Sermon: Discerning Signs and Redeeming Time
#1544
Martin G. Collins
Given 16-May-20; 67 minutes
summary: Because of the coronavirus crisis, millions of people, believing these are the last days, are turning or returning to God, suggesting a silver lining in this current crisis. Sadly, those who profess to believe in Christ have been oblivious to the signs of the times, asleep like the Ten Virgins of Matthew 25 or the Pharisees who asked for a sign, but ignored the ones God had already shown them (Matthew 16). The apostle Paul warns that time is short; the world's system is passing away. It is now time to wake out of sleep. Our tenure in this physical life, even if we live to be 100, is short; God counsels the children of light to redeem the time, realizing that judgment is now on them. God's people have an obligation to awaken out of their complacency, realizing that their allotted time for repenting and overcoming is drawing to its close. The children of light should want to wake up, realizing that: 1.) salvation is closer now than it was at the time of their calling, 2.) those who sleep cannot fulfill their God-ordained work obligations and 3.) the enemies of God work unstrained while His soldiers slumber. The cost of slumber is great: God rejected the five foolish virgins, the man who buried his talent and the goats, all mentioned in Matthew 25. The reward of salvation is well worth the watch.
transcript:
The March 2020 edition of the Whistleblower Magazine carried an editorial by their editors about a recent poll titled, "Americans Think God is Sending a Serious Message With Coronavirus." They write, Nearly half of American adults believe the coronavirus pandemic is a wake-up call from God, according to a recent poll. The survey commissioned by the Joshua Fund found 44% believe the crisis is a wake-up call for us to turn back to faith in God and also signs of coming judgment, as reported by the Washington Examiner's Paul Bedard. The poll found that nearly a third of respondents see the current crisis as part of the "last days" predicted in the Bible, and there is a feeling in the country "that Americans need to embrace a faith, a return to religion." The Joshua Fund was created by bestselling author Joel C. Rosenberg and his wife, Lynn Rosenberg. Joel Rosenberg told Bedard, "Americans in near full lockdown are anxious, and understandably so. Yet millions are turning to God, the Bible, and Christian sermons for answers. Some of them are for the first time. That may be the most important silver lining in this crisis so far." The poll conducted for the Joshua Fund by McLaughlin and Associates found that 29% believe the crisis suggests we are living in what the Bible calls the "last days." It found that 22% of the self-identified non-Christian respondents and 40% of the Christians said the crisis has resulted in more interest in God and spiritual matters. Rosenberg told the Examiner, "The results are clear: This unprecedented global crisis is causing Americans to start reading the Bible and listen to Bible teaching and Christian sermons online even though they usually don't; search online for teaching on Bible prophecy and God's future for mankind; and/or engaged in more spiritual conversations with family and friends." So 44% of American adults believe the crisis is a wake-up call for us to turn back to faith in God. What do you believe? Do you believe this crisis is a sign, a wake-up call from God. Please turn with me to Matthew 16, verses 1 through 4. Leaders of the people had come to Jesus to try to entrap Him by asking for a sign from heaven. He knew what they were up to and replied by saying that they had already been given signs and that their problem was that they did not understand the ones they had. And then He used a popular saying from which we get our old adage, "Red sky at night, sailor's delight, red sky in morning, sailors take warning." Jesus criticized the Pharisees and the Sadducees for not discerning the signs of the times. Matthew 16:1-4 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him said that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." And He left them and then departed. So Jesus faulted the Pharisees because they were unable to interpret the signs of the times, and because of that, they were hoping for a crystal clear action or event, but they could not see what was right in front of them. They wanted either to discredit Him or be entertained by a miracle. Either way they were dishonest. Turn over to Romans 13, verse 11. Are you able to interpret the times well enough to act wisely in faith? Are you able to discern the times without an audible voice from on high? Romans 13 uses this imagery when it says to converted church members: Romans 13:11 And do this, knowing the time [that is, understanding the present time], that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than we first believed. What does it mean for us to understand the times? This is not a matter of understanding world events or politics or economics, although that may be a minor part of it. No, rather, it is a spiritual matter. Galatians 1:4 says that Jesus died to rescue us from the present evil age. And this means time as a whole. Paul is telling us that ours is an evil time, out of which we need to be redeemed. Now turn over to John 15, verse 18. We are never going to make any true progress in wisdom unless we begin to realize that this world with all its cultural systems is hostile to God and opposed to any desires of godliness. Let us look at passages that describe our times. Jesus said it clearly. He told His disciples just before His arrest and crucifixion about the world's hatred of