The day's almost here, wear the armour of light

Text Romans 13:12 Time 29/12/13 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

We are at the end of another year, the year 2013, and near the beginning of another new year, 2014. It is a time for reflecting on the past and making plans for the future. One way for us to prepare for the year ahead is to take a Bible text and consider it together. It can be a sort of motto text for us in the year ahead. It would be a good idea for us all to try to learn it.

The verse I want to draw your attention to is Romans 13:12

The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light.

There are at least two pictures here then. First, let's think of night and day, the light of day and the darkness of night. Then at the end of the verse there is the reference to the armour of light. Armour has changed down the centuries but it has certain typical qualities – a breastplate, a helmet, a shield, etc.

At this point in Romans Paul has moved from the part of his letter where he deals chiefly with doctrine or creed to the part where he deals with duty or conduct. The teaching on belief occupies chapters 1-11. In Chapter 12 he begins on behaviour. The chapter begins by speaking about our relationship with God and the need to be willing to be a living sacrifice and to have our minds renewed. Further, to view our own selves with great humility, soberness and faith. It moves on to our relationship with one another which should be marked by love and faithfulness, sympathy and kindness. Thirdly, we come to our relationship with outsiders, which must be marked by meekness, integrity, peaceableness, patience, kindness and persistence in doing good.

As we come into Chapter 13 Paul speaks of the need to submit ... to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. He concludes in verse 7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honour, then honour.

This leads into a short section on the law that calls for all to love one another, that being a way of summing up the law, Love your neighbour as yourself. As he says Love does no harm to its neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law.

Romans 13:11-14 gives a very strong argument as to why such things must become a priority for us – why we must give ourselves up to pursuing such ends and not only those ends but others like it. Paul says (11a) And do this, understanding the present time. Jesus spoke of people in his day who would look at the sky at night and say ‘Oh the sky is red – it will be fine tomorrow’ or at the sky in the morning and say ‘Oh, the sky is red it will be stormy today’. They knew how to read the weather but not the time in which they were. May be you’re like that. If I ask you the time you can look at your watch and tell me. If I ask you the season you have no hesitation in telling me it is winter but if I ask whether you understand the time in the sense of knowing where we are, our place in history, you do not know. It ought not to be like that.

It is time for believers to wake up and see that their salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. As Paul says in verse 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light.

Let's focus on that one verse and think about it. We want to say five main things.

1. Realise that is this is now the night time

It is clear from the way that Paul speaks that he would characterise the time in which he was living as the night time, the time of darkness. If that was the case then, it is still the case now. Darkness stands for ignorance and wickedness and we live in a world of ignorance and wickedness. At the beginning of this letter Paul describes the pagan world of his day and it is not very different to what we see in our society today.

29-32 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practise them.

There was a time I think when there were great hopes of somehow escaping the darkness of ignorance and wickedness. At the beginning of the twentieth century, for example, that was a great hope. But what happened? By now everyone goes to school and more people go to university than ever before and yet not only is there still a lot of ignorance but the moral climate has clearly deteriorated.

We often hear the compliant that children are coming out of school unable to read and write. A 2010 study by Sheffield University academics, for example, claimed that 17 % of 16-19 year olds across the country are functionally illiterate, meaning they can understand only the simplest text. “This is less than the functional literacy needed to partake fully in employment, family life and citizenship and to enjoy reading for its own sake,” the authors said. And if we ask how many 16-19 year olds know anything about the gospel or what the Bible says we would find even greater darkness.

The moral darkness is currently growing at a rapid rate. At the resent we have over 84,000 people in prison and many awaiting trial. Pick up a newspaper and read of the appalling acts of sexual abuse, rape and murder that go on every day. Think of what is going on in Syria and in Afghanistan and the Congo and other places. Think of North Korea. We are in a dark world.

Now this is not the only thing the Bible says about this world that it is in darkness but it does say that the whole world is under the control of the evil one and we ought to remember that and not be surprised when we see what wickedness there is.

