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The 1st Sunday in Advent
Jesus, The Light of the World
November 29, 2009

TEXT:  NKJ Romans 13:11 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.
 
This is the first Sunday in Advent—a four Sunday season of the Church during which we consider the coming of Christ to this earth—in the form of a man—a perfect man—and our Savior
 
In our text, Paul is talking about the fruits of our faith—he is speaking to Christians—to remind them that they are different from the other men who are of this world—those that do not recognize Christ as their Savior—Paul wants to make sure the Christians understand who they are—and what they have in their GIFT of salvation—Paul writes with a sense of urgency—he knows our days in this world are few—he knows we all are deserving of death as the reward for our sins—Paul especially knows this—he even refers to himself as the chief of sinners
 
NKJ  1 Timothy 1:15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
 
Paul understood—as few men ever will—that salvation is a gift from God—the gift is given because ours is a merciful and loving God
 
NKJ  Ephesians 2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
 
The birth of Christ in Bethlehem was not the first visit of the Son of God to our world—It’s also not the first time He came to save God’s people from certain death and destruction—references to the “Angel of the Lord” in the Old Testament—are references to the Son of God—the Christ—the Promised One—Jesus—one example of such a reference is the pillar of cloud that shielded the children of Israel as they were crossing the Red Sea—God’s people—the Israelites—walked in the light—and the enemy of God’s people—the Egyptians—walked in darkness
 
NKJ Exodus 14:19 And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. 20 So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.
 
Perhaps the most dramatic example—is the appearance of the Angel of the Lord in the burning bush—where the Light was calling to Moses—and Moses approached the Light and the Light made him understand the things he had to do to serve God and to deliver God’s people from the enemy of God
 
NKJ Exodus 3:2 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.
 
Both of these examples show the Angel of the Lord as a source of light for God’s people—the Light is visible—it displaces the darkness in the case of the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea—it shined brighter than the day—in the case of Moses and the burning bush
 
TEXT:  NKJ Romans 13:11 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.
 
Paul’s reference to sleeping and being awake is a beautiful explanation of how Christians should be aware of Satan and his angels—Paul thought the Day of Judgment would come in his lifetime—he worked hard and traveled far to preach the Gospel to every corner of his known world—and he knew Jesus promised to return when the Word was preached
 
NKJ Matthew 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
 
Paul is telling us that a Christian ought to live as he would in the last day before judgment—as we discussed many times before—our citizenship is in heaven—and we should live our lives accordingly
 
NKJ Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
 
We are citizens of heaven—we are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit—anyone who does not see Christ in us will remain in darkness—we must let our light shine for Christ’s sake
 
NKJ  1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
 
NKJ 1 John 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Luther summed up Paul’s message:  “The words are employed as similies, to help us grasp the spiritual thought.  The meaning is:  Since for the sake of temporal [earthly] gain men rise from sleep, put aside the things of darkness and take up the day’s work when night has given way to morning, how much greater the necessity for us to awake from our spiritual sleep, to cast off the things of darkness and enter upon the works of light, since our night has passed and our day breaks.”
 
When we sleep, we are in a sense “dead to the world”—we are not aware of what happens around us—when a person is spiritually asleep—they are not aware of the worldly behavior that takes place around them—Paul is warning us to avoid spiritual sleep—be constantly aware of the environment we are in—be alert!—wake others!—live as if it is the day before JUDGMENT—because it might very well be
 
TEXT:  NKJ Romans 13:12 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.
 
Paul uses a physical example to make a spiritual point—the transition from night to day is to go from darkness to light—from evil and untruth—to the truth of the Gospel—the reference is to dawn—and these people lived in the dawn of the Gospel—the New Testament was being written—literally—as these words were penned by Paul—Paul tells them to cast off the works of the devil—Paul says wrap yourself with the spiritual protection of the Light—and the Light is Christ
 
When we walk in the light of day we walk without stumbling—when we walk in spiritual darkness we stumble over every temptation and obstacle Satan throws in front of us
 
We need to cloth ourselves with the righteousness of Christ—prepare ourselves to stand before God—our Judge—none of us can live on our merits or anything we did while God gave us time in this world—we rely totally on God’s grace for our salvation—Paul instructed Titus—and all of us on this very subject—pastors especially must be aware of the way of salvation—we are ministers of the Word—we must make all who will listen understand where our salvation comes from
 
NKJ Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. 15 Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.
 
Each of us here is seeking the kingdom of God—where we will be in the light of the Lord for all eternity—and this Advent season we acknowledge that He came—and that He will come again—Christ—our Savior—the Son of God—came to intervene and save God’s people—in the Old Testament—He came as the Angel of the Lord—in the New Testament—He came again in the form of man—a perfect man who defeated the Law, and defeated death on our behalf—and He will come again—to take us all to our home in heaven—we pray for that every day—“Thy Kingdom Come, on earth as it is in heaven”
 
Christ has not changed
 
NKJ Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
 
He was the Light then—and He is the Light now
 
NKJ John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
 
NKJ John 9:5 "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
 
NKJ John 5:35 "He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.
 
NKJ Luke 2:32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel."
 
And looking to the future—Jesus will be our Light Eternal—lighting up heaven forever
 
NKJ Revelation 21:23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.
 
As we approach our celebration of the birth of our Savior—and the world celebrates various holidays—we must remember that we are not of this world—we are citizens of heaven—and we must act like it
 ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!