WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:13.880 Good morning, everybody. Good morning. We're going to read the Bible now. So the reading is from Romans chapter 13 verses 8 to 14. 00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:19.120 ! And it's on page 1140 of your Bibles. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:29.379 Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:47.299 For whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command. 00:00:47.980 --> 00:00:57.039 Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does not harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. 00:00:57.039 --> 00:01:10.459 And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 00:01:10.459 --> 00:01:20.839 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. 00:01:21.459 --> 00:01:33.280 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:43.000 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:44.799 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:49.340 --> 00:01:53.740 Great. Thank you for reading for us, Kate. Let me pray for us as we come to God's word. Let me pray. 00:01:53.739 --> 00:02:23.719 Psalm 86 says this. 00:02:23.740 --> 00:02:32.300 Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are a speaking and faithful God who raises the dead through his words of life. 00:02:33.340 --> 00:02:39.280 And so we pray this morning that you would do that work in us, even now. 00:02:40.180 --> 00:02:44.479 We pray for those of us who are Christians, who've read your word a lot. 00:02:45.259 --> 00:02:50.960 We pray, please, Lord, that you would speak to us, revive us, refresh us, renew us, we pray. 00:02:51.879 --> 00:02:56.379 And bring new life, we ask. Open our eyes to the truth of the gospel. 00:02:56.500 --> 00:02:58.740 Maybe for the very first time this morning, we ask. 00:02:59.180 --> 00:03:02.139 In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. 00:03:02.139 --> 00:03:02.259 Amen. 00:03:03.519 --> 00:03:08.039 Well, as you look down at the passage in Romans 13, hopefully you'll keep in front of you. 00:03:08.359 --> 00:03:09.799 Let me start with a question. 00:03:11.279 --> 00:03:15.239 You'll know what question I'm going to ask if you've been following the church Instagram account this week. 00:03:15.319 --> 00:03:16.000 And that is this. 00:03:16.419 --> 00:03:17.759 What time is it? 00:03:18.019 --> 00:03:19.139 What time is it? 00:03:19.239 --> 00:03:22.539 Now, don't look at your watches and don't look at the clock at the back of church. 00:03:22.939 --> 00:03:24.259 I don't. So why should you? 00:03:24.699 --> 00:03:24.939 Right. 00:03:25.300 --> 00:03:26.000 That's not what I mean. 00:03:26.020 --> 00:03:28.300 I don't mean like what time is it on your watch. 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:30.000 I mean rather what era is it? 00:03:30.099 --> 00:03:31.740 What season is it? 00:03:32.259 --> 00:03:33.579 What age is it? 00:03:34.300 --> 00:03:36.560 Now, we do talk about time like that, don't we? 00:03:36.620 --> 00:03:39.280 You perhaps talk about the seasons of your life, right? 00:03:39.359 --> 00:03:41.960 So some of you are in the spring of life. 00:03:42.659 --> 00:03:43.419 You're young. 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:44.360 Everything is ahead of you. 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:46.219 Some of you are in the summer of your life. 00:03:46.659 --> 00:03:49.300 Still young enough to enjoy all that's going on. 00:03:49.539 --> 00:03:53.180 Others are in the autumn or even maybe the winter of life. 00:03:53.180 --> 00:03:55.420 And at the end is drawing near. 00:03:56.460 --> 00:04:02.000 But we talk, don't we, about time being seasons or eras like that. 00:04:02.740 --> 00:04:07.500 And so think in terms of God's seasons or the era of his plans. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:12.200 What time is it, if I can put it this way, what time is it on God's watch this morning? 00:04:14.040 --> 00:04:16.379 Now, I know that some of us aren't very good at timekeeping. 00:04:16.379 --> 00:04:24.139 But when it comes to theology, knowing what time it is, is really absolutely vital to living the Christian life. 00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:32.100 And if you look down at verse 11 of our passage, you'll see that Paul assumes in his writing that we will know the time. 00:04:33.219 --> 00:04:34.240 He says this, doesn't he? 00:04:34.519 --> 00:04:38.199 And do this understanding the present time. 00:04:39.079 --> 00:04:42.800 Literally, the sense here is that you know the time. 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:48.420 So do this, given that you know what time it is. 00:04:49.300 --> 00:04:53.540 So before we get into the detail here, we need to make sure that we do understand the time. 00:04:53.660 --> 00:04:57.080 So let's think about what the times are on God's watch. 00:04:57.699 --> 00:05:03.639 If we skip past eternity past, before time began, the start of time is creation, isn't it? 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:08.120 When God brings everything out of nothing by the power of his word. 00:05:08.620 --> 00:05:10.340 And obviously that time has gone. 00:05:10.339 --> 00:05:11.799 We are not Adam and Eve. 00:05:12.239 --> 00:05:13.639 This is not the Garden of Eden. 00:05:13.799 --> 00:05:15.179 This is Brent, right? 00:05:15.879 --> 00:05:16.699 Not paradise. 