Wake Up America is a sermon teaching us that by surrendering to Jesus Christ, we will put God first, love one another, and respect government according to God’s will.

That is what our text is telling us tonight, put on Jesus Christ, wake up, love one another, respect and honor our government, put God as number one. We can do that when we surrender and put our all in Jesus Christ.

Key verses: Psalms 33:12
Romans 13:1-14

I feel we need a wake-up call. By introduction, our nation has been asleep quite a while now when it relates to spiritual matters. You just turn on the news and you know it, you’ve seen it. Today, we are seeing people advocate for many things except for what is biblical and true. There are people out there just pushing their own agenda, things that are unbiblical and ungodly. As a result, we have seen more hate and more backbiting than ever before.

Tonight, I want us to see that we should wake up and be a light for those who are in darkness, which is the current state of our nation I believe. So, let’s look together at Psalms chapter thirty-three and Romans chapter thirteen. We will predominantly be in Romans this evening:

Psalms 33:12: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.”

Romans 13:11: “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.”

I submit to you this evening to those of you who are here and online that when God’s people are awake and have full strength, we can change the path of our nation through God’s help. Simply, we need a revival, and we are going to look at that in the passages we see this evening.

Make God #1

In order for us to wake up, I believe, first of all, we have to make God number one and that comes from one of our text verses this evening:

Psalms 33:12: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.”

The first word you see is “Blessed.” If you are unhappy, you cannot be blessed if you are sad, there is just no way around it. “Blessed is the nation” – that would be the nation of Israel back in that day, but in our modern-day, it also applies to the United States. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD” – notice the word “whose” in the verse, it suggests a choice. It is an individual choice that we all have to make. Those who live in this country and those who are away and come back here. And in order for us to have a godly nation, we need to choose that way. We can choose to go ungodly, and it can be easier to do that than it is to stand for what is right.

Then the verse says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD” – the Jehovah God, the leader, the Master. The word “LORD” is in all capital letters. We have to have God be in control. We have elements that should take place and we will look at that in a little while, but ultimately, if we do not have God as number one, we are not going to be blessed. It is just not going to happen. We might have temporary glory, but we are not going to have long-lasting glory. Today marks 245 years of our nation’s independence from England with the document, the Declaration of Independence, signed by fifty-six people. The document was to recognize the breaking away into a new nation that has God in the center. People want to debate that today.

If you look at the Constitution, guess where most of those principles come from. Your Word of God, the Bible that is on your lap or you may be viewing it on your screen. It comes from there. Yet, we want to deny that today and have this or that instead.

Here is the thing that bothers me the most. It is when people say, “Well if God is so loving, then why does He say hateful things?” First of all, God is Love. Secondly, when you are loved and you do something wrong, should you expect a consequence for it? As we were all growing up if you did something wrong, did you expect your parents who love you to say, “Oh, you can go ahead and smack your brother all you want, it will not matter?” No, what would you expect? To be disciplined, right? If a nation does not honor God, do you expect that we should be disciplined for that? I think we kind of forget that. Oh, we say we want my rights, we want this, we want that. OK, but what about God?

Our nation’s motto says, “In God We Trust,” but, what else does this verse say? It says, “and the people whom he hath chosen” – if you are God’s people, you are chosen. For what? His own inheritance. What is that? We are His people. Love unites us and God shares that love. Again, as we said earlier, even love has consequences. God is a God of wonders but also of grace, truth, and judgment. You know, we are a peculiar people. Titus tells us:

Titus 2:14: “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”

We are all chosen to do God’s will. If you are a Christian, you are a believer, you are chosen to do what God wants you to do. We are unique in that aspect. We are chosen to bless God and also to inherit those rewards that we get the day that we leave this world. But sadly, our nation, and you can see it today has chosen to put God behind. “Oh, it is our rights.”

Do you know what it feels like? You can disagree with me on this, but it is like back in the time of the Judges, where every man did that which was right in his own eyes. You can disagree with me on that, but that is what it feels like to me where we are heading, instead of God being there and us going to God, living a biblical example, living the way we feel is right. Eventually, living our own way comes to an end and it does not end in a good way. We see it is a choice, to make God number one.

