Obedience In The Last Days | Romans 13:11-14

Scripture

• Romans 13:11–14

About this sermon

Introduction: At some point in each of our lives we will meet with something that we vastly underestimated. We will meet with something that is very important, very weighty, greatly consequential, that we foolishly treated like it was far less important than it actually was. Making good grades might seem like a relatively unimportant thing in high school, until you cannot get into the college you wanted to attend. What you post on the internet might seem like a small thing, until that job you really want chooses to include your social media accounts in your background examination. Ignoring some warning signs in the dating process, and, perhaps, some warning voices, might not seem that big a deal, until you are married, and the things that were warned about prove to be true. All of those examples could be joined by thousands of others, but you understand. This is what we often do. We find ourselves surprised when reality shows up, not because we were not told about it, not because we did not acknowledge it intellectually, not because we could not have told others about the importance of that reality, but BECAUSE WE DID NOT PROPERLY ASSESS THAT REALITY. We lived like it was not really on the way, like it would never really show up, but then it did. All those wake-up calls don’t begin to compare to the kind of reality that we are exhorted about in THESE VERSES. Here we are reminded about the greatest, weightiest, meeting with reality that we will ever experience. • THE CALL TO OBEDIENCE (vs.11a) The first thing that we see in our text is a call to act. It is a call for obedience. The Greek text reads: “and this, knowing the time.” “And this” καὶ τοῦτο How are those two words functioning? NASB – “Do this” (reaching back to the previous instruction and requiring an implied verb made clear from by the context) represents a call to action. ESV – “Besides this” (reaching back to previous instruction and moving to a new section) introducing something additional. Thomas Schreiner – “The words καὶ τοῦτο (kai touto, and this) actually constitute the first admonition. Other instances of καὶ τοῦτο (and this) are parallel to the construction here (cf. 1 Cor. 6:6, 8; Eph. 2:8; Phil. 1:28). In these cases τοῦτο (this) refers back to what precedes and sums up the previous thought or verses… The first part of the verse can then be paraphrased, “Put into practice3 (The implied verb is likely ποιεῖτε (poieite; so Lövestam 1963: 27).) all of the exhortations in Rom. 12:1–13:10” in light of the imminence of the end. Romans 13:11–14, then, comprehends all the preceding exhortations and summons the readers to urgency because the end is on the horizon.” The participle (εἰδότες) might be taken as the ESV has, as an indicative, (“you know the time”), but most think it right to see it as the NASB has it, “knowing the time.” Schreiner – “The participle εἰδότες (knowing) is causal.” So, the thought is this, what Paul has just been teaching (whether it is as limited as the instruction on love, or as comprehensive as beginning with Romans 12:1) MUST BE PUT INTO PRACTICE, and what should cause them to PUT THESE THINGS INTO PRACTICE is their knowledge of the time. Now, I just want to pause here to make this point. Christians are called to act on what they are taught. We are not taught the truth of Scripture to simply educate us. We are taught the truth of Scripture to ANIMATE us. We are taught the truth of Scripture to MOVE US TO ACTION. The teaching of God’s Word is for the purpose of the DOING of God’s will. We are meant to OBEY what we learn. Our lives must be transformed by what we know. And what Paul does in this section makes clear that ONE ASPECT OF WHAT WE KNOW that is essential to a faithful life, IS THE KNOWLEDGE OF OUR TIME. The knowledge of the AGE in which we are living, and the knowledge of THE AGE THAT IS COMING. • THE CONTEXT FOR OBEDIENCE (vs.11b-12a) This is the second thing that we see in our text. We see the context for our obedience. The context is a knowledge concerning the timeline of where we stand with respect to eternity. It is a knowledge that motivates, that should cause us to strive for, faithful living. We practice what we have been taught KNOWING the time. The word for time is καιρός as opposed to χρόνος. It is the word for time that has reference to a season — a period of time. But what is significant here is not so much the word that Paul uses, though the word he uses fits with what he is discussing. What is significant is the way that the time is described. Paul is clearly referring to the last days. IT IS A TIME TO BE AWAKE NOT TO SLEEP (vs.11) IT IS A TIME WHEN FINAL SALVATION IS NEARER THAN EVER (vs.11) IT IS A TIME WHEN THE NIGHT IS ALMOST GONE AND THE DAY IS AT HAND (vs.12) IT IS A TIME WHEN THE WORKS OF DARKNESS MUST BE JETTISONED AND THE ARMOR OF LIGHT MUST BE PUT ON (vs.12) What he is saying is that the Christian is standing right at the door of forever.

Topics

• Obedience
• Second Coming
• Prophecy & End Times