Have you become passive in your faith and slipped into autopilot? Cruising? Sleepwalking? The truth is, the Devil wants you checked out. He’d rather you nap than wage war for the cause of Christ. That’s why Paul gives this charge: “[I]t is high time to awake out of sleep” (Rom. 13:11). So, get up, get dressed for battle, and clothe yourself with Christ. Put on His humility, holiness, faith, and love. Make no provision for the flesh. Don’t just hear the word, but internalize it and flee temptation. Wake up and fight! 

Sermon: https://churchandfamilylife.com/sermons/68ec9604d5e03e6e6150ae12

The Holy Spirit is the only way to save us. Romans 13, 11 says, Now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. This is a wake-up call text for the saints in Rome. The whole context of Romans 12 through 16 is the preservation of love in the church with very specific instructions. He uses a word time.

It's kairos, it's not clock time, it's a season of time, the season you are in. And what he's saying is, you are in a season of divine opportunity and that opportunity is to wake up. The church is not a morgue with a steeple. The Christian is not meant to be a cadaver in the pew. This is why J.

Vernon McGee said about this passage, he said, this is where the alarm clock goes off to awaken believers who've gone to sleep. Older saints, you've walked with the Lord for a long time. Have you slipped into the routine? Young people, have you slipped into autopilot? The devil is not singing war songs.

He's singing lullabies to the church. He'd rather put you to sleep. He'd rather see you nap through the war. So this is very much like Psalm 90 where we're told teach us to number our days. And The idea is that life is short, the night is far spent, the day is at hand.

So cast off the works of darkness, put on the armor of light, throw away the old grave clothes of sin, and stop making provision for the flesh. That's why Hebrews 12 says, lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. And that's why the Apostle Paul told the Ephesian church, put off the old man and put on the new man. This is the hour for the Roman church and our church and your church to wake up, to cast off the darkness, to put on Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh. He's sounding the alarm.

Wake up. The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever. Scripture Applied is a production of Church and Family Life. Visit ChurchandFamilyLife.com for more resources. FamilyLife.com for more resources.