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. – Romans 13:12
It’s a new year and this means a time of assessment and pondering what to do. As we draw to the end of one year we assess what’s happened. As we face a new year, we think about what we hope to accomplish. I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions, (they rarely survive the first month). I’m more for seeking the Lord in prayer and submitting myself to Him for marching orders.
Maybe you’re interested in how I, as a pastor, receive messages or a word from the LORD. I can’t speak for all pastors, but I can speak for myself. Please keep in mind that the first person a message is preached to is the pastor himself. So, bear with me as I share a bit of my experience.
As a pastor I like to seek the Lord for a yearly theme. This year, on the first Sunday morning of the year, after I had my message all prepared and ready to go, the Lord woke me up at six-thirty in the morning with the phase, “The night is far spent.” I had been seeking Him for direction, but nothing was clear or settled in what I was receiving from Him. The Lord sometimes awakens me with a “word,” or a “message” and He has a tendency to do so, on Sunday morning! (Maybe it’s not His tendency, but my lack of suitable preparation. Whatever it is, as His servant, His wish is my command.”
As I awakened with “the night is far spent,” the message came quickly and smoothly. On a Sunday morning I have to leave my home at nine in the morning, at the latest 9:30 am to make it to church for the service. My message was completed at nine on the dot, but I still had the Power Point part of my message to do! I could skip it and preach old school, but the Lord was prodding me to do the Power Point and so, at a few minutes after nine, I began.
The Lord was with me. I have learned not to worry about sermons and their contents. If I am faithful in praying and preparing, the LORD, the Holy Spirit, is faithful to provide and empower and be in the message. This time it was no different. As I typed the title, “The Night is Far Spent,” into my Power Point program I was thinking now what image will be suited to this message? But as soon as I typed in the title, the Designer option in the program instantly brought up a light house beaming a light into darkness. Perfect! Thank You Lord! Maybe Artificial Intelligence (AI) isn’t all bad. Modern technology can be useful, but the danger is that you allow it to make you lazy. AI and all the techie options in our computers and online arsenal can be useful but never allow them to substitute for meeting with the Lord to find your message.
The phrase “the night is far spent” is a way of saying we are about to face a new stage, a new phase, a transition to the next part, and time is short before this happens. What comes next could be good, or could be bad, but it is on our doorstep, and we need to get ready, be prepared, and get serious to face what’s coming.
So, what is coming?
Signs and seasons. When God created the heavens and the earth He did so in six days and rested on the seventh day. The light of day was not created by God simply so we could see to work, it was for something more:
Genesis 1:14 (NKJV) – 14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;
From the start God implemented the concept of a Sabbath rest by resting on the seventh day (Genesis 1-2). Our weeks are divided into seven days with one day to rest. Later in scripture God instituted Sabbatical years in which no planting would be done but the land would be allowed to rest. This is good agricultural practice, and farmers know the importance of allowing their land to rest.
When we look at Biblical history we see about 4,000 years from Creation to Christ (BC\BCE) and 2025 years (AD/CE) since the birth of Jesus until today. That makes approximately 6,000 years. (On the Jewish calendar, which does not recognize the time related to Christ it is the year 5785, but the Jewish calendar is based on 360 not 365-day years.)
Why is this important? It’s important because God is by nature orderly (1 Corinthians 14:33 and 40). The way things are, are not the result of some Big Bang chaos, but orderly set out in patterns and cycles of creation by our Creator. God created everything in a pattern of six days and then a day of rest, and it isn’t hard to see this more broadly applied to 6,000 years of work and then a seventh millennium of rest. That is what we see in scripture.
The Millennial Kingdom of God. The Bible speaks of God’s Kingdom on earth; a period of a thousand years when Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of lords will literally return by way of a Second Coming to rule the entire earth with Jerusalem as His capital. This is described for us in Revelation 19-20.
The Tribulation. When we look at the context of Revelation we see a chronology. Jesus gives “revelation” to the Apostle John instructing him:
Revelation 1:19 (NKJV) – Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.
This gives us an orderly outline of the book of Revelation.
- The things which you have seen – The revelation of the glorified Jesus Christ in Revelation 1. When Jesus rose from the dead He was in His intermediate resurrection body. When He ascended to heaven, He received His glorified body which is described in the first chapter of Revelation which is a good and appropriate way to begin a book on the climactic conclusions of God’s prophetic plans.
