Sudden Diagnosis And Mortality

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I woke up one day and my eyesight was completely out of walk. I went to the eye doctor who told me there's something unusual happening here and sent me to urgent care. The doctor there checked my blood sugar. It was over 800, dangerously high. She warned me that I was in danger of my vital organs beginning to shut down and told me to go to the emergency room. Suddenly, for the first time in my life, I came face to face with my own mortality.

Romans Sets Off The Alarm

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In Romans 13, 11-12, the Apostle Paul tells us that regardless of our age, every Christian needs to understand the present time because the hour has already come for us to wake up from our slumber. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believe. The night is nearly over. The day is almost here. Paul admonishes us to put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Stay with me as we analyze this powerful passage and discover why Paul says it is time for us to wake up and what it really means to put on the armor of light. That day in the emergency room, time stopped being an idea and became a fact. I do not get to negotiate how much of it I have left. Paul is doing the same thing here. In Romans 13, 11, he's not offering a suggestion. He is telling us what time it is. In light of everything he has already taught, present your bodies to God as a living sacrifice. Do not be conformed to this world. Be transformed by the renewing of your minds. Live in love. Do all of it now. The day of the Lord is near. Time is limited. Opportunity is fleeting. Life is short. The time to obey is now.

Kairos Time And Opportunity

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The Greek word Paul uses for time is Kairos. It is not just the ticking of the clock. That kind of time is Kronos. Minutes passing one after another. Kairos is God's time. It is the right moment, the best time to act. Not a string of minutes, but a window of opportunity. Even our English word opportunity was born by the sea. When the tide rose high enough for a ship to leave the harbor, they call it opposite. Time and tide together. That was the moment to sail. Miss it and you waited. Paul is telling us to take the opportunities God puts in front of us. Our neighbor is any person God has placed in our path whom we can help. All Christians should engage in carpetiem. That is, seize the day, redeem the time. Every day reminds us that the time God has entrusted to us is limited. City Stud wrote, only one life till soon pass. Only what's done for Christ will last. We should also keep in mind that if Christ does not return in our time, he will certainly come individually for us in debt. The time to do God's will is always now.

Kubla Khan And A Missed Moment

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Scholars describe the following incident as the biggest lost opportunity in missionary history. Genghis Khan at one point ruled over two million people in a Mongolian empire that stretched from China to India and from Siberia to the edges of Western Europe. This is more territory than any man has ever ruled. Following Khan's death, the bulk of his empire went to his grandson, Kublai Khan, who established his capital city in Beijing. Kublla Khan had two Italians in his court named Polo, the father and the uncle of famed explorer Marco Polo. They began to tell Kubla Khan about Christianity, and the great ruler became very interested. He sent the Polo brothers back with a request for 100 missionaries to tell the Mongolians and the Chinese about Christianity. Kublla Khan stated, when we learn about Christianity, there'll be more Christians in my empire than in all Europe. The Polars returned to Europe with the message, but no one was interested in going. Finally, two friars agreed to go with the Polars, but along the way the friars got faint-hearted and turned around and went home. When they got back to Kublakan, he said, Where are the missionaries? No one had come. Eventually the church did send a small handful of missionaries, but by that time the opportunity had passed. The tragedy of life is so often the tragedy of the lost opportunity.

What Spiritual Sleep Looks Like

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In our first waking moments, we become increasingly aware of the light. Suddenly it dawns upon us. It is morning. Good grief. What time is it? We grab the clock. Oh no, we have overslept. The day has begun, but we have not. We shed off bed clothes and hastily dress, running from our bedroom to get to the day's duties. In Romans 13, 11, this is a picture Paul is painting. Paul sets off an alarm clock to awaken believers who have gone to sleep spiritually. The night is nearly over. The new day is dawning, the day of our Lord's return. We must put off our night clothes and put on clothes appropriate for the work our Lord calls us to do. Paul knows we are prone to spiritual drowsiness. An opportunity to share the gospel comes and we miss it. Temptation hits and we are too sleepy to flee. We waste the day on things that will not matter because we have forgotten how short the time is. Paul is not talking about ordinary sleep. He's talking about spiritual lethargy, apathy, a heart that no longer responds to the things that please God. The Greek word is hypnos. We get our words hypnotic and hypnosis from it. Paul is telling us to wake up from that hypnotic state, the spell of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Spiritual slumber shows up as a slackening of fate. We still read the Bible, but with little hunger and little application. We still pray, but with little earnestness. The fire for righteous living and serving God has gone low. The story is told of a young man who started working in a warehouse. He would enter the warehouse but could not be found after that. Finally, his location was revealed through his snoring. He had pulled a bunch of warehouse crates around himself, made a little hiding place, and was sleeping on the job. The other workers gathered around the sleeping beauty, and on the count of three shouted, Wake up! That is what Paul is doing here. This is a call to the sleepy Christian to wake up.

