BISHOP DR. C. NYATHI - AWAKE CHURCH WHAT TIME IS IT ? (PART 2)

Devotional

Day 1: The Alarm at Midnight

The disciples stumbled through dark streets, oil lamps flickering as Jesus spoke of watchfulness. Roman soldiers patrolled stone walls while the city slept. Paul’s words cut through centuries: “Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep.” Like a shrill alarm piercing drowsy ears, the call demands immediate response. Salvation’s nearness isn’t theoretical—it’s the midnight hour before dawn. [00:41]

Jesus used sleep as a warning, not a comfort. The disciples in Gethsemane couldn’t keep their eyes open while eternity hung in the balance. Paul insists we strip off night’s garments—the grime of complacency, the stench of postponed repentance. Dawn’s light exposes what darkness hid.

Many of us hit spiritual snooze buttons. We mute conviction with distractions, promising to “pray later.” But the alarm blares: eternity’s clock ticks louder. What habit keeps you hitting snooze on God’s urgency?

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

Prayer: Ask Jesus to shake you from spiritual drowsiness. Name one area where you’ve delayed obedience.
Challenge: Set a phone alarm for 3 AM tonight. When it rings, pray Romans 13:11 aloud.

Day 2: Armor in the Dawn

Roman soldiers strapped on breastplates at first light. Paul shouts: “Cast off the works of darkness! Put on the armor of light!” The imagery stings—drunken brawls, secret lusts, envy’s poison. These aren’t abstract “sins” but concrete acts: hands clutching wine jugs, eyes roving neighbors’ homes, tongues sparking quarrels. [01:25]

Jesus didn’t negotiate with darkness. He confronted the money-changers’ greed, the Pharisees’ hypocrisy, the demoniac’s chains. The armor of light isn’t passive—it’s the active righteousness of Christ wrapped around us like a legionnaire’s gear.

Your battle isn’t against vague evil. It’s the specific lie you entertain, the relationship you’ve compromised, the bitterness you rehearse. What “work of darkness” still clings to your ankles like a half-removed shackle?

“The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”
(Romans 13:12, NKJV)

Prayer: Confess one specific darkness you’ve tolerated. Ask for grace to fling it off today.
Challenge: Write down a recurring temptation. Burn the paper while praying Psalm 119:105.

Day 3: Feast of Readiness

Jesus’ brothers nudged Him toward the Feast of Tabernacles, hungry for spectacle. “Show Yourself!” they demanded. But He stayed in Galilee, waiting for the Father’s nod. When He finally ascended to Jerusalem, He didn’t parade miracles—He taught quietly in the temple courts. The true feast required divine timing, not human applause. [17:57]

God’s schedule often conflicts with ours. Noah built an ark while others planned weddings. David waited thirteen years between anointing and coronation. Delay isn’t denial—it’s preparation.

You’ve likely pressured God to act on your timeline. A delayed promotion, an unanswered prayer, a lingering trial. Where are you tempted to force open doors He hasn’t unlocked?

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.’”
(John 7:6, NKJV)

Prayer: Thank God for three things He’s made you wait for. Surrender your calendar to Him.
Challenge: Postpone one decision today for 24 hours of prayer.

Day 4: Fields White at Noon

Jesus stood by Jacob’s well, throat parched, yet declared: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me.” Disciples returned with bread, confused by His refusal to eat. He pointed to Samaritans streaming from the village—a harvest planted by others, now ripe for reaping. Eternal urgency overrode physical hunger. [30:54]

The disciples saw a four-month farming cycle. Jesus saw souls ready now. Paul’s “night is far spent” echoes this—eternity’s harvest won’t wait for convenient seasons.

You allocate time for meals, workouts, and meetings. How much calendar space belongs to the harvest? What person have you labeled “not ready” while their heart grows ripe?

“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!”
(John 4:35, NKJV)

Prayer: Ask for eyes to see one “ripe” relationship. Commit to sowing truth there this week.
Challenge: Text a Scripture to someone who hasn’t heard from you in months.

Day 5: The Hour of Glory

In the upper room, Jesus lifted scarred hands and declared: “I have finished the work You gave Me to do.” The cross loomed, yet He spoke in past tense—certain of completion. His “hour” wasn’t a crisis to endure but a mission to fulfill. Soldiers, Judas, and Pilate became unwitting actors in God’s script. [01:13:56]

Paul’s “day is at hand” finds its fulfillment here. Jesus’ perfect timing turned Satan’s schemes into salvation’s machinery. Our small obediences today weave into His eternal tapestry.

