Hey, podcast listeners! Thanks for streaming today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's word through the most effective media available, like this podcast.
To support Pathway to Victory, go to ptv.org slash donate or follow the link in our show notes. Now, here's today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. It's time to let go of those addictions that are destroying your life. It's time to start using that spiritual gift God has given you to do the one thing He's left you here on earth to do, and that is to make disciples for Christ. It's time to go to work. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress.
It's easy to get caught up in the everyday busyness of life, punching the clock, paying the bills, shuffling the kids from one thing to the next. But today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress urges us to refocus our attention and energy on the urgent task at hand, and that is making disciples for Jesus Christ. Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.
Dr. Jeffress? Thanks, David, and welcome to a brand new week of Bible teaching on Pathway to Victory. Today, I'm teaching from Romans chapter 13. In this passage, Paul reminds us that our Lord's return is coming soon. And I can tell you as your radio pastor and Bible teacher, I've never felt more urgency in my lifetime than I do right now. It's one of the many reasons Pathway to Victory is excited about the matching challenge that's active just for a few more days. Our goal is to raise $750,000 through the combined efforts of our listening family, which will be matched dollar for dollar and therefore doubled by some generous friends. And we will use the total proceeds to share the good news about Jesus, not only here in America, but also around the world. The deadline for receiving your gift for the matching challenge is July 5th.
And so it's critically important that we hear from you right away. When your gift to the matching challenge is received by Pathway to Victory, I'm going to say thank you by sending a fabulous book for your entire family. It's called Miracles in American History, 32 Amazing Stories of Answered Prayer. This book reinforces that God's hand of blessing has been upon America from her earliest days. We'll say more about the matching challenge and this book later in today's program. But right now, let's give our full attention to Romans chapter 13, where we started on Friday's program.
I titled my message, It's Later Than You Think. Well, in the passage we're going to look at today, Paul says there is one day coming. In fact, it's about the dawn that is so exciting that it ought to cause us to awaken immediately, to get up, to get ready. It's time to get up.
Look at verse 11 of Romans 13. And this do, knowing the time that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep. For now, salvation is nearer to us than when we first believed. We need to know what time we are living in right now. What time is it on God's clock? Well, right now we're living in the time, first of all, write it down, when darkness prevails. When darkness prevails, look at verse 12. The night is almost gone and the day is at hand. But Paul says something else about the time we're living in. We're living in a time when the daylight is about to unveil.
Darkness prevails, the night is almost gone, and the day is about to appear. What day is Paul talking about? The Scripture uses the day to refer to the time of Christ's return.
Now stay with me on this. In many ways, the day refers to all of the end time events. It telescopes all of the end time events together and sees them as one. We know on God's prophetic calendar, the next event is going to be the rapture of the church when all Christians are caught up to meet the Lord in the air, followed by the seven years of tribulation we call the day of the Lord, the day of God's judgment, followed by the literal return of Jesus Christ to the earth.
Do you see that? The day refers to the return of Christ. And so in Romans 13, 11, Paul says, for now, salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.
Because the day is just about here, salvation is nearer to us than it's ever been. You know, the fact is we don't know when Christ is coming. We can't know the time, but we do know the times. Did you know in the Greek text, there are really two words that refer to time? One word is the word kronos, kronos.
It means hour, date, minute, second, the kronos. We can't know the kronos of when Christ is coming, but there's a second word for time, kairos, K-A-I-R-O-S. That refers to the season, the era. And by looking at prophetic events, we can know we're living in the time, the season, the era of Christ's return.
He said it is closer today than it has ever been. And that's why Paul is saying in Romans 13, 11, the alarm has sounded. It is time to wake up. But number two, it's time to do something else. Since the alarm has sounded, it is also time to get dressed.
Look at verse 12. The night is almost gone and the day is at hand. Therefore, let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. He uses clothing as a metaphor for behavior.
There's certain behavior we put off because the night is over. And there's other kind of behavior that we need to put on throughout the Bible. Righteousness, a right relationship with God is often compared to clothing. You know, the word righteousness means a right standing with God. And there are two kinds of righteousness in the Bible. There's what we call, first of all, imputed righteousness, I-M-P-U-T-E-D, imputed righteousness. That is righteousness that God imputes. That is, he credits to our account the moment we become a Christian.
