Turn, if you will, to Romans,
Romans chapter 13. We'd like to read the last four
verses in the chapter and take as our text verse 11. Beginning
at verse 11, Paul writes, and that knowing the time, the time
in which they live, the time in which you and I live, that
now it is high time to awake out of sleep. For now is our
salvation nearer than when we believed. 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 armor of light. Let
us walk honestly, as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness,
not in chammering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But
put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the
flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. We have all, I'm sure, from time
to time, stayed in a motel, and if you're like me, and you have
to be up at a certain hour, you want to awake at a certain hour
the next morning, you're a little wary of those motel alarm clocks. You just don't quite trust them. Or either if you're like me again,
you just can't figure out how to set the thing. So you call
the front desk and ask for a wake-up call. The apostle here in verse
11 issues a wake-up call for God's people, for Christians.
He says it's time to wake up. And thank God, by His grace,
we can never again, we can never again fall into the sleep of
spiritual death. That can't happen. That can't
happen. We may grow weary. We may grow indifferent. Oh,
but we can never again fall down and sleep the sleep of spiritual
death. We may, however, sleep that sleep
of indifference. This is what the Lord spoke to
the church at Ephesus in Revelation chapter 2. He said, I have somewhat
against thee. You doing all these things, and
I commend you for that, but yet I have somewhat against thee.
He said, you've left your first love, your first love. He doesn't say, you no longer
love me. There's no such thing as a Christian
who doesn't love Christ. And none of us feel like we love
Him as He deserves to be loved, like He should be loved, and
like we want to love Him, but we do love Him. But His accusation,
with the church at Ephesus was that you've left your first love. I heard Brother Scott Richardson
years ago preach a message from that text, and he referred to
it as sweetheart love. All that new love, that fresh
love, that wonder of love, all first falling in love with Him,
our Redeemer, that altogether lovely one. He said to the church,
you don't feel that way anymore. You don't look at me that way
anymore. But nevertheless, as Paul exhorts
us here, he doesn't say that we sleep the sleep of the unbeliever. It's not like that, because theirs
is a sleep of death. Ours is due to the weakness of
the flesh, not because we're dead in trespasses and sins. Oh, no. By His sweet, mighty
grace, He came to where we were and said, live. He quickened
us who were dead. We were dead in trespasses and
sins, but he quickened us. That is, he gave us life. Like the disciples, however,
Peter, James, John, the inner circle, someone referred to them
as the elect of the elect, they were privileged to be in situation
with our Lord that the others weren't. On the Mount of Transfiguration,
remember, only those three were present. In the Garden of Gethsemane
that night, He left the eight further, but took these three,
Peter, James, and John with him into the very place where he
prayed that prayer to where he sweat great drops of blood. But
while both of those things took place, while he was transfigured,
while he thus prayed, you remember what the three did? You remember
what they were doing? They fell asleep. They fell asleep. He arose from prayer and came
back and said, watch with me. Could you not watch with me?
One hour arise, wake up. Wake up, as Paul says here, that
you enter not into temptation. Watch and pray. But still, still,
We don't suffer spiritual death. There's a vast difference. We
still live. We may grow indifferent, but
we still live. Our Lord said, because I live,
you shall live also. Your life is my life. The life that's in you, you derive
from me. You live because I live. The same life. Therefore, You'll
never perish. The life I give you is eternal
life. He that first gave us life must
also refresh and revive that life. Does he not? This is the
prayer of the church in the Song of Solomon. Listen to this one
verse. The prayer of Christ's church is this. Awake, O north
wind, and come thou south. Blow upon my garden. that the
spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved, that is Christ,
come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruits, as we sometimes
sing, O Lord, revive us again. I like the article taken from
the diary of Mr. Toplady. I took this out of his
works. And on New Year's Eve of 1767,
he wrote these words, looking back, Upon review of the past
year, I wish to confess that my unfruitfulness has been exceedingly
great. And I can say the same thing
concerning 2012. Am I seeing still greater? Oh,
but thank God we can also say this. With that confession, we
can also say this, and God's mercy greater than both. greater than both, greater than
my unfruitfulness, greater than all my sins. Grace that is greater
than both. Thank God for it. Again, verse
11, notice what Paul says, knowing the time, knowing the time, the
nearness of the time that he speaks of, of our complete, our
eternal salvation, that great salvation. Oh, God's salvation
is a great salvation. It required the work and requires
the work of our great high priest. It required his life. It required
His death. It requires His continual intercession
on the behalf of His people here below. Oh, it's a great salvation
by the great God and Savior Jesus Christ. And it's for great sinners. Come unto Me. Come unto Me, hear
Him say. All ye that labor and are heavy
laden, all ye that are weighted down with the burden of sin,
come unto Me. Come unto me, all the sick, all
the distressed, all the heavy-hearted sinners, every one of them. Come
unto me, and I will give you rest. I'll do for you what no
one else can. I will give to you what nothing
else can. I will speak to your heart. I
will take away your burden and give you peace with God. Come
unto me. Oh, what a great Savior. This
salvation that Paul speaks of was purposed by God in eternity
and was purchased by Jesus Christ at Calvary. And it must be experienced
by His redeemed in time. That's as necessary as the other. The purpose of God in election,
the purchase of Christ by His redemption, it must be experienced
in time. All are necessary to salvation. Turn if you will to 2 Timothy.