us. John 15:18-19 "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." Later in his High Priestly prayer, He said: John 17:15-16 "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world [speaking to God the Father], but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world." So if we are to understand the times, we must begin by understanding that the present age is evil and that we are not part of it or should not be. We are trying to look through God's eyes at the evil world. Turn over to I Corinthians 7, verse 29. Now Paul again writes, the time is short and the world system in which we live is temporary. I Corinthians 7:29-31 But this I say, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as those that had none, those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, and those who use this world as not misusing it. For the form of this world is passing away. This is Paul telling us that we are to not be involved in the world and all of its foolishness and all of its idiocy. That we are to avoid all of that controversy as much as possible and live our life as God wants us to. The superficiality of this society is like a stage play where the actors are wearing fancy costumes and masks, but as impressive and extravagant as it all appears, it only lasts a short time. Now turn back over to Romans 13:11. The time is short for the world because the present Babylonian world system is coming to a catastrophic end. And the time is short for God's people because this is the day of God's judgment and grace for His church. In other words, it is a time to repent and to turn to Christ, and it is a time to serve Him. But the opportunity will not last forever. Romans 13:11-14 And do this, knowing the time, that now is high time to awake out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. Paul calls for us to overcome sins and weaknesses and remain steadfast in the truth. Do any of us drink too much? Do any of us wear immodest bathing suits or inappropriate clothing? Do any of us have contentious relationship problems with other members of God's church? Paul says live righteously, resist temptations, and be forgiving because the time is short. Do we really understand the times in which we live? I Chronicles 12 lists the warriors who came to David when he was king at Hebron. The men of Issachar were among them, and in verse 32 they were described as those who understood the times and knew what Israel should do. So we have on one hand, those in Matthew 16 who could not interpret the signs of the times, and on the other hand, those who understood the times and knew what Israel should do. It is against this background that Romans 13:11 is set. Paul says, and do this knowing the time, understanding the present time. Now the combination of verses causes us to ask again, do we really understand the times in which we live? And if not, why not? If we do, what are we doing about it? The bottom line is that if we understand this present time, we will know what to do with our time and we will do it if we are wise. Some may ask, how close is our deliverance, our salvation? But that is not what Romans 13:11 is about. The Greek words say merely to do this knowing the time, yet the New International Version (NIV) is correct when it adds the word "present" to indicate that the time Paul is concerned about is not some future time when Jesus Christ will return, but rather the present time. And Paul is concerned that we understand it and use it wisely, knowing that it will be gone forever and the opportunities it holds will be lost forever when Christ comes. So that is for the church. So what about this present time? What kind of time is it? Please turn to Galatians 1, verse 3. Let us look at several passages that describe it clearly. In Galatians 1, Paul lays out the groundwork for our thinking about this present evil time. Galatians 1:3-4 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. Obviously in this verse, Paul is thinking of this world's time as a whole, all time prior to the return of Jesus Christ in glory. And he is telling us that it is an evil time out of which we need to be rescued. So many professing Christians view everything from the perspective of this world, blindly assuming it is God's world or at least God's nation. They see certain forces of evil in it which they feel they must oppose. In this vein, they see the Christian duty as working to make this a better world. And they make quite an effort and spend quite a bit of money doing it around the world, having their missions, sending their Bibles. So we can admire their effort. But they are not going to change the direction of this world. Only God can do that. However, this concept does not square with Scripture. Galatians 1:4 speaks of Christ delivering us from this present evil age. Human society is not of God's making but Satan's, as are its systems of government, basic philosophies, and business and religious practices. All nations are deceived, swayed, and manipulated by the Devil. In other words, our civilization is Satan's handiwork, not God's. This is God's creation, of course, all of the good in that. And man has even perverted as much of that as he possibly can. In other words, our civilization is Satan's handiwork, not God's. God's Word tells us in Revelation 18:4 to flee from the midst of Babylonian society. Speaking to the Jews, Jesus says in John 8:23, "You are from beneath, and I am from above, you are of this world and I am not of this world." And later, in John 18:36, when questioned by Pilate about His Kingdom, Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now My kingdom is not from here." Although Jesus lived in