Introduction

You all know that I really enjoy watching football. Part of what makes football so great is that every game is really important because the season is so short. Because of that, football fans have their own level of crazy. The TV cameras love to spot the shirtless guys out in the freezing cold, or the guy with an insane Raiders costume. He looks crazy, he’s fired up, and you know he spent a lot of time and money decking himself out.

And you ever attend an NFL or major college game, the passion is incredible. Several years ago, I got to attend Iowa Hawkeye game at Michigan. The tailgating was amazing to see. People didn’t just pull out some sandwiches. They had full outdoor kitchens that pop out of a truck, and it’s all covered in team colors and decals. It’s a massive, expensive ordeal.

Then we waited in line to enter the stadium. We were surrounded by thousands of Michigan fans, but I’ll never forget seeing this one Hawkeye fan, dressed in a ridiculous costume come barreling through doing Hawkeye cheers at the top of his lungs. He looked ridiculous, he sounded ridiculous, and he was all alone. I thought, “That guy is crazy.”

But there’s only 7 home games/season. So, season ticket holders plan all year for those 7 days. They gather their gear, they prep their costume, they invite their tailgating friends, and they buy tons of food and drinks. Gameday is a big deal.

Today’s text declares that Christians also have a big day ahead. Jesus is coming again, and you will see him in glory. It will be the biggest day of your life. So, get excited and prepare passionately (read). This is such an encouraging, hopeful, practical, and convicting passage. It challenges you to live today like glory awaits tomorrow. You should be excited. And that excitement must change everything. But if that’s going to happen, you must…

I.  Wake up to what is coming (vv. 11–12a).

Verse 11 begins with the simple command, “Do this.” Do what? Everything Paul has commanded in chapters 12–13. It’s a lot. You must present your body a living sacrifice, use your gifts to edify the church, love and serve others, and obey the government. Why should you do all that? The answer? Because you know the time. Something important is coming. It’s bigger than anything else happening in your life. Specifically…

Jesus is coming, and you will be transformed. Verse 12 says, “The night is almost gone, and the day is near.” The world feels dark, doesn’t it. It’s been that way ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden. The world broke that day, and all our suffering began. And most importantly, sin separated you from God and the glorious grace of his presence.

But praise God that the night will not last forever. “The day is near.” Christ will come again, and he will fix everything that is broken. He will create a world without suffering, sorrow, pain, or death.

And most importantly, v. 11 says, “For now salvation…” I must be clear that there is no process to being born again. The moment you believe the gospel, God forgives all your sin, he declares you righteous, and your place in heaven is eternally secure. It’s instantaneous. So, there was a moment in time when every true Christian went from wrath to grace, impending hell to impending heaven.

But you are still a sinner. And your physical body is far from perfect. So, in that sense, you have not received your full salvation. But the day is near. Jesus is coming again. And Romans 8:23 says that when you see Jesus, he will redeem your body—no more aches and pains, no more sickness, and no more death. And most importantly, he will eradicate every speck of sin from your heart. You will love perfectly and live righteously. It will be awesome.

Christian, understand that God made you for that day, not this one. Everything down here is either preparation for or a distraction from your complete salvation. Your destiny, your greatest hope, and your unimaginable joy are all awaiting you in the presence of Jesus.

So, get your eyes off this world and put them on the next. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Don’t let any other passion or any other priority distract you from the glory that awaits. From there, understand that…

Your transformation is imminent. Notice the 3 statements in vv. 11–12, “It is already the hour for you to awake.” Your salvation “is nearer… than when you believed.” “The night is almost gone, and the day is near.” So, think about the fact that you could be standing before Jesus before this service is over!

But you might think, “How could Paul say Christ’s return is near, but he still hasn’t come 2,000 years later? Was Paul wrong?” The NT authors certainly hoped Jesus would return during their lifetimes. You might even say they expected it. But they also knew it could be a while. Paul talks often about his own death. And Peter warned that God’s timeline doesn’t always match ours (2 Pet 3:3–9).

God is clear that it may be a while. So, when Paul says, “The day is near,” he means it is imminent. Nothing else must happen in God’s plan of redemption before Jesus comes. It is the next event in God’s plan for the ages.

And it could happen at any time. “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child” (1 Thess 5:2–3).

Wouldn’t it be awesome if Jesus came today! But it’s also sobering. Teenagers, you may not have a lifetime ahead of you. None of us are guaranteed another year, month, or even another hour. Your life is a vapor that appears for a short time and vanishes away. We don’t like to think that way, but it’s true. You must face this reality. Then God says…

You must be ready. Verse 11 says it’s time to wake up. Some of you like to wake up slowly. You hit the snooze a few times, stumble to kitchen, and slowly sip coffee before you ever get going. And for some of you that process doesn’t even start until the sun has been up a long time.