00:05:17.719 --> 00:05:20.099 Next on the clock is the fall. 00:05:20.959 --> 00:05:24.799 Where Adam and Eve rebel against God, eating the forbidden fruit. 00:05:25.099 --> 00:05:26.859 And that time has passed too. 00:05:27.479 --> 00:05:30.539 We live in a world that has fallen, that is broken. 00:05:31.399 --> 00:05:33.500 It's under the curse of God's judgment. 00:05:34.519 --> 00:05:37.120 Speeding up and we're next in Israel, aren't we? 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:45.340 That the time of Israel, where God's promise to save is administrated by a nation who worship in a city called Jerusalem, 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:49.079 who are looking forward to a Messiah who is still yet to come. 00:05:49.780 --> 00:05:51.600 And that age has passed too. 00:05:51.840 --> 00:05:54.420 We are no longer in the Old Testament age. 00:05:55.220 --> 00:05:57.720 Nor is it the age of the Messiah, right? 00:05:57.720 --> 00:06:01.260 So the Messiah has come and has ascended into heaven. 00:06:01.740 --> 00:06:04.860 Jesus, God, the eternal son in human flesh, has been. 00:06:05.440 --> 00:06:06.980 He lived a life of perfection. 00:06:07.200 --> 00:06:09.100 He died an atoning death on the cross. 00:06:09.500 --> 00:06:11.860 He has resurrected and ascended into glory. 00:06:11.860 --> 00:06:15.400 Those events are behind us. 00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:18.740 And there are still events to come on God's watch, right? 00:06:19.259 --> 00:06:21.340 Glory is still yet to come. 00:06:22.340 --> 00:06:23.699 Arsenal won the league, didn't they? 00:06:23.939 --> 00:06:25.800 But they didn't win the Champions League. 00:06:26.500 --> 00:06:29.120 Glory is still ahead of us. 00:06:29.160 --> 00:06:30.300 It is yet to come. 00:06:30.860 --> 00:06:33.960 And we know, don't we, that this world has not yet been finally judged. 00:06:34.280 --> 00:06:36.080 It will one day be held to account. 00:06:36.360 --> 00:06:38.000 It will one day be remade. 00:06:38.400 --> 00:06:39.460 Death is still with us. 00:06:39.639 --> 00:06:40.639 Sin is still with us. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:42.000 We still get sick. 00:06:42.099 --> 00:06:45.300 The devil is mortally wounded, but not yet finally defeated. 00:06:46.139 --> 00:06:47.479 Glory is still to come. 00:06:48.459 --> 00:06:52.379 And that leaves us, doesn't it, in between times, if you like. 00:06:52.919 --> 00:06:55.779 We are in between Christ's ascension and his return. 00:06:56.199 --> 00:06:59.180 And in these in-between times, in this age that we're now in, 00:06:59.500 --> 00:07:01.219 Paul has been at pains to point out, 00:07:01.519 --> 00:07:04.919 we now live by the Spirit in the age of the church. 00:07:06.159 --> 00:07:08.759 The message of Jesus Christ is preached to the nations 00:07:08.759 --> 00:07:11.759 that all who have faith in him might be saved from their sin 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:13.920 and given a place in glory that's still to come. 00:07:14.860 --> 00:07:16.159 That's our time. 00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:17.719 It's the time of the Spirit. 00:07:18.039 --> 00:07:19.360 It's the time of the church. 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:27.000 In our house at the moment, lots of wedding planning is going on. 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:28.840 So this is just on my mind. 00:07:28.920 --> 00:07:34.100 But if you think about the seasons or times of a wedding day, right? 00:07:34.100 --> 00:07:37.100 You have the entrance of the bride. 00:07:37.220 --> 00:07:38.879 You have the exchanging of the vows. 00:07:38.980 --> 00:07:40.260 You have the giving of the rings. 00:07:40.379 --> 00:07:42.660 You have a celebration, a meal. 00:07:43.020 --> 00:07:44.180 You have speeches. 00:07:44.660 --> 00:07:46.020 And you have dancing, right? 00:07:46.939 --> 00:07:53.680 And it is vital for you at a wedding to know which time you're in, right? 00:07:54.379 --> 00:07:56.680 Because otherwise you will behave inappropriately. 00:07:57.379 --> 00:07:59.180 If you go to the bar and you say, 00:07:59.379 --> 00:08:01.820 I do, they will not know what you're talking about. 00:08:01.819 --> 00:08:04.659 If you dance during the vows, 00:08:04.819 --> 00:08:06.060 someone will probably say to you, 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:07.240 just listen, just stop. 00:08:07.339 --> 00:08:08.439 This is kind of important. 00:08:08.699 --> 00:08:12.279 And that's Paul's sense here in verse 11. 00:08:12.839 --> 00:08:16.399 Knowing, understanding the era that we are in 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:18.379 in God's progression through history 00:08:18.379 --> 00:08:20.959 matters for how we live and what we do. 00:08:22.060 --> 00:08:25.620 Knowing that God has a destination that he is working towards, 00:08:25.659 --> 00:08:27.120 a future that has been promised, 00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:28.980 is vital for how we live. 00:08:28.980 --> 00:08:32.080 I know we are flipping on with that this is not paradise, 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:33.700 but actually it's really important that we know 00:08:33.700 --> 00:08:35.500 that we're not Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. 00:08:36.379 --> 00:08:38.779 Yet we don't have the choice that they had. 00:08:39.300 --> 00:08:41.080 They are there as our representatives. 