2 Timothy chapter 1. And Paul speaks of these things. In 2 Timothy 1, verses 9 and
10, there must be an experience of grace. As you've heard me
say, you can't know you're elect until you experience God's mercy.
You can't know Christ died for you until you experience His
mercy. There's no way that you can.
And it's as necessary for this experience of grace as these
other things. In verse 9 of 2 Timothy 1, who
had saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is
now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ,
who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel. Here, Paul speaks of that salvation
that shall be consummated in eternity to come. Yes, it was
purposed in eternity past, as we call it, and it was purchased
at Calvary and applied to every sinner in time. Oh, but there
is a time yet. when we shall enjoy eternal everlasting
salvation in glory with that one who loved us and gave himself
for us. Turn, if you will, to 1 Peter
chapter 1. He makes mention of this, 1 Peter
chapter 1 at verse 3. He writes, Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
have begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead to an inheritance. This is what Paul spoke of. in
our text, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth
not away reserved. I like that, don't you? Reserved
in heaven for you. And Paul says that time of realizing
that reservation, he said, it's near, it's close. And in the
meantime, until we arrive there, he says in verse 5, who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. Remember what our Lord said,
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. and him that
cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." We have come to Christ. By grace, we have come to Christ. And daily, we are coming to Christ. To whom? Coming, Peter wrote.
And as Paul says here in verse 11 of Romans 13, we will yet
come to Christ. Thank God there is a time when
each of his sheep shall hear his voice and come to him. Isn't that encouraging? People
say, if I believe what you do about elections. I'd see no reason
to preach the gospel or to witness. Oh, that is the very reason to
do so. Because we know He has a people
that He will call through the preaching of the gospel to Himself. They will hear my voice. He said
in John 6, all that have learned of the Father. He said prior
to that, no man can come to me. No man can come to me if left
to himself. People say, oh, God won't interfere
with a man's will. You better hope he does. You
better pray that he does, and for every believer, you're thankful
that he did. But no man can come to me except
the Father which has sent me draw him in his written. All
that have learned of the Father do what? They come unto me. Oh, blessed thought, perhaps
today, perhaps today, perhaps here, one of his sheep. One of those sheep given unto
Him, entrusted into the great Shepherd's care before the world
began. One of those sheep that He came
to seek and to save. One of those sheep for which
He shed His precious blood to redeem. Perhaps today, perhaps
today will be the time of love when they shall hear His voice
and they'll come to Him. when he extends his omnipotent
arm of grace and draws them to himself, like he did the writer
of this epistle. Paul said, I was a blasphemer. I was a persecutor. I hated Jesus
Christ of Nazareth. I spent all my power and all
my days and my determination was to stamp out that very name
from the earth. But, but, oh thank God for sovereign
grace. But, when it pleased God, when
it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me, drew me by His grace to reveal His Son in me. And
now that apostle writes, knowing the time. The day in which we
live now, this short space that's been allotted to each of us,
this vapor, this vapor. You perhaps noticed in your bulletin,
and he may not like me pointing it out, but Mr. Buckner has a birthday in a few
days, 39 years old. and how fast it went by. I know
a few years older than that. But I guarantee you, if you ask
Lester, the one thing that stands out most about each of those
years, no matter how ever many there may be, he would say, man,
it's been like that. It's been just like that. The
thing that is most evident, the thing that is most amazing to
me about that is how fast they've gone by. And that's why the Bible
describes our life as a vapor. Knowing the time. Do you know
the time? Do you know the preciousness
of the time that God's given you? Do you know that this is
the day of the glorious proclamation of the gospel of the blessed
God? Do you know how privileged you
are to hear this gospel? Do you know what a privilege
it is to have a place to come to and sit down and hear the
good news? That God Almighty delights to
show mercy. This is the day of salvation.