Christians’ Civic Duty

Secondly, we are going to see how submission comes into play. Let’s turn to Roman thirteen and we are going to look at the entire chapter here. We ought to respect our government.

First of all, in order for our nation to wake up, we need to make God number one. Number two, we need to respect our government. Now, some of you might be thinking, “How can I do that? You do not know who is in office.” I am not under a rock; I understand what is going on. But let me put this in context for you. As we look into this passage, I understand that we may not agree about who is in office, but we ought to respect those in a place of authority.

Other passages give us references that if they pass laws that go against God, how a Christian ought to respond. Regardless of passing a law that is anti-God, there has been a precedent set for that in the Bible.

Acts 4:19: “But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.”

It is mentioned again in Acts chapter five:

Acts 5:29: “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.”

We have a voice to state what we want to be heard, even those who are godless do that. Sometimes, they use their voices more than Christians and find a way to push their agenda through. But we have the same freedoms as they do, and we could do the same thing.

We have free elections. There are places in this world where they do not have that. There is only one person on the ticket, they get it, and that is all. But we have candidates that we can choose and pick from. “But you do not know all the stuff that goes on behind the scenes.” No, I do not. I do not understand if it is true or not, but that is not what we are talking about here. We are talking about the Bible here and what the Bible is telling us.

What we ought to do is pray for them as we are going to see in this passage. Also, understand the context as we go through Romans chapter thirteen. Paul writes this to Romans. What was going on with Rome at that time? There was a Roman empire that was dominating everyone in largely the known world, and it was very oppressive. But if we read through chapter thirteen, we will understand that even Paul says we need to do what is right and to respect those who are over us.

So, in that regard, let’s look at the Christian and government. Secondly, again, we ought to respect our government. There is a lack of respect for our government today. “But you know the laws they have been passing.” Yes, I keep up on that. “You do not know what they are saying.” I keep up on that too. But what does the Bible say?

Authority Ordained by God

Romans 13:1: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.”

Let’s look at that verse. We should know the laws of the land. We ought to obey them and listen to them. Again, as we said earlier, most of our Constitution comes from the principles and teachings of the Bible, of scripture. Do not kill people is a biblical principle. Do not steal is a biblical principle. If you steal or murder you get arrested.

God gave that person the authority to be in charge. Where do we see that? We see that in the verse, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers [those who are above us]. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” Who gave them that power? God. Who can take away that power? God because “The powers that be are ordained of God.”

Albert Barnes, a theologian, says this, “The apostle Paul discusses the subject of the duty which Christians owe to civil government. A subject which is extremely important and at the same time, exceedingly difficult.” It is. We know what has been going on recently in our nation and some of the things that are antibiblical that have been against God and God’s commands.

At the same time, we have a civil right to respect. Why? Because we are going to see what the overall theme ought to tie in, and if this was prevalent now, we would not have all these other issues going on today. We will see as we continue on in the passage here.

“Ordain” here is an ordering or an arrangement set in order by God. God directs and controls their appointments. God allows people to go into office even people who are evil. Read your Old Testament. There were many kings in the Old Testament who were leading Israel, but they were not serving God. What did God do? Eventually, they were kicked out, eventually, they were gone.

And if you also notice a trend too, just from what I have studied, kings who followed God and honored God were allowed to stay in office longer than the kings and others who did not serve God. When the kingdom was divided, there were twenty-one kings in the northern kingdom and eighteen or nineteen in the southern kingdom. And the southern kingdom lasted longer because they followed God more faithfully. Eight of the nineteen kings of the south served God, but of the twenty-one of the north, none followed God. Their reigns were pretty short compared to some of the southern kings.

King Hezekiah is one I can think of. He had fifty-five years of being in charge of the southern kingdom of Judah. Hezekiah added fifteen years to his life. You do not see any of that in the northern kingdom. What I am trying to say is that we ought to respect those who are in authority over us. It may be hard to do, but who gave them that power? According to our passage here, “the powers that be are ordained of God.”

