Do You Know What Time It Is?

“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. 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, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” (Rom. 13:11-14)

Slumbering saints: that is the picture drawn by today’s text – comatose Christians slumbering in the sensuality of their times. That Paul is addressing believers cannot be doubted; beginning with Romans 1:1-5 he proclaimed the matchless Savior and those who are called to be saints. In Romans chapters 1-11 the apostle labored to help these believers understand sound doctrine. In chapters 12-16, he made practical applications of that teaching. His first appeal in this practical section was for each believer to present himself as a living sacrifice and turn away from conformity to the world (Romans 12:1-2). In chapter 12 he gave careful instruction about how a Christian should labor within a congregation. In chapter 13, Paul explained how a believer should function within a governmental state. Today’s text comes immediately after his strong admonition for the Christians to demonstrate love; genuine love produces behavior that is opposite to the adulterous sensuality and violence of this world. Paul’s wake-up call to slumbering saints is simple: “Knowing the time that it is high time to awaken out of sleep.”

Wake Up: It is high time to awaken out of sleep

What did Paul mean by using the word “sleep” in this context? He used the word to indicate that believers need to wake up to the true state of their spiritual lives. It meant that they were conforming to or molded by their sensual society. The result was a general lack of concern about themselves or those around them. One author noted that this “sleep” refers to “a moral drowsiness that inclines people to do the works of darkness, the vices that people practice in secret.”¹

If someone asked for the definition of the word “woke,” I would imagine that many people would say it is the past tense of the word “wake.” But the slang term “woke” has come to mean, “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues…”² Now if you stopped right there, I think most of us could agree that the term means that one is awakened to real and significant matters. The rest of the slang definition reads, “(especially issues of racial and social justice).”³ The social justice warriors of our day insist that we need to wake up to issues that they consider to be of primary importance. But in Romans 13:11-14, Paul was alerting Christians to a far more alarming set of circumstances. To prepare my own heart for this message, I prepared several questions about spiritual sleepiness and wakefulness. I soon realized that you could fill a book with allusions to moral drowsiness and solutions of Scriptural wakefulness

Why Should a Believer Wake Up?

“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. The night is far spent, the day is at hand…”

The believer should wake up because it’s almost daylight. The word first use of the word “time” here refers not merely to the passing of moments; it refers to the coming of the Messiah. In this passage, “the night” is this present darkness, ruled by spiritual wickedness (Ephesians 6:12). The reason a believer should stir himself up to wakefulness is that “the day” (of Christ’s return) is near. Our salvation – our ultimate redemption – is nearer than when we believed. This is true of every believer. As he reads God’s Word and hears the news of the day each believer can understand why he should awaken from sleep.

How Should a Believer Walk in Wakefulness?

In a recent editorial column, Cal Thomas asked, “What defines true and right in 2021 when just about everything that was considered true and right for millennia is now considered outdated by the cultural bandits? How are their replacements working out?”⁴ Their replacements are failing miserably and each new day brings news that they are scrambling to come up with something different. Why not return to the values and behaviors revealed to us by our Lord? In the light of His coming, it is high time to awaken out of sleep. To help the members of the congregation make specific choices about right and wrong, Paul made these appeals:

• Let us put away the works of darkness. Do not make provisions for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.

Put away riotous revelry and drunkenness; put away immorality and sensuality; put away quarreling and jealousy. In these three couplets, the first word presents an effect that might be the consequence of the cause indicated in the second word. Revelry is a result of drunkenness. Sexual immorality results from sensuality. Quarreling is the result of jealousy. As you know, these words identify the common sins of our society today. As you also know these behaviors are destroying the lives of people, yet they are the behaviors featured in much of modern entertainment. Wake up! Don’t succumb to seduction by the sensuality of this age.

Bethan Roper was under the influence of alcohol when she boarded that train from Bath, England on December 1, 2018. As the train gathered speed, she ignored the caution signs, lowered the window, and thrust her head out of the window. The inquest found that “She was struck by the stem of a tree sustaining a fatal head injury,” noting that she had “boarded the train under the influence of alcohol.”⁵ Like many in our society, she was speeding along oblivious to the dangers. In our country, STD’s are already beginning to spike as states come out of Covid-19 lockdowns. Quarreling, including gang violence and demonstrations, are at an all-time high.

Christians are called to wake up and turn from these sins.

• Let us put on the armor of light. Let us put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus told believers, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14), just as He is the light of the world (John 9:5). Picture this scene in your imagination: Multitudes of men and women, boys and girls are trudging through the darkness without hope. Then they see a gleam of light. As they turn to catch that gleam, they see men and women, boys and girls wearing the armor of light, reflecting the light of the coming Day of Christ. And there is hope. Each Christian carries “the preparation of the Gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15). Each one could and should testify of God’s Lamb who came to pay the price for the sins of the world. Our Lord is the Light of the world who gave Himself to pay for our sins and rise again from the dead that we could become sons of light in the midst of this crooked generation (Philippians 2:15). Now we must shine as lights in this world.

• Let us walk in a manner appropriate to The Day.