this world, He clearly saw Himself as a citizen or subject, so to speak, of God's heavenly Kingdom. The same holds true of those who follow Him. We are part of God's Family, part of His heavenly Kingdom. Do we really believe that this is a present evil age? Often I get the feeling that what we really believe is that this age is quite nice, something to be sought after, all the luxury, and enjoy it as much as possible. Development of wisdom and discernment is hindered until we begin to realize that this world is hostile to God and opposed to any desires for true goodness. What this means is that all cultures decline to the degree that they reject Christ. And the more radical the rejection, the more rapid the degeneration and disintegration. And so the Western culture is declining rapidly and we see it in this nation. Now we have an inkling of hope that people are seeing this as a message from God that we are to turn back to Him. But the same thing or a similar thing happened after 9/11. People were waving their flags and going back to church, and they did that for a time, temporarily, and then went right back to the destruction and degeneration of this society. The decline of Western standards of education are due to the overthrow of moral and cultural values by relativism. This is where a person considers himself his own or her own god, deciding for himself what is right and good. This has also been called situation ethics, and we are seeing these situation ethics in all aspects of life now, even in the handling of this COVID-19 crisis. Some real life examples would be if someone believes stealing is okay if you are hungry or adultery is acceptable if you really think you love the other person. This thinking is based on self-centeredness. The basic reason for the cause of problems in society today is self-centeredness. And when in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve turned from being God-centered to being self-centered, it set the pattern for all the sins and problems of the world to this day. And so Paul said, Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" The sins of every person, including yours and mine, have produced the problems we face today. Hopefully, as God's people—God's church—we are overcoming these problems and these sins of ours, and that it is not a way of life any longer, but it is out of weakness that we continue to sin occasionally. Although this is certainly an evil age, it is nevertheless also the age in which God has acted in Christ to accomplish the elected salvation. So that is a positive aspect of it. Paul writes in, Galatians 4:4-5 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Please turn with me to II Corinthians 6, verse 1. Jesus tells His church through Paul to have a purpose and plan with a wise sense of the limited time we have left to make use of God's grace. II Corinthians 6:1-2 We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says: "In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation. That is, for His church. Now this is the time acceptable by God to show us favor, and the sense is not merely that God listens impassively to our prayers, but that He answers them favorably. And this is the day of salvation for the church, but not the only day of salvation. II Corinthians 6:2 in the Young's Literal Translation (YLT), words it this way, "For he said, 'In an acceptable time, I did hear thee, and in a day of salvation I did help thee.' Lo, now is a well accepted time. Lo, now a day of salvation." That shows right there that it is not the only day of salvation. It is the day of salvation for the church, but there will be another day of salvation for the rest of the world if they so choose to follow God's way of life eventually. Isaiah 55:6 encourages us to "seek the Lord while He may be found." So we must seek Him immediately because He is not going to leave the door open to us much longer. God's plan of salvation for His church is moving forward very rapidly. And just as Jesus and His disciples moved on to another town when many of the Jews rejected them and then offered salvation to the Gentiles, so will Christ move on if we do not seek Him now. The window of His acceptable time is closing. Now if we have faith in Him we should seek God because He has the will and the means to create in us a new heart, a new character, a new mind, and a new future. And we must avoid the world's sense of reality. It lives a lie. Its confusion, its false beliefs, and its hopelessness keep people in a state of perpetual fear. Let us get back to Matthew 16. In the verse immediately following Jesus' words about the Pharisees and Sadducees failure to interpret the signs of the times, Jesus told them in Matthew 16:4, "A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." So it is clear from the way Jesus had spoken of Jonah four chapters earlier that he was referring to His own upcoming death and resurrection, and that is exactly the way the rest of Matthew 16 unfolds. Immediately after this, and after warning His disciples of what He called the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, that is, their teaching, Jesus asked the disciples who the people thought He was. Matthew 16:13-16 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus then explained how Peter's answer was right and that it was something that had been revealed to him by God. In other words, He put His seal of approval on Peter's true answer, affirming that Peter and eventually the other disciples too had interpreted the signs of the times correctly. So they had observed what was happening in Christ's ministry, and had therefore come to the understanding that He was the