Pray for the Opposition

In verse two says this:

Romans 13:2: “Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.”

The verse says, “Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God:” Let’s understand this section here. Most of the time when people go against the government is because they are breaking the law, whatever that case is, the lying, the cheating, the stealing, the murdering, whatever that case is. If you break the law, you ought to be punished for that.

Those people who resist also have a different agenda, they want anarchy, they want confusion. Do you know what is going to happen to them? They are going to find their end. At the end of verse two, “and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.” Those who oppose the government are going to meet an end, it is not going to win in the long run because God put that person in power and can also take that away. But God can also put someone else in there for us.

Now, am I saying that Washington, D.C., is our leading place to come back to God? No, not what we see today in government, but we ought to respect them and pray for them. If they are not saved, pray that they come to the saving knowledge of Christ.

Today, in Junior Church, we had a nine-year-old boy come to trust Jesus Christ as his Savior because he asked Mr. Joe a question, “What does it feel like to be a Christian?” We were talking about Saul of Tarsus. Think of this example. This is not in the notes but Saul who became Paul, he was against the cause of Christ. In Acts chapter eight, he wreaked havoc in the church, bringing people to prison. In Acts chapter nine, he had a life-changing experience. And because of that, you know him as the most well-known apostle, the one who wrote this book we are in. The guy who wrote this book used to be against people like you and me. That same scenario can take place today if we pray for those who oppose us and reach out to them.

Rulers Are to Do Good

Verse three says this:

Romans 13:3: “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:”

People say, “They are against us, they are against everything we want to do.” Well, are you following the law? The law tells you to do this and this, and not to do this and this. People who have the most problem against law are people who are breaking the law. And that is just the honest truth. People that have the most issues with the police and with all these things are because they themselves do not want to be caught in their act of breaking the law. And so, they try to find some way to do that, defund it or whatever the case might be because they do not want to be submissive to the law that was given.

Rulers and leaders are not supposed to terrorize people – not those who are doing good, but to the evil. We do wrong, then we ought to be punished. We do good, we are safe.

Romans 13:4: “For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.”

“For he is the minister of God to thee for good.” – means that he was placed there by God to do good. “But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid;” – if you do wrong, be afraid. If you do something against the law, you ought to get punished for that. The last part of the verse “for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” — Rulers are supposed to check evil, and not good. They are supposed to stop evil but are not supposed to go after people who do good. If you do wrong, expect to be punished. If you do right, you will enjoy life.

Many people today are trying to do much evil and then wonder why they have a crack sound in their voice or their cause. Some causes are worth a protest, but some are just for violence and personal gain. Just look at the last year and a half, all the things that have been going on. You know it, I do not need to explain it right now. But all these things have been going on.

People against God, are not going to win. People who want to do things for their own personal gain are not going to win. We have freedom of speech for a reason. Again, Paul says, if you do wrong, be afraid, but do good for conscience’s sake.

Tribute to Whom Tribute is Due

Romans 13:5: “Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.”

It is a good moral thing to respect the government. Why? So, we can be peaceable with all men. We are trying to share the light. If people associate light with all of these anti-things, how are we going to share that Christianity is different than what they are believing in now? We cannot. Again, we are going to see how it all comes together at the end of this chapter. But there is one thing that can change a lot of problems we have today.

Verse six shows an issue that some people have, paying taxes. But before we go there let me highlight this from verses three to five, we have too much hate in this world today, way too much. It needs to be changed and fixed soon. How can that change? We will look at that in verses eight to fourteen.

Here is verse six:

Romans 13:6: “For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.”

Jesus says we ought to pay our taxes to the government and to God:

Mark 12:17: “And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at him.”

The religious leaders who tried to entrap Jesus were shocked. The context was who should get it, Caesar or God? They were trying to catch him with a gotcha question. If He said God, then He was against the government. If He gave to the government, then He was not really God’s son. Jesus said you give to the government that which goes to the government and you give to God that which goes to God. People have their own reasons and oppositions for that, but our scriptures say here, “For this cause” – we ought to obey our government, we ought to respect our government, because of that, we pay tribute also.

