PUTTING ON CHRIST "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. 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." (Romans 13:11-14, NKJV) Devotion 8 of 33 – Tomorrow:
"And do this, knowing the time . . . "
In Christ, the performance of duty is elevated. Under the Law, the reasonableness of obedience was not clearly seen. Nevertheless, obedience was incumbent upon the people. As incentives, there were great temporal blessings held out to the people, as well as dreadful curses in the world (Deut 28:1-68). Under the Law, both blessing and cursing were directed to men in this world. Ponder the blessings held out to Israel. They were promised to them ONLY if they kept every jot and tittle of the Law, and did it always and consistently.
01. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
02. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
03. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
04. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
05. The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
06. The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
07. The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.
08. And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.
09. And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
10. The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
11. And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:
Some within the Christian community are still holding these blessings out to the people of God – in fact, it has become fashionable in some circles to do so. Such individuals do not know the time! They are not aware of the nature of the day of salvation or the greatness of its promises.
The curses for not obeying the Law could not possibly be any worse for men in the flesh. Perhaps it will be of benefit to list a portion of them. The people would be cursed in the city and field. Their crops and warehouses would be cursed, as well as the fruit of their body, their land, and their flocks. They would be cursed when they came in and when they went out. Everything they set their hand to do would be cursed. The Lord would remove them from the land and smite them with consumption, fever, inflamation, the sword, blasting, and more. The heavens would become brass, yielding no rain to them, and stopping their prayers from entering into heaven. Their enemies would smite them from every quarter, scattering them into the kingdoms of the earth. The Lord would smite them with madness, blindness, and astonishment of heart.
Those are the curses listed in Dueteronomy 28:16-28. The list continues for 40 more verses, through verse 68! It includes such things as eating their own children, having their wives ravished by others, and their sons and daughters being given to another people. They would carry much seed into the field, but bring little out of it. The locusts would consume all of their trees and the fruit of the land – and much more!
Surely, if men can be made better by Law, the First Covenant would accomplish it. The promises were marvelous, and the curses were staggering. Yet, with all of that, the people were not changed. The promises, as seemingly great as they were, were not enough to compel the people to live consistently. The curses, as fearful as they were, could not move the people away from sin. That was the manner of the Old Covenant, but it is not the characteristic of the time in which we live – the "day of salvation," and the "accepted time" (2 Cor 6:2).
It is imperative that we "know the time" – the kind of period in which we are living. Within the framework of the New Covenant God does not call upon us to follow Him in order to temporal benefits. Search the Scriptures and see if this is not the case. When Jesus spoke to the seven churches of Asia, He held before them benefits that extended beyond "this present evil world" (Rev 2-3).
1. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God" (2:7).
2. "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death" (2:11).
3. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it" (2:17).
4. "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star" (2:26-28).
5. "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels" (3:5).
6. "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name" (3:12).
7. "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne" (3:21).
8. "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son" (21:7).
Tell me, you who know the glory of the New Covenant, how do those promises compare with the ones in Deuteronomy 28? Are they not of another and superior order? Do they not have a stronger pull upon your heart? Are they not "better promises" in every conceivable way? If you are going to awaken from spiritual slumber and put on Christ, you must "know the time" in which you are living.
There is another sense in which we must "know the time" – and it is the primary sense of our text. We are nearing the end – "the night is far spent." Time is drawing to a close. The devil's time is running out, and the culmination of our salvation is "nearer than when we believed." The Judge is "standing at the door" (James 5:9), Jesus is coming quickly, and His reward will be with Him (Rev 22:12). This is no time to be spiritually asleep! You must "know the time."
Already, the twelfth chapter of Romans has mentioned the reasonableness of giving our bodies as a "living sacrifice unto God." Now, the Spirit will continue that same approach to living in a godly manner. He will not hold the wrath of God before us as a primary incentive. Nor, indeed, will He promise us that all will be well with us if we knuckle down and keep the commandments of God. Rather, He gently elevates us into the heavenlies, showing us the utter insanity of being ungodly. For those with "the mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:16), this is the strongest way to move us to a life that honors God and prepares us to stand before Him with joy.
PRAYER POINT: Father, I thank You for not shrouding the times in which we live with darkness. In Jesus' name I thank You that You have commanded the light to shine into our hearts!