Son of God and to believe in Him. But the salvation Jesus was bringing was by way of His death, burial, and resurrection. At the time, this was something Peter did not understand at all. He believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but then Jesus went on to teach His disciples that He must suffer. Matthew 16:21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. So Peter rebuked Him saying that he did not want that to happen to Jesus, but Peter himself needed to be rebuked by Jesus instead. And if we are to understand this present time, we must understand that this is also a time marked out by the incarnation and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, whom God sent to be Savior. Now turn over to Luke 19, verse 41. Another passage is from the day, a week before His death, when Jesus was approaching Jerusalem. And when He saw it, He began to weep. Luke 19:41-43 Now He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you, and close you in on every side, . . ." It struck me that that is exactly the way I felt with this COVID-19 issue. I feel like they are walling me in. Thankfully, or hopefully, it is temporary. Luke 19:44 ". . . and level you, and your children within you to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation." What Jesus meant was that the people had been given time to repent of their sins and turn to Him and be saved, but they had refused to do it, and as a result, the time of their opportunity was ending. This is exactly the condition of people in our world today. And since the destruction of Jerusalem, which overtook the people of that city within a generation, Jesus' death and resurrection was a foretaste and warning of the final judgment that is to come upon every human being. Judgment will fall on everyone who does not trust Jesus Christ for salvation, and Christ Himself will be Judge. Please turn over to Acts 1, verse 6. In the first chapter of Acts, at the very beginning of the account of the founding and growth of the Christian church, the disciples asked Jesus if the restoration of the kingdom was near. Acts 1:6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" Their question showed that they were still thinking in unbiblical categories, so to speak. The Jews expected the Messiah to drive out the Romans who occupied their country and reestablish David's dynasty and an independent state of Israel. They believed that Jesus was the Messiah, so they anticipated that He would fulfill this popular expectation. Jesus replied that this is not what this age is about. This age is one of gospel proclamation of announcing the coming Kingdom of God. Acts 1:7-8 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." That was not only their commission, but it is also our commission. As the church continues today that is part of our commission. And we know that our effort in Church of the Great God is to prepare the Bride for the coming Kingdom of God, help Christians to live God's way of life, and secondarily to preach the gospel to the world. And what we preach online goes all over the world. I have emails coming from Taiwan, the Philippines, Australia, China, Europe, and South America. So we are reaching people, and we are reaching people that God wants to be reached. He chooses, He calls people, we do not. But we are instruments, we are to keep busy, keep working, and not sleep. What we are to know is that these are times of trial and testing, times given to us by God to live God's way of life and to take the good news about the coming Kingdom of God, which is the way of salvation to all people throughout the whole world. Going back to Romans 13:11, this means that if we really understand the present time, which is what Romans 13 is asking us to do, we will be a forerunner of those who are helping to feed the Bride of Christ and to promote faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. What else is time for if it is not for that? It is not time for us to merely make money or a name for ourselves or to have a good time. Life is from God, and the time we have has been given to us by Him. He owns us. Turn back to Matthew 28 this time. Time is for God to use according to His own will and plan, and history is about God calling a people out of this present evil age to believe in and live for Him. And our role in this present time, if you are converted, is to live for Jesus Christ as His ambassador and witness for Him by living God's way of life as an excellent example, not a mediocre example. He tells us in other scriptures He does not want us just to get by. He wants us to be excellent examples. Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. That tells us right there that that commission goes all the way until Christ's coming. Now in I Corinthians 7:29, Paul adds something else about time that fits perfectly with what he is saying in Romans 13. He says the time is short. An emphatic statement. And if we are going to serve Jesus Christ, we had better do it now because we do not have forever. This emphasis of now is true in two senses, and each can be applied both to believers and unbelievers. The first sense is that the return of Jesus Christ is imminent. Imminent is not a calendar term, as if we might be saying that Jesus' return is going to take place tomorrow, or at least the day after that or the day after that. Some Bible teachers have fallen into the error of saying this and even of setting dates. But imminent does not mean immediate. It means it will be very soon and nothing stands in its way. Of course that is important all by itself, since Jesus will return to wrap up this age and usher in the Millennium, it is urgent that we