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Romans 9-16

Put on Christ

Caleb Combs · Sunday, 16 November 2025 · Romans 13:11-14 · 46:02 · 7,392 words

Romans S30 · 13:11-14 Holly

Listen to this message

Romans 13:11‑14 is examined, reminding believers that the time for Christ’s return is nearer and life is fleeting. The pastor urges listeners to wake from spiritual sleep, cast off the works of darkness, and deliberately put on the Lord Jesus each morning. He challenges the congregation to resist fleshly desires and give the devil no foothold, living each day with focused urgency and surrender. The message asks that each person commit to daily intentional dependence on Christ and to support the church’s budget deficit with a one‑time gift.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

quality 16 armor 13 put 42 time 49 intentional 12 uh 21 focus 20 integrity 8 day 38 realize 19 urgency 9 return 11

Topics

Prayer 2 Faith 2 The Flesh 2 The Holy Spirit 1 The Gospel 1 Assurance 1 Salvation 1

Scripture referenced 31

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Romans 13 1:13 Romans 13 8:21 Romans 13 8:31 Romans 13:11-14 8:33 Romans 13 8:57 Romans 13:11 9:02 Romans 12 11:23 Revelation 22 14:58 Romans 12:11 15:35 Matthew 24 15:51 Psalms 103:15 15:59 Romans 13 19:57 Romans 12 19:57 Psalms 90:12 20:48 Romans 12:11 24:04 Romans 12:12 24:04 Ephesians 6 26:45 Ephesians 6:12 26:52 Romans 12:14 28:33 Romans 12:14 28:42 Romans 12:13 28:56 Romans 12:13 28:59 Galatians 5 30:54 Romans 1 32:06 Romans 13 33:52 Galatians 5 33:56 Galatians 5:14 34:07 Galatians 3 35:41 Ephesians 4 39:51 Romans 13 44:02 Romans 13:14 44:13

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

Pre-service announcement — 10 lines, 0:35. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

Hey everyone, my name is Keaton.

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Thanks again for joining us.

We hope you're blessed by today's message.

Well, last week, if you weren't here, we brought in some local leaders, nine local leaders,

and we really tried to live out Romans 13, right?

To honor them and to pray for them and to show them honor as we've been called

and as Paul taught Timothy and told Timothy to pray for them and encourage them.

And so thank you so much for doing that.

I heard some incredible stories of interactions.

I'll say this.

There's many of them that I disagree.

With politically, okay, there's many of them that do things drastically different than I think they should do.

Or I believe even the Bible says to do, but yet we've been called to honor them.

And so thank you for doing that.

Thank you for just having a heartbeat of that.

And so I appreciate you stepping into that and applying the righteousness of God as we've been talking about over the last few weeks.

So I appreciate that.

If you're a new guest here, thanks so much for being here.

My name is Caleb.

I'm the pastor.

We're here and it's just great to get together to sing, to preach, to open God's word.

They gave me too many water bottles today, so I have two.

And so my throat's a little raw, not from being sick.

I coached four basketball games yesterday.

And so, yes, I am that coach.

That's a spaz on the sideline.

And I know you're surprised.

I'm a yeller, all right?

It is what it is.

And so, but glad to be here.

Before we jump into the passage this morning,

I want to just make you aware of something and challenge you as a church.

We've been doing this at all nine of our locations this morning.

And for some of you, this may be off-putting and it's not meant to be.

So know my heart.

If you know me, you know who I am and how much I value us following God's word.

And so as a church, we send out a monthly stewardship and finance email to the church,

letting people know.

Where we're at.

Some of you may have grown up in churches where when you walked in on the sidewall,

there was the offering, what we're at on the budget.

And then how many people attended, all those different things.

Some of you attended those.

Some of you are nodding.

Some of you are like, I have no idea what you're talking about.

All right.

If you do, you do.

If you don't, that's okay.

And so that's how we've been able to try to show a little transparency and clarity of

where we're at on our spending plan and our budget.

Well, as a church, we put together.

Uh, every year, uh, a spending plan, a budget, our, our budget as a church as a whole.

And this is not a pride moment.

This is just a clarifying moment.

Okay.

Um, it is about $4.5 million.