The Bible also describes that kind of righteousness as a garment that God puts on us. Do you remember the illustration I used before about a man who takes his wife to dinner to a very nice restaurant? He's dressed in nice casual clothes, but when he gets to the restaurant, he discovers there's a policy that says dinner jacket's required. He complains with the maitre d' that he was unaware of the policy.
The maitre d' said it doesn't matter, that's our policy. But he said, you're not the only one who's come in here like this and that's why we keep a spare jacket here. And if you'd like, you can borrow this jacket and you can come in and have a great meal. Now at that point, you have a choice. You can either out of pride say, if you don't like me the way I'm dressed, well, you can just hang it on your beak, I'm out of here and here we go.
Or you can humble yourself and say, I'll follow the policy, I'll accept the gift of that coat, I will put it on so I can enjoy a great meal. You know, the same is true for us spiritually. None of us has the right clothing, so to speak, to enter into heaven. Our righteousness, the best we can do, is like a filthy garment to God, the Bible says. But God makes us a deal.
He said, you don't have enough righteousness, but I've got lots of righteousness. And if you will confess your sin and trust in Jesus to be your savior, I will put his righteousness around you. Now at that point, we can say, God, I don't care.
If you don't take me the way I am, forget it. And we miss eternity with God in heaven. Or we can humble ourselves and we can say, God, I believe what you've said. And in humility, I accept the gift of your righteousness by trusting in Christ. The Bible calls that imputed righteousness. You know, Philippians 3, 9 says, my prayer, Paul said, is that I might be found in him not having a righteousness of my own, which comes from obeying the law.
That's not good enough. I want the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith in Christ. We sing that song often, when he shall come with trumpet sound, oh, may I then in him be found, dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. That is imputed righteousness.
We receive it as a gift. You know, the Romans actually had two kind of garments. They had the inner tunic, the foundational garment, what we might call underwear. Today, it's the foundational garment. Imputed righteousness is that foundational garment that all of us need to enter into heaven. But there's a second kind of righteousness that is ethical righteousness.
Ethical righteousness. That refers to our acts after we're a Christian, our obedience to God, not to earn our salvation, but in light of what Christ has done for us. Now, when Paul talks about putting on the armor of light, putting on new behavior, he's talking about that second kind of righteousness. He's talking about putting on obedience to God, not to earn your salvation, but out of appreciation for what God has done for us. Now, look at verse 12 of Romans 13. The night is almost gone, and the day is hand. Therefore, let us lay aside the deeds of darkness, the behavior of darkness, and put on the armor of light.
What kind of garments do we need to remove? Look at verse 13. He says, let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, and not in strife and jealousy. Paul talks about three kinds of behavior every Christian needs to lay aside.
In light of the fact that Christ is almost here, in light of the fact that we're going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ one day to be evaluated, there are three kinds of behavior we need to be done with, we need to lay aside. First of all, he talks about uncontrollable pleasure. He refers to carousing and drunkenness. These refer to activities of the nighttime. You know, some people, out of a desire to anesthetize themselves from the pain of life, they do so with alcohol and drugs and partying, and more often than not, they engage in these activities at nighttime when they would never think of doing them in the daytime. You know how some things your parents say to you just stick with you forever, no matter how much you try to get them out of your mind?
They just stick with you. One of the best things my parents ever said to me, I'll never forget it, is, Robert, remember this, rarely does anything good happen after midnight. You know, I thought about that, and then Julia's laughing because she knows.
I would say that to her and Dorothy all the time. They were growing up. Remember, nothing good happens after midnight. That's what he's saying here.
This is behavior that is suitable for the nighttime but not for the daytime. Secondly, he says we need to lay aside unrestrained immorality. He's talking about sexual promiscuity, sensual activities, again, things that are done in secrecy in the cloak of darkness.
And then thirdly, he talks about unresolved anger, that is, strife and jealousy. Isn't it interesting that as Christians, we say, well, sexual immorality, that's terrible, but yeah, it's okay to go around resenting other Christians. It's okay going around having these outbursts of anger and spewing all over people. It's okay to harbor bitterness in your heart toward others. No, God says. You need to lay that stuff aside too. Why?