Salvation Nearer Than We Think

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Having believed in Christ, we have been saved in the past. We have been saved in the present. We will be completely saved in the future when we meet the Lord. It is that third aspect of salvation that Paul refers to. Christians will be glorified when Jesus returns, which draws closer with each passing day. The world lives as though human history is destined to continue forever. Paul exhorts us to change our perspective and live toward the final day when Christ brings to culmination the work of redemption. The Bible frequently uses the return of Jesus Christ to motivate believers to holy living. Approximately 1 in 20 of every New Testament verse refers either directly or indirectly to the second coming of our Lord. The promise of the return of Christ hovers over the believer. The approaching day of the Lord should cause us, in contrast to this evil world, to walk in holiness. Martin Luther wrote a parable about Satan conversing with his minions, demons, on the progress they had made in opposing the truth of God and destroying the souls of men. One spirit said there was a company of Christians crossing the desert. I loosed the lions upon them, and soon the sands of the desert were strewn with their mangled cars. What of that answered Satan? The lions destroyed their bodies, but their souls were saved. It is their souls that I am after. Another reported, there was a company of Christian pilgrims sailing to the sea on a vessel. I sent a great wind against his ship that drove the ship on the rocks, and every Christian aboard the ship was drowned. What of that, said Satan? Their bodies were drowned in the sea, but their souls were saved. It is their souls that I am after. The third came forward to give his report and he said, For ten years I have been trying to cast a Christian into a deep sleep, and at last I have succeeded. And with that the corridors of hell rang with shouts of malignant triumph. Paul is calling us out of slumber to be fully alert in Christ.

Putting On The Armor Of Light

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In Romans 13, 12, Paul writes that the night is nearly over, the day is almost here, so let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. The imagery here is of the darkness of night slowly thinning. A band of soldiers lies asleep, and as the morning light appears, the bugle call summons them to awake, to throw off their night gear, namely the works congenial to darkness, and be clad in the armor of light.

Living Between Night And Day

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The Bible divides history into two ages, the present age which is evil, and the age to come, the time of the Messiah. Scripture often pictures them as night and day. This present age has been a long dark night. It began in Eden when man disobeyed and passed from life into death. Then the Messiah came. The sun rose, day broke, light entered the world. Jesus is that Messiah, and with his coming the new age began to dawn. However, the old age has not yet ended. The full brightness of that day waits for Christ's return. For now the two ages overlap. Nonetheless, the night has moved forward to a final stage and thus is far gone or drawing to a close. Since the next great event in God's redemptive plan is the second coming of Jesus Christ, the night, no matter how long chronologically, is nearly over. When Christ comes in glory, the present overlap will then end. History may roll on for centuries, but it is still true that the night is nearly over. In Christ, a great light dawns, showing us truth and righteousness and calling us to a faith that transforms us into righteous men and women.

Stripping Off Deeds Of Darkness

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Then Paul says, lay aside the deeds of darkness. The phrase was used of Olympic runners stripping off their clothes before the race. Morning has come, night clothes come off. The deeds of the old life come off with them. Now we put on the armor of light. All rabbis said true worshippers put on the cloak of God's glory. They were to look like the Lord they worship. Levitical priests put on linen robes before they stood in the presence of a holy God. We are a royal priesthood. We put on the armor of light. Armour is made for war. It protects the one who wears it. This armor is light for beauty and armor for defense. It is not heavy. A Christian can run in it and fight in it. The more it is struck, the stronger it holds. This is the armor that makes a believer stand.