- The things which are – This provides an account of the Church Age when God’s primary redemptive instrument is the Church. Each of the seven churches jesus writes to are actual lock churches. But they also describe the condition or aspects of churches generally. The seven churches also are historical epochs of the Church in history. All of this is laid out for us by seven letters from Jesus to seven churches in Revelation 2-3.
- The things which will take place after this or after the Church Age (Revelation 4-22). In this last part of Revelation we see the Church in Heaven where it has been raptured to (Revelation 4-5; 1 Corinthians 15:50-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). The largest section is devoted to describing the seventieth week of Daniel (Daniel 9:24-27) or the Seven Year Tribulation period spoken of by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25; Mark 13; Luke 21). The Tribulation is a time of God’s outpoured wrath on a Christ rejecting world in a last attempt to shake sinners to repentance with tough love. It’s also a time used by God to wake up the nation of Israel to once again be used by in His prophetic and redemptive plans (Revelation 6-18). After this period of Tribulation Jesus returns at His Second Coming with His Church to reign 1,000 years on earth (Revelation 19-20). At the conclusion of the millennium is the final judgment and then God’s destroying the old heavens and earth and making a new heavens and earth for us to forever live with Him (Revelation 21-22).
The point I’m making here is that as we look at God’s orderly pattern in history we are on the precipice of entering into a time of God’s last things. The night really is far spent. We are living in the last days.
When we look at our world, we sense that “the night is far spent.” Just recently in the news we saw:
- The rise of Artificial Intelligence, Facial recognition, the loss of privacy and the intrusion of government into every aspect of our lives.
- Drones everywhere
- Terror attacks
- Civil unrest
- Confusion everywhere
- Discord
- Hate Deception
- Betrayal
- Treachery
- Threat of war
- Natural disasters – flooding, unprecedented weather, hurricanes, tornadoes.
Folks, the night is far spent. The Bible tells us “knowledge will increase” (Daniel 12:4). We see that for the good in terms of greater resources for studying God’s word. But we also see it in not so good ways as we are losing personal freedom and the proliferation of temptation to sin coming in like a flood. We need to remember to face such a tsunami of temptation with the help of the Holy Spirit (cf. Isaiah 59:19)..
My next question to you is, if the night is far spent, are you prepared? How can we get ready for what is about to come upon us? There is a passage of scripture which answers this question perfectly.
Romans 13:11-14 (NKJV) – 11 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. 12 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. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
Let’s dissect these verses a bit to see what God advises us to do.
Romans 13:11a – And do this,
Do what? The context of these verses is Romans 13 and based on this chapter we are to do the following:
First, we are to be involved practically and politically. Paul begins the chapter by describing our practical functioning in society and the world through government and politics:
Romans 13:1-7 (NKJV) – 1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. 4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. 5 Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. 7 Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
You may shy away from politics and even think political involvement is useless and even carnal, but Paul advises us to work and serve within the governmental system in which God has sovereignly placed us. We need to get involved and represent the Lord wherever we are. WE need to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16).
Second, love your neighbor. Paul states:
Romans 13:8-10 (NKJV) – 8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 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.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Besides an initial exhortation to live a debt free life, we are to live indebted to love those around us. The love of Christ should compel us in the way we live (2 Corinthians 5:14-21). The Holy Spirit enables us to live out love (Roman’s 5:5; Galatians 5:22-24). We are to be known by the love we show to one another (John 13:35).
Be involved in society and do so in love for people. Of course, the greatest expression of this is to share the gospel with the lost (Romans 10).
In addition to these two exhortations Paul states the following.
Third, know the times in which we live.
Romans 13:11b – 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. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand.
We need to be aware of the times in which we live and how God’s prophetic plans are being fulfilled in our times. We should know what’s going on in Israel and the Middle East. We should know what’s going on in the world globally. We should know what’s going on in our country nationally and locally.
Fourth, let what God reveals to you in His word and in the world motivate you to act and live in a godly Spirit filled way.
Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness,
Cast off anything and everything that might lure you to the dark side. Don’t have a mindset that seeks to indulge the world. Don’t be like the moth that gets too close to the flame. Cast off anything that is dark. Don’t think how much carnal living can I indulge in and still get into heaven. Think how close and deeply can I know Jesus and experience Him.
and let us put on the armor of light.
