Put On The Lord Jesus Christ.

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

(Excerpt) Articles on Romans  by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 13

The End Approaches. 

The remainder of the chapter is devoted to exhortations that need no comment. Their special force is derived from the fact that "the end of all things is at hand." Therefore we should "be sober, and watch unto prayer." 

Although living in the night, when darkness covers the earth (Isa. 60:2), Christians are children of the light and of the day, leaving off works of darkness.

Isa 60:2  For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. 

Joh 12:36  While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.

Clothed with Christ. 

Those who put on the Lord Jesus Christ will not themselves be seen. 

Christ alone will appear. 

To make provision for the lusts of the flesh is most unnecessary, since the flesh ever seeks to have its lusts gratified. The Christian has need rather to take heed that it does not assert its own power, and assume control. 

Only in Christ can the flesh be subdued. 

He who is crucified with Christ, can say, "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me,  and gave himself for me." Gal. 2:20. And in that case he will conduct himself towards rulers and private persons just as Christ did, "because as he is, so are we in this world."

(The following comments on Romans 13 were spoken by E. J. Waggoner at the 1891 General Conference Session and are found in the Bulletin. They are added here for the convenience of the reader):

How far is it possible for the Christian to live at peace with all men? It is possible for him to be at peace with all men, so far as he himself is concerned, all the time. For he is dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto Christ. Christ dwells in his heart by faith, and Christ is the Prince of peace. Then there are no circumstances under which the Christian is justified in losing his temper and declaring war either against an individual or a government. . . .

In Galatians 5:18 we are told that "if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." The works of the flesh are the works which are done by those who are under the law, and in the enumeration of these works we find the word "strife." Therefore a Christian cannot enter into strife, because he is not in the flesh. Strife can have no place in us: therefore so far as we are concerned it will be peace all the time.

But if those men with whom we have to do, steel their hearts against the truth of God, and will not be affected by the truth, they will make trouble, but the trouble will be on their part; with us there will be peace all the time. . . .

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"If ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." 1 Pet. 3:14, 15.

Don't be afraid of the terror. Why? Because we have sanctified the Lord God in our hearts, and he is our fear.  God is with us, Christ is with us, and when men cast reproaches upon us, they cast them upon our Saviour. . . .

The most important thing for all of us who have this special truth which is bound to bring us into trouble with the powers that be, is to sanctify the Lord God in our hearts by the Spirit of God and his word. 

We must become students of the word of God, and followers of Christ and his gospel. . . . There are farmers and mechanics among us, who, although they have never been able to put texts together so as to preach a sermon, have nevertheless sanctified the Lord in their hearts by faithful study of his word. These people will be brought before courts for their faith, and they will preach the gospel there by way of their defense, because God in that day will give them a mouth and wisdom, that their adversaries can neither gainsay nor resist. . . .

It is our duty to preach the gospel; to arise and let our light shine, and if we do that, God will hold the winds as long as they ought to be held. . . . The third angel's message is the greatest thing in all the earth. Men don't regard it as such; but the time will come in our lifetime when the third angel's message will be the theme and topic of conversation in every mouth. But it will never be brought to that position by people who keep quiet about it,  but by those who have their trust in God, and are not afraid to speak the words which he has given them.

In doing this, we will not take our lives in our hands, and I thank God for it. Our lives will be hid with Christ in God, and he will care for them. The truth will be brought to this high place simply by men and women going forth and preaching the gospel and obeying that which they preach. Let the people know the truth. If we have a peaceful time in which to spread it, we will be thankful for that. And if men make laws that would seem to cut off the channels through which it can go, we can be thankful that we worship a God who makes even the wrath of men to praise him; and he will do it, he will spread his gospel by means of those very laws which wicked men have enacted to crush out its life. God holds the winds, . . . and he commands us to carry the message. He will hold them as long as it is best for them to be held, and when they begin to blow, and we feel the first puffs in the beginning of persecution, they will do just what the Lord wants them to do. . . .

"Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law."  Rom. 13:7, 8. If you do this, you live peaceably with all men, as far as lies in you. If you love your neighbor as yourself, that is the fulfilling of the whole law; because to love one's neighbor one must love God, because there is no love but of God.

If I love my neighbor as myself, it is simply because the love of God is abiding in my heart. It is because God has taken up abode in my heart, and there is no one on earth who can take him away from me. It is for this reason that the apostle refers to the last table of the law, because if we do our duty toward our neighbor, it naturally follows that we love God.

Sometimes we are told that the first table points out our duty to God, and constitutes religion, and that the last table defines our duty to our neighbor, and constitutes morality. But the last table contains duties to God just as much as the first one. David, after he had broken two of the commandments contained in the last table when making his confession said: "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight." God must be first and last and all the time. . . .

All these lessons that we have had are to prepare us for the time of trouble.