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:42.879 They are making a choice 00:08:42.879 --> 00:08:46.720 and they are imposing that choice on all of us 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:47.980 in a way that we are not. 00:08:48.460 --> 00:08:51.879 They sin and we fall in them. 00:08:52.379 --> 00:08:54.680 So that sin is natural to us 00:08:54.680 --> 00:08:56.259 in a way that it wasn't to Adam and Eve 00:08:56.259 --> 00:08:57.059 when they were created. 00:08:57.340 --> 00:08:59.720 They had a choice that you and I don't. 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:01.879 And if you don't know that, 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:03.740 you will just not know and appreciate 00:09:03.740 --> 00:09:05.240 what kind of trouble you're in 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:06.740 simply just by being human. 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:11.360 We're not nation building either, are we? 00:09:11.379 --> 00:09:11.980 Like Moses. 00:09:13.019 --> 00:09:15.299 Worship is no longer restricted to the city of Jerusalem. 00:09:16.059 --> 00:09:18.000 We're not constructing a prosperous nation 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:19.899 to be a flagship of the kingdom of God. 00:09:20.139 --> 00:09:21.939 We're not drawing people to one place 00:09:21.940 --> 00:09:23.760 to become one culture and one people. 00:09:24.420 --> 00:09:25.360 Those days are gone. 00:09:25.460 --> 00:09:26.540 That nation has fallen. 00:09:26.940 --> 00:09:28.820 It was only a shadow of the kingdom to come. 00:09:28.880 --> 00:09:30.200 It was not the kingdom itself. 00:09:30.540 --> 00:09:32.200 It was like a kind of an outpost, 00:09:32.300 --> 00:09:34.080 an ambassador that was pointing the way. 00:09:35.160 --> 00:09:36.760 And if you don't understand that, 00:09:36.820 --> 00:09:38.620 if you don't understand that that age has passed, 00:09:38.980 --> 00:09:40.600 you'll get that wrong too, won't you? 00:09:40.620 --> 00:09:43.420 And you'll find yourself on pilgrimages and crusades. 00:09:43.880 --> 00:09:46.200 You'll start insisting that we all wear the same clothes 00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:47.160 and have the same haircut. 00:09:47.159 --> 00:09:51.299 But neither are we in the age of the Messiah either. 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:54.919 We are no longer looking for a saviour to come. 00:09:55.899 --> 00:09:58.059 We are not providing a sacrifice for sin. 00:09:58.740 --> 00:10:00.199 That has been and gone. 00:10:00.899 --> 00:10:02.620 We're not the apostles testifying 00:10:02.620 --> 00:10:04.259 to having seen the risen Messiah. 00:10:04.620 --> 00:10:06.019 We're not launching the church. 00:10:06.379 --> 00:10:07.559 That work has been done. 00:10:08.219 --> 00:10:09.719 And if we get that wrong, 00:10:09.879 --> 00:10:12.240 then we will think that we are providing 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:13.299 the sacrifice for sin 00:10:13.299 --> 00:10:15.319 and that we need to do that somehow. 00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:17.860 Or we'll be chasing the new thing, 00:10:17.980 --> 00:10:18.920 finding the new prophet, 00:10:19.280 --> 00:10:21.660 looking for an apostle to submit to, 00:10:22.180 --> 00:10:25.080 seeking a new revelation or a new way of salvation. 00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:26.700 But that time is gone. 00:10:27.340 --> 00:10:29.100 Our time is the age of the church, 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:30.140 the life of the spirit. 00:10:30.400 --> 00:10:31.600 And what does that mean? 00:10:32.100 --> 00:10:32.960 Well, verse 11, 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:48.120 In this age, 00:10:48.120 --> 00:10:49.620 in this time, 00:10:49.620 --> 00:10:52.060 what really matters is that you're awake, 00:10:52.759 --> 00:10:54.420 spiritually awake. 00:10:54.419 --> 00:10:58.219 Not because Paul is saying that Christ's return is imminent, 00:10:58.860 --> 00:11:01.679 as if he expects it to be next week or the week after. 00:11:01.959 --> 00:11:04.120 That doesn't seem to fit with what he says in Romans 11. 00:11:04.620 --> 00:11:06.639 Rather, it seems to be in this age, 00:11:06.740 --> 00:11:08.339 there is nothing still to happen 00:11:08.339 --> 00:11:10.379 before Christ is able to return. 00:11:11.139 --> 00:11:13.819 Christ's victorious return is the next event. 00:11:13.959 --> 00:11:16.559 It's the next scheduled event on the calendar. 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:19.500 The next season is glory, says Paul. 00:11:19.799 --> 00:11:21.259 The dawn is almost here. 00:11:21.879 --> 00:11:24.539 The sun of glory is on the cusp of breaking the horizon. 00:11:24.679 --> 00:11:27.519 And each day and each year is a step closer to that day, 00:11:27.879 --> 00:11:28.959 the day of salvation, 00:11:29.419 --> 00:11:33.539 the day when faith in Christ becomes seeing Christ, 00:11:34.339 --> 00:11:36.339 the day when the curse will finally be lifted, 00:11:37.219 --> 00:11:38.119 sin will be judged, 00:11:38.239 --> 00:11:39.899 and Christ will bring heaven to earth, 00:11:40.339 --> 00:11:42.559 bringing with him all those who died in him 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:45.299 and raising up all those who have faith in him. 00:11:46.459 --> 00:11:48.659 Now, there are all sorts of applications 00:11:48.659 --> 00:11:49.939 of that great truth, right? 