When Light On A Face Changes Lives

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Adoniram Judson, the great missionary, gave up his life and worldly fame and success to take the gospel light to the spiritual darkness of Burma. One year, when Adoniram Judson was home and furlough, he passed through the city of Stonington, Connecticut. A young boy playing about the wharves at the time of Judson's arrival was struck by the man's appearance. Never before had he seen such a light on any human face. He ran up the street to a minister to ask if he knew who the stranger was. The minister hurried back with him but became so absorbed in conversation with Judson that he forgot all about the impatient youngster standing near him. Many years afterward, that boy who could never get away from the influence of that wonderful face became the famous preacher Henry Clay Trumbull. That lighted countenance had changed his life. We started with the day when I unexpectedly came face to face in my own mortality.

Seize Today With Holy Urgency

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None of us knows how many days we have left. But Paul is telling us that there is something we do know. We know what time it is. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believe. The night is nearly over. The day is almost here. So this is not the time for spiritual slumber. This is not the time to waste the opportunities God has given us. This is the time to wake up, put aside the deeds of darkness, and put on the armor of light. We cannot change the days that have already passed. But God has given us today. So let us seize it. Let us live every day, fully awake, fully surrendered, and with a sense of urgency as we do the works of Him who sent us, Jesus.

Subscribe And Pray For Real Change

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Before you go, if this message spoke to you, like this podcast and subscribe so you don't miss what God is doing here at Catch on Fire Podcasts. If you're ready for real change, take a moment right now to pray with me. Jesus, I give you my life. Lead me, forgive me, and make me new. If you pray that, welcome to the family. Follow along, stay connected, and let's walk this walk together.

Discipleship Training Invitation

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Grow in Scripture, Discipleship, and Christian leadership through the online course found at Biblical Discipleship Academy.uscreen dot io. Discover the covenant story and learn to see the Bible as one unified story. Go deeper with until Christ is formed in you and grow as a disciple of Jesus. Explore leadership is discipleship and learn why true Christian leadership begins with following Jesus. Start studying, start learning, start growing. Join us at Biblical Discipleship Academy.uscreen.io Join me as we confess words of life over all of our lives.

Spoken Declarations Over Your Life

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We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we are still holding on to God's unchanging hand. We are still in God's holy plan. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we are living holy lives as God requires. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we are feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, giving clothes to those in need, ministering to the sick and visiting those in prison, and we are doing so to the least of those among us, as when we do so we are ministering to Jesus. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we have received healing, as by his stripes we are healed. From the crown of our head to the soles of our feet, all of our bodily organs are working correctly. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that God is ordering our steps, that all weapons that are formed against us have been utterly and completely destroyed, and every tongue that is rising against us in judgment is condemned. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that all generational curses are cancelled. Anything that runs in our ancestral bloodline that is not of God has no power over us, our children and our grandchildren, and is eliminated forever right now. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that angels are watching over and keeping our family, our children, our grandchildren, our loved ones safe. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that every negative word that has been and is being spoken over our lives and that of our family, children, grandchildren, and loved ones is cancelled and sent back to the pit from whence it came. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we are the head and not the tail. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we are not and will never be ashamed. Our enemies have not and never will triumph over us. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that anything that is not of God, that has been dispatched to hinder our blessings, our progress, and our well-being is immediately destroyed. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we are financially in line with God's word, and as such we are lenders and not borrowers. As a result, all of our debts have been paid and are forgiven. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that the enemy of our souls has no authority over our finances and our funds, and that we are good stewards of the money that God has placed in our keeping. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that in the area of business and our carriers, that just as Isaac reaped a hundredfold, the blessings of Abraham are falling on us, and we are reaping a hundredfold from whatever we put our hands to. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we are living under an open heaven in every area of our lives. Blessings are falling on us, our family and our loved ones. These blessings are being manifested in our lives, in the spiritual and in the physical.

Psalm 23 And Final Blessing

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Let's repeat the 23rd Psalm together. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restored my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk to the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. Amen.