be ready to meet Him. We must be ready now because we do not know when our death may come. A tragic accident on the way home, a heart attack after dinner, or a violent criminal act. If you are a Christian, you must be ready to render an account for what you have done with the talents and opportunities God has given you. If you are not a Christian, you will eventually be judged for your thoughts and actions. Anyone who truly understands this about the times will flee from sin and seek God and live to glorify Him by serving Him with all the strength He provides. He is the one who supplies the spiritual strength and He also will provide our physical strength if that is needed. Now please turn with me to I Peter 4, verse 17. Now the second sense in which now is true is that the time when we must stand before Jesus Christ is near. It is near, and that is, regardless of the time when Jesus will return, our personal end is very close. At best, you will live up to about 70, 80, or 90 years old, maybe longer, or you may die today or tomorrow. Nevertheless, if you are in God's church, your judgment has already begun. I Peter 4:17-19 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God, and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator. So if you are trusting Christ, the time is nearer than when you first believed, to use Paul's words. How soon you will stand before God to give your account? Will you hear Jesus say, as He did in Matthew 25:23, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many. Enter into the joy of your Lord." Or will you be ashamed to stand before Him? Turn over to Ephesians 5, verse 16, another scripture having to do with the time in which we live and how we are to understand. Which brings us back to what Paul wrote in Romans 13 as well as to the evil of this present time. Ephesians 5:15-17 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. So if you want to know the times, understand what the will of God is. Now let me state the obvious. Be very careful how you live. Do not live immaturely, but live as a spiritually mature individual, making the most of every opportunity because the world's way of life is evil and leads to destruction. But these are essential things we must consider about ourselves during the time we have left. Consider that we are accountable to God for our time now, and time is as much a talent given us by God as our natural attributes and advantages. If we were really convinced that we will have to give God an accounting for what we do with our time, would we not use it differently than we do? Would we not resolve never to lose one moment of time but to improve it in the most profitable way we possibly can? If we believe that, all that is left is to do it. It is a matter of faith, but we all have weak faith to some degree. Also consider how much time we have lost already. If we are old or middle aged, we need to pay special attention to this. If we have not been active in Christ's service, we have wasted a great deal of precious time we can never make them up, then should we not make every effort to use the remaining time well? Should we not redeem the time that we do have knowing the evil of the age and the value of God's Word? Additionally, consider how we can improve the present time without wasting more time. There is nothing we can do about the past, but we should at least make sure that we do not repeat our past errors. We must overcome our idleness, uncertainty, and sin. The world's tendency is this way. Its natural state of being is this way, where they are idle and uncertain and fearful. Our actions, whether good or bad, provide a witness and an example of either God's way of life or the world's way of life. Remember that we are to understand the times and use time wisely. Let us go back to Romans 13. In Romans 13, verse 11 we have an alert taken from Paul's warning to the Christians in Rome and it is an instant wake-up call. "Now it is high time to awake out of sleep." Sleep here is a metaphor for a life of moral carelessness and lack of discipline. Conventional dating of the New Testament books places the Pauline epistles early and the Gospels late, but this does not mean that Paul was necessarily unfamiliar with the material about Jesus' life that was later included in the Gospels. He had contact with all the apostles, and he was aware of all of the teachings, plus he knew the Old Testament as well as any of them, especially after he was converted and could put it in the right perspective. Paul is reflecting the teaching of Jesus Christ in what he says here in Romans 13, and since this is nowhere clearer than here in the very last part of Romans 13, notice his three references to love, to knowing, and to wake up. Romans 13:8-11 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. So these three references to love, knowing, and wake up seem to follow the same sequence as in the Gospels. The first, love your neighbor as yourself. In verses 8 through 10, Paul discussed the law of love with an awareness of Jesus' teaching about the greatest and second greatest of the commandments. That specific teaching is found in Matthew 22:35-40. The second, knowing or understanding the present time. In verse 11, Paul urged the church to live godly lives because they understand the present time. This reminds us of Jesus' instructions to His disciples found in the sermon given on the Mount of Olives before His crucifixion in Matthew 24:3-14. And then the third term, "awake up out of sleep." In verse 11, we have Paul's call to Christians to wake up. This bears a striking resemblance to Jesus' parable of the Five Wise and Five Foolish Women recorded in Matthew 