A Sense of Urgency
BY MARK CROCCO
Romans 13:11-14 Have you noticed how we talk about time, about the passage of time? We use such statements as "time flies", "time marches on", "time waits for no one" and so on.
Every moment of time that passes is gone forever. Nobody can ever bring it back. And when the Lord Jesus Christ returnsand that won't be too long from nowtime will come to an end altogether.
In the little time that remains, there is a need for you and me to be living with a sense of urgency about the Christian life. This need is implicit in Romans 13:11-14.
As we look at that passage together, I would like to call your attention to the three major issues that we need to wrestle with as we develop a spirit of urgency in our lives.
I. Lateness of the hour
First, we need to bring a spirit of urgency to our Christian lives because of the lateness of the hour. The first part of verse 11 reads: "And this do, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep."In this particular portion of the epistle, the apostle Paul is exhorting believers to apply to their lives all the great truths that he has presented up to this point. Hence, the opening exhortation: "And this do."
Notice what he says right after that: "knowing the time". He wants us to know where we are on God's timetable. He wants us to understand that God is the Lord of history, He is the Lord of time.
The perspective that God wants us to have is that we are living in the last epic, the period of time that precedes the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And when he says, "It is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep", God is calling us to spiritual alertness. This is no time for any Christian to live his life with an attitude of apathy. We need to bring a spirit of urgency to ministry.
Seize the moment. In Ephesians 5:15,16, the apostle Paul makes a similar exhortation. He says:
Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.In the Greek, that little expression "making the most of your time" means to vie up the opportunities, to seize the opportunities, to make the most of every opportunity. We need to seize the moment, seize the day, seize the hour because we are living in evil days when the opportunities to serve God and the opportunities to witness to the lost are few and far between.II. The Lord's imminent return
Paul continues: "for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand" (vv. 11b, 12a).We need to have a sense of urgency not just because we are living in the end-time period. Our Lord Jesus Christ is returning imminently to complete our salvation. The night is almost gone. This present sin-ridden age is nearly over.
Suppose you have $10 in your pocket and you go somewhere and make a $9.98 purchase. What happens is that your $10 is far spent, it is almost gone. That's what this passage is saying. We are living in that period when $9.98 of that time has already been spent. There is very little left.
Knowing that Christ is returning very soon, what should we do? We read in Hebrews 10:24,25:
And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and to good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as the habit of some is, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the Day drawing near.Knowing that the night is almost gone and that the day of our Lord's return is at hand should bring a sense of urgency within the body of Christ to love one another and to encourage and stimulate one another to do good deeds. We need to assemble together and support one another because this is a period of great distress for all believers.Along this line, the Psalmist cries out in Psalm 90:12, "teach us to number our days." We need to have the wisdom to know that the number of days we have left to witness for God and to minister to one another is dwindling rapidly.
III. Life of holiness
The third major issue that we need to wrestle with as we develop a spirit of urgency is the command to live a life of holiness.Our text in Romans 13 continues: "Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly, as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy" (vv. 12b, 13).
Because we are engaging in a spiritual battle, we need first of all to put on the armor of light. Paul then uses the word "not" three times to call attention to the deeds of darkness that believers should particularly avoid. With these areas in mind, I want to share with you the way to create holiness in our lives that will ultimately produce in us a spirit of intensity and urgency.
Self-control. The first area is personal discipline. Paul says: "not in carousing and drunkenness." To carouse is to engage in boisterous, drunken merrymaking. Paul is talking about the lack of self-control that is exemplified by the abuse of alcohol.
In the last days, Paul warns in II Timothy 3:2,3, difficult times will come because "men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good" and so on. To endure to the end, believers must have self-control.
Moral purity. The second area of sinful behavior that characterizes the end-time period is sexual immorality. So, God reminds us here not to engage in sexual promiscuity and sensuality.
Remember what caused the godly man David to suffer his greatest fall? David was on his rooftop when he looked out and saw a beautiful woman bathing. David began to desire, and after desiring, he began to engage in adultery, which eventually led him to commit murder.
The number of days we have left to witness for God and to minister to one another is dwin In these days of widespread sexual immorality, all kinds of temptation come our way. What we need to do is to flee from such temptation and not let any sinful desire come into our mind. Bring every one of our thoughts captive unto the obedience of Jesus Christ.
Interpersonal harmony. The third area of rebellion that is commonplace in the final days is strife and jealousy. Paul is talking here about those attitudes that are marked with discord and disunity and selfishness and pride.
Indeed, nothing is sapping the power and undermining the ministries of the church of Jesus Christ today more than broken and unreconciled relationships. Because we are unforgiving, because we refuse to work through the conflicts of our lives biblically, relationships have been broken within marriages, within families, within our churches and even out there in the work place.
As we live with a spirit of urgency, anticipating the imminent return of our Lord Jesus, we ought to keep in mind what Jesus says in Matthew 6:14,15:
For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.Christ commands us to love one another. As His followers, we simply need to always maintain interper
sonal harmony.Leaning on Christ
Now, it is absolutely impossible for any of us in our own strength to live with self-control, with moral purity and with interpersonal harmony. Hence, we read in verse 14: "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lust."To put on the Lord Jesus Christ is to let the armor of light that you wear be the character of Jesus Christ. Acknowledging that you have no power or resources of your own, live in the conscious presence of Jesus Christ; lay hold of His power by faith.
As you strive to live a life of holiness, you say: "Lord, I will trust you to help me control my emotions and desires, help me to flee sexual immorality, and to live in harmony with others as I forgive those who have hurt me even as you have forgiven me."
Resisting the flesh. While Christ-centered and Christ-saturated people rely on the strength of Christ, there is nevertheless human responsibility as well. The expression "make no provision for the flesh" has the idea of not giving any forethought to gratify the sinful nature. We must not allow our mind to make any plans that will lead us into sin.
In every one of our lives, there are certain people, certain situations, certain places, and certain activities that tempt us into disobedience. To make no provision for the flesh is to make sure that we do not place ourselves in those circumstances.
In closing, let me reiterate that history is rapidly moving to a point where Jesus Christ steps in and interrupts the flow of time. The night is almost gone. The day when Jesus Christ comes as the Lion of Judah to judge this world is at hand. Until then, we need to grasp every opportunity to serve our Savior, as well as to live to the glory, to the honor, and to the exaltation of our Lord Jesus Christ. o
To make no provision for the flesh is to make sure that we do not place ourselves Rev. Mark J. Crocco is pastor of Belcroft Bible Church, 13000 Beechtree Lane, Bowie, MD 20715.