Duck in the Pulpit

Wake up from Spiritual Slumber (Romans 13.11-14)

Besides this you know the time; the hour has come for you to wake up from sleep. For final redemption is nearer to us now than when we first believed. I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short, for your lives must be lived in the realization that there is no time to waste because the present form of this world is passing away. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be self-controlled and sober minded for the sake of your prayers. The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance, leading lives of holiness and godliness. We know that it is the last hour. Sober up, as you rightly ought to, and sin no more, for some people have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. For 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 stay awake and be sober. Thus says the Lord: “Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon My salvation will come and My deliverance be revealed.” Straighten up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near.

Not only Creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as children, the redemption of our bodies, by which we are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. For by grace, you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. In the case of unbelievers, the god of this world has blinded their minds, to keep them from seeing clearly the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand firm. By God’s power you are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

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. We must work the works of Him who sent us while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. Now you must get rid of all such things: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusivelanguage from your mouth. Do not neglect to meet, as is the habit of some, but encourage one another, and even more as you see the Day draws near. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness but instead expose them. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. Truthful speech and the power of God are the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober and put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and debauchery, not in quarreling and jealousy, so that you may walk properly. But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. You have already spent enough time doing what unbelievers like to do, living in passions of the flesh, revels, lawless idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. If you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. For where there are envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind.

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Let the saints be clothed with righteousness and let the faithful shout for joy. Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its Creator. Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.