25:1-13. This parable pictures our need to make the most of this opportunity to wake up and seek God now because both life and time are moving on and the exact time of Christ's return is unknown. So he encourages us to take advantage of the knowledge and time we already have, and those who reject His guidance will be barred from entering God's kingdom. Now these words are written to believers in Jesus Christ and not to non-believers or non-Christians. Many who claim to be Christians are asleep. Christians are called to behave in a Christ-like manner or Christ-like way to everyone. Above all, living out the law of love. But many are not actually doing it. As far as all outward appearances are concerned, they are like those unbelievers around them who are spiritually dead, and they are not active for God. They are snoozing, dozing, or at best very groggy. Turn over to Jonah 4, if you will, please. Now, they are like Jonah when he was running away from God. As you know, Jonah was a prophet whom God had called to go to Nineveh, the capital city of the great Assyrian Empire. He was to preach a message of judgment against them, but Jonah would not go. As he later explained it, he was aware that God was a merciful God. Jonah 4:2 So he prayed to the Lord, and said, "Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm." So Jonah reasoned that if God was like that, then the only possible reason for God sending him to Nineveh with a message of judgment was so that the people might repent and be saved. And since the Assyrians were the hated enemies of his own Hebrew people, Jonah did not want to preach anything to them. So he ran away to Tarshish, a city on the far side of the Straits of Gibraltar in Spain, and he did it by taking a ship from the port city of Joppa, paying his full full fare. Jonah could take the ship, but God was not obliged to take this disobedience from Jonah. So God sent a storm on the Mediterranean Sea that threatened to sink the vessel, drowning not only Jonah, but also the pagans who were sailing it. It was a furious storm, fierce beyond anything these experienced sailors had ever encountered before. So they were praying desperately, all of them—all that is, but Jonah. Jonah had gone down below deck where he had fallen into a deep sleep. Jonah 1:6 So the captain came to him, and said to him, "What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish." What a sobering picture this is! The sailors were doing everything they knew to do to save the ship, even praying in their ignorance to whatever gods there might be. But Jonah, the one person who really knew the great God who controls everything, even the winds and the waves, and who also knew why the storm had been sent, was asleep in the ship's dark hold. In a sense, the sailors stood for the unconverted perishing world, and Jonah stood for the insensitive sleeping church. In this world today, the destinies of both are linked. The safety of all depends on what each does, but each has his own thing to do. They are in the same storm, subject to the same peril, and they want the same outcome. They are in a unique endeavor, and this ship typifies our situation. What do these sailors do? They do all they humanly can while Jonah sleeps. They try all human ways to save the vessel, to keep the endeavor going. What experience, nautical science, reason, and common sense taught them to do, they do. And in this sense, they do their duty, but they do it according to human reasoning when this was a spiritual problem. When Jonah finally did wake up, or rather was awakened by the captain, he had a valuable message to deliver to the sailors, even though he was running away, he had been disobedient. He pointed to the Hebrew God as the true God and explained what was really going on. Jonah 1:9 So he said to them, "I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." The sailors had no way of knowing why the storm was so fierce, but they had suspected something that was happening by the gods, and they were not sure which one. Jonah 1:12 And he said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me." The sailors appear to become at least temporarily believers in God because of Jonah's testimony. And since we are told that at the end of the first chapter, after they had thrown Jonah overboard and the sea had become calm, Jonah 1:16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows. So it did have an impact. We just have no idea how long that impact lasted, but that was a witness that God had sent through Jonah. How do we discern the times? First, fear the Lord. Proverbs 9:10 and Psalm 111:10 say that fearing God is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. In Colossians 2:3, Paul says that in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. So we must begin our discerning the times with the faith and reverential fear that God is the righteous and omnipotent Creator of the universe and that He is truth. There is another Bible story that we also need to think about at this point. All these Bible stories, of course, for us are very familiar. And that is the story of the disciples sleeping in the Garden on the night of Jesus' arrest by the temple authorities. Jesus was praying in great agony to the Father, and in, Matthew 26:39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." So Jesus asked the disciples to keep Him company, to watch and pray, but they failed to do it. Instead of praying, they soon fell asleep, even as the enemies of Christ made their way into the Garden to carry Him off to trial and crucifixion. The disciples, who had not prayed and therefore had not been fortified by God for what was coming, quickly fled. And