Okay.

For our nine locations.

So many people faithfully giving, uh, and following the Lord in that.

And so we're so grateful for that for 2025, we put a spending plan together and, uh, we

realize, um, costs and different things in your home or have gone up, right?

And that's the way it works at the church.

They're the same way looking at insurance.

I can say this, our insurance as a whole have gone up 72% in the last three years.

And so you're like, Holy cow.

Yeah.

It's just, uh, insurance, heat, different things.

And so we have been putting spending plans and different things together for that.

Well, this year we are roughly about $175,000 off our spending plan for the year.

And so we, as elders have been praying, okay, God, what do we do?

Um, it's obvious.

Obviously all yours, Lord.

And so if you're going to bless, you do what you're going to do.

And so, uh, honestly, uh, I was mowing my lawn about six weeks ago and sitting on my

running lawnmower mowing.

And I just was like, Lord, uh, what, what, what do we do?

Uh, communicate where we're at.

What do we do?

How do we, uh, lead from you, God?

And that's our desire.

It's all yours.

We have faith and trust in you.

And so, uh, I came up with an idea, honestly, on my lawnmower, my team and the staff know

I do that all the time.

It's like, it's my.

My space of kind of just, uh, thinking of focusing on different things.

And so I came up with an idea.

And so roughly every weekend we have about 5,000 people that attend our, one of our locations.

And so, uh, God is truly blessed.

And we've seen some incredible things this year.

We're going to baptize over 300 people as a church.

And so it's just really, really cool.

I mean, just God is doing great things number wise and all the different things.

And so, but we realize expenses are reality for us as a life.

And, um, for a church.

And so, um, with 5,000 people attending, I said, well, you know what could be raised

a hundred thousand dollars as a church quickly.

And you're like, how would you do that?

Well, uh, I began to think, okay, if we had 20% of our church, which is a thousand people

give $100, give $100 and we'll raise a hundred thousand dollars as a church before the end

of the year.

And we'll take a large bite out of that budget deficiency.

And so that's what we're asking the church to do by the end of the year.

And so, uh, just individually, uh, you and your spouse are different people.

I know number wise, you're like, well, you're the same bank account.

I know it's you're, you're killing my idea.

All right.

And that's all right.

And so we're, we're presenting that to all of our locations today.

And so, uh, pray about it, see how you can meet that need.

And so you're like, it's just a hundred bucks by the end of the year above and beyond your

So it'd be a one-time gift.

You can do that online.

You can stop by guest services and do that.

Uh, you have $100.

If you have questions, you want to give more than that.

We're going to tell you, no, no, I'm just kidding.

You can give, you can give more than that.

That would be okay as well.

But we're going to update you on that, uh, as a church over the last, what, six ish weeks

of the year, uh, and let you know, Hey, where, where are we at on the thousand times a hundred?

And so we'll let you know.

And so we wanted to bring that to you.

Um, if you know the heartbeat of what we are, we're not about money.

We're not about buildings.

We're about seeing people transformed by the power of God.

We're about seeing people transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That is our focus.

That is our heartbeat.

And that is our priority as a church.

And so, but yeah, we wanted to make you aware.

You want to know more about that stewardship emails, how to get on that.

Stop by guest service.

Hey, you know, I don't get those, or maybe you do get those and then you're spam or there

there's, there's somehow blacked or whatever.

We always want to make you aware.

We celebrate what God is doing, but we want to at least bring that to you.

And so my challenge for you or my challenge for us is that we want to make you aware of

this.

Pray to God and go, Hey God, how can I be a part of that?

Can I just step into literally 20%?

I was, as a kid, it was always said, if a lot do a little, a little won't have to do

a lot.

I love that statement.

If we all get involved and meet that need, it can be taken care of and we'll move forward

into 2026 and see what God is doing, because here's what you want to hear.

It's all his anyways.

It's all his.

This ministry is his, it's not a pastor's, it's not a person's, it's not an elder group.

It's all his.

God, it is yours and we give it to you for your blessing, your hand to be a part of it.

And that's what we do as a church.

And so I wanted to make you aware of that.

And so enough of that.

I want to preach on Romans 13 this morning.