2. Be encouraged that the night is nearly over

So that's the first thing to get but see what Paul says in its context. His point is that The night is nearly over. This ignorance and wickedness is about to disappear. It is not going to last. But isn't this just hopeless optimism. Why should Paul believe such a thing? What evidence is there for it? Things seem to be getting worse rather than better and certainly if you consider the history of the world from then until now then there seems to be no sign that The night is nearly over.

It is often said that the darkest time is just before dawn and certainly we cannot take the increasing darkness as a sign that the night is not nearly over. Paul always believed that this world has a limited time span. The God who created it is the God who is going to bring it to an end. When that day dawns then night is over. We ought to believe that too.

But what about this word nearly you say to me. If Paul thought it was nearly over then and you are saying it is still night time now, 2000 years later, what does nearly mean. Some want to say Paul just made a mistake he thought the night would be over in is life time but he was wrong. Rather I think it is to do with the way God sees time. We have often mentioned that verse in Peter that says that with God a thousand years is like a day and a day like a thousand years. The word nearly here means that in what in God's eyes is only a short time the night will be over. Think of the difference between a four year old and an 80 year old. The four year old is waiting for Christmas and it will take ages until it comes around again next year. For the 80 year old he hopes he will be alive next Christmas and he knows it will come around quicker than ever. It is the same length of time but the perspectives are different. Now we need to get a God perspective on things. It won't be long. The end of night is near – the end of ignorance, the end of wickedness, the end of sickness and sorrow and death too.

One of the Radio 2 DJs plays a theme song an old Guy Lombardo thing. It begins

You work and work for years and years, you're always on the go
You never take a minute off, too busy makin' dough
Someday you say, you'll have your fun, when you're a millionaire
Imagine all the fun you'll have in your old rockin' chair

Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think, enjoy yourself, while you're still in the pink
The years go by, as quickly as a wink, Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it's later than you think

It's quite a worldly song but the line it's later than you think is spot on. Sometimes we're tempted to despair at all that's wrong in this world. However, it's later than we think. Soon night will be over.

Think of a night of pain you may have had with toothache or earache or something. It came to an end didn't it? It doesn't seem long now. That's how it will be.

3. Be encouraged that the day is almost here

The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. The day, of course, is the day of judgement, the day when every injustice will be put right, when there will be punishment for all the wickedness perpetrated in this world. There will be no ignorance then. Everything will be out in the open. Today you grow up like I did enjoying Jimmy Savile presenting Top of the Pops and watching It's a Knockout with Stuart Hall commenting. You listen to Gary Glitter, you watch the Rolf Harris show. You have no idea that such men could be guilty of the crimes against children that they have been accused of. On that day it will all be out in the open. There are a lot more surprises to come no doubt. On that day Jesus Christ will come in power and in glory and an eternal day will dawn for all who have put their trust in him. The fact is a terror for those who do not believe. What a dreadful day it will be for them. But for we who believe, what a glorious prospect. Trust in Christ now. He's coming soon.

4. So let's put aside the deeds of darkness

The verse contains an application The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light. The negative first – we must put aside the deeds of darkness. What are the deeds of darkness? He gives example in verse 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. We need to carefully root out of our lives any hint of carousing and drunkenness, of sexual immorality and debauchery, of dissentiousness and jealousy.

We are coming to a new year. It is a good time for reflection on the past and making fresh resolves for the future. What about alcohol and other drugs. It is an extreme view that says I will not drink tea or coffee or use pain killers or alcohol. Such good things are there for our use. Drink wine, if you wish, drink tea and coffee, take a painkiller if you have a headache. I heard an interview with the flautist James Galway and his wife over the holidays. He smokes one cigar a month. That is no orgy and it is the sort of moderation appropriate for a serious woodwind player. We too must show moderation. Let's take care over sexual morality – be careful in all your interaction with others. If you use a computer, read a newspaper or watch TV be very careful. Let's be resolved this year to do what we can to be less argumentative and more loving towards others. Let's never be jealous. Let's turn from all out sins. Let's run from the darkness.