Because Christ is coming back. Lay aside those things. And then secondly, he talks about what we need to put on. You don't just take off behavior.
There's another set of clothes, so to speak, you need to put on. Now, if I had been Paul, and I'd been writing this letter, I would have probably come up with a laundry list of behaviors Christians ought to put on. Love, gentleness, self-control, peace, all those sorts of things. Paul doesn't do that. Instead, he simply says, verse 14, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. That is, if you want to know how to behave, just look at Jesus. Behave like Jesus would. When you're standing in front of that magazine stand, perusing the different covers and deciding where your eyes are going to land, what would Jesus do? When you're surfing that internet site, trying to fill up some time, what sites would Jesus be looking at?
When the name of one of your enemies pops up in a conversation and you're tempted to say something, what would Jesus do? That's what he's saying here, put on Jesus Christ. And then he adds the phrase, make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lust.
He has two things in mind here. He says, first of all, don't rationalize sinful behavior. Don't say, well, you know, I'm only human.
God doesn't expect me to be perfect. I'm going to give myself permission to do this. I love people who say, I thought I'd give myself permission to do this.
No, don't do that. Remember what James said in James 1? Let no man say when he's tempted that he's being tempted by God. Some Christians actually rationalize sinful behavior. Well, you know, God's probably allowing me to do this so I can know his grace more and more and understand I'm not perfect. They actually use God as the excuse.
He said, don't do that. Don't rationalize your sin. And not only that, give yourself a zero tolerance level for sin. There's some of you right now who maybe are single adults and you're saying in your dating life, well, you know, I can't be 100% pure, so I'll go this far in immoral activities, but I won't cross the line. I won't go any further than this.
And then the line gets moved a little further and a little further and a little further. No, sin is addictive. I know I'm dating myself, but how many of you remember the old commercial for Lay's potato chips? Remember the slogan? I bet you can't eat just one.
And they were right. You couldn't. Let me tell you another motto to live by. You can't just sin a little bit. Sin is addictive. The more you sin, the more you want to sin. And so that's why Paul is saying have a zero tolerance level here.
Make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lust. Paul said in light of the fact that Christ is about to appear, it's time to get up. It's time to get dressed. And thirdly, it's time to go to work.
It's time to go to work. I want you to hold your place here and turn over to Ephesians chapter 5 for just a minute. Ephesians chapter 5, I heard about a person who said, I sleep fine at night. I sleep fine in the morning.
I just toss and turn all afternoon. Well, you know, a lot of Christians are like that spiritually. They are in a spiritual stupor. They walk around spiritually asleep, not having a clue as to what time it is.
Look at how Paul addresses this in Ephesians 5, 14 through 16. For this reason it says, awake sleeper and arise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time because the day is evil. Understand what time it is. It's time to get busy because the day is just about here. The day of Christ appearing is just about here. It's time to get up.
You know, it's interesting. Jesus said in John 9 verse 4, something that almost seemed opposite of what Paul said. Jesus said, work while it is day for the night is coming when no man can work. Now, they weren't contradicting each other.
They were looking at the same truth from a different perspective. Paul said, in light of the fact that Christ is about to appear, the day is about to come, go to work. Jesus was saying, the fact that we've got opportunity now to do the works of God doesn't mean we'll always have those opportunities. Work while it's day for the night is coming when it will be too late to do any work.
Both are saying the same thing. It's right now time to go to work. It's time to lay aside that sinful behavior that causes you to feel separated from God. It's time to let go of those addictions that are destroying your life.
It is time to end that relationship that is dragging you so far down. It's time to start using that spiritual gift God has given you to do the one thing he's left you here on earth to do, and that is to make disciples for Christ. It's time to go to work.
You know, I have that sense more right now than I've ever had in my life. You know, people will come up and say the funniest things to you, but people come up to me and they say, Pastor, you look so tired. And when I was younger, I used to say, oh, no, I'm not tired at all. It's just allergies.
That's all it is. I'm fine. Now I just tell the truth. I look tired because I am tired.