Again, “for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.” God appointed people as His ministers and we should take care of them. Think of it this way, it may not be the best illustration, but I liken it to this: We give our offerings in the church because God expects us to give back to Him. God expects us to give, and the standard is ten percent from what we see in the Old Testament when Abraham gave ten percent back to God.

But what does giving back to God do? It helps take care of the man of God. It also helps the building, so we have a place to meet. If we do not give back to our government, then things will not happen the way it ought to go. Are there corrupt politicians? Sure, there are. But we still should honor what the Word of God says about this position.

Those taxes that we pay go to unjust and oppressive causes, yet like other evils, they are to be submitted until a remedy can be found in a proper way. They may be doing unjust things with what we are giving, but there will be a solution for that. Our nation was borne partially due to the unjust taxes from England. No taxation without representation – that is one of the calling cards.

So, to summarize everything from verses one through seven, here is what Paul says about that:

Romans 13:7: “Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.”

“Tribute to whom tribute is due;” — Give your taxes where they ought to go. Custom to whom custom and honor to whom honor.

First of all, we want to make God number one. If we want America to wake up, we have to make God number one. Number two, we have to respect leaders and those who are over us. In verse seven, to “render” is to give off, pay off, or deliver. Government is essential but honoring God is extremely essential. We can honor God when we honor our government. Finally, number three, here is the thing that can tie everything together that can make this even easier. In order for America to wake up, we see one important principle and that is found in verse eight to the end of the chapter.

Love One Another

Romans 13:8: “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”

“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another” – that is the third thing we ought to do. If we want to see America wake up, then we have to love one another. And that is just the simple truth. Like I said earlier, there is a lot of hate going on. Just turn on the news feed and you see it. To love is to genuinely care for each other and their needs.

There is a lack of this today. It is a me-first mentality. It is all about me and no one else. Survival mode has taken over in America. “You ought to do the best that you can and if the best is not working, then you will just be kicked to the curb and someone else will try to do their best to get there.” What does the Bible tell us? “Owe no man any thing,” – first pay your debts. But secondly, “but to love one another.” Paul says simply love one another as you would love yourself, then these other things will not happen. Do we want to have no evil? How do we do that? We must care for other people. And then the rest of verse eight, “for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”

Romans 13:9: “For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”

Paul says we are not to commit adultery, kill, steal, lie or covet things that are not ours. He goes on to say, “and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Folks and those of you who are online, if we were to love our neighbors more than ourselves, half of the evil if not all of the evil in this world would go away. But how can that happen?

Coming Back to God

First, we need genuine repentance. We need people to come back to God.

In Daniel’s day, he stood up to people who were evil. People told him to not go and pray to God. And if he prayed to God, he would be thrown into the lions’ den. What did Daniel do? He prayed. He went to the lions’ den, he survived, and there was a national revival. Why? Because a guy stood up knowing he needed to reach out and show God. Was he going to take his own life? Yes, if necessary. But did he still do it? Absolutely. Why? Because his love for God overrode anything else.

Sometimes I feel that that is the hardest thing many of us do not want to do, to take a stand for what is right. If this world loved more than they do today, I suppose police lives and jobs would be easier. A lot of things would be easier in our society.

But we are consumed with hate. Sin causes that. When we are so consumed with hate and envy, and this idea of me only, you do not follow my way, I am going to do things my way, etc. You notice those personal pronouns, I, my, me, that is the reason most of this hate goes on today, a lot of this crime goes on today. You read about all these horrendous killings and people being jumped, abused, and all this is done in broad daylight. Crime is becoming more open in the daylight. Most of the time crimes happen at night. Now it is becoming more prevalent because people do not care about other people and only care about themselves.

To see a national revival, first, we need to see God’s people come back. To wake up America, we need God’s people to come back to Him. Secondly, to reach out to people and see them get saved. People need to come and trust Jesus as their Savior so they can understand that they need to care for one another.

