IT'S
GETTING CLOSER

Text:
Rom 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high
time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when
we believed.

Intro: This is the second of two reasons Paul gives for us to serve
God;

1.Because
Love is the fulfilling of the Law.

2.
Because we are getting nearer to our time of gathering together unto
Him.

Let
us divide the text into three thoughts and a conclusion.

I.
First Thought; God isn't through with us yet.

A.
Salvation from the penalty of sin comes at the time of believing.

B.
Salvation from the power of sin comes through the sanctification of
our daily commitment. Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If
any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross daily, and follow me.

C.
Salvation from the presence of sin will come with our glorification..

There
is something great ahead for us!

1.
Hope of salvation. 1 Th 5:8 But let us, who are of the day,
be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an
helmet, the hope of salvation.

1 Th
5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ,

Rom
8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope:
for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

Rom
8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience
wait for it.

2.Now
we are kept by the power of God. 1 Pet 1:5 Who are kept by
the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in
the last time.

II.
Second thought; Urgency of the relentless passing of time..

A.
Only once has time actually stood still. Question; Do you think God
would have caused this to occur while Israel dallied with the enemy?

B.
If you would learn the value of time, don't inquire of a youth. Ask
at the death bed of one dying of old age.

C.
Methuselah lived longer that any other man and yet it is said of him
as it is for the infant son of David, 'He died'.

James
4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is
your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and
then vanisheth away.

Job
7:6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent
without hope.

Job
7:7 O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see
good.

III.
Third Thought; The surety of the completed work. Phil 1:6
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good
work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

A.
This gives meaning to our having believed and makes all our present
suffering worthwhile.

Rom
8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

1
Cor 15:32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at
Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and
drink; for to morrow we die.

B.
Without this assurance we would have reason to be miserable.

1
Cor 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all
men most miserable.

C.
We WILL be glorified! Phil 3:21 Who shall change our vile
body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according
to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto
himself.

IV.
Conclusion; Rom 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at
hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put
on the armour of light.

Rom
13:13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and
drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and
envying.

Rom
13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision
for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

A.
God has taken care of the past through the sacrifice of His Son. He
has taken care of the future through the promises of His Word. The
present is yours. What will you do with it?

1.
Salvation is a glorious experience when we get our will out of the
way and let God take control.

2.
Our final redemption will be glorious when God exercises his power on
those who have believed.

3.Your
present life can also be glorious by the same power!.

Therefore;

Eph
5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Col
4:5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.

Consider
this folly; Dreading to throw away life all at once but thinking
nothing of throwing it away piece by piece!