A Blossom Bible Podcast
A Blossom Bible Podcast
Romans 13:11- 14 Embracing the Call to Righteous Living in the Modern World
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Ever grappled with the tension between spiritual aspirations and worldly temptations? Augustine's momentous encounter with Romans 13:11 echoes this universal struggle, offering us a roadmap to personal transformation that we unpack in today's episode. Through a candid exploration of what it means to live as a sacrifice dedicated to God, we peel back the layers of our daily choices and the profound impact they have on our faith journey. We delve into the urgency of Paul's message about living in 'the last days,' inspiring listeners to shed the darkness and wear the armor of light, walking in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and resisting the allure of fleshly desires.
The battlefield of the spiritual realm is often invisible, yet it wages around us incessantly, demanding our attention and vigilance. In this episode, we equip you with the full armor of God, as described in Ephesians 6, to navigate the challenges of spiritual warfare. From the belt of truth to the sword of the Spirit, we dissect the significance of each piece in maintaining our spiritual integrity. Sharing personal vulnerabilities, we offer up a prayer for divine strength not just for ourselves but also for you, our treasured listeners, to turn from worldly enticements towards the counsel of the Holy Spirit. Join us for an episode that provides a comforting reminder of God's abiding support and an empowering call to live a life reflective of our unwavering commitment to righteousness.
Music, romans. Chapter 13, verse 11, is where we'll start Alright. Well, you know we are in Romans and we're in a section chapters 12 through 16, the end of the book. That really is the practical side of this book, the application side of this book. Chapters 1 through 11, you know by now our theology, their doctrine, their teaching, details of the house and the wise of salvation, what God has done for us. Well, chapter 12, again begins with Paul saying I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable surface, surface, surface surface. And as Paul there says in chapter 12, verse 1, the response to all this goodness and mercy of God is that we offer our lives fully and completely as a living sacrifice. And that's what this second half of the book is all about how to do that, how to live your life as a living sacrifice, what it should look like.
Speaker 1:In chapter 13, we come to a passage that has a little bit of history to it. A guy that we know as St Augustine or Augustine, if you want to be a little snobby like that he was really affected by this verse. 13, 13, 13. A deep thinker. He struggled, like we all struggle, with two wills in his life the spirit and the flesh. He struggled with those things, as we all do, and it really bothered him. He was in kind of just agony over it, as it was, and he said this I just thought this was interesting, this history, he says I neither willed with my whole life like a living sacrifice, nor was wholly unwilling. He was torn by these two wills and it brought him to the point where he said how long, oh Lord, now check out what he says here. I was saying these things and weeping in the most bitter contrition of my heart when suddenly I heard the voice of a boy or a girl, I know not which, coming from a neighboring house. So picture it chanting over and over again pick it up, read it, pick it up, read it. And so, as Augustine was struggling with the spirit and the flesh and just weeping over it, we've been there. Perhaps he hears this voice of a child next door saying pick it up, read it. Some kind of rhyme, some kind of chant that was going on there playing. And he did that, right. What none of us are really called to do, to be led by the Lord.
Speaker 1:He played Bible roulette right, when he just kind of I don't know if it was a book or a scroll or what, how that works but he just kind of randomly opened the Bible and said well, I'm going to pick it up and I'm going to read it. And he happened to land on verse 13 here and says let us walk properly, as in the day, not in reverie, oh man, reverie or drunkenness, nor in lewdness and lust, not in strife, in envy. And I'm sorry he kept reading, but he said well, he said I wanted to read no further, nor did I need to, for instantly at the sentence, as the sentence ended, there was infused in my heart something like the light of full certainty and all the gloom of doubt vanished away and he confessed to God that you have pierced our heart with your love. So this is the history of this verse, one of the histories of this verse where, thinking about the spirit in the flesh, augustine says God hasn't made me to live in the flesh, I'm not made to live in the flesh, I'm made to live in the spirit. That's why I'm so torn up by all this. God, you did it, and obviously he grew through other things, but this verse meant a lot to him as time went on. So let's read verse 11 through 14, the end of the chapter, and we'll consider it for ourselves this morning, and do this knowing the time that now is high time to wake out of sleep. For now our salvation is near 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 rever man 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 lust. So here we are. We find this application again of what it means to be a living sacrifice, I think, a life fully given over to God, what it means to do this number one. Here we see.