5. And let's put on the on the armour of light

On the positive side he says and put on the armour of light. It is a wonderful picture. On the one hand there is darkness all around but then look there are these knights in armour, in shining armour, in luminous glowing armour. What us this armour? In 1 Thessalonians 5:8 Paul says briefly since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. Faith, hope and love are vital. We must really work at developing each of these in our lives – greater faith, more hopefulness and increased love to God and man in 2014. Of course, in Ephesians 6 he really develops the idea and speaks of the full armour of God. He speaks of standing with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, he adds take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

Here in Romans he simply says clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Truthfulness, righteous living, readiness to live and share the gospel, ever increasing faith in Christ, looking to God for salvation, immersing yourself in the Bible, praying always – these are the things that should characterise us.

So here's your memory verse The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light. There is the fact that The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. There is the command to put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light. Let's do it.

Watching, waiting, praying

Text Micah 7:7 Time 04 01 09 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

Over the last few years we've made it our pattern to begin each new year by focusing on one particular text that serves not only for the first sermon of the year but as a sort of motto for the ensuing year. So last year our text was

Luke 12:32 Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. This year I want us to focus on a text found in Micah 7:7 But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Saviour; my God will hear me.
I think that is an excellent text for a sermon, for a new year sermon, especially for 2009. I also think it is a text that it would be helpful for us to carry in our minds in the days ahead. But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Saviour; my God will hear me.
Little is known about the prophet Micah except what we can learn from the book itself and a brief reference in Jeremiah (26). We know he was from the town of Moresheth, probably Moresheth-Gath, about 25 miles South West of Jerusalem near Gath and that he prophesied in the 8th Century BC, for some time probably before the fall of Samaria, during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. He was a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea and also Amos. Like Amos, Micah seems to have been a country prophet, something of an outsider, unlike Isaiah who was close to the kings and often in the royal court. Micah wrote when the Assyrians were the great power of the day. His main audience was Judah, though he also had things to say to the Ten tribes. He wrote to warn them, for example, the judgement for sin soon to come one them. He also wrote to warn Judah of a similar impending judgement because of sin. He seeks to show Judah that they are just as guilty as sinful Israel and so will also be judged. He emphasises both God’s justice and his love and is quite definite about an eventual restoration for God's people. He presents God as "the sovereign Lord of the earth who controls the destinies of nations, including his covenant people Israel".
Today we just want to look at the opening verses of Chapter 7. After the title the book is made up of a number of short prophecies that can be seen as coming in three cycles. The first (Chapters 1/2) focuses on judgement and restoration for Israel and Judah. Micah speaks first of judgement, predicting destruction and lamenting over it. He pronounces woe particularly on oppressive land-grabbers, the wealthy and on false prophets but he promises (2:12, 13) the restoration of a remnant. In the second cycle Judah’s leaders are condemned in Chapter 3 then a future hope for God’s people is spoken of in Chapters 4 and 5. He speaks of the coming kingdom, restoration of a remnant and escape from distress to deliverance, siege to victory, a helpless ruler to an ideal king. This ideal king delivers his people, the remnant among the nations, and obliterates opposing forces and their pagan worship.
In Chapters 6 and 7 we have the third cycle: God’s charges against his people and the ultimate triumph of his kingdom. In 6:1-8 we have a divine covenant lawsuit. Further charges follow and the sentence is pronounced (6:9-16). The opening verses of Chapter 7 then are a lament over the decadence that exists. These are the verses we want to consider and we want to say two things.
1. Recognise that we live in troubled times
In 7:1-6 then Micah is describing a decadent society, a society under judgement. It may have been in Ahaz's reign but even in Hezekiah's reign corruption went on. He has in mind his own day then, no doubt, but it is hardly unique. The same sorts of things as Micah speaks about here are common in our day too. He instances five things that are in short supply and laments them. They were in short supply in his day and they are in our own. We also ought to lament.
1. Recognise the lack of godliness
He begins with a picture. Here is a man hoping to glean some grapes at a vineyard. He expects to find fruit there – grapes and some figs too. But he says (1) What misery is mine! I am like one who gathers summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster of grapes to eat, none of the early figs that I crave. This is a picture of how The godly have been swept from the land; so that not one upright man remains. The Lord Jesus experienced the same thing – just as he could find no fruit on that fig tree he cursed so he could find no godliness in Israel – certainly not where one would expect to have found it. And it is the same in our nation today.
Many of the churches that once existed have been closed. They are now mosques or temples, community halls or offices. Church attendance is not growing and there is a lack of ministers. One study has suggested that the number of Christians attending Sunday services will fall by two thirds in the next 30 years. It expects total membership of all denominations to fall from the present 9.4% of the population to under 5% by 2040. The study anticipates that poor attendance will force some 18,000 more churches to close. No wonder godliness is at a premium. Prayerfulness, love for God, holy living – such things are rare in our day, in 2009.