You are not what Paul has in mind. Rather, in the ancient world, people got up with the sun (Amen!). And they didn’t spend forever getting the day started. Jerome Carcopino says in his book on ancient Rome, “There was practically no interval between leaping out of bed and leaving the house. Getting up was a simple, speedy, instantaneous process.” That is every dad’s dream! “Throw on some shoes, and let’s go!”

That’s how God says we must prepare for the Rapture. In the Parable of the 10 Virgins, Jesus warned, don’t wait until the trumpet sounds to get ready. No, make sure that your lamp is full of oil, and your wick is trimmed. Be ready at any moment.

Are you ready to meet the Lord? Some of you have never received Christ as Savior. You are focused on other things, and you figure you’ll get to it eventually. But you don’t know how much time you have. Don’t gamble with your soul. If you have questions, get them answered today. If you need to receive Christ, do it right now.

Maybe you know you are going to heaven, but you’d be embarrassed to meet Christ this moment. Have you ever had a surprise guest knock on your door? It’s 10 am, and you are still in your pajamas. The house is wreck, and you are devastated.

If the trumpet sounded, would you feel the same way—embarrassed by the sins you are tolerating and your lack of spiritual progress? Would Jesus be disappointed by how you are stewarding your spiritual gifts?

Wake up! The day is near. Jesus is coming again. It’s going to be glorious, better than anything else you could imagine. But you also must get ready. So, how do you do that? You must…

II.  Replace darkness with light (vv. 12b–13).

Do you feel Paul’s urgency? The biggest event of your life could happen at any moment. You could be looking Jesus in the eyes before I finish. Yes, God is love, and Jesus calls you, his friend. But Jesus is also holy. You don’t want to meet him with your hair in tangles, stinky breath, and breakfast on your face. No, you want to be as holy as possible. So, how do you get there? 3 ideas stand out to me in these two verses. First…

Rely on the grace of God. Don’t miss the fact that v. 12 doesn’t just tell you to replace deeds of darkness with deeds of light. It tells you to “put on the armor of light.” As well, v. 14 commands you to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” I want to emphasize this because we do need to talk about practical holiness. Verse 13 gets specific about what that looks like.

But the only way you will make real progress toward holiness is through the power of God’s grace. You must put on the armor of God. You must put on Christ. How do you do that?

Just think for a moment about the armor of God in Ephesians 6. God says to arm yourself with truth, righteousness, evangelist readiness, faith, salvation, Scripture, and prayer. We tend to think of these things as the end goal. For example, “I’ve achieved godliness if I read my Bible and pray every day.” Yes, all these things are important marks of mature godliness. But Ephesians 6 says they are also vital means of grace. You shouldn’t just read your Bible and pray because it’s right. You do them because grace flows through them. They enable you to stand and fight.

So, don’t merely read your Bible and pray because it’s right. Do it because you need God and you need his grace. Don’t do it so you can check it off your list; do it because you’re hungry and desperate for God.

So, if you are going to live today like glory awaits tomorrow, you can’t jump immediately to Christian duty. You must first swim in the sea of gospel grace. And that grace comes you in the ordinary disciplines of grace that God has given—the Word, prayer, worship, and obedience. Rely on the grace of God. As you are doing that, you can then…

Get specific. If you are going to live today like glory awaits tomorrow, you must act like someone who belongs to the light. You must be different. We must shine in the darkness. Yes, you should be full of grace, humility, and love. But if your life never cuts through the darkness, that’s not a good thing. You must manifest the light.

And if that’s going to happen, you can’t just talk about the light in theory; you must get specific about the sins of the darkness. Verse 13 mentions 6 of them—carousing, drunkenness, sexual promiscuity, sensuality, strife, and jealousy. The 1^st 4 are all sins of the night, and they often go together in a drunken orgy. So, Paul paints a narcissistic, lustful, selfish, and disgusting image. Sure, it feels good. It’s fun, and it’s completely unrestrained.

But God says it is evil, and these sins have no place in a Christian’s life. So, let me be very clear. A Christian should never get drunk. I know that a lot of Christians want to mess with that line, but the Bible is clear. Christians are to be alert, soberminded, and filled with the Spirit, not dulled by alcohol or any other drug.

As well, God says that the carousing or loose partying that comes with drunkenness is also evil. So, stay away from any context where people are there to cut loose and pursue their lusts without restraint.

And of course, sexual promiscuity and sensuality are often go hand in hand with the first two. Don’t make this more complicated than it is. Sexual passion is a good gift for marriage. Otherwise, it is lust. Don’t tolerate it.

Now, I hope that all of us are in complete agreement about the first 4 sins, and I really hope that attending a drunken orgy is not even a serious temptation. If it is, I want to talk and help you through it.

But I’m sure that the last two sins hit closer to home. God says to put off “strife and jealousy.” Sadly, many Christians are in constant conflict. They have tension with this person and that. They’re angry about this thing over here, and that person over there.

Sure, not all conflict is your fault. The truth cuts, and the world will hate Christ’s disciples. But if you find yourself in constant strife with fellow-believers, you need consider why. Don’t jump to what’s wrong with everyone else. Start with you because constant strife reflects the darkness, not light. Drive it out.