Speaker 1:Do this knowing the time, the time, a special time, paul is going to. Let us know it's a special time and God ordained special times throughout human history. Right, there were certain times, right when God told Noah to build an ark because judgment was coming. There came a special time when the flood actually came. Probably a better example in the ministry of Jesus, right in the life of Jesus. Jesus, in the fullness of time, was born In the fullness of time. Jesus, we know, rode into Jerusalem and he told the religious leaders and the people of Jerusalem there, saying if you had known, even you, especially in this, your day, the things that make for your peace. And Jesus just says this is a time you didn't realize. This is your day. This is the time, the time that God had planned from before creation to come in as king and that, of course, as savior, the time right, we know, looking forward that there is a time that God is most definitely going to establish his kingdom, literally and perfectly, here on planet Earth. Right, and that time will come.
Speaker 1:But notice here Paul says knowing this, the time, it's time we live in the last days is really what this is pointing to. Paul would say that things like that, over and over again it is time, it is the last days. And if Paul spoke of the last days 2,000 years ago, but he was living the last days, the application isn't well, he must have been wrong, he must have been incorrect because it wasn't the last days. The application is we're really in the last days now, and as we look at the things around us, we realize it's even closer than it was 2,000 years ago. It is now the time. Now, all of that put together, paul says no, it's time, it's time and it's high time to wake out of your sleep. So there's more of a picture here, even than just this prophetic calendar, that last days are upon us. But there's this picture of it's time to wake up, picture some horrible hour like 4 or 5 in the morning, right, 4 or 5 in the morning. The day is upon us.
Speaker 1:There's been different times in my life. Rarely, I do get up for a second at 4 in the morning to help the boys get off to work for a minute and then I snooze for a little bit, because that's what I do. But there are those times in your life where you go I am going to start a new routine and I'm going to wake up before dawn and I'm just going to experience the day. And this is really the picture here. It's time, the day is upon us. Isn't it kind of sweet, though, aside from the lack of sleep and just the general sleepiness of waking up that early, isn't it cool when you get out and it's still dark.
Speaker 1:A few months ago I was in this going to take sunrise pictures habit, you know and I would wake up If I would wake up. I would wake up and I would get out. Before it was like, and you got the blue hour right and that is where it's kind of grayish blue in the sky and you go, the day is almost here and then the sun starts to come up and it's the most beautiful thing as the sky goes from this kind of light blueish color to oranges and reds and yellow until it's like full day light, and you look at that and you go. The day has come. Here it is, and it's so encouraging and this is the picture here that Paul is giving us. The day is at hand, awake.
Speaker 1:In Paul's day that would have been the only reason to be up at four or five in the morning before dawn. Right In the Roman Empire very few people looked at that time of day as work, right, unless you were a centurion, you know, taking care of, you know all the criminals running around at four or five in the morning, you know, or something like that, getting their day in. Everybody was looking at this time of day, as this is the beginning of a new day, and so Paul really as kind of like our alarm clock, he just says know the time, it's high time to wake up out of sleep, for our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. And so here he really points that it's time to wake up, and he shows us what that means there in verse 12 and 13. Notice, the night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast off works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light, let us walk properly, as in the day. So. So here he's going to tell us what we ought to do with this new day, and the first thing I think we ought to notice here is the action that Paul leads us to. Right. There's a lot of action in this. Let us cast off works of darkness, let us put on armor of light, let us walk properly, right, let us put on the Lord Jesus and let us make no provision for the flesh. The action here is some putting off darkness, the works of the flesh, and putting on, you know that, armor of light and putting on the Lord Jesus. So that's what we'll look at here today, in this day that's before us. You know what we take off and what we put on. But come back for a second and realize that it's action that Paul is encouraging us to. It's something to do.
Speaker 1:There are two, two ways that we look at life. That can be kind of wrong extremes. One is legalism. Right, this idea that I am gonna make my life better by doing all the right things and not doing all the wrong things. Legalism that says I'm gonna get myself to heaven because I'm gonna be a good person. Right, I'm gonna do all those Christian things and I'm gonna make it to heaven. Now, if you've been with us in the book of Romans, you know that that's impossible. Right, there is no way to be good enough. There's no way to get to heaven by our own works.
Speaker 1:Paul makes it really clear. God makes it really clear we're all sinners, all of sin false or the glory of God. So check it out. You can't be saved by what you do. But then there's the other extreme that can be kind of bad. Now, this is probably where we could end up more lately in our, in our world. There's the other extreme that can be bad where we go. If I'm not saved by what I do, then it doesn't matter what I do, I can do whatever I want.
