alive

and active

there.

I can

promise

you,

you will

not be

disappointed.

Let's not

act as though

this battle

has no

consequence.

Get busy

killing sin

or it's

going to

kill you.

If you're

a Christian,

the final

full penalty

for sin

has been

paid for

you in

Christ.

But our

sin still

has temporal

punishment.

We still

experience the

downside

of sin.

We have

momentary

pleasure and

then the

downside of

all the

things that

come along

with it.

So don't

act like

it's not

affecting you.

That you

can bop

around,

experiencing

God's

grace as

he forgives

you for

the things

that you're

doing.

It has

dire and

serious

consequence

in the

here and

now.

Why would

you trade

lesser

things,

greater

things,

for lesser

things?

Excuse me.

Why would

you trade

joy and

satisfaction,

peace that's

found in

Christ,

for trifling

little,

momentary

pleasures?

sinners.

You do it

because you're

a sinner

by nature

and you

don't

behold

Christ

the way

you ought.

So beloved,

we know

the time

we live

in.

If we

didn't,

we know

now.

We live

between

these two

worlds,

but we

have been

set free

from the

bondage

of sin.

So then

let us

cast off

the works

of darkness

and let us

put on the

armor of

light.

let us

walk

properly

in the

daytime

because we

have

Jesus

Christ.

Let's pray

together.