00:11:49.959 --> 00:11:52.199 We could spend ages just teasing all of them out. 00:11:52.299 --> 00:11:54.299 But Paul, in this section of Romans, 00:11:54.399 --> 00:11:58.479 gives you two concrete applications of that great truth. 00:11:59.019 --> 00:12:01.459 One is this is the time for love. 00:12:02.019 --> 00:12:04.339 Secondly, this is the time for holiness. 00:12:04.659 --> 00:12:05.899 And so we're just going to spend our time 00:12:05.899 --> 00:12:07.339 looking at those two together. 00:12:07.459 --> 00:12:09.779 So let's think firstly about love, love. 00:12:11.079 --> 00:12:12.479 Come back to the beginning of the section 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:13.080 that we read. 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:15.220 Notice that it starts in verse eight 00:12:15.220 --> 00:12:17.960 by linking what we saw last week 00:12:17.960 --> 00:12:21.060 in paying taxes and revenue and respect 00:12:21.060 --> 00:12:22.620 and honor to the governing authorities. 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:24.740 He says, doesn't he, verse eight, 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:27.019 let no debt remain outstanding. 00:12:27.399 --> 00:12:29.060 That is pay what you owe. 00:12:29.180 --> 00:12:31.100 Chapter 13, verse seven. 00:12:31.899 --> 00:12:34.860 Accept the continuing debt to love one another 00:12:34.860 --> 00:12:37.740 for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 00:12:38.680 --> 00:12:39.399 Now notice with me, 00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:41.500 that's essentially an impossible command, isn't it? 00:12:41.500 --> 00:12:44.019 The command is let no debt remain. 00:12:44.279 --> 00:12:45.120 Now that would be okay 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:47.200 if all our debts were essentially payable. 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:51.799 But we can't because there is an unpayable debt, 00:12:51.940 --> 00:12:53.460 a debt that you can never clear, 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:55.240 which is the debt of love. 00:12:55.740 --> 00:12:57.399 And so in this age, says Paul, 00:12:57.500 --> 00:13:01.379 this is the age of constantly loving others. 00:13:02.679 --> 00:13:04.240 And why is it that we're to love others 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:06.379 and keep paying down a debt that never goes away? 00:13:06.379 --> 00:13:08.080 Well, it's because of end of verse eight, 00:13:08.399 --> 00:13:10.960 for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 00:13:12.039 --> 00:13:13.019 Now think about this carefully. 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:13.939 Notice what he's saying. 00:13:14.279 --> 00:13:16.659 His point is that in the time in which we live, 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:19.000 outside of the nation of Israel, 00:13:19.179 --> 00:13:22.340 in an age where Christ has come as the end of the law, 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:25.200 fulfilling all the law's righteous demands, 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:29.080 in that age, there is an ongoing purpose of the law, 00:13:29.220 --> 00:13:33.340 which is to teach you and me how to love others. 00:13:33.340 --> 00:13:38.320 And how does the law teach you and me how to love others? 00:13:39.080 --> 00:13:40.700 Well, notice it does it in the negative. 00:13:41.660 --> 00:13:44.899 So love here is not gooey affections. 00:13:46.340 --> 00:13:49.280 Rather, verse nine, what is love? 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:52.879 Love is the absence of adultery. 00:13:54.060 --> 00:13:57.879 That is, love is the absence of sexual self-interest. 00:13:58.540 --> 00:14:01.759 To love others is not to lust after others. 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:04.360 To love others is not to be unfaithful 00:14:04.360 --> 00:14:06.319 to the marriage promises that you have made. 00:14:06.819 --> 00:14:09.319 To love is not to lead others to be unfaithful 00:14:09.319 --> 00:14:11.580 to the marriage promises they have made. 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:13.700 Love is not adultery, he says. 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:17.120 Next, love is the absence of what? 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:18.159 Murder. 00:14:19.299 --> 00:14:22.819 That is, love is the absence of angry intent towards others. 00:14:23.259 --> 00:14:26.120 Love is the absence of the desire for revenge. 00:14:27.340 --> 00:14:29.399 Love does not harbor bitterness and resentment. 00:14:29.399 --> 00:14:31.620 Love does not want to harm another, 00:14:31.720 --> 00:14:33.840 even if they have been harmed by that person. 00:14:35.259 --> 00:14:37.519 Likewise, love is the absence of stealing. 00:14:38.579 --> 00:14:41.279 Love does not take from another what belongs to them. 00:14:41.659 --> 00:14:43.360 Instead, it gives to the other. 00:14:44.100 --> 00:14:46.100 It does not grab after personal gain. 00:14:46.600 --> 00:14:48.539 It does not take what does not belong to it. 00:14:49.159 --> 00:14:52.419 And finally, love is the absence of coveting. 00:14:52.419 --> 00:14:57.559 That means love for someone is not to want what they have for yourself. 00:14:59.339 --> 00:15:03.179 It's not to look at their situation and wish that that was yours. 