Speaker 1:Right, and we actually can get into that, even like some things that I've said more recently, kind of going more towards this gray side of things, right, where you say, well, you can't make yourself love, you can't accomplish love in your life, it's something that God has to do in your heart. That's sort of true, it is, it's a spiritual gift. But check it out. That doesn't mean that we just sit back and go well, god, if you want to make me loving, then you're gonna make me loving, and if I'm not loving, it's because God didn't do it right. It's this idea that, because it's grace, I don't have to do anything, I don't have to change anything, I'll just let God do it. And that's not it either.
Speaker 1:I think we ought to notice here all the things that Paul tells us we need to actively do Taking off the deeds of darkness, putting on the armor of life, make no provision for the flesh and put on Jesus. Those are all some pretty active things and Certainly we don't earn salvation, but God does ask us to turn from our sin. He does tell us to put on Love and kindness and put on Jesus and all these things. So let's look at these things. In verse 12, let us cast off the works of darkness and and here Paul lists some things for us, the the works of darkness there in verse 13, the things I can't say like reverie and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, strife and envy. Right, these are just examples of works of darkness and, according to Paul, they're not compatible with the Christian life. Just these things, but all sorts of things like in Galatians, where he leads, lists off the deeds of the flesh. These things aren't compatible with the Christian life, they're not things that ought to be in our life. And Paul says Cast them off. You cast these things, throw these things out of your life.
Speaker 1:Now I think it kind of works there with what Peter says. Peter says cast all your cares on God because he cares for you. And so we look at these concerns in our heart. Right, this is prayer. Right, check it out a picture of prayer Cast all your cares on God because he cares for you. And we take it and, over and over again, those things that are in our head and our heart that just worry us, we cast them on God. We just say God, here it is, you're gonna have to take it, god. Oh, it's rolling back on me, all that anxiety over you know whatever, you know my job or or Money or whatever it's. It's rolling back on me, god here. God, you're gonna have to work in this and you just keep casting them on God. Well, the same thing here, check it out. He says cast off the deeds of darkness, right the works of darkness, and and so over and over again in our life we have to say no, these are not the things that I should be doing, the sin, not the things that I should be living for. God, this is not what I want. God here, take it and we cast it off over and over again every time it comes into our life.
Speaker 1:But notice what we put on we. We put on verse 12, the armor of light. Now, paul doesn't really detail it so much here what armor of light is, but you know. Ephesians, chapter 6 we have time, how we have time. Turn to Ephesians, chapter 6. Paul kind of details this idea a little bit more. It's so scared sometimes If he's in chapter 6, verse 10, beautiful passage. Finally, paul says Ephesians 6, 10 Finally, my brethren be strong and the Lord, in the power of his might put on the whole armor of God.
Speaker 1:I think that's basically the same thing. We're looking at the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand Against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and rulers, the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in Heavenly places. So check it out. Paul lets us know in Ephesians, chapter 6, that we're in a battle. This last week maybe you felt it a battle. Right, you're in a battle and believe it or not, it's not really mostly against people. It may seem like people are the main enemy in our life. I think people can be used by the enemy, but people are not the main enemy in our life. The devil is our main enemy and we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities, all these hosts of wickedness and darkness of the sage.
Speaker 1:Now check it out. Paul says we're in a battle, battle for our mind, battle for our heart, just a battle, and you feel it right. Well, paul there says in this battle we ought to be strong in the Lord. That's in verse 10, in the power of his might we ought to put on the whole arm room. Notice verse 13,. Here's the whole arm room.
Speaker 1:Therefore, take up the whole armor of God Now. Picture it like a suit of armor, right that you may be able to stand in the evil day and, having done all to stand, stand. Therefore. Here's the armor, having girded your waist with truth. Truth holds everything together. God's word holds everything together.
Speaker 1:Having put on the breastplate of righteousness, now you can look at this and go well, this is God's righteousness, what God says about me in Christ that I'm forgiven. I'm not forgiven because I'm a good person. I'm not saved because I've done everything right, because I haven't, but I'm saved because of what Jesus has done for me, and it guards my heart. I go, I am such a loser and yeah, yeah, we are not perfect, but God sees us as righteous. Check it out no matter what your day or your week look like, how well you did it or how awfully you did, you're covered by God's righteousness. That were righteous in Christ.