The day if you hear His voice, the day if the God of glory condescends,
condescends, is pleased to stoop down and speak into your ear,
hear, hear, don't harden your heart. Don't harden your heart. Oh, may the cry of your heart
be, Oh, pass me not. Don't pass me. Don't pass me,
gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry. While on
others thou art calling, do not pass me by. Have mercy on me. Remember when our Lord entered
Jerusalem for the last time? I've read. men, commentators
who went to great lengths to chisel and pare off the words
of our Lord in those words of his over Jerusalem. to say, well,
now, he doesn't mean this and that, because that would be contrary
to the doctrine of election and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
No, listen. He meant them. He meant them.
And it might not fit into the box of some folks' theology,
but when he said, oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, when he looked over
the city for the last time before his crucifixion and cried, oh,
Jerusalem, Jerusalem. And he was sincere. How often
I would have gathered you. How often I would have gathered
you under my wings like a hen does her chicks. But you would
not. You would not. Henceforth your
house is left unto you desolate. The reason they weren't gathered
is because they would not. The fault is not with God's sovereignty. It's not with election. No, it's
because they would not. And that's always the reason.
As I said, Paul is writing to exhort believers to awake from
indifference. Why? Why? And the reason is this. He says, for now is our salvation
nearer than when we believe. Perhaps in recalling just two
things in this text, That is, when we believe in the nearness
of our entrance into glory, God will be pleased to use it as
a wake-up call to our souls. The title of my message is, Almost
Home. How about that, Lord? You like
the sound of that, brother? Almost Home. This is what Paul
reminds them of. You're almost home. Wake up. Don't take your eyes off Christ.
You're almost home. What a blessed thought to begin
the new year with. We're almost home. One translator
concerning our Lord's words in the Great Commission, he translated
thus, as you're going through the world, as you're going through
the world, And so we are, pilgrims and strangers. You remember when
your children were little, young, or your grandchildren, and you
would be taking them somewhere? I remember when my three granddaughters
were just tots. I was taking them to a zoo in
Louisville, Kentucky. We hadn't been 10 minutes from
the house. They are all sitting in the back
seat. They started asking, are we there yet? Are we there yet?
Are we there yet? Like three parrots. I said, we
just left the house. Every 10 minutes, are we there
yet? Are we there yet? Paul says, brothers and sisters
in Christ, we're almost there. We're almost there. First, consider when we believed. When we believed, before that,
before that, and perhaps a recollection of this will make us grateful. Before we believed, regardless
of anything that we knew or thought we knew or experienced, before
we believed, this was our state. This is the truth. This is the
reality of it. We were without Christ and without
hope before we believed. Without Christ, that's what Paul
said in Ephesians 2. Without Christ and without hope. And I look out and I have good
reason to believe that that's not the case with most of you. But on the other hand, I ask
the question, without Christ and without hope, do those words
describe you? Do they describe you? As you
sit here right now, does that describe you? You're without
Christ. What else matters? What else
matters? If you're without Christ, what
else matters? Before we believe, we're lost.
dead-end sin. Our condition was hopeless, helpless. We were just like Barnabas. Our life consisted in just sitting
in darkness, just living in darkness, just blind beggars. Galatians
3, Paul said, before faith came. But the object of faith, Jesus
Christ, God promised Christ that none of His elect would die just
as He did Simeon, until they had seen God's salvation. This is how to understand Peter's
words in 2 Peter chapter 3. God is not willing that any should
perish, but prior to that He said, God is longsuffering to
usward. Usward. Not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance. And then we believe. One day, and I can't explain
it, I really can't, but I just know there was a time I didn't
believe, couldn't believe, tried to believe, tried to reach in
there and pull faith out, and it wasn't there. Oh, but then
I found myself believing. God just turned the light on. And suddenly, it just seemed
suddenly, Louie, I didn't see things the same anymore. I didn't
think the same anymore. The things that I once loved,
I now hated. The things that I once hated,
now I loved. And for the first time in my
life, I thought, man, I'm lost. I'm lost. For the first time
in my life, I begin to cry out, how can God have mercy on a sinner
like me? I was reading the biography last
night, son, before I went to bed of old John Warburton, when
God Got him lost. He was under conviction
of sin. He said, oh, he cried day and
night. And his wife said, you're losing your mind. You've gone
mad. And Ward Burton said, I thought
I had. I thought I had. And then when God showed him
mercy, people said, you've lost your mind. You've gone mad. Oh, but then Christ in mercy. Oh, I remember the day. Remember
the day. when Christ in mercy came to
your darkened, sin-sick soul, and said, Look unto Me, look
unto Me, and be ye saved, for I am God, and there is none else. And at the same time He gave
us eyes to behold. He granted us faith. God who
commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in
our hearts to give us the glorious knowledge of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. And we looked. And we looked. We'd been trying to look, but
couldn't see anything but sin and despair. Oh, but then we
looked and we saw Him. Oh, at the cross, at the cross
where I first saw the light, and the burden of my sin rolled
away. Glory to His name. And the burden
was gone. The burden was gone. Paul said,
therefore, being justified, By faith we had peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Sweet peace. Peace with God. Oh, what a joy in peace faith
brought to our souls. Nothing else could, could it?