a short time later, Peter, who followed the arresting party into the courtyard of the Jewish high priest, three times denied that he knew Jesus. In Jonah's case, the sleeper missed the opportunity to testify about God to the unbelieving world, at least until he was awakened by the world and by circumstances. And in the second case, the sleeping disciples failed to pray and were therefore useless when the hour of crisis came. Now, is it any different today? Are many believers not as much asleep in our day as they ever were? When I say many believers, I am talking about inclusive, everyone who professes to be Christian. The need of the world is apparent, but they do not see what it is. They do not have the solution because they cannot see that the problem is spiritual, and so the solution must be spiritual. So they make a great effort to do physical works. How do we discern the times? By being led by God's Spirit. Spiritual discernment requires God's inspiration through His Spirit because only God can open our eyes to see the truth of what is really happening and what He is really doing in our time. According to, John 14:17 "The Spirit of truth [that is, Jesus Christ], whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you." We do have the answer to the world's troubles, but the world will not hear it. But many Christians today are also asleep or at least very groggy. Have you ever gone into someone's bedroom to wake him up and found him so deeply asleep that all he wanted to do was keep on sleeping. You probably have, and maybe you were the one sleeping. The situation of the church in our day is very much like that. The world is perishing. Christians are sleeping, and many Christians do not even want to wake up. It is easier and far more pleasant to go on sleeping. Sleep here is a symbol for a life of negligence and lethargy. Why must we wake up? Why should we even want to wake up? Well, let me give you some reasons. The first why wake up? Because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. I touched on this earlier. This is the reason Paul himself gives, and it is a powerful one. Whenever it was that you first accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and promised to follow Him as His disciple, whether it is five years ago or 50 years ago or just recently, you have less time to serve Him now than you did when you first believed. Your time is not unlimited. It is quickly slipping away. If you are a young person, it is easy to believe that life is long and that you still have plenty of time to obey and serve God, but you do not know that for sure. There is no guarantee that you will live through today let alone for 40, 50, or 60 more years. But even if you do have a very long life ahead, why would you want to waste the time you do have? Or if you waste it now, forming a pattern of living for yourself rather than for God, what makes you think that you will change your self-centered ways and be of any use to others later? If you do not wake up and glorify God now, it is likely that you will continue sleeping into old age and die, having done nothing at all of value for God the Father, Jesus Christ, or His Kingdom. If you are an old person, you may have wasted many years just as I have been describing. You willingly admit that these things are very true and past days are lost opportunities. But you are still here, you are still listening, and what I am emphasizing is: spiritually wake up! The second reason why we should wake up is because you have no right to sleep when there is work to do. We have been rescued from death to be God's witnesses, that we are called to be alert and working until Jesus Christ comes. When the five wise virgins went out to meet the bridegroom and took their lamps with them, what right did they have to be asleep? We may be able to understand those sleeping who had no oil in the containers with their lamps because their lamps went out and they would have been in the dark and darkness suggests sleep. But those who had their lamps well-trimmed, well prepared, should they go to sleep in the light? And those that had the oil, should they go to sleep while the oil was illuminating them? They needed to be awake to put the oil into the lamp. Besides, they had come out to meet the Bridegroom. Could they meet Him asleep when He comes? Would it be appropriate for Him to find those who attended His wedding all asleep in a row, insulting His dignity, treating His glory with contempt? The third reason why we should wake up is because we have many enemies who are awake and working even if we are not. Remember the enemy in Matthew 13 who sowed the tares in the field while everyone was sleeping? And we may sleep, but we cannot induce Satan to close his eyes. If we truly understood that the enemies of God are always awake enemies, would we not be more alert in resisting them and standing steadfast for God's way of life? James 4:7-10 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. The fourth reason why we should wake up is because there is something worth waking up for. In the United States, the suicide rate among prisoners is four times as high as among the general population. In 2016, Huffington Post Jail Death database found that 26% of jail suicides occurred within just three days of incarceration. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that 41% of jail deaths occur within the first week of a person's jail stay. And one of the saddest things for many prisoners who live longer is that they fall into what the wardens call a prison shuffle, moving at the slowest possible speed, and that many who are in prison spend long hours in their beds trying to sleep the lengthy years of their sentences away. It is understandable that people who have nothing to live for would want to kill time. The world lives under a sentence of death as long as they do not repent of their sins and in faith accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. But that is not our case. Romans 6:22-23 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. We have meaningful work to do. We have the task of telling people of that Savior, who, if they believe in Him, will lift them out of darkness into light and out of death into life. So which is it for you: the prison shuffle or the spiritual sprint? How do we discern the times by growing in the fruit of the Spirit? We must work with God to correct the prejudices and tendencies of our own hearts. Turn with me please to I John 2, verse 17. And when we produce love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control through spiritual exercises, we can discern what is true and what is false. Furthermore, that that life is an eternal life, so the fruit of what we are given to do as Christians has an eternal result. What else in all of life is like that? Everything else is going to pass away. It will perish. So why live for the things that perish? Live for the eternal God. I John 2:17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. The world's appearance of permanence is deceptive. History is not an endless cycle but is speeding toward a conclusion willed by God. We have been called to action! Given the shortness of the time before Christ returns and the nearness of the end requires us to put off all evil works and to live in the light. And once again, Romans 13:11 And do this, knowing the time, that now is high time to wake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than we first believed. Verse 11 is directed to Christians, of course, but the general principle of waking up is applicable for unbelievers also. So some Christians are asleep in respect to spiritual things, but unbelievers are more than asleep. They are spiritually dead. Because, unaided by God, they are unable to respond to, understand, or even hear God's truth. Once again, the parable of five wise and the five foolish virgins focus on those who had no right to be asleep. These are people who know Jesus Christ, but who are asleep and therefore fail to properly wait for and serve Him. But what of the other five women? They were not true believers. What of them? The important thing about this part of the parable is that those who were lost thought they were saved and in fact, for a time were indistinguishable from their believing sisters. This is a point made in each of the three parables in Matthew 25. The five foolish virgins had received the Bridegroom's invitation, had responded positively, and were even waiting for His coming. They were sure they would be admitted to the wedding banquet, even though they were not ready when He came because they were off buying oil trying to get ready. And they expected Him to open the door to them and were incredulous when He turned away from them. Matthew 25:11-13 "Afterward, the other virgins [the foolish ones] came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!' But He answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.' Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming." Watching points directly to the necessity of being ready while patiently waiting for Jesus Christ. If the master's return is late at night or very early in the morning, the alertness of the servants is even more commendable. In Matthew 25:26-30, the servant who had buried his master's talent and did not use it, was amazed when the master disapproved of his actions. He thought he had done well, but his master called him wicked and lazy and had him cast aside into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In Matthew 25:31-46, the goats could not understand why they were rejected since, as they implied, they would have fed Jesus if they had seen Him and understood that He was hungry. Or given Him something to drink, if they had seen Him and understood that He was thirsty. Or invited Him in or clothed Him or looked after Him or gone to visit Him. They did not understand that they would have been able to do that only by helping other people or understand that their opportunity to do it was now passed. They too were asleep. They also perished. In each of these cases, the people involved were members of what we might call the visible church. So the parables are to warn people who think everything is well with their spiritual standing that they need to wake up to their true weak spiritual condition. Now for a final scripture, we are going to continue reading in I John 2. I John 2:18-21 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. John developed a contrast between the world's children and God's children, a contrast that is at the same time a contrast between falsehood and truth. What do we see when we look at the world? Can we believe anything that we are being told in the media or anywhere else by politicians or by the education system? It is very rare that we can get pure truth anywhere in the world. There is scientific truth that is not truth anymore, we are finding out. The indwelling of God's Spirit enables us to discern truth from error, the teachings of Christ from false deceptions, and righteousness from sin. Each and every one of us have a choice of whether to spiritually sleep or work, to be served or to serve, to do the prison shuffle or sprint to the finish line. The time is short! Awake out of sleep! Our salvation is nearer than we think!
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