Speaker 1:Now notice, having shone your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, above all, taking the shield of faith, you can picture that, with which you'll be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit. So Paul pictures us here in this armor, righteousness over our heart, right, the helmet of salvation of what God's done covering our mind. You know all these things there to protect us in this battle. We just keep coming back to what God has done for us, what God is gonna bring us to right Like glory in the end. You know that God is gonna be faithful.
Speaker 1:Then we take this shield up of faith and we take all of it and go, god. I trust what you say. All those fiery darts and things that the enemy throws at us, doubt and discouragement, all these things and we go, God. I just wanna stand in what you say about me, that you love me, that you're there for me, that you're faithful and you're gonna complete the good work that you start. I'm standing in it, you know. And God wants us to be more than conquerors we're told right More than just getting by. He wants us to really get to the end victorious and he makes us victorious, and all these different things, and we take up last thing.
Speaker 1:There just might as well, point it out, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. It's not just to make yourself a good Christian that you spend time in God's word, but you wanna be instinctive with God's word, right Like a sword when things come up. You wanna go, but I know what God says about that. Oh, it's not gonna work. It's not gonna work, you're gonna die. You're gonna, you're not gonna make it. And God says I'll complete the good work that I started in you.
Speaker 1:Sword of the spirit, let's do this. You know and notice, that's this armor of God. Well, back in Romans, romans 13,. He tells us in verse 12, let us put on the armor of life. I think it's really a lot of the same stuff. Right, we wanna put on that truth that would guard us in the battle. But notice what else and we'll kind of skip over to verse 13 there for a second. Notice something else to take off or get rid of in your life. Notice verse 14, you're gonna put on the Lord Jesus and we'll talk about that and make no provision for the flesh.
Speaker 1:So we could easily say take off that provision for the flesh, get rid of the provision of the flesh. Now, that's kind of a weird way to put it, but I think we all understand how we make provision for the flesh. Right, we're looking back to old Augustine there who was struggling with the spirit and the flesh. We see it in our week, right, we see it in our lives. The spirit and the flesh, my flesh that just wants everything that God says we shouldn't have sin, our lusts and passions. The flesh just is there saying do this for yourself. Then the spirit now check it out. The spirit is there to say live for God, trust God, worship God with your life. You go? Okay, I want that. And these two they fight in our lives. But Paul here says we can make provision for the flesh and I think we kind of understand that because we've all given into this at one time in our life. We, these two sides of who we are, flesh and our spirit.
Speaker 1:Our flesh is just tricky, right, our flesh will lie to us. If you ever like experience that I know you have, I absolutely know you have because our flesh, our own flesh, will lie to us. This is the example, right, gossip. Let's just talk about gossip, because that's not my sin right now. No, just talk about gossip. Let's talk about gossip. Now check it out. I've seen this in my own life. You have a little bit of gossip in your own heart, some nasty truth about someone else that maybe you got a chip on your shoulder over.
Speaker 1:Here's what our flesh says. You really ought to go tell this other person to pray for so and so, because they're struggling with this sin right now. Really an awful person right now. They're just really having a hard time. And this flesh side of you will say now you've experienced this, right, let's go get some prayer for this person, because that's what a good Christian would do. And we go into a conversation and go I don't know if you heard, but all so. And so you know they're back on drugs, you know. And there's part of you that's like I'm here for prayer. And then there's the other part of you that says I just want to let everybody know how awful they are. I mean, that's our wicked self.
Speaker 1:I've been there, right, and we make provision for the flesh under this idea that we're doing something good, right, I'm sure we can do this with a lot of different things, right? Well, let's stop by the store because you know the family needs some cereal for tomorrow morning. Stop by the store. What am I doing in the alcohol aisle? You know, says the person who struggles with drunkenness perhaps, and you go, well, your flesh goes. You're here for cereal to help the family and your flesh goes. And while I'm at it, right, we can do that with all sorts of things.
Speaker 1:I'm not here for pornography, I'm here for the news says the flesh, and says the flesh yes, and the spirit is totally oblivious to the fact that it's being lied to. Or maybe we know we're being lied to, right, that person needs some help because they're going through a hard time in their life. That's a good reason to sit and talk and pray with someone, but the flesh in the back of their mind knows you want to flirt, right, you want to be the one that that person looks to. And the spirit in the flesh. And we make provision for the flesh. Now, check it out.