We tried. We tried earning peace with God
by our own works, by our prayers, by our Bible readings, by our
resolutions. The lady was cutting my hair
then. She said, well, did you make any New Year's resolutions? And I chuckled. I said, no. Why? I said, I couldn't keep
them. I don't waste time with that
anymore. Oh, we found in our resolutions that our works can
never bring peace. Oh, but when we look to him,
we look to him, we found peace with God. He is our peace. By grace are you saved through
faith. And that's not your own, it's the gift of God. Saving
faith is God's gift, unmerited, undeserved. True faith looks
to, trusts in, and just falls down on. just falls down on the
object of faith, Jesus Christ Himself. Oh, what a precious,
glorious sight He is to sinners. Just to fall down on Him. Oh, just to cast all the weight
of my soul, John. All the weight of my soul, just
to cast it all upon Him. Just to fall into His everlasting
arms and feel I'm safe. I'm secure. Nobody can snatch
me out. Not Satan, not man, not myself. I'm in the hands of my glorious
Redeemer. Oh, how comforting. How sweet
that is when we believe. Mr. Spurgeon wrote these words. Can I share just a few of them
with you? He said, I find it very convenient every day to
come to Christ as a sinner as I came at the first. He said,
by looking to Him I received all the faith which inspired
me with confidence in His grace. And the word which first drew
my soul, look unto me, still rings its clarion note in my
ears. There I once found conversion.
and there I shall never find refreshing and renewal. He had
done for me that which none but God could do. He has subdued
my stubborn will, melted a heart of adamant, broken a chain of
steel, opened the gates of brass, and snapped the bars of iron.
He had turned for me my mourning into laughter and my desolation
into joy. He had led my captivity captive
and made my heart rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Let others think as they will
of him, to me he must ever be the only begotten of the Father.
Blessed be his holy name. Can we not say the same? Oh,
in that hour when we first believed, When He removed the scales from
our eyes and we beheld the Lamb of God, we knew then, we knew
then, perhaps afterwards some preacher tried to pull us aside
and tell us we took the first step, that's what happened, oh
no, we knew then His grace. And His grace alone has made
us to differ. Mr. Bunyan said when under conviction
of sin that he was so fearful, so afraid to come to God, he
thought, how can God be just and justify a sinner like me? How can God have mercy on a sinner
like me, Bunyan said. But he also wrote, I found, but
I found so far from casting me away that there was rejoicing
in heaven that day when old John Bunyan came home. And so it is. That's what our Lord taught,
isn't it? He said every time a sinner, every time a prodigal
son stumbles back to the father's house, There's a call in heaven. Come, rejoice with me. Rejoice
with me. My son who is dead is alive again. He was lost and now he's found. Rejoice with me. And I believe
our Lord taught there that every time one of his chosen is called
to himself, there's rejoicing in heaven in the presence of
the angels. I've been with a few people when
they were leaving this world. without Christ. Oh, that's a
terrible experience. But then it's been my blessed
privilege to be with a few believers who also were departing this
world with Christ. I believe that often God gives
a departing believer such views of His mercy and grace and love
that He never has experienced prior to that time. Oh, since
we have believed, can we not with thankful hearts stand with
that old sinner of some years gone by and sing with Him. Unite our voices with His and
sing through many dangers. Toils and snares I have already
come. His grace had brought me safe
thus far and grace will lead me home secondly." Paul says,
now is our salvation nearer. Another year has flown away.