00:15:04.259 --> 00:15:07.339 It's not to look at their gifts, their stuff, their relationships, 00:15:07.539 --> 00:15:08.139 and go, do you know what? 00:15:08.500 --> 00:15:09.620 I wish I had that. 00:15:10.179 --> 00:15:12.500 I would be happy if I had that. 00:15:13.620 --> 00:15:15.719 No, love is happy that they have it. 00:15:16.540 --> 00:15:19.500 And so love is not discontent with its own situation, 00:15:19.500 --> 00:15:21.320 even when it's not as good as its neighbors. 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:25.220 And so as Leviticus says, and Paul quotes, he says, 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:28.879 love is summed up in one command, love your neighbor as yourself. 00:15:29.779 --> 00:15:32.320 Not because loving yourself is being instructed here, 00:15:32.379 --> 00:15:35.379 rather because no well person seeks their own harm. 00:15:35.379 --> 00:15:38.920 And so likewise, verse 10, you should seek no harm to your neighbor, 00:15:39.540 --> 00:15:40.740 but rather do them good. 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:44.279 Perhaps I can summarize it like this. 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:47.379 In the age of the spirit, in the time of the church, 00:15:47.439 --> 00:15:48.759 in the time in which we live now, 00:15:49.559 --> 00:15:53.799 the Christian is to learn from the law which is passed 00:15:53.799 --> 00:15:58.759 to sacrificially give themselves for the love of others. 00:15:59.720 --> 00:16:04.759 Seeing that while obligations to people might be written off in taxes 00:16:04.759 --> 00:16:07.059 and revenue and whatever it is, 00:16:07.179 --> 00:16:10.600 still there is an ongoing debt to pay, 00:16:10.980 --> 00:16:12.240 which is to love others. 00:16:14.279 --> 00:16:17.559 So the important question to ask ourselves this morning is this, isn't it? 00:16:17.939 --> 00:16:22.639 Am I, are you, are we together loving like this? 00:16:23.579 --> 00:16:28.139 Does this love, does this love that puts the other ahead of itself, 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:31.500 does that love mark me out, 00:16:31.500 --> 00:16:33.919 you out, us as a church out? 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:36.019 And if it doesn't, 00:16:36.019 --> 00:16:41.159 then the solution is not so much just to try harder, do more or be better. 00:16:41.500 --> 00:16:45.639 The solution is, listen, you must understand the time that you're in. 00:16:46.279 --> 00:16:48.779 You must understand where we are in history. 00:16:50.419 --> 00:16:55.539 Perhaps I could try and show you like a theological implication and a practical implication. 00:16:55.539 --> 00:17:00.480 The theological implication of all this is just how you read your Bible, right? 00:17:01.299 --> 00:17:04.639 I don't know how you go about reading your Bible on your own. 00:17:04.759 --> 00:17:09.079 I want to encourage you to try and take a little bit of every day to read your Bible. 00:17:09.700 --> 00:17:11.559 And maybe you do that already, that's great. 00:17:12.359 --> 00:17:15.379 But perhaps you don't read the Old Testament because you find it too difficult 00:17:15.379 --> 00:17:17.019 or maybe feel like it's a bit irrelevant 00:17:17.019 --> 00:17:20.259 because we're not in a nation state governed by the Old Testament law. 00:17:20.259 --> 00:17:25.420 If that's what you think, don't think the Old Testament is irrelevant to you, 00:17:25.539 --> 00:17:27.240 that it has nothing to teach you. 00:17:27.779 --> 00:17:33.039 Brother Paul's point is that actually the Old Testament is there to teach you to love. 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:35.940 You know, teaching the Ten Commandments to your children, 00:17:36.019 --> 00:17:37.960 if you have them, or to your nieces or your nephews, 00:17:38.379 --> 00:17:42.660 or in Sunday school, or learning them for ourselves is a good thing to do 00:17:42.660 --> 00:17:44.640 because it will teach us to love. 00:17:45.319 --> 00:17:48.879 Reading and thinking through how the Old Testament law protected the innocent 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:52.900 and honoured those with nothing, that is going to help us. 00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:57.480 Not because we're trying to rebuild Jerusalem and get back to an Old Testament era. 00:17:58.040 --> 00:18:02.720 No, we realise that Christ has fulfilled all of that and completed all of that. 00:18:03.140 --> 00:18:06.940 We are trying to be taught how to love others today in this era. 00:18:08.440 --> 00:18:09.620 Perhaps I can put it this way. 00:18:09.940 --> 00:18:11.180 I think Paul would say to you, 00:18:11.300 --> 00:18:14.360 if you were sat down having a kind of counselling conversation with Paul 00:18:14.360 --> 00:18:15.900 and you say to Paul, listen, I'm really struggling. 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:18.100 I'm really struggling to love other people. 00:18:18.099 --> 00:18:20.819 I find myself just dominated by self-interest. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:23.259 What would Paul suggest that you did? 00:18:23.980 --> 00:18:25.339 He'd say, you know what you need? 00:18:25.679 --> 00:18:27.339 You need to read more of the Old Testament. 00:18:28.359 --> 00:18:31.199 Because the Old Testament is given to teach you to love. 00:18:32.399 --> 00:18:34.859 Not because love is about keeping rules. 00:18:34.980 --> 00:18:35.939 We're in the age of the Spirit. 00:18:36.339 --> 00:18:41.579 And the Spirit empowers you to live by God's law. 