So if you have a Bible, a device, something to follow along, read along, always be a part

of on the screen.

So you're going to be in Romans 13.

We're going to look at verses 11 through 14 this morning, 11 through 14.

It was prepped and ready to preach last week.

I always dislike, I told a growth community this morning, prepping and preparing a sermon

and not getting to preach it.

And so I do apologize if some of it bleeds into this week's message, it shouldn't, but

just really excited to continue in Romans 13.

Romans 13 verse 11 says, besides this, again, that's a statement Paul is referencing past

He's referencing some words and some truths that we've been preaching all throughout since

the month of May pointing out in the book of Romans.

So besides this, you know, the time that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep for

salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed the night is far gone.

The day is at hand.

So then let us cast off.

The works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual morality

and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make

no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.

Let's pray.

And we'll jump into that passage this morning.

God, we love you.

We praise you.

We ask.

We ask for your spirit to move in our hearts this morning.

God, as we open your word, we believe it is true.

We anchor our lives.

We anchor our future.

We anchor our families.

We anchor this church.

We anchor everything on it.

God, we believe it is living and active and it is truth.

And so we ask that it speak, guide, correct our lives this morning.

God, may I get out of the way and God, may you be glorified.

May your words speak and guide God.

We praise you.

We love you.

We love you and we honor you in Jesus' wonderful name.

It's a lot in this passage, but I want to really spend the next few minutes this morning

giving you a quick summary, but an application to it.

A few weeks ago, I really tried to summarize the rest of Romans in one simple statement,

application, applying God's word, not just hearing it or receiving it or hurting it or

preached or reading it, which all those are great things, but really applying it to the

to our lives.

Living out the word of God.

As we look at Romans 12, being a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable and pleasing to God.

It is our duty to live that out for Christ.

And yet I realize for many of us, it's, I don't want to rephrase that, for all of us,

it's difficult.

All of us, it's a struggle and a battle as Paul speaks on in Romans as our battle of

flesh and spirit.

But Paul now puts not only the,

the application to statement, but he begins to put timing to statement or clarifying.

He opens it up and says, the time that you have to live out for Christ is getting shorter.

The time for the return of Jesus Christ is nearer.

Paul is giving us a call to urgency or a call to urgency to live out for Jesus Christ.

We don't know how much,

we don't know how much time we have in life.

The reality for each and every one of us is the brevity of life hits us in the face on

a constant day to day basis.

Every single one of us, I don't care how old, how young, none of us are promised tomorrow.

The Bible describes our lives as a vapor here today, gone tomorrow.

Some of you experienced that, um, in, in some real ways with a loss of a loved one, a loss

of someone that you never would imagine a loss of a child.

I was having a conversation this week with a friend of mine, uh, who's been driving to

U of M, um, to visit her grandchild waiting for a heart transplant and just in a gym,

she began to share and communicate.

She says, God, I, I, I share, I trust God, but man, this is hard because understanding.

And so we, we prayed for her in the gym, but then began to commit to praying for this little

young lady named Sicily.

And so just praying for going, God,

she needs a heart transplant.

I don't understand some of these things, but the truth of the matter is for each and every

one of us, the brevity of life is a reality or it should be.

James 14 says, yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.

What is your life?

If you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes, there's great illustrations

of, you can grab a rope and go, man, what, just what you can hang on to is a picture

of our life.

And then you can go for hundreds and hundreds and thousands.

You can go for thousands of feet and you can look at eternity and look and go, our life

is just such a small piece to the future of what eternity looks like.

And so Paul is calling the church.

He's calling Christians to an urgency, to live out the righteousness of God, to live

out the truth, to live out what Romans has called us to.

There's two perspectives in this.

And I think I tend to agree with both of them.

And I know you're like, really?

Yeah.

You'll understand here in a second.

First perspective.

Is he talking about a literal time?

Like, okay, time from 30 seconds or a minute.

Is he talking about a chronological time?

So it's argued that, yes, there is a time.

We know at this very moment, we're closer to the return of Jesus Christ than we were

10 seconds ago, right?

We anticipate that.

We can look at the end of Revelation chapter 22, where he says, come Lord Jesus, come.

We are in high anticipations.

We are looking for the return of Christ.

