1. The title of our lesson contains one of the most frequently asked questions of all of us and by all of us
a. Our answers to this question may vary based on the clock
b. In reality, the answer is always the same: "The time is now"
2. "Now" is the time we have to:
a. Live our lives
b. Accomplish the Lord's will
c. Prepare ourselves for eternity
3. Since the Bible devotes a great deal of attention to the subject of time, this lesson will ask the question, "What time is it?" and then look to see how the Bible responds
A. "Now" is the accepted time for salvation
B. All things are ready
1. The invitation has been extended - Matthew 11:28-30
a. This invitation is depicted as an invitation to a wedding feast - Matthew 22:1-10
b. We often sing, "All things are ready, come to the feast"
2. The church has been established - Matthew 16:18
a. The saved can be added to it - Acts 2:47
b. You can be in it - Colossians 1:18, 24
3. The gospel has been revealed
a. It was put in force by the death of Jesus - Hebrews 9:16-17
b. It is the power of God unto salvation - Romans 1:16
c. It contains all things that pertain to life and godliness - 2 Peter 1:3
C. "Now" may be the only time you have - James 4:13-14
1. There is no promise of a tomorrow and no going back to yesterday
2. "As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more." - Psalm 103:15-16
3. The brevity and uncertainty of life are ever-present realities that must be acknowledged by every individual
A. "Now" is the time to awake out of sin - Romans 13:11
1. This refers, not to a natural sleep or the sleep of death, but to an awakening from moral sleep
2. There is good reason to awake: "The night is far spent, the day is at hand" - Romans 13:12
B. "Now" is the time to lay aside all sin - Romans 13:12
1. To "cast off" means to take off or remove, as clothing
a. It is used figuratively of sin and sinfulness. One is to:
1) Put off anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy and filthy language - Colossians 3:8
2) Lay aside all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and evil speaking - 1 Peter 2:1
3) Lay aside all filthiness and overflow (abundance) of wickedness - James 1:21
4) Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts - Ephesians 4:22
2. The deeds of darkness must stop - Romans 13:12
a. This refers to spiritual darkness
b. This is to be done or should have been done at conversion
1) Some try to continue in sin - Romans 6:1
2) One cannot continue in sin and still be saved eternally - Romans 6:2
C. "Now" is the time to put your life on God's side (" put on the armor of light") - Romans 13:12
1. This is an allusion to the spiritual garb a Christian is to wear - Ephesians 6:13-17
2. The Christian must shed evil and take up the battle of God
a. He must be willing to endure hardship as a good soldier of Christ - 2 Timothy 2:3
b. He is to fight the good fight of faith - 1 Timothy 6:12
D. ”Now" is the time to walk properly - Romans 13:13
1. The conduct of a Christian is to be decent and appropriate to his name and calling
a. He is to walk "circumspectly" (carefully), "redeeming the time" (wisely) - Ephesians 5:15-17
b. There is a proper way for one to conduct himself when he is a member of the house of God - 1 Timothy 3:14-15
2. The proper life for a Christian is described - Romans 13:13
a. "Walk ... as in the day." Light exposes all activities
b. Things which oppose the right way to walk
1) Revelry and drunkenness
2) Lewdness and lust
3) Strife and envy (jealousy)
E. "Now" is the time to put on Christ - Romans 13:14
1. One clothes himself with Christ at baptism
2. One also puts on Christ in righteous living
a. The Christian's life is to mirror the life of Christ
b. The Christian must be and do all that Christ requires
1. What time is it?
2. It is "Now!"
-- Don Treadway, October 2010 --
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