The same goes for jealousy and envy. Christian love rejoices with those who rejoice; it is not jealous. So, don’t excuse jealously. Don’t tolerate it. Eradicate it.

So, get specific. Don’t just talk in platitudes about preparing to meet the Lord. If you are going to live today like glory awaits tomorrow, you must identify specific sins and eradicate them. But to complement that, I must add…

Get creative. I just simply want to note that v. 13 is not exhaustive list. It’s not even close. So, don’t be a legalist about obeying this verse. You could be harboring plenty of other sins of the night that are contrary to the glory that awaits. You don’t want them in your life. You want to be ready to see Jesus. So, ask the Spirit to search your heart. Identify what needs to change. And by his grace, replaced darkness with light. Finally, if you are going to live today like glory awaits tomorrow, you must…

III.  Prepare for victory (v. 14).

This is such a practical and valuable verse for Christian living. First, God challenges you to…

Become like your Savior. Verse 14 first commands you to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” What does that mean? First, don’t forget that if you are saved, you have already put on Christ. When Christ saved you, you received new life and a new power to reject sin and pursue holiness. You have everything you need to pursue holiness.

That’s important to remember because a passage like this can feel impossible or overwhelming. You’re thinking, “Pastor, this is no way I could ever be ready to stand before Jesus. I’m going to be ashamed no matter how hard I try. So, why even try?”

Yes, you will never be fully ready. Jesus knows that, and praise God that he is full of grace. He’s an advocate, a friend, not a hostile just. So, do not despair. Jesus sees your effort, he sympathizes with your struggle, and he is full of grace.

But also understand that you can change. You are in Christ! But that doesn’t mean that you automatically become holy. You must also “put on” the power you have received. As I said earlier, that means you must use the means of grace God has provided. Read the Bible, pray, and fellowship with his people. And by his grace submit to God’s commands and strive to obey them.

James 4 promises that if you draw near to God, he will draw near to you. And he will draw near with grocery bags of grace. Christ will empower you to lay aside the deeds of darkness and to become like himself.

I know that some of you endure deep sin struggles. You hate it, but you aren’t changing as fast as you think you should. Some of you live in a constant state of doubt and discouragement. You hate the idea of meeting the Lord because you can’t imagine ever being ready. But you are in Christ, and you can “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” So, don’t be discouraged. Don’t look back; look forward. Trust the grace of God and run to Jesus.

Become like your Savior. Imitate his humility and his love. Imitate his faith and obedience. Be holy as he is holy. Yes, you will not get there perfectly this side of glory. Something will be out of place when you stand before the Lord. But Jesus sees your heart, he sees your effort, and he will be pleased. So, “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Live today like glory awaits tomorrow. As you do that, make sure that you also…

Starve the darkness. God commands you “make no provision for the flesh.” The idea behind the Greek term translated provision is of eating food which should perk us all up as we move toward noon.

So, the idea is that we must not to feed the flesh or the sin nature. Why? Because if you feed flesh, it grows stronger and more influential. And if you starve it, it grows weaker and less influential.

The concept is so simple and so important but so easy to overlook. For example, consider the media that you take in. Any godly Christian doesn’t want to disobey God by watching things or listening to things that God says are sinful. But very often, the only question we ask is, “What’s wrong with it? Does God say that I can’t?”

While these are very important questions, v. 14 says they are not enough. Even if you can technically do it, you must still ask, “Will this feed godliness or will this feed the flesh? Will watching this make me love Jesus more, or will it deaden my love for Jesus and my passion for his will?”

And then be honest with yourself. For example, there may not be anything technically wrong with a movie, but if it’s full of lusty women, it’s probably not going to help you cultivate an exclusive love for your wife or to kill the sinful passions of your soul. You must be honest about what you are feeding and feed the right things.

Or consider your conversation. There may not be anything technically wrong with the complaints that you and your friend bounce back and forth. They all might be true. But does your conversation feed gratitude or discontentment? Does it push you toward love and service, or does it feed bitterness. Do not make provision for the flesh.

As well, the more you commit a sin, the easier it becomes. The more you talk back to your parents or speak sharply to your spouse, the less guilt you feel. The more you look at pornography, the more you will want it and the less it will bother you. It’s obvious, but that doesn’t mean we do it.

If you want to live today like glory awaits tomorrow, you must starve the flesh’s power. Be honest with yourself. Where are you feeding the flesh? Is that question regularly on your mind? Do you invite godly counsel and pushback? Are you striving to starve sin and be like Jesus?

Conclusion

Jesus is coming again! You’re going to like him, and you’re going spend all eternity enjoying his holiness and his beauty. And it will be infinitely better than any sinful pleasure you are grasping. So, don’t waste your time down here. Don’t chase cheap, godless imitations of true glory. No, live today like glory awaits tomorrow. Put off sin and put on holiness. Prepare to stand before the Lord with unashamed joy and gratitude.