I'm exhausted. But there's a reason I feel that way. There's something inside of me that says right now is the time to work. I think something big is getting ready to happen. I don't know if that something big is my own mortality and I'm about to go meet the Lord. I don't know whether it's the Lord is about to return. I don't know if it's the fact that the opportunities we have as a church right now, we're not going to have much longer. But whatever reason it is, it's time to turn on the afterburners and it's time to get to work as a church. That's exactly what he's saying right now.
It's time to go to work. Many of you know the name of Jonathan Edwards, a remarkable man. Before he was 20 years of age, he wrote a resolution that guided the rest of his life. He said, Resolved, never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I can. Edwards once preached a sermon based on this passage, Ephesians 5, called The Preciousness of Time and the Importance of Redeeming It. Using this passage from Ephesians 5, he came up with three principles I want you to write down about time. He said, number one, consider you are accountable to God for your time. Consider that you're accountable to God for your time. Do you realize one day when you and I stand before the judgment seat of Christ for God to evaluate our lives, we're going to give an account of everything he's entrusted to us, including the time that he's given to us. Number two, consider how much time you have already lost. Spend some time thinking about the time you've wasted in your life. And then number three, consider how you may improve the present time without delay. Consider how you might improve the present time without the delay. Here's the bad news. You can never reclaim time that you've lost. It's gone forever.
But the good news is you can make changes in your life right now to maximize the time that you have left. Lloyd Ogilvie used to tell the story about a father who would put his son to bed every night. The little boy would pray the prayer, now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. One night the little boy prayed, now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I wake before I die, he stopped, he said, Daddy, I'm sorry, I messed up.
The dad said, oh no, son, you didn't mess up at all. You prayed the most profound prayer anyone could pray. If I wake before I die. Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to wake up. It's time to get up. It's time to get dressed.
It's time to go to work. Because the dawn of Christ appearing is nearer than it's ever been. Without question, I have a growing sense that the return of Christ is happening soon.
And it's critically important for us to, just as the little boy said, wake up before we die. Well, for those who know Jesus as their personal Savior, I want you to join me in proclaiming the gospel to those who are lost and hurting and calling them to repentance and change. To help us achieve that objective, a group of visionary friends of Pathway to Victory have established a matching challenge in the amount of $750,000. When we reach this goal, it will greatly accelerate our ability to reach even more people with the urgent message about Jesus Christ while there's still time.
So would you join us by giving generously to the matching challenge before the deadline this coming July 5th? By responding today, your generous gift to Pathway to Victory will be matched and therefore doubled in impact. That means your gift of, say, $100 becomes $200. A $500 gift becomes $1,000. A $5,000 gift would become $10,000.
Whatever amount God prompts you to give, that amount will be multiplied by two, making twice the impact. Now, when your gift arrives at Pathway to Victory, I'm going to send you two very special thank you gifts. The first one is a wonderful book for your entire family called Miracles in American History. Thirty-two amazing stories of answered prayer. And the second thank you gift is a video DVD that contains an important message I delivered called America is a Christian Nation. So while we wait for the return of Jesus to gather as children, let's do everything within our power to tell the world to wake up and receive Christ. Your gift to the matching challenge will help us achieve that goal.
Thanks so much. David. Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. You're invited to request the book Miracles in American History when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. And when you give, you'll also receive a DVD copy of the highly requested message by Dr. Jeffress called America is a Christian Nation. Simply call 866-999-2965 or visit our website, ptv.org. Now, when you give an especially generous gift of $100 or more, we'll also include the complete America and the Bible teaching series on audio and video discs. Plus, you'll also receive an additional book written by Dr. Jeffress called Praying for America, 40 Inspiring Stories and Prayers for Our Nation.
Remember, your gift right now will have twice the impact because of our Pathway to Victory Beacon of Hope matching challenge, but only until this Friday, July 25th at midnight. So be sure to get in touch today. Call 866-999-2965 or go to ptv.org. Now, you can also send your request by mail right to P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. One more time, P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222.
I'm David J. Mullins. For centuries, Americans have enjoyed the blessings of religious freedom. But today, our religious liberties are threatened by those who ignore God. Join us again next time for a message called America at the Crossroads. That's right here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His Word. To become a Pathway partner, go to ptv.org slash donate or follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.
