Sooner Now Than When We First Believed

Introduction:

My wife and oldest son and I came down back in November of last year

So you don’t think I am just some total stranger...

- Picture of my family

Wife Victoria (married 3 years)

Calvin just turned 2

Hudson (3 months)

Fast sanctification - get married and have kids

My wife and I are from Anaheim, California.

Kind of close to Disneyland

Serving at CCSG in Yorba Linda, CA

Met pastor Ryan at a missions trip in Jordan last spring

Before we begin, embarrassing stories about Pastor Ryan. (Joking, maybe next time)

Today I come to you with one purpose, and that is to bring you the Word of God.

Been to many countries, one thing I’ve learned:

No matter your cultural background, the Word of God applies to everyone. Qqaqq

The Word of God is not just for Americans, or Mexicans

Just as it wasn’t just for the Jews in the time of Christ

It is for all people

And in fact, the truth found in God’s Word is what binds us together as a family

It is what teaches us to worship Him in one Spirit together, it’s a beautiful thing. Amen?

Today I want to share a topic that is very near to my heart

And one that has become increasingly urgent in light of everything we have experienced in our world over the last year

I think you will agree with me when I say that our world has been flipped upside down.

And it seems like it has been almost instantaneous

So much has changed

I don’t know about you but these days I find myself thinking about life before COVID and life after Covid, and it seems like two separate worlds in many ways

It seems like we went from a world of color to a world that is black and white

And it just reminds me that God is in control, and that at his command, things can change just like that

And so the topic that I want to talk to you about this morning is the urgency of the hour in which we live

Just as the world changed so radically over this last year, it should remind us that there is an even greater truth that we should be aware of

That Jesus is coming back

That we as the Bride of Christ, need to be pure and ready for the day that He takes us home

Title: Closer Now than when we First Believed

Romans 13:11-14

Read section

If any of you are familiar with Romans, you know that it is a letter about the gospel

The apostle Paul wrote this letter to the church in Rome so that he could give a detailed defense for the gospel that was entrusted to him

And so, really for the first half of the letter, Paul explains many important truths about the gospel that we need to know as believers

He explains why all people, Jew and Gentile, deserve the wrath of God

He explains what it means to be justified (made right with God)

He explains how we are sanctified, or made more into the image of Jesus

He explains glorification (our future glory and perfection in heaven)

Many important truths that we need to be grounded in if we are to understand what it means to be saved

But as Paul gets to the close of the letter, the focus becomes less on doctrine, and more on practice

Romans 12:1-2

I abeseech 1you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies ba living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your 2reasonable service. 2 And cdo not be conformed to this world, but dbe transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may eprove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

So it is clear that just understanding the right doctrine isn’t enough. It is just the start.

Our beliefs should affect the way that we live our lives

How am I to live in a world that has been plagued by sin?

How should I honor the government that I am placed under?

How am I to use my gifts to love and serve other people?

Many questions like that, Paul deals with

But as we dive into our section here, Paul is going to deal with a subject that is very important

And a subject that unfortunately, many people in the church are not mindful of

And that is the subject of Christ’s imminent return

Verse 11

Back at home, I work full time in construction

And one thing that I have come to understand about working in construction is that there are dangerous situations constantly

Large vehicles driving by you carrying large objects

There are electrical hazards

There are fall hazards

At my last job, I was working on the fourth floor next to a giant hole that drops through the other three floors. Something like a 50 foot drop

I work with tools that could seriously injure me if I am not careful

And so, being around so many hazards on a daily basis has taught me one thing: to be extremely cautious

I know that within just a few moments, my life could change forever

One wrong move and I could end up with an injury that will last me a lifetime, or even worse

I might even say that I know injury is imminent if I am not being safe

The reason I say that is because, as followers of Jesus, we are going to meet the Lord face to face

Whether we live out our natural lives and fall asleep to awaken in the presence of God

Or we are privledged to be that generation that will not see death but will be caught up with the Lord in the air

The truth remains the same

Every person in this room today will meet the Lord

That is a reality that we will all face

Now I pray that all of you are on the right side of that reality.