2. Recognise the lack of love
Micah goes on (2b) All men lie in wait to shed blood; each hunts his brother with a net. He is using hyperbole, of course, but it graphically evokes the lack of love that was common then and is common now. A recent BBC News item began “On an average day in Britain, two or three people will be murdered. The UK currently has a homicide rate equivalent to the mid-Victorian period. The prevalence of murder seems a reasonable proxy for the health or sickness of a society and this deteriorating picture of our islands perhaps tells us something about the profound problems of social cohesion.” There was a case on the news this morning of a boy who has shot his mother, who it seems was abusing him. Here in London we are particularly aware of the problem with knife crime and shootings. Over the blast 10 years reported cases of domestic violence have risen by more than 40% to almost 50,000 incidents this year. Bullying continues to be a problem in many schools. There is such violence and such greed in our society today that it is frightening at times.

3. Recognise the lack of good leadership
In 3 and 4a we read Both hands are skilled in doing evil; the ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate what they desire - they all conspire together. Micah again uses a powerful agricultural image The best of them is like a brier, the most upright worse than a thorn hedge. He adds The day of your watchmen has come, (the day the prophets warned about) the day God visits you. Now is the time of their confusion. So today there is scarcely a politician entirely untainted by accusations of greed and corruption. Power is often abused by those at various levels of government or in the media. They take unfair advantage of others. Sometimes such things are even seen among church leaders. The spirit of public service seems to be disappearing among us.

4. Recognise the lack of reliability
In 5 Micah warns Do not trust a neighbour; put no confidence in a friend. Even with her who lies in your embrace be careful of your words. Then, as so often today, no-one could trust anyone else. One of the great problems we have today is that teachers and policemen and nurses and others are having to spend inordinate amounts of time writing down everything they do. Why? Because no-one feels they can trust anyone else any more. There is a common lack of reliability and so of trust. Treachery abounds everywhere. A woman says her child has gone missing but is she telling the truth? People want to steal your identity, telephone companies take advantage, banks overcharge. There are business scams and charity scams and credit card scams, etc. Who can you rely on?

5. Recognise the lack of respect
Verse 6 is well known as Jesus quotes it For a son dishonours his father, a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law - a man's enemies are the members of his own household. Jesus uses it to describe the way households are divided when the gospel comes and is received by one but not by another. Some of us know what that is like. Here in particular the lack of harmony seems to arise from a lack of respect. This is yet another feature of our current society. This is the generation that in the last decade coined the phrase 'talk to the hand cos the face ain't listenin'. There is a lack of respect between old and young, between parents and their children, between professionals and those they are supposed to serve, between those in authority and those under it, between people of different faiths and beliefs. What division and what disrespect there is!
Obviously we can paint things darker than they really are but without exaggeration certainly there is no doubt that in our society to day there is a lack of godliness and a lack of love, a lack of good leadership, a lack of reliability and of respect.
2. Be resolved, nevertheless to be different and to do what Micah is resolved to do
And so we come to our text, Micah 7:7, But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Saviour; my God will hear me. There is a clear contrast here. On the one hand, there is the lack of godliness, the lack of love, the lack of good leadership, the absence of reliability and of respect. Several temptations face us at such times.
Some are tempted to be conformists. They are tempted to fall into the same ways – the same lack of love and respect, the same ungodliness. We certainly must not do that.
Some are tempted to be defeatists. They just give up. 'What is the point?' they say. 'Why resist?' Again that is not Micah's attitude and it shouldn't be ours.
Some are tempted to be fretters. They worry and fret. They become anxious and act like headless chickens. Like Corporal Jones they run around crying 'Don't panic! Don't panic!' though they are panicking more than anyone else.
We must not react in any of these ways but be willing to stand up and be counted – to be different. How important that we stand firm. I saw a Christian T-shirt once with all the fish swimming one way and one lone Christian fish headed in the opposite direction. That's how we must be – swimming against the tide.
Micah follows his But as for me with three things that are in many ways three ways of saying almost the same thing but that can profitably be taken separately. They underline three important attitudes that we must adopt as Christians if we are not to be swallowed up in the deluge of wickedness that, as in Micah's day, is all around us and everywhere we look. And so on the first Lord's Day of 2009 we say
1. Watch faithfully in hope for the LORD