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:45.240 To work it out in our love for other people. 00:18:45.240 --> 00:18:51.700 That's the theological implication is read your Old Testament and understand it in the light of what Christ has done. 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:56.180 The practical implication is this, that love starts in our hearts, doesn't it? 00:18:56.220 --> 00:18:57.160 Not just our actions. 00:18:58.359 --> 00:19:02.019 You might remember Jesus unpicks these commandments in the Sermon on the Mount. 00:19:02.019 --> 00:19:05.480 And he points out that adultery means don't lust. 00:19:05.980 --> 00:19:09.779 Murder means don't get angry and think angry thoughts towards others. 00:19:10.379 --> 00:19:17.160 And he says that not only to convict us of our sin, but also to show you that the law is intended to touch our hearts. 00:19:17.160 --> 00:19:23.940 You can't say you love others because you're nice to their faces and you're horrible behind their backs. 00:19:24.759 --> 00:19:26.300 Love is not like that. 00:19:27.120 --> 00:19:31.340 Love is the rooting out of unloving thoughts and attitudes as well as actions. 00:19:32.500 --> 00:19:33.980 And who is able to do that? 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:40.440 Well, in the age of the Spirit, in the time of the church, you can command love like that. 00:19:40.440 --> 00:19:43.500 Because you rely on the Spirit to do that work in our hearts. 00:19:44.120 --> 00:19:45.140 And that's what he'll do. 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:47.140 So that's the first thing. 00:19:47.240 --> 00:19:47.920 Love others. 00:19:48.400 --> 00:19:50.259 Secondly, holiness. 00:19:51.019 --> 00:19:51.420 Holiness. 00:19:51.620 --> 00:19:52.759 Look down at verse 12. 00:19:52.759 --> 00:20:22.700 Here the link to time is so clear, isn't it? 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:25.019 The dawn of the return of Christ is here. 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:27.799 And so we are encouraged to put off wickedness. 00:20:28.220 --> 00:20:30.700 All the things that are done under the cover of darkness. 00:20:31.819 --> 00:20:35.799 It's slightly obscured in our NIVs, but the wording here is significant. 00:20:36.019 --> 00:20:39.579 We are to throw off, put off the deeds of darkness. 00:20:39.779 --> 00:20:42.400 And we are to put on the armor of light. 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:43.960 Put on. 00:20:44.200 --> 00:20:44.779 Same word. 00:20:44.920 --> 00:20:46.099 Put on Christ. 00:20:46.919 --> 00:20:50.279 In other words, the image here is of sort of getting up and getting dressed. 00:20:50.719 --> 00:20:51.699 Taking off the pajamas. 00:20:52.259 --> 00:20:55.459 Putting on the daytime clothes instead of the nighttime ones. 00:20:55.699 --> 00:20:57.759 And the daytime clothes are Christ. 00:20:58.519 --> 00:21:01.019 And so in this age, we are to put off the deeds of the night. 00:21:01.099 --> 00:21:01.919 The deeds of darkness. 00:21:02.599 --> 00:21:05.319 And according to verse 13, the deeds of darkness are what? 00:21:05.319 --> 00:21:07.579 Well, carousing and drunkenness. 00:21:08.019 --> 00:21:09.259 Perhaps those are not words that we use. 00:21:09.740 --> 00:21:11.359 Binge drinking and partying. 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:12.559 Might be a more modern term. 00:21:13.679 --> 00:21:15.299 Not be miserable. 00:21:15.919 --> 00:21:23.339 But rather that the time for our kind of losing ourselves in drunkenness and carousing is gone. 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:24.759 It's not the time for that. 00:21:24.759 --> 00:21:27.599 It's not the time for sexual immorality. 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:29.599 Literally the word there is just lying down. 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:31.700 Linked with the word debauchery next to it. 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:33.839 As in the loss of all moral restraints. 00:21:33.980 --> 00:21:35.420 Especially sexual restraints. 00:21:36.019 --> 00:21:36.619 Get up. 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:37.599 Wake up. 00:21:37.940 --> 00:21:38.900 Put that off. 00:21:39.740 --> 00:21:41.460 Likewise, dissension and jealousy. 00:21:41.640 --> 00:21:43.519 That is stirring up hatred. 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:48.960 Speaking behind people's backs to disrupt relationships. 00:21:50.339 --> 00:21:51.440 Getting your own way. 00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:53.500 No, that's nighttime stuff. 00:21:54.759 --> 00:21:55.500 That's to be lost. 00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:56.539 That's to be put off. 00:21:56.940 --> 00:21:59.160 Instead, we're to put on the armor of light. 00:21:59.859 --> 00:22:01.079 The protection of holiness. 00:22:02.059 --> 00:22:05.579 Verse 14 describes it as clothing ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:22:06.059 --> 00:22:10.359 Knowing that we are clothed with him in righteousness for our salvation. 00:22:10.839 --> 00:22:16.779 We are now, having been covered by his righteousness, we are now to clothe ourselves in him in holiness. 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:18.960 Living like him. 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:20.680 Behaving like he behaved. 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:22.980 Feeding the desire to be like Jesus. 