Meaning that all of you have placed your faith and trust in Jesus Christ

But the point of the message this morning is first and foremost for those who already believe

That you would live your life in light of the imminent return of Jesus Christ

That it would be like a carrot hanging in front of the horses mouth, leading you along

The first point I have for you this morning is

1) Wake Up

“Besides this, you KNOW the time”

- what Paul is saying here is that we of all people should understand the times we live in

- The word Paul uses for time here speaks of a season or a period of time

- Let me try and put it as simply as I can

- You exist right now for a purpose

- God in his sovereignty chose to allow you to live in this time, in this area, for a purpose

- If you were to go to a graveyard and look at all of the tombstones there, you would probably find something in common

- on those tombstones, you would usually find the year of birth, and the year of death

- but in between those two years, you would also see a dash

- that dash represents your life

- it represents that window of opportunity God has given you by his grace

- The encouragement for us is to wake up

- not to waste our lives

- and the reason for that is very clear

- it is because our salvation is nearer than it was the day we believed

- in one sense that is true for anyone here who is a believer. You are closer to being in heaven now than you were when you first got saved

- but to the first century church, there was a great expectancy that Christ was going to return

- and that is because Jesus himself told his disciples plainly that he would come back for his disciples

John 14:1-3

Let anot your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many 1mansions; if it were not so, 2I would have told you. bI go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, cI will come again and receive you to Myself; that dwhere I am, there you may be also.

Acts 1:6-8

Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, i“It is not for you to jknow times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 kBut you shall receive power lwhen the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and myou shall be 3witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and nSamaria, and to the oend of the earth.”

- If Paul told the first century Christians that the day of salvation was closer than when they first believed, surely it is much closer for us who live 2000 years later

2) Remove the Evil Among You

Verse 12-13

As Paul progresses through this section, we are going to see the illustration of a soldier unfold

The picture Paul has in his mind is of a man enlisted in an army

A man preparing for war

Engaged in the normal duties of a soldier during the day and all of the exercises that would go along with that

And yet once the night approaches, laying aside his duties as a soldier and engaging in wicked practices

And the picture that is given to us in verse 13 is a very graphic picture

It speaks of somebody engaged in a wild drinking party, given over to sexual orgies and rivalries with fellow soldiers

And this wickedness takes that soldier late into the night and into the early morning

So much so that it renders that soldier unable to perform his duties to the manner in which he is called

Paul uses this picture as a powerful warning to followers of Christ

We as the disciples of Christ are in a spiritual battle

We are not to sit around wasting our time with the pursuits of this world.

Rather we are to wake up to the high calling we have as His followers.

We have a short window of time to live for the glory of God

Only a couple of things we cannot do in heaven

We can’t sin, we can’t evangelize the lost

1 Thess. 5:4-6

But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all fsons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 gTherefore let us not sleep, as others do, but hlet us watch and be 1sober.

It’s very interesting because here in 1 Thessalonians, Paul is talking about the coming Day of the Lord.

Specifically, he is talking about the Day when the wrath of God will come upon those who dwell upon the earth

But Paul says that that we are not in the darkness for that day to overtake us as a thief

And he will go on to say that God has not appointed us to wrath. He has not appointed his church to go through that period of tribulation. But he has appointed us to obtain salvation through Jesus Christ.

Why is it important that we understand this?

Because there is no greater hope that we have than to know that we will be rescued from the wrath of God

We are children of the Day

We are those who will be saved!

When you realize this, it does something incredible to your soul.

For me it made me understand that I am not of this world

I do not have to let all of the problems in this world bring me down

And believe me, there are plenty of problems in this world

But when you understand that this world is not your home, you can be free to live the way God called you to live

And you can be prepared for the battle ahead.

In my mind, it’s much easier to prepare for a battle when you already know you’re going to win

When you

It’s much easier to prepare for a battle when you already know you are going to win, amen?

You are on the winning team

Paul reminds

SOLDIER ANALOGY

1) Wake up

2) Purge the Evil Among You

3) Put on Christ Your Righteousness