A Secret, A Promise: God Does What He Said

Introduction

There is a secret God shares with his children, one he shares with no one else. It isn't a hidden password or a prophetic key reserved for a select few. This secret is an awareness of the time we're living in, the quiet certainty that God keeps his word, that his promises are "yes and amen," and that the day is truly drawing near.

The preacher opens her message from Romans 13. The congregation has just praised a God who is "great, strong, and mighty," a God who "does far more abundantly than all we ask." She reminds them that these promises aren't slogans: they are being fulfilled, even today, in the lives of those who proclaim and believe them. And she moves straight into Paul's call: "besides this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep."

This passage is short, just a few verses. But it joins together two realities we too often keep apart: the intimate secret God shares with you, and the public promise he is fulfilling in our world. If you grasp both of these together, you will no longer live out church, your week, or your place in society like someone half asleep.

Outline of the Message

1. These Promises Are "Yes and Amen": The Foundation Before Everything

• Even before Romans 13 is read, the congregation sings that the Lord's word "is solid" and that he "will never leave" his own. The preacher picks up this thread: God's promises aren't "maybes." They are firm, they are fulfilled, and they reach all the way into our lives.
• God "does exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20). He never gets it wrong. His thoughts are higher than ours, his ways wiser (Isaiah 55:8-9). This isn't pious talk. It's the foundation from which you can declare, over wounded hearts, over impossibilities and condemnations the enemy places on your life, that "these promises are always fulfilled."
• The secret God shares with you begins right there. Before talking about discerning the times, before talking about armor or battle, you need to know that the word God has spoken over you stands firm. Nothing you're about to hear next works if you doubt this foundation.

2. "Knowing the Time" (Romans 13:11)

• Paul's question becomes the preacher's question to the congregation: do you know what time we're in? Do we, today, know what time we're in? Understanding the present moment and its place in God's plan isn't a spiritual bonus for the curious. It's foundational to living out and fulfilling the mission.
• Romans 13:11 says: "it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed." The first verb of discernment is: wake up. Many Christians wait on God half asleep, hoping something will happen to them while they slumber. Paul calls us to something else.
• This isn't fear or doom. It's a clear-eyed hope: the day is approaching. The Lord's return isn't further away than yesterday. It's closer. Every passing week draws us nearer to the fulfillment of everything God has promised.

3. The Night Is Far Spent, the Day Is Near (Romans 13:12)

• "The night is far gone, and the day is near" (Romans 13:12). The preacher pauses on this image: right before dawn breaks, it's darkest. You can't see anything. That's exactly when you need a lamp most, God's Word, God's light.
• Paul doesn't just say "wake up." He says: "let's therefore throw off the deeds of darkness, and let's put on the armor of light." Two actions, not one.
• In the preacher's words, "darkness" means very concrete things: the fear that paralyzes you, the feeling of inadequacy, spiritual sleepiness, every argument that stops you from doing what God tells you to do, from taking your place in the community, from going out to evangelize, to witness, to shake off discouragement before heading to work or school. Whatever steals your peace, your joy, your time, your ability to accomplish what God has set before you: that's the darkness to throw off.

4. Oil in Your Lamp: The Secret of the Wise Virgins (Matthew 25)

• Alongside Romans 13, the preacher sets the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). The wise ones had prepared oil for their lamps. They didn't borrow it at the last minute. They prepared it in secret, without knowing exactly when the Bridegroom would come.
• "This morning, do you want oil in your lamp?" That question, repeated across the room, is the personal call of the message. Oil isn't a Sunday feeling. It's what God lights in secret: meditating on the Word, prayer on your knees, listening to the Holy Spirit, closeness with him kept up when no one is watching.
• The preacher sums it up beautifully: "The anointing is his. And he, in the lamp, burns and gives light." Your lamp doesn't manufacture the light. It carries the one who is the light. Your job is to keep the oil.

5. Putting On the Armor of Light (Ephesians 6)

• Waking up isn't enough. Paul says: "let's put on the armor of light." The preacher walks through the list in Ephesians 6:14-17: the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the belt of truth, shoes ready to proclaim the Good News.
• "The Lord has made every weapon available to us. All we have to do is pick them up." Grace doesn't replace decision. Every morning, you choose to believe what God has said about you (the helmet). You choose to stand in the righteousness he's given you in Christ (the breastplate). You raise faith against the fiery darts (the shield). You walk in truth (the belt). You put on readiness to speak about Jesus (the shoes).
• The Lord doesn't send us to the front unarmed, like little soldiers sacrificed on the front line. He sends us out with "the divine power of the name of Jesus Christ." We aren't the ones who produce the fight. He equips us. It's up to us to pick up what he hands us.