Put on the armor of God daily (Ephesians 6:10-18). Don’t leave home without your helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, belt of truth, shoes of the gospel, shield of faith, and sword of the Spirit. Put your armor on in prayer, and don’t leave home without it.
13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
Walk “properly” (Greek εὐσχημόνως euschēmonōs) decorously, decently, honestly, not in activities people indulge at night, e.g., revelry, drunkenness, lewdness or indecency, lustfulness, strife and fighting, envy, jealousy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
But put on Jesus. What does it mean to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ”? It means to wear His robe of righteousness. Isaiah foretold this when he was inspired to write:
Isaiah 61:10 (NKJV) – I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Let me suggest that every morning when you wake up and get dressed that as you put on your shirt or blouse, put on a jacket or coat, that you let it be a reminder to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and His righteousness.
Putting on Jesus means to walk like Jesus (1 John 2:1-6). Follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21). Rely on His righteousness put to your account not your own works (2 Corinthians 5:21). Be conformed to His likeness (Romans 8:29).
“And make no provision” (Greek πρόνοια pronoia) give no supply to or ammunition “for the flesh” or your sinful selfish nature, “to fulfill its lusts.” Don’t feed your flesh. Cut from your diet hate and harshness, envy and strife, jealousy, and joylessness. Include in your spiritual daily diet frequent helpings from the word of God, Prepare your meals in prayer. Seek the leading of the Holy Spirit about who needs God’s love and how you might share the gospel with those around you.
Grow up spiritually. The night is far spent. It’s time to get ready. It’s time to put away childish worldly things and get serious with God. In the love chapter of Apostle Paul’s inspired letter to the Corinthians he concludes by saying:
1 Corinthians 13:10-13 (NKJV) – 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
It’s time to put away childish things. But didn’t Jesus say we needed to become as a child to enter heaven? He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:2). Is there a contradiction here? No there is not. Jesus said once converted, we should “become as little children.” Little children are innocently inquisitive. If you ask a young child a question, they are incapable of lying and will tell you exactly what they think is the truth. Little children are like sponges that soak in the world around them in terms of investigating and knowing it. We are to be like that with the Lord and his word. We are to investigate and be hungry to learn If you want an honest appraisal of yourself, as a child aged five or under. Little children are truthful. We too are to be brutally honest about ourselves before the Lord. Little children cry when they are hungry. Little children go to a parent when they are hurt. Little children are vulnerable and depend on their parents. Yes, we are to be as little children and depend on the Lord and go to Him with our every need. But we are not to be childish.
To be childish is to be self-centered and obstinately independent. To be childish is to be stubborn and disobedient and to hide when we do something wrong. We are not to be childish but instead put away childish attitudes and actions and be “perfect” or mature spiritually and especially when it comes to loving.
Paul continues, “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.” (1 Corinthians 13:12a). We need to look not so much to see ourselves like in a mirror, but to look face to face with Jesus. We need to live seeking to be like Jesus. Jesus is the measure of spiritual maturity and depth. “Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12b). We need to be honest and understand that now, in this life, we only know in part. God’s ways are far above and beyond our ways (cf. Isaiah 55). There is a “then” time, when we come face to face with God, that we will in fact “shall know just as I also am known.” Until then, I need to humbly gauge myself by my reflection from the word of God James said:
James 1:22–25 (NKJV) – 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
That’s how we are to live and use the word of God. But how can we measure our progress and condition?
Paul concludes, “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13). We can gauge our spiritual condition by our faith and hope, but the greatest measure is the presence of love in and through us.
So, as we acknowledge that the night is far spent, let us live with a sense of urgency and awareness of the times in which we are living. Let us put on the Lord Jesus Christ and grow up spiritually. Let’s get involved and be a presence of the Lord everywhere around us. Let us love like Jesus. Let’s trust like a child but put away childish things. Let us be guided by the word of God and full of His love. If we do that, we’ll be good to go and useable to God as well as glorifying to Him in life. Let’s be ready to face and triumph over whatever this year or any other year has for us. God please fill us with the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit please guide us and empower us. Jesus, help us to be more like You every moment of every day. All in Jesus’ name. Amen!