We have everything we need to do God’s will. We could and should live our lives in the light of that coming Day – as if that Day were already here.

Here are some questions about sleepiness and wakefulness to apply today’s message.

Has discouragement or fatigue caused me to become faithless in the Lord’s work? Am I laid back when there is an urgent need for someone to step up and take leadership?

• To His disciples, Jesus appealed, “Could you not watch with me one hour [in prayer]?” (Matthew 26:40)
• The Lord told Ezekiel that He could find no man to stand in the gap (Ezekiel 22:30).

Am I dwelling in a drowsy, double-minded manner without discernment in my use of discretionary time?

• James 1:8 and 4:8 connect this double-minded approach to a failure to persevere in prayer and a failure to purify my heart.
• On one occasion, David used his discretionary time in a manner that led to everlasting rewards (2 Samuel 7:1-13). But on another occasion, he used his discretionary time in a way that brought lifelong heartache (2 Samuel 11:1-12:14).
• Knowing that whom the Lord loves, He chastens (disciplines), those who slumber must know that they are on the cusp of a rude awakening by God’s chastening (Hebrews 12:4-11).

Am I weary in well-doing?

• And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.  (Galatians 6:9) The principle of sowing and reaping is still in force.
• “But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.” (2 Thessalonians 3:13) In context, this admonition applies, “If a man will not work, neither let him eat.”

Am I sleepwalking in self-sufficiency amidst the treacherous temptations of worldliness?

• Lot was a believer who vexed his righteous soul through purposeful and passive acceptance of worldliness (2 Peter 2:7-8). He lived self-sufficiently rather than as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2).
• Have I forgotten that I was purged from my old sins and failed to make my calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:9-10)?
• Isaiah lamented the gross wickedness of the day and was even more shocked that no man stirred himself up to take hold of the Lord. (Isaiah 64:6-7)
• Paul reminded the congregation at Corinth: “let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).
• Can I entertain myself with the very sins for which Christ died?
• Do I coddle my fleshly appetites by my feeble apathy? (Colossians 3:4-5)

Am I listless while there is a lion on the loose?

• Peter appealed for a sober vigilance because the adversary, the devil, roams around seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8).
• The Lord had told Peter, “Satan has desired to sift you [like wheat], but I have prayed for you that you faith does not fail” (Luke 22:31).

Am I largely oblivious to the eternal destinies of the people around me?

• When Paul wrote to the congregation at Corinth, he taught that bad company corrupts good morals. His solution was this: Awake to righteousness and stop sinning for some have no knowledge of God. He spoke this to their shame (1 Corinthians 15:33-34).
• The Lord told Daniel that, at the resurrection, some would be raised to everlasting life, while some would be raised to shame and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:2).

Am I passive about the accurate preaching of God’s Word? Listless and distracted rather than eagerly engaged? Am I helping others, recognizing the dangers of the hardness of heart?

• Paul warned Timothy about just such seasons and encouraged him to “preach the Word” in perilous times (2 Timothy 3:1-4:5).
• Paul warned the Thessalonian congregation not to quench God’s Spirit by despising accurate doctrinal preaching (2 Thessalonians 5:19-22).
• God’s Servant longed to have His ear awakened each day so that He might know how to speak a word in season to those who are weary (Isaiah 50:4-7).
• Hebrews 3:13 commands us to encourage each other daily so that no one of us huddles down in hardness of heart. We must take heed to ourselves and to Biblical doctrine (1 Timothy 4:16).

Am I napping while the next generation is facing bondage because of wickedness?

• Good King Hezekiah was told about the coming judgment from Babylon, but that there would be peace during his lifetime. He responded, “Is it not good if peace and truth be in my days?” (2 Kings 20:17-20). When good King Josiah was told the same thing, he zealously gathered the people together (2 Chronicles 34:28-35:18) to hear God’s Word and put it into practice. As a result, the people celebrated the most remarkable Passover on record.

Are my senses dulled concerning the imminent dangers facing my nation?

• When Judah faced those imminent dangers, the people ate and drank saying, “Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we shall die” (Isaiah 22:1-14).

Isn’t clear to all of us that it is high time to awaken out of sleep? Let us cast off the works of darkness. Let us put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Pastor Gordon Dickson, Calvary Baptist Church, Findlay, Ohio www.cbcfindlay.org

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Photo by zoetnet, shared under Creative Commons License 2.0

1. David Abernathy, An Exegetical Summary of Romans 9–16 (Dallas, TX: SIL International, 2009), 259. Citing Thomas Schreiner on Romans, Baker Exegetical Commentary. [↩]
2. “Woke” Merriam-Webster dictionary accessed at https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/woke [↩]
3. Ibid. [↩]
4. Cal Thomas, “In pursuit of wisdom” West Central Tribune, June 12, 2021, accessed at https://www.wctrib.com/opinion/7067499-Cal-Thomas-In-pursuit-of-wisdom [↩]
5. “Train passenger Bethan Roper killed by tree branch, jury finds,” BBC News, June 2, 2021 accessed at https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-57354699 [↩]