Romans 13:10: “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”

If you are kind to other people, you are not going to have ill-will. You are not going to get them upset with you if you are showing kindness to them. Love fulfills what God wants for all people. Love others, love God, “therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”

Romans 13:11: “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.”

I remember Mr. Glaude preaching this message often with this text. It is high time for us to WAKE UP. I cannot shout the way he does, his voice is nice and booming and my mine is not so much. But it is high time, it is time to wake up. As a country and a nation, we have to wake up.

Wake up from what? From being asleep. There are Christians out there today who are asleep. They just let the ebb and flow go and do the minimal thing. That does not help, especially with other churches that are out there teaching feel-good messages. But there are people out there who just sleep and are content, not on fire for God. Jeremiah explains that. In Jeremiah chapter twenty, he was ready to put God away because of all of the oppression against him. But the Word of God burned within him like a fire, and he could not shut it out.

We need a revival. We have been asleep for what God wants us to do. It starts with God’s people turning back to him II Chronicles tells us that.

II Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

The verse tells us of God’s people coming back to Him. That is what we need. That is step one. Step two is to reach out to those who are lost because there are so many lost people in the world today. If we do not reach out to them, how are they going to be saved? How are they going to know the love of God? Will people reject it? Yes. Not every encounter I had, that you ever had, that pastor ever had leads to a person coming to Christ as their Savior, but we, at least, must do our part.

The last thing I want is to go to Heaven and God says, “Why did you not reach out to this person? Why did you not reach out to that person?” I would not want that against my charge.

Romans 13:12: “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 armour of light.”

Wake Up and Put on Jesus Christ

Paul says that it is time. The time is here. We have taken a long time, we have let the darkness creep in. It is time to kick it out, time to get rid of it. It is time to “put on the armour of light.”

Matthew 5:16: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

It is time to kick out darkness. We do not need to be waiting here any longer.

Romans 13:13: “Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.”

It is hard to find honest people today. One of the things I tell children all the time in camp and other places is that one of the things I despise the most, a pet peeve of mine, is when people lie to me to my face. It just bothers me, especially if I saw them do something and they say that they did not do that. It bothers me. Just admit it and tell the truth. Just own it, do better, and correct that.

But people are so dishonest today. I have a list of at least 120 blocked calls on my phone of people trying to scam me and they go straight to the block list because they are being dishonest. They try to do something to rip you off. And so, I should pray for them, and I should do the things that are good, but there is a lot of dishonesty in this world today. So, verse thirteen again:

Romans 13:13: “Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering [being immoral] and wantonness [lasciviousness or filthy], not in strife [debating, contentious quarrel] and envying [being jealous].”

We see a lot of envying today. But to summarize it all is in the last verse:

Romans 13:14: “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”

Put on Christ. Colossians chapter three gives us good instruction on how to do that. Verse thirteen on to the end of the chapter tells us to put on the Lord Jesus Christ because we serve Him. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, the fruit of the Spirit, all those things.

Do not allow the flesh to take over. Once you allow the flesh to take over, it is quite hard to come back. You can come back, but the more the flesh takes over, the more you allow it to take over, the more your relationship with God sours, and the more likely you will do things that you have never done.

In conclusion, America needs to wake up. Christians need to wake up. We need and should be a light to the world. If we are not, who will? Darkness is prevalent, light needs to wipe it away. We need to understand, and maybe you do already, but we have a very dark world that we live in. Our world is doing things we probably never thought would ever be done — all these laws and actions promoting sin and immorality, but that can change.

That can change by surrendering to God and allowing God to use us to reach the lost. We ought to surrender all to God and let Him use us. As the hymn says, “All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him, I freely give. I will always love and trust Him, in His presence daily live. All to Jesus I surrender, worldly pleasure I forsake, take me Jesus, take me now.” That is what our text is telling us tonight, put on Jesus Christ, wake up, love one another, respect and honor our government, put God as number one. We can do that when we surrender and put our all in Jesus Christ.

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