It should be our daily watch.

We walk looking for the return of Jesus Christ, not in a way of sitting on a seat,

waiting with our arms crossed and waiting.

Hey, the world is really messed up, Lord.

I need you to come right now.

That can be our mentality sometimes.

Or wait, that's my mentality at times.

But it's more of, wow, I don't know how much time I have till you return.

I need to communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone I can.

I don't know how much time.

He references in verse 11, for salvation is nearer to us now.

We don't know how much time to the return of Christ.

And so is it a chronological or a calendar time?

Jesus said in Matthew 24, no one knows the day or the hour of the return of Christ.

Psalm 103 verse 15, as for men, his days are like grass.

He flourishes like a flower of the field for the wind passes over it and it is gone.

This place knows it no more.

And so is it a chronological or is it qualitative?

Or making sure we use the time we have to the best of our ability.

Is it a quality time?

God, you've given me such and such time.

God, you've given me 41 years.

I don't know if I'll have 42, but I know I have 41 years of my life.

Do I need to use it to the best of my ability to glorify God?

And the answer is yes.

So you can look as you take your head off your pillow today and go,

God, this is the day you've made.

I will rejoice and be glad in it.

And I know you've given me the breath in my lungs, the heartbeat in my chest,

that I can be able to live for you today as long as you place me on this earth.

What a mindset.

And go, am I going to use this for quality?

Am I going to use it to glorify you?

I referenced this book as I was writing it in my notes.

I referenced this book more than I probably should.

Not that I should.

I just referenced it a lot.

You're going to think, man, he's only read one book.

I have read more than one book.

Five Love Languages, Gary Chapman.

I love it.

But one of the love languages is quality time.

And so my wife's love language is quality time.

And so one thing I know is trying to figure that out of the difference between quality time and time, right?

And you're like, what do you mean?

Well, if you are married to somebody that desires quality time, you know exactly what I mean.

If you're not, just listen up for a couple of minutes.

But there's a big difference between quality time and just superficial time.

So I'm a professional superficial time guy.

Hey, sounds good.

I'm watching the game.

I'm having a conversation.

That's time spent, right?

Or I'm distracted by my emails or my phones or my texts.

Like none of you have ever been distracted by your phones.

Just me, right?

And so we're spending time together.

That doesn't count.

So I can answer that question for you.

No, it doesn't count.

See, quality time is focused and intentional.

Focused and intentional.

And you're like, wow, are you teaching a marriage?

No, this is not a marriage thing, but you can write it down as a marriage thing.

But I would say it even more as we look at the quality of time we've been called to.

Not being distracted, but being intentional and devoted to Christ.

What a great example.

What a great illustration and understanding.

That's why I said, I actually think it's probably both.

Realizing, yes, the time is fleeting that we are living on this earth.

But also realizing and asking the question, what are we doing with it?

See, we can be distracted by good things.

We can be distracted by things in this world that really, you know, it's a lot of fun.

It's great.

It's great.

It's not a bad thing.

It's not a bad thing.

But if they become priority for us, man, we no longer have quality time.

And so we have tried this.

I can't say I do it very well.

So it would be a safe space, right?

We tried to go out and my wife and I, and I'll try to leave my phone in the car.

And you're like, really?

You try to do that?

I do try to do that.

All right.

And so realizing that, you know what?

I know I have to put the distractions aside.

So I can.

I have to focus on quality time.

And that's what the Lord has called us.

Not in a way to, hey, you know what?

I have to remove myself from life.

But no, focusing, being intentional and purposeful living.

That's the call of Romans 13, as well as chapter 12, being very different.

I used this word a couple weeks ago, living a radical life for Christ.

I thought, what a radical life as we are focused and intentional living out for Christ.

Can you imagine how your relationships?

Would change if you were more intentional and focused and living for the Lord and your

interactions in your workplace, in your home, in, in, when the body gathers together in

your growth communities and every interaction with your neighbors, you begin to be intentional

and use the quality time God has given you for his glory, not for maybe superficial things

or not for things that really don't truly matter, but being focused, focused on the

task, not wasted time.

The psalmist shares in Psalm 90, verse 12 says, so teach us to number our days that

we may get a heart of wisdom.