Micah says, firstly, I watch in hope for the LORD. So picture him first like this – with his hand over his brow, looking up and into the distance. Micah is a man who is watching. Here is a man whose eyes are open. He is not pre-occupied with the wickedness of men even though there is plenty of it about. Rather he is looking in another direction. He is watching to see what the Lord will do. Yes, humanly speaking things are pretty hopeless but the godly man still has hope at such times as his hope is not in man but in the Lord. This is how we must approach this year that lies ahead – faithfully watching in hope for the Lord. We do not know exactly what he will do but we do know that he is the one to watch. Look to him whatever happens.
Here is a watchword for 2009 then. We must be those that watch, those who are on the look out for the Lord and for what he might do next.
2. Wait patiently for God and his salvation

Micah goes on to say I wait for God my Saviour. We picture Micah next in a waiting posture – with his arms by his sides. Here is a man whose feet are stood firm. You see, he is not only watching but he is also waiting, patiently waiting. Sometimes this is very hard to do. You hear the preacher say that you must look to the Lord, you must watch out for him but it can be slow work watching to see what God will do. Sometimes it seems to us as though he is doing nothing. Patient waiting for him is very important for us. He is the only Saviour. It is no good trying to save ourselves. He alone can do it.
Here is another watchword for 2009 then. We need not only to faithfully watch in hope but also to patiently wait for God and his salvation. He will rescue us. He will save us. But we must be patient. Keep watching and waiting.
3. Pray confidently to God

The third thing Micah says is slightly different. It is very positive. Instead of saying something like “I pray confidently to God” he says My God will hear me. The third posture then is one of prayer. His hands are lifted up or placed together in a posture of prayer. Here is a man willing to get down on his knees. The implicit thing then is that he prays. This is, in part, an expression of his watching and his waiting but it is something more again – it is both a looking to the Lord and watching of him and a waiting on him, a submission to him. Micah is a man who prays too confidently. You say to Micah 'Do you pray?' he says ;'Yes'. You say, and will God answer you and he says My God will hear me!
So here is a third and final watchword for 2009. We need not only to faithfully look to God in hope and patiently wait for God to rescue us, we must also be people who pray. Day by day, moment by moment we need to seek his face and ask that he will answer our prayers and bless us.
Micah spekas here in the person of Christ. It is Christ who would later say But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Saviour; my God will hear me. He is not only our Saviour from sin but our example too. He is the one who says to his disciples (Matt 26:41) Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. He adds The spirit is willing, but the body is weak which is a reminder of the need for patience.
Here are three Christlike and Christ commanded things that we should be aiming at in this coming year then – faithful watchfulness, patient submission and confident prayerfulness. If we do so we can face the future with some confidence. See how Micah goes on here (8ff). Israel says Do not gloat over me, my enemy! he says Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light. Yes, they would be under God's judgement for a while but God would bring him out into the light. Israel would see his righteousness and his enemies would be confounded. A day would come for building walls and extending boundaries, a day of glorious success for Israel. See the closing verses of the chapter (19, 20) You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. You will be true to Jacob, and show mercy to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our fathers in days long ago. Such a promise is for us who believe too. We ought to believe it and stir each other up to watching, waiting and prayer. May such attitudes characterise us throughout the coming year. Let's say But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Saviour; my God will hear me.