00:22:22.980 --> 00:22:25.200 That's in starving the desires of the flesh. 00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:32.440 Perhaps again, I could give a theological and a practical implication of all this. 00:22:32.680 --> 00:22:37.180 Theologically, just notice how Paul goes on about instructing holiness. 00:22:37.180 --> 00:22:41.100 You need to be so clear on this. 00:22:41.100 --> 00:22:46.120 Paul is not saying behave like this to become a Christian. 00:22:46.600 --> 00:22:47.660 He's not saying that. 00:22:48.039 --> 00:22:50.279 He's not saying, you know, don't have sex outside of marriage. 00:22:50.380 --> 00:22:50.880 Don't get drunk. 00:22:50.980 --> 00:22:51.500 Don't be jealous. 00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:53.640 You'll get a place in glory as a result. 00:22:54.019 --> 00:22:55.480 He's not saying that. 00:22:55.480 --> 00:23:00.140 His point is rather, because you have been given a place in glory. 00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:01.799 Because glory is coming. 00:23:02.200 --> 00:23:04.360 Because you will be awake with the Lord Jesus. 00:23:04.539 --> 00:23:07.539 Because you will see him and be with him. 00:23:08.099 --> 00:23:10.079 Therefore, be like him. 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:13.460 Because you've been given all of that. 00:23:13.460 --> 00:23:16.920 So holiness, if you like, is the result of salvation. 00:23:16.920 --> 00:23:18.860 Not the condition for salvation. 00:23:19.860 --> 00:23:24.519 And so Paul's motivation is really saying, listen, if you understand the age in which you live. 00:23:24.579 --> 00:23:26.720 If you understand that we're on the cusp of glory. 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:30.740 And you will be like this fully and perfectly on that day. 00:23:30.860 --> 00:23:32.779 Then be like that today. 00:23:32.779 --> 00:23:36.359 So if you're a Christian this morning. 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:38.500 If you believe and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:23:38.599 --> 00:23:43.579 What you need to know is that you're no longer a night time person. 00:23:44.200 --> 00:23:46.039 You're a day time person. 00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:48.500 The day is just dawning. 00:23:49.059 --> 00:23:52.059 The future when sin and wickedness will be destroyed. 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:54.599 That day is almost here. 00:23:55.440 --> 00:23:57.799 So be who you will be. 00:23:58.339 --> 00:23:59.660 Be like that today. 00:24:00.700 --> 00:24:02.420 And don't hide from the light of Jesus. 00:24:03.399 --> 00:24:04.779 But bask in it. 00:24:05.799 --> 00:24:06.779 In a way. 00:24:07.500 --> 00:24:09.680 If you're struggling and battling with temptation. 00:24:09.899 --> 00:24:11.059 And that's all of us, right? 00:24:11.619 --> 00:24:14.960 We're all struggling and battling with temptation if we're Christians this morning. 00:24:15.500 --> 00:24:17.000 This is what you say to yourself. 00:24:17.660 --> 00:24:19.579 This is no longer who I am. 00:24:20.259 --> 00:24:22.619 This is no longer who I will be. 00:24:23.619 --> 00:24:25.379 That Steve has gone. 00:24:25.940 --> 00:24:27.440 The new Steve is coming. 00:24:28.339 --> 00:24:30.019 I want to be like that. 00:24:30.579 --> 00:24:31.920 I want to live in the daytime. 00:24:32.779 --> 00:24:36.779 And what about the practical implication? 00:24:37.740 --> 00:24:39.099 Well, the practical implication is this. 00:24:39.299 --> 00:24:45.000 Clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. 00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:47.819 Notice just how practical Paul is here. 00:24:48.220 --> 00:24:49.359 Flesh here is not your body. 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:51.279 He's not saying don't eat or drink. 00:24:51.960 --> 00:24:56.279 In Romans, flesh is really shorthand for our sinful nature. 00:24:56.279 --> 00:25:05.220 And so his point is that holiness, clothing ourselves with Christ, goes hand in hand with starving out our sinfulness. 00:25:05.220 --> 00:25:12.000 Literally, you can't fight sin without making a plan not to give it any food. 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:16.460 Don't plan how to gratify your sinful nature. 00:25:16.460 --> 00:25:21.660 Have a ruthless commitment to withhold from your old self what it longs for and desires. 00:25:22.039 --> 00:25:24.160 You need to say to yourself, I'm not going to watch that. 00:25:24.920 --> 00:25:26.400 I'm not going to go there. 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:28.780 I'm not going to make that plan. 00:25:29.240 --> 00:25:31.120 I'm not going to build that dream. 00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:33.019 I'm not going to read that book. 00:25:33.100 --> 00:25:34.480 I'm not going to follow that account. 00:25:34.600 --> 00:25:35.860 I'm not going to book that trip. 00:25:35.940 --> 00:25:37.420 I'm not going to see that person. 00:25:37.420 --> 00:25:42.039 Because I am clothed in Christ and I am starving who I was. 00:25:46.580 --> 00:25:50.400 We started at the beginning by thinking about what time it was. 00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:51.800 Maybe we could finish there. 00:25:52.740 --> 00:25:55.200 The passage is really asking this question, isn't it? 00:25:55.240 --> 00:25:56.900 Are you living at the right time? 00:25:58.300 --> 00:26:01.220 This is the age of the Spirit and the church. 