I read that this week and I thought, wow, that points to both of these truths, both

a chronological and a qualitative.

As we begin to go, I got to make a quality and I got to realize the time is fleeting.

How do we do that?

Well, numbering our days.

That's not a way of going to a calendar and checking off a box.

That's not what it's describing.

What is he telling us to do?

The psalmist is telling us to value our days because we realize we're not promised tomorrow.

I know I have today.

I'm going to use today for the best I can for the glory of God.

When every effort, every word, every thought, everything I can do God today on November

the 16th, 2025, I'm going to glorify you.

Everything I have God, I'm going to be.

I'm going to be.

Purposeful and intentional as a steward of you to live for you.

I have this conversation all the time with my team, my staff, and that sounds weird.

Some of you will agree with me.

Some of you know.

Time just feels like it speeds up.

I don't know about some of you.

I'm like, how did we get here?

I was walking around a Salvation Army yesterday.

I like thrift stores.

That's a time of story, but they were playing Christmas music.

I know some of you are like, man, I'm so thankful they're playing Christmas music.

I'm not ready for Christmas.

I'm not.

Maybe you are.

I pray for you all the time.

All right.

I know.

Force over here.

You guys have been celebrating Christmas since August the 1st.

So send me texts.

So, but some of you are like, I just was, I was walking around the store thinking, and

I was thinking, I'll be honest with you, but I like, but I wasn't ready for it.

And they're like, how did we get here?

I mean, like it was just July 4th, but that's life, right?

You begin to like, it doesn't stop.

I want to go full Zach Morrison, hit the pause button at times, right?

If you don't know, you know, no, you know.

All right.

So I wonder like, well, can we pause here in life?

Like, how do we, how do we move forward?

Like, no, can we pause?

And almost like, I got to like refocus on some things, but that's not how life works.

Like keeps tumbling and moving forward.

And you find yourself going, God, how did I get here?

How did I get here?

I next year, I'll have a kid graduate high school.

God, I remember graduating high school.

I felt like it was not that long ago.

So I'm like, wait, what'd you have a grandkid graduate?

I know.

Oh, if the Lord tarries and gives me time again, I'm not promised that, but I'm going

to go, wow, God, how do we get here?

But then you begin to go, not get focused on numbering the days, but living out with

wisdom and truth and discernment and say, God, I don't know what you are going to give

me, but I want to live it with the best quality that I can glorifying you.

And that's why I believe it's both.

Verse 11 is so important, but then verse 12 continues.

He says, the night is far.

The day is at hand, but I love about that is it's an intentional to say the Lord is

coming.

The light is coming.

Jesus is the light.

That light is at hand.

The gospel is clear.

The way to heaven is Jesus Christ.

He's the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the father, but by him, the gospel is clear.

The message is out there.

We've got to realize and carry that as a church, as families, as individuals.

As followers of Jesus Christ, that the light is out there as we can preach and proclaim

that with the best of our ability, living out the great commission, not just for pastors,

but for the church.

But then he challenges the Romans, but also I believe the church today.

Let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

This cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor is translated towards a military,

word or phrase.

Maybe you're holding a translation that uses the word weapon or instrument, but all three

categorize a military, a call to action, an enlistment in the Lord's army, realizing that

we are in a battle.

We are in a battle.

A few weeks ago, I preached the men's event.

It really challenged the men with several hundred men in this group from teenagers to

older men and realizing that every single one of us is a part of the church.

Every single one of us is in a battle.

You're like, really?

Yeah, we experience it every single day.

You're sitting here as a married person.

Guess what?

The enemy is coming to destroy your marriage.

You're sitting here as a young adult.

You're sitting here as a teenager, as a middle schooler, realizing the enemy is coming to

kill, steal, and destroy your future.

That's the reality we must grasp and understand.

Not sticking our head in the sand and go, hey, you know what?

I'm just waiting for the return of Christ.

Yes, we are anticipating the return of Christ, but realizing you are.

We are in a battle.

And we've been called, as Paul says in Romans, as well in Ephesians, to put on the full armor

of God.

Ephesians chapter 6, prior to the enlistment into the full armor of God, the listings of

them.

Verse 12, he says, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and

against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against

the forces of evil in heavenly places.

Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand the evil

And having done all, stand firm.

Then the rest of the chapter lists out what those, the armor of God is.

But we've been called to put on the full armor of God, put on the armor of God.

And I believe that's a daily decision, a daily call.

No days off.

No days off.

I wish there was.

Like, hey, you know what?

Can we call a ceasefire on Fridays and Mondays?

It's not reality, right?

But those days are, days would be appropriate, right?

It's just not reality.

Every single day is a battle.

But we must realize.

And understand that you don't battle alone.

That's why it's to put on the full armor of God.

He's already won the battle.

That's why we get to sing and preach and praise about he is victorious.

He's overcome the world.

And so we can overcome by the power of Jesus Christ.

And that's the hope that we can cling to.

We preach about, I could preach until I was blue in the face.

Because whether you're sitting here and really, truly grasp that, or you grab that as a child

of God, he has won the battle.

So I can overcome.

Well, we're called to put on, put on the armor of God.

Verse 14, I know you're like, we skipped a couple.

I know, we'll get there.

But I want you to, if you're a highlighter and your Bible underlined, this is really good.

Verse 14 says, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

We're going to come back to this, I promise.

But that's, I want to tie those two things together.

Put on the armor of light and put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

So we're going to pause there, but let's come back to verse 13.

Verse 13, he says, let us walk properly as in the daytime.

And then he lists, a list, and we're going to explain.

Some of these, not in exactly, but what is categorizing the apostle Paul is describing.

But he says, let us walk properly as in the daytime.

This is a call to live a life of integrity.

It's called to live a life of integrity and transparency.

As if all of your actions, your thoughts, your desires are exposed to the light of day.

Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in the night where we think we are deceptive.

Or dark or people can't see.

No, so people can see my integrity, whether people can see me or they can't see me.

I'm going to do and say and think the same things every time.

That's what integrity is.

Whether the boss is paying attention or not, I'm going to record my hours correctly.

Thinking through that, living a life of integrity.

Man, that's a call that we've been called to as believers.

I'll tell you this, as a Christian in the workplace,

you should be able to live a life of integrity.

You should be one that is a champion of integrity.

You should not be known as someone that cheats, lies, steals, bends and tries to figure things out.

No, no, no.

I'm going to be one of integrity so that no matter what people say or think,

I can cling to this was the rule.

This is what I said I would do.

This is who I live for.

And I will live of as everyone knows in the daytime or in the light.

Then the apostle Paul lifts.

We call them the fruits of the flesh, similar to Galatians.

Chapter five, where it lists the fruits of the flesh versus the fruits of the spirit.

But he gives some examples.

He gives really three categories of examples.

First category, he says, orgies and drunkenness.

This is an indictment of someone who is always seeking to gratify

the desires of the flesh with no self-control.

That's what this is.

Again, time is fleeting, urgent.

If your life you're seeking fulfillment by simply to gratify the desires of your flesh,

you're not living in anticipation of the return of Jesus Christ.

My focus is always, well, you know what?

What can fulfill my desire?

Guess what?

What can glorify Jesus Christ with my life?

You see the parallels and the difference.

There it is.

The second one, he says, not in sexual morality or sensuality.

This implication here is someone who is indulging in sexual morality

and feeling no shame about it.

Original Greek is living these things out as well as having no shame about it.

What an indictment on our world today.

But again, it's again echoed to Romans chapter one,

which we dealt with months ago.

People living at the fulfillment of their flesh.

But it also is an indictment of ones that saying, yeah, it's no problem.

You can live in any standard of you want.

Guess what?

The standard of sexuality and the sexual and the standard of identity

is built in God's word, not in culture, not by the news,

not by what science says it is today.

We believe God created man.

And what?

We believe marriage was created for man and woman.

God created that way.

Why?

Because God's word says so.

That's important.

That standard has to be set.

And that's not my standard.

Oh, it is my standard, but it's not my made up standard.

It's God's standard.

I didn't say, well, you know, the pastor made this.

No, no, no.

God's word said it.

God's word said it.

And so we cling to that.

And that's what makes it our standard.

This is not man made.

This is God made.

And so we cannot say, well, you know, it's not a big deal to God.

