Wake From Sleep and Put On Christ
November 13, 2024 · 1:44:53 · Watch on YouTube ↗
Summary
The evening opened with Psalm 42 - as the deer pants for streams of water, so the soul longs for the living God. From that hunger the main message turned to Romans 13:11-14, where the preacher pressed one question: do we know the hour we live in? These are the last days, and it is time to wake from spiritual sleep.
Using the picture of a driver who dozes off at the wheel, he warned that spiritual sleep is far more dangerous than physical sleep, because it ends not in a wrecked car but in a ruined soul. So we must cast off the works of darkness, put on the armor of light, and clothe ourselves in the Lord Jesus the way we put on clothing - until we think, speak, and shine like Him. Salvation is nearer now than when we first believed, and sin is simply sin: fornication and drunkenness, but also quarreling and envy, all stand before God on the same shelf.
A second message carried this into our relationships. Following Christ's example in 1 Peter 2, it is better to be wronged than to fight to be proven right: He did not revile in return, did not threaten, but entrusted Himself to the One who judges righteously. Do not judge before the time, for the eyes of the Lord behold all (Proverbs 15:3); the stories of Jacob with Laban and of Joseph show that God turns evil into good and repays in His own season. So forgive, as Christ forgave us.
Key Points
- Know the hour: we live in the last days, so it is time to wake from spiritual sleep.
- Spiritual sleep is far more dangerous than physical sleep - it leads to eternal ruin.
- Cast off the works of darkness and put on Christ like a garment until you think, speak, and shine as He does.
- Before God all sin is sin: gossip and envy weigh as heavily as the sins we are quickest to condemn.
- Follow Christ's example - do not retaliate, do not threaten, but entrust your cause to the righteous Judge.
- Choose to be wronged rather than battle to be right; forgiveness opens a door that was shut.
- God sees everything done in secret and will repay openly in His own time.
Devotional
Like the deer panting for streams of water, my soul was made to thirst for the living God. Tonight He asks me one honest question: am I awake, or has comfort quietly lulled me to sleep? Let me throw off whatever belongs to the darkness and put on the Lord Jesus until His mind, His words, and His patience become my own. And when I am wronged, let me not reach for revenge but hand my cause to the One whose eyes see all, knowing that the God who rewards in secret forgets no act of love.
“Spiritual sleep is more dangerous than dozing at the wheel - one wrecks the body, the other the soul.”
“Put on Christ like clothing, and you will begin to think, speak, and shine as He does.”
“Don't fight to prove you are right; the God who sees in secret will repay in the open.”
