Romans 13:12 - “The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So, remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living.”  NLT

I remember I was once told the night is the darkest just before the sunrise.  I never really believed that until, as a Youth Pastor, I had the opportunity to be awake at that time of night.  I discovered it is true.  The sun was to rise at about 6am - I was awake at 4am and it was very dark for about thirty minutes.  And then very slowly the darkness began to give way to the light of day.

I believe with all my heart we are about to see the darkest part of the night in the spiritual realm.  When I watch the news, read the paper, listen to the reports of evil around us, I cannot believe anything other than we are entering, or have already entered, the darkest part of the night.  Drunkenness, adultery, fornication, immorality, abortion, road rage, children disappearing, pornography, jealousy, fighting - it is rampant and seems to be getting worse.  I was reading a report recently that pornographic internet sites are growing by some 20-30% a year - and as of this current moment over one million sites exist.

So what are we to do as Christians?  Paul says - “...remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living.”  Remember, Paul was not writing to the unsaved - he was writing to the Church - you and me.  He, too, saw the godlessness creeping into the Christian Community and he was calling for it to stop. “Well,”, you say, “Paul was talking about the night coming to a close nearly 2000 years ago.  What makes you think it is any closer now?”  I cannot give you scripture and verse.  I can only say there is something in the spiritual air.  There is something in my gut that says we can’t live life like this much longer.  Little things - wars and rumors of wars, unusual weather, global push for a one world government, talk of peace and peace treaties, pestilence, sickness, earthquakes, and more. So, what do we do?

We put on the SHINING armor of RIGHT LIVING!  That means every chance we get, we live like Jesus.  Every chance we get we talk like Jesus.  We put aside hate, bitterness, jealousy, envy, strife, life styles that reflect the immorality of a world who hates God and loves self.  Shining armor means two things to me - one, shining, it reflects the Light of World - Jesus.  Two, it shields and protects us from the enemy’s attempt to destroy us by tempting us into wrong living.  Let’s put it on - reflect Jesus, deflect the enemy and demonstrate to the world a Holy Lifestyle.

You are loved, Pastor Roger