No, no, no.

It is a big deal to God because God called it.

And we trust him.

The last section, he says, not in quarreling or jealousy.

This phrase describes someone who cannot stand being surpassed

and has grudges on others because of their success and position.

We're always going, you know what?

Again, that's focused on self.

Greatest commandment is love the Lord your God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength

and love your neighbor as yourself.

And so we've been called.

What I love about this parallel,

is if you're studying, you're looking at this a little bit more,

maybe you're a part of a growth community that looks at Romans 13.

You can look at the parallels of Galatians 5

and the fruits of the flesh in the listing here.

And then you can look at the fruits of the spirit

and you'll begin to go, wow, those are the urgency.

God has called me to live out in life.

But a few moments ago, I referenced verse 14.

He says, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ

and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.

We've been called to put on the Lord Jesus Christ

like, what does that mean?

That's a big statement, right?

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

What does that actually truly mean?

Some translations may put on the new man,

some put on the new robe or put on the new garment.

I think King James has new robe,

but it's inferring a daily decision.

And this is not for salvation, okay?

If you're a child of God,

if you've confessed with your mouth

that you are a sinner, lost, broken,

and you believe that Jesus Christ came, died,

and rose again, and you've made him the Lord of your life,

you are now a child of God, sealed for eternity.

And your salvation is sealed.

And so this is not saying, hey, you know what?

Every day, decide you're gonna be saved today.

That's not what's happening here, okay?

If that was it, man, we'd have a lot of days we weren't.

Let me rephrase that.

I'd have a lot of days I wasn't.

I'd have to each day go, you know what?

Forgive me, be my Lord and Savior.

That's not what it's inferring here.

This is inferring a daily commitment

with an urgency and a purpose.

Purpose, quality, living out for Lord.

Daily putting on the Lord.

Galatians chapter three says,

for as many of you were baptized into Christ,

have put on Christ.

Galatians five again says,

but I say walk by the Spirit.

You will not gratify the desires of the flesh,

for the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit.

And the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh,

for these are opposed to each other.

Here it is.

To keep you from doing the things you want to do.

A call to put on or walk in,

the Spirit, put on Christ.

So what does that actually mean?

I tell you, it's a daily commitment to live for the Lord.

Daily commitment.

It's taking your head off your pillow every morning

and say, God, I cannot do my day without you.

Can't do my job.

I can't be married.

Can't raise my kids.

Can't raise my grandkids.

I can't breathe another breath without you, Lord.

I'm not gonna pretend.

Not gonna think I have it all on my own.

I'm not gonna pretend and think I've got today figured out.

God, I don't need you on this day.

You know what?

Can I schedule you an appointment for tomorrow?

No, it's a daily commitment every single day.

God, I cannot do my life with you.

God, I need you to guide me.

I need you to protect me.

I need you to correct me.

I need you every single aspect of my life.

I read this this week.

I thought it was really good.

It says, when I wake up in the morning,

I put on my clothes,

intending them to be part of me.

All day, wherever I go and whatever I do,

they cover me and make me presentable to others.

That is the purpose of the clothes.

In the same way, the apostles,

the apostle Paul is telling us to put on Christ

when you get up in the morning.

Make him a part of your life that day.

Intend that he go with you everywhere you go.

That he actually,

and then you take him everywhere you actually go.

Everything you do, everything you think,

call upon his resources.

Live your life in Christ.

I thought, wow, what a crazy idea.

What a crazy thought.

A life fully surrendered to the Lord.

God, this day,

you have given me breath in my lungs.

You've made my heart beat.

You've given me thought in my brains.

God, I'm not sure how I can,

let me rephrase this.

I can't do it without you.

God, lead me, guide me.

I'm with you today.

I'm putting you on today.

I'll tell you this,

your life, your actions, your job,

your family will change if you do that every day.

It's not maybe, well, it's not a maybe.

No, this is a guarantee.

Everything about it will change.

Does it make it that you won't have any struggles

or difficulties?

Absolutely not.

But I can say this to you,

in those struggles and difficulties,

you know the Lord will be with you.

Like, man, my boss chewed me out.

Guess what?

He must've chewed God out

because I put God on me today, right?