00:26:01.740 --> 00:26:04.519 And your life, my life, should be about two things. 00:26:04.519 --> 00:26:07.519 That's loving others and a commitment to holiness. 00:26:08.700 --> 00:26:14.940 And if you claim to be a Christian this morning and you're not loving others and committed to holiness, 00:26:15.359 --> 00:26:16.920 you're living in the wrong time. 00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:20.500 Perhaps we can go back to the wedding illustration. 00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:23.460 You know, the dancing in the vows or saying I do at the bar. 00:26:24.259 --> 00:26:26.160 It's not just that what they're doing is wrong, is it? 00:26:26.200 --> 00:26:27.379 It's the timing is wrong. 00:26:27.720 --> 00:26:29.400 It's not the time for self-indulgence now. 00:26:29.460 --> 00:26:30.420 It's not the time for greed. 00:26:30.740 --> 00:26:32.139 It's not the time for getting what you want. 00:26:32.200 --> 00:26:33.180 It's not the time for sin. 00:26:33.180 --> 00:26:34.759 Christ is almost here. 00:26:35.620 --> 00:26:42.779 If you caught someone doing those things at a wedding, you know, how would you persuade them to stop? 00:26:43.880 --> 00:26:45.900 Well, you might give them a stern word, won't you? 00:26:46.100 --> 00:26:48.360 You know, you shouldn't really be doing that. 00:26:49.600 --> 00:26:52.039 But really, that kind of wouldn't be enough, would it? 00:26:52.200 --> 00:26:55.779 You need to say to them, listen, it's not the time for that. 00:26:57.140 --> 00:26:59.340 It's the wrong time. 00:26:59.480 --> 00:27:00.660 It's the wrong place. 00:27:00.660 --> 00:27:11.019 And I just wonder this morning if perhaps the Spirit is speaking to us from His word this morning as you examine your lives, as you look at how you're living, how I'm living, what we're living for. 00:27:11.019 --> 00:27:22.139 Whether the Spirit essentially is whispering in our ears what we would whisper in a friend's ear who was dancing during the wedding vows or saying I do at the bar, we'd say, listen, it's just not the time for that. 00:27:22.140 --> 00:27:26.259 That time is gone. 00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:29.300 You're no longer that person anymore. 00:27:30.340 --> 00:27:33.380 The dawn of Christ's coming is clipping the horizon. 00:27:33.840 --> 00:27:34.920 Don't be like that. 00:27:35.500 --> 00:27:36.840 Don't build that dream. 00:27:38.040 --> 00:27:39.160 Don't go there. 00:27:39.160 --> 00:27:40.160 Don't be like that. 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:42.680 You know, we're done with fighting. 00:27:43.019 --> 00:27:44.180 We're done with jealousy. 00:27:45.100 --> 00:27:47.480 We're done with sexual immorality and drunkenness. 00:27:47.620 --> 00:27:50.560 That belongs to an age which is passing away. 00:27:51.200 --> 00:27:54.560 The age to come, glory to come, is what we're looking for. 00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:55.740 Live that way. 00:27:56.940 --> 00:27:57.860 Pursue holiness. 00:27:58.820 --> 00:27:59.500 Love others. 00:28:00.080 --> 00:28:02.019 Because Jesus is coming soon. 00:28:02.980 --> 00:28:05.360 Let me pray as I cleanse. 00:28:05.359 --> 00:28:12.819 Maybe let's just take a moment of quiet in our own hearts. 00:28:12.919 --> 00:28:17.979 Maybe you can think of where the Spirit's whispering in your ear. 00:28:18.059 --> 00:28:19.639 It's not the time for that anymore. 00:28:19.639 --> 00:28:19.859 Amen. 00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:36.059 My heart seems so small that people who have who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who 00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:15.639 Heavenly Father, we pray in just genuine repentance 00:29:15.639 --> 00:29:18.279 that so often in so many areas of our lives 00:29:18.279 --> 00:29:22.719 we live in the darkness and not in the light. 00:29:23.819 --> 00:29:26.019 Please forgive us and have mercy on us. 00:29:27.439 --> 00:29:29.479 This is not the time for jealousy. 00:29:30.819 --> 00:29:32.959 It's not the time for arguing with one another. 00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:38.819 It's not the time for sexual immorality and debauchery, carousing or drunkenness. 00:29:39.579 --> 00:29:42.340 It's the time for purity, for holiness. 00:29:43.960 --> 00:29:48.259 For putting on Christ in such a way that others might be able to see him. 00:29:49.759 --> 00:29:56.319 It's the time for loving, self-giving, self-sacrificing concern for others 00:29:56.319 --> 00:29:58.000 even ahead of ourselves. 00:29:59.640 --> 00:30:02.680 Please Lord, help us, we pray, to live like that. 00:30:03.620 --> 00:30:10.640 That we might be so rejoicing in and looking forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus 00:30:10.640 --> 00:30:15.059 that we just want now to live in the light of that. 00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:16.980 Please help us, we pray. 00:30:17.100 --> 00:30:18.700 Thank you, this is the age of the Spirit 00:30:18.700 --> 00:30:22.039 where the message is not pull your socks up and try harder 00:30:22.039 --> 00:30:24.880 but is ask and you will receive. 00:30:24.880 --> 00:30:29.100 So please help us by your Spirit to live lives which please you, 00:30:29.160 --> 00:30:30.280 lives of love and holiness. 00:30:31.180 --> 00:30:32.840 As we pray in Jesus' name. 00:30:33.480 --> 00:30:33.760 Amen.