6. A Community of Love, Faith, and Miracles: Not Perfect, but Awake

• The preacher commends "the faithful ones": those who travel an hour to be there, those who cross the street but could have lived anywhere, and who chose to live nearby to be close to Christ. She gives thanks for the prayer groups that carried the week.
• "It was a choice." Where you place yourself, the church you join, the prayer group you carry: none of that is neutral. You choose to put yourself where the oil is, to shine light where there is darkness. You don't hide your lamp. You go out with what you have: your song, your time, your testimony.
• She recounts her surprise coming back from a trip to Martinique last December: the elderly there were joyful, people spoke to one another with respect. Back in her own neighborhood, she found retirees who "wear a sour look," an atmosphere heavy with bitterness. Her question: how do we reach these people? She leaves the congregation to meditate, pray, and ask God for revelation.
• She also recalls that as a married student on a university campus, she had asked for a room to meet, pray, and evangelize, and it was granted to her. The Lord opens doors when hearts wake up.

7. A Heart Like Daniel's: The Call to Prayer

• In the prayer that rises, the preacher asks the Lord for "hearts of repentance, hearts like Daniel's, hearts of faith-filled intercessors" (see Daniel 9). This is the posture of the secret: hearts ready to follow, to listen, to pray on their knees before God, and to believe that in every soul, God can do a work of transformation.
• Daniel was a man of "the times" because he was first a man of "the secret," the one who prayed three times a day, his window open toward Jerusalem, when everyone else had stopped. The secret God shares is cultivated with the same simplicity today.
• The prayer of the message insists: "Lord, wake us up. Bring us out of sleep, bring us out of sickness, bring us out of all resignation, of all discouragement, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ." Awakening is God's work, and prayer is the place where we put ourselves under his hand.

8. Conclusion: An Intimate Secret, A Public Promise

• The secret: God entrusts you with an awareness of the time. Salvation is nearer to us than yesterday. The day is dawning. Wake up now.
• The promise: what God has said will come to pass. "These promises are yes and amen." Your lamp doesn't make the light, but if you keep the oil, he burns in you and you light up your neighborhood.
• Don't hide your lamp behind your fear or discouragement. Throw off the night. Put on the light. Take up the armor. Take your place.

Key Takeaways

• God's promises are "yes and amen": they are the foundation from which you can discern the times without fear.
• Romans 13:11 is a call to wake up: salvation is nearer than yesterday, the day is approaching.
• The night is far spent: this is the time to have your lamp ready, not to sleep. Matthew 25 says it plainly, the wise ones prepared the oil in secret.
• Paul calls for two actions: throwing off the works of darkness (fear, sleepiness, arguments that hold you back) and putting on the armor of light (Ephesians 6).
• Placing yourself in a community that prays, loves, and believes in miracles is a choice that prepares your place in the battle.
• The secret comes before the mission: a heart like Daniel's, a heart of prayer and intercession, is where God lights the oil that will make your lamp shine.

Personal Application

1. What promise of God is your faith resting on right now? Can you name it, quote it, repeat it to yourself when the night is darkest?
2. Honestly, in what areas are you still spiritually "asleep"? Where have you learned to live only half awake?
3. What "works of darkness" do you see that need to be thrown off this week? Fear, discouragement, an argument that keeps you from obeying, silence about your faith at work or school?
4. How are you concretely preparing oil for your lamp this week: what time of prayer, of the Word, of quiet with God can you set in your schedule?
5. Where have you "placed" yourself? What prayer group, what church, what relationship are you choosing so you don't hide your lamp?
6. Is there someone in your neighborhood or family that God is asking you to bring light to, without judging them, without forcing your way in, but with respect and prayer like Daniel?

Scriptures Cited

• Romans 13:11-14: it's time to wake up, the night is far spent, put on the armor of light
• Matthew 25:1-13: the parable of the ten virgins and the oil in the lamp
• Ephesians 6:10-18: the helmet, the breastplate, the shield, the belt, the shoes
• Ephesians 3:20: him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask
• Isaiah 55:8-9: my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways
• 2 Corinthians 1:20: all the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ
• Daniel 9:1-19: Daniel's prayer of intercession and repentance

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it mean to "know the times" in Romans 13:11?

Romans 13:11 reminds us that salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed: it's time to wake up out of sleep. Discerning the times isn't about decoding the news. It's recognizing that the night is far spent, that the day is at hand, and living accordingly: coming out of spiritual sleep, casting off the works of darkness, and putting on the armor of light.

What is the oil in my lamp?

In the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), the oil represents what you can't borrow at the last minute: a life with God cultivated in secret, the presence of the Holy Spirit, meditating on the Word, prayer. The wise virgins had prepared this oil because they were seriously waiting for the Bridegroom. Keeping oil in your lamp means tending, today, the closeness that will keep you standing when the night is darkest.

How do I put on the armor of light day to day?

The sermon draws on the list in Ephesians 6: the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the belt of truth, and shoes ready to proclaim the Good News. Putting on this armor means choosing, every morning, to believe what God has said about you, to refuse fear and deception, and to walk out your door equipped to carry the light wherever God has placed you: at work, at school, in your neighborhood, in your prayer group.