Man, I had a difficulty with my kids.

They did this and that.

Guess what, God?

I can't do this,

but I need you to give me the wisdom and discernment

to understand what you're doing.

So you can feel it.

You can feel that in any blank.

Like, hey, you know what, God?

You're with me today.

It's yours.

It's yours.

God, I've put you on today.

I can't do this.

It's a life fully surrendered to him.

What I love about the end of the verse is so good

because you begin to see the progression.

Urgency, focus, not being distracted, being intentional,

realizing every single day with urgency,

I put the Lord Jesus Christ on

because if I don't, watch this,

I make no provision for the flesh.

That simply means I don't give the devil an opportunity.

Ephesians chapter four,

referencing this with our anger and our outbursts.

It's not getting the,

the devil a foothold,

but I love this.

I read this week.

Don't give the flesh an inch or an opportunity.

See, when I put the Lord Jesus Christ on,

knowing that no matter what battle,

no matter what struggle,

no matter what difficulty,

no matter what happens in my day,

I will be focused on what he has for me,

what he's doing.

He'll be with me wherever I go.

I don't have to worry about it.

I don't have to think about it.

I don't have to,

I don't have to freak out about it.

My focus is I have the Lord Jesus Christ with me

because I know if I don't put him on,

that's giving the devil an opportunity.

And sad reality is for many of us,

we are not intentional,

intentional about that.

See, I love this progression.

Won't continue to preach and belabor this point,

but God, I don't know how much time you've given me.

I don't know when you're going to return.

I don't know all this world, God.

It seems like time,

that counter keeps flipping over.

And man, it's just time keeps going.

How did I end up here, God?

To be a child of God,

fully surrendered to you,

to live for you,

to glorify you with everything that I say and do,

to be a living sacrifice,

holy, acceptable,

pleasing to you.

Realize quality time,

being distracted by self-gratifying desires,

stumbling blocks around me every single day.

Take my head off my pillow.

Say, God, I cannot do this day without you, God.

You be my Lord.

You be my Savior.

You be my God.

You be my protection.

God, you be my armor.

I don't want to give the devil an opportunity

because I don't know where that opportunity will lead.

That's the progression of 11 through 14.

For us as the church to live a life of,

full of urgency and focus.

Say, I don't know your thoughts on this.

I don't know your distractions.

I don't know your struggles.

You know whose I do?

No, I know those.

I'm like, okay, Lord,

I know what I'm susceptible to.

I don't want to give the devil an opportunity.

I want to put you on every single day.

For salvation, because I'm a child of God.

For sometimes maybe some stability,

and some grit.

As we fight and battle,

realize, put them on every day.

Because without them, I can say this.

there's no fulfillment,

there's no victory,

there's no overcoming.

You fill in the blank.

I just say this to end our gathering.

We'll close with a song.

Without them, there's nothing.

That's our focus.

That's our heartbeat.

God, I come to you this morning.

God, I praise you.

I glorify you.

I honor you, God.

God, as we look at Romans 13,

as we seek to apply your truths,

as we seek to glorify you,

as we seek to be a living sacrifice, God.

God, we, as Romans 13, 14,

we don't want to give the devil an opportunity,

we want to rebuke the devil.

We want to put on the Lord Jesus Christ today

and every day.

God, there's many sitting in this room right now,

joining us online.

I don't know,

but I know many of us have to recommit our lives,

not for salvation,

but recommit our focus

and realize the time of life is fleeting.

We have the light, the gospel.

May we live that out to the best of our ability,

not in a perfect place,

because we're so grateful for your grace and your mercy,

but in a practice,

practical every single day, God,

with an urgency, with a focus,

removing all the different things

that we'll struggle with, God.

And so, God, this morning, I pray for that.

I pray for that guiding hand in our lives.

God, we just praise you and we love you, God.

Thank you for this morning.

God, if there's somebody in this room

that doesn't know you as their savior,

may they, for the first time this morning,

May they confess their sins

and realize they're a broken, lost person without you,

and they can do nothing.

May they declare that you are the Lord of their life

and believe that you came, you died,

and rose again for their sins.

God, thank you for this morning.

Praise you, love you.

We honor you in Jesus' wonderful name.

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