Speaker 1:I don't really enjoy talking about this. This is uncomfortable for me to talk about, but we need to be aware in our own minds how sneaky and rotten and corrupt the flesh is. Don't make provision for the flesh when you and your flesh are trying to lie to yourself. You have good motives for being around sin. Don't listen. Make no provision for the flesh. Paul says here. But I think the positive put on the Lord Jesus. Now check it out. If we're holding on to the works of darkness, if we're making provision for the flesh, now come back, come back. If we're holding on to works of darkness, so we're just living alongside works of darkness, so we haven't cast them off, if we're making provision for the flesh in this little drama that I put in front of us, where the flesh is lying to us and we're going there knowing that we're running towards sin, we won't be putting on Jesus.
Speaker 1:Now Paul here kind of interesting. He looks at Jesus as an article of clothing, so to speak, right Putting on the Jesus suit. I don't know if that's the right way to look at Jesus. I don't know if that's the way to look at it, but check it out. That kind of is the reality of what God wants us to be. I don't know about putting on the Jesus suit. Scratch that from the record. That's weird. But check it out. Check it out.
Speaker 1:Right before Jesus left he told his disciples go into all the world, preach the gospel. And in Acts, chapter one, verse eight, check it out. Acts, chapter one, verse eight he says the Holy Spirit will come upon you. God will just lead your life and fill your life. The Holy Spirit will be all over your life and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, judea, samaria and all the earth.
Speaker 1:Now that is what Jesus wanted us to do is go out with this message and tell people the truth, right, tell people the truth that you are a sinner, you're separated from God, but it doesn't have to stay that way. Jesus died on the cross for you. You can be forgiven, you can be saved, you can have a new relationship with God. That's the message. Check it out. But there's also another part of it where Jesus said you'll be my witnesses, you'll be my ambassador, you'll be the one. When people look at your life, they go. Is that what Jesus looks like? I think that's what Jesus looks like, that we would represent Jesus to this world. Right? And the book of Acts is the continued work of Jesus through the Holy Spirit, through the means of his church. Right, that's what God wants For us to go out into our week, our family, our job, whatever it is. Go out and look like Jesus, point people to Jesus, put on Jesus.
Speaker 1:Now the problem is when the flesh and selfishness and sin is what our life is all about. And maybe your week was like that last week. We don't look like Jesus. We just don't show what Jesus is like. We misrepresent Jesus. Have you had those moments right when you just blow up and you're like, oh, it's sort of like Jesus cleaning out the temple, but not really and not really like Jesus. I don't think it's like Jesus.
Speaker 1:And check it out, that's not who God wants us to be. He wants us to represent Jesus. That our life would be a living sacrifice, fully unacceptable. That's what God wants from us. But we can't do that when we're ruled by the flesh. That we just come to God and say, god, that's not who I want to be. God, help me. God, I want to make some real choices in my life to not keep a hold of the works of darkness. God, that's not what I want to do. God, I choose not to have the works of darkness in my life. I don't want them. Cast them off. Make no provision for the flesh, right, just decide.
Speaker 1:When your flesh comes to you and starts telling you those lies, well, you're not here for anything bad, you're here for something good. No, I'm not, because we know it right. No, I'm not. I'm not going to go that way home. I'm just not going to talk to that person today at work because I know my evil little heart right. I'm not going to do it. I don't want to go there. I'm going to be careful and put on that armor, put on the truth of what God says, put on Jesus that's what God really wants to work in our lives and through our lives this week that people would somehow look at us and see. So that's what Jesus is like, that's truth, that's the hope that there is in life. And so Paul continues.
Speaker 1:In all these things, let's pray, god there. It is things that you've told us this week and so much more. God, I know it's our choice to live for the flesh or live for the spirit, but I just know how weak I am and I know every time I want to live in the spirit, I find myself in the flesh. God, I just pray and strengthen me with your spirit to do the right thing this week to listen to you and not my own selfish flesh. God, I pray for my friends if you give them everything that they need to turn from the flesh and to turn to the spirit, god, that you would work in us, just the desire for good things, that we would just crave your truth in our lives. God, help us in these things.
Speaker 1:God, we also just thank you that you haven't left us orphans in all of this. You haven't left us alone. But, god, you've given us your spirit. God, you're with us. We know that when we look at life and conviction happens, we know you're with us. But God, you're in us. If we're yours, god, you're actually over our lives and sealing us for heaven. But, god, I know you're there also to strengthen us and lead us. God, we need that work of your spirit in our lives this week. So, god, work all these things out that our direction would be towards you this week. Even now, our direction would be towards you and give you these things In Jesus' name. Pray, amen, 흐입니다.