Man, they just take wings and gone. I had just gotten used
to writing 2012 instead of 2011. And now it's 2013. It means we're
closer to home, though. We're almost there. Last weekend,
last Saturday afternoon, I left Kentucky, driving up to West
Virginia. And as I got nearer home, I thought
it'll be a pleasure, be a delight to see mom. I hadn't seen her
for about five months or so. And don't know how much longer
I'll have that privilege. She's getting up in years. But
the closer I got, the better I felt. Paul says, brothers and
sisters, we're nearer that time. We're very near that time when
he that sets upon the throne shall declare, time shall be
no more, and send his angels to gather his elect from one
end of heaven to the other. We're nearer this time. Turn,
if you will, to Revelation chapter 19. Paul says we're nearer this
time, Revelation chapter 19. Verse 6, And I heard, as it were,
the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Hallelujah! For the Lord
God Omnipotent reigneth. They didn't have a problem with
that, did they? Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to
him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife had
made herself ready. And to her was granted that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine
linen is the righteousness of the saints. And he saith unto
me, Right, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage
supper of the Lamb. saith unto me, these are the
true sayings of God. We're nearer that time when we
shall have no more sin. Think about that. Paul says you're
almost at that time when you shall have no more sin. Salvation to the uttermost. Look in chapter 21 of Revelation.
Verse 1, And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first
heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no
more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem,
this is the church of the living God he describes, coming down
from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband. Joe, not a month ago, A little
better than a month ago when you stood here and looked back
there and saw Abby coming down the aisle. Had you seen anything
so beautiful in your life? The church of the living God
here will be presented back to him without a spot, without a
wrinkle, without any such thing. He that sets up on the throne
said, I'll make it so. I'll make all things new. We're almost there. Yesterday,
I called Brother Lonnie and told him I was sorry for what he was
going through, how difficult. And I was trying to find words.
I thought, man, what can you say? What a heartbreak it must
be to watch one of your children leave this world. Oh, but we're
getting nearer that time. We're almost there. Never experienced
anything like that again. Nearer that time when we shall
be forever with the Lord. Remember, in Mark chapter 4,
after feeding the multitude, he said to the disciples as they
got into a ship, the boat, he said, let us pass over to the
other side. That's what we're doing now in
this life. were passing over to the other
side. And afterwards, he prayed, Father,
I will that all you gave me be with me where I am, that they
may behold my glory. In verse 1 of Mark 5 we read,
And they came over unto the other side. Are you still in Revelation? Look in chapter 14 and we'll
wrap this up. Verse 1, And I looked, and, lo,
a lamb stood on the mount Zion. But he was not alone, was he?
A lamb stood triumphant. He stooped to be made like his
brethren. He stooped to suffer and die
and to redeem, but now he stands triumphant to receive eternal
praises for all that he accomplished. Oh my soul, look what grace hath
wrought. He's not alone. Paul in Ephesians
2 said, in the ages to come, God shall show the exceeding
riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Jesus Christ. With Him, a hundred, forty, and
four thousand. These are representative of God's
elect. Having His Father's name written
in their foreheads. Verse 3, and they sung as it
were a new song before the throne and before the four beasts and
the elders and no man can learn that song but the hundred and
forty and four thousand which were redeemed from the earth.
These are they which were not defiled with women. For they
are virgins. These are they which follow the
Lamb, whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among
men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their
mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault." Did
I read that right? For they are without fault before
the throne of God. The hymn writer expressed it
this way, with his holy garments on, as holy as God's own son. Very near that time when he shall
see him to develop his soul and be satisfied. Satisfied with
all he purchased. Satisfied that they're all there,
none are lost. And satisfied with us, without
fault before the throne of God. Last of all, look in chapter
22 of Revelation. We're near this time. Today,
we are nearer that time when verse four, they shall see his
face. They shall see his face. I've tried to preach from that
text a time or two. Never hardly been able. How you describe
that? The scriptures, I think, teach
that in heaven, we'll sit down with Abraham and Isaac, Jacob,
We'll see and converse with angels, talk with Noah, Peter, James,
Andrew, Paul. But more than that, we'll see
him. We'll see him. That one of whom
the angel spoke when he said, call his name Jesus. He shall
save his people from their sins. We'll see him. face to face with
Christ my Savior, face to face what shall it be, when in rapture
I behold Him, Jesus Christ who died for me. We're almost home. Now is our salvation nearer than
when we believed. And to you who don't believe,
who haven't experienced His grace, your time is near too, when you'll
depart out of this world, when you'll stand before God, Oh,
may God give you grace to think of it. May God give you faith
to behold His Son, to come to Him for mercy and grace, and
I'll tell you this, I'll tell you this, He won't turn you away. He won't turn you away. As a
matter of fact, He says, come, come unto Me all ye that labor,
and I'll give you rest. He which testifieth these things,
that is our Lord Jesus, sayeth, Surely I come quickly. Even so,
come Lord Jesus. And the response of every believing
heart is this, Even so, come Lord Jesus. The grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Amen.