What unfinished Kingdom work weighs on you? A reconciliation postponed? A calling unaddressed? How will you align your clock with His hourglass?

“I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”
(John 17:4, NKJV)

Prayer: Name one unfinished act of obedience. Ask for courage to complete it.
Challenge: Write “IT IS FINISHED” on your wrist. Let it remind you to live from victory, not for it.

Sermon Summary

Paul calls the sleepy church to wake up. Romans 13 rings like an alarm clock: the night is far spent, the day is at hand, so the church must wake up, clean up, and dress up. The text demands a casting off of darkness and a putting on of the armour of light. The charge does not stop with moral negatives. The command lands like a jacket on the shoulders: put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation carries tenses. Justified already, being sanctified now, glorified when Christ appears. So the urgency is not panic, it is alignment. Hebrews 10 adds muscle to the urgency by insisting on the gathered life “as you see the Day approaching.” The Day is coming. The clock is not neutral.

Jesus then teaches God’s time. “My time has not yet come,” he says, while brothers call for a splash at the feast. Man’s time is always “opportune,” quick to post, keen to be seen, eager to be safe. God’s time hides and flourishes. When the hour comes, impact is maximum. Kairos compresses what Kronos cannot. God can amplify a small obedience like wildfire when the hour strikes. Thirty years of quiet and three years of glory are not waste, they are timing. Predators love those who stand outside God’s time. Safety is not the rule, obedience is, with prudence. There is a moment to stay in Galilee, and a moment to walk straight into Jerusalem.

The contrast between life as short and eternity as forever sobers the flesh. Men who live by man’s clock plunder the now, boast in barns, and forget their souls. Death reduces the lies. Eternity clarifies the budget. So disciples must make decisions in the light of that vast horizon. Culture must bow to calling. Tribe, trend, and timeline cannot outrank God’s word about a spouse, a move, a gift, or a risk. Jonah on the run sinks ships. “Unsanctified mercy” keeps him aboard. Sanctified wisdom throws him over and the sea goes calm.

Jesus models the hour. He says “not yet” till the Father says “now.” He refuses premature crowns, then embraces the cross at the appointed Passover, so prophecy stands and salvation sings. To live inside that calendar is to be directly accountable for time, to glorify God’s assignment not a neighbor’s lane, to read fields as white when heaven says so, to risk when mission requires it, and to confront a godless culture when eternity is at stake. God’s time preserves, accelerates, and confounds. Man’s time flatters, exposes, and devours. Choose wisely.

Key Takeaways

1. Wake up, clean up, dress up The church cannot roll out of bed and run the day without washing. Paul’s triad names a rhythm of repentance, renewal, and clothing the life with Christ, not just avoiding a list. Casting off darkness and putting on light is not cosmetics, it is a transfer of loyalties. Holiness is habit plus a Person, “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” [12:00]
2. Live by God’s time, not man’s Man’s time is always “ready,” but it is rarely right. Jesus refuses public splash and waits for his hour, trading quick optics for divine amplification. A disciple learns to hear “not yet,” so that when God says “now,” the smallest obedience carries maximum reach. [17:57]
3. Kairos accelerates ordinary obedience Kronos is the calendar; Kairos is the window. In Kairos, God compresses decades into days and makes one hidden act ring out. Even a familiar verse can carry fire when timed by heaven. The secret is alignment, not volume or visibility. [30:19]
4. Eternity reframes daily decisions Life is short and eternity is forever, so the flesh’s urgency is a lie. Death exposes what mattered and what was spending the soul. Choices about money, sex, and platform change when the harvest is weighed on an eternal scale. [37:04]
5. Hide and flourish until your hour Premature exposure attracts predators and multiplies scandals. Jesus moves quietly, then steps forward when the Father says “now,” showing that concealment can be faith, not fear. Wisdom learns to emerge and submerge, letting God be the advertiser. [32:18]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:41] - Romans 13 alarm: wake up
[03:31] - Salvation’s tenses: justified, sanctified, glorified
[05:33] - Blessed hope and the approaching Day
[11:20] - Wake up, then clean up
[12:50] - Put on the Lord Jesus Christ
[13:16] - Lessons on God’s time begin
[17:57] - “My time has not yet come”
[18:59] - Kairos vs Kronos explained
[26:12] - Hidden seeds God amplifies
[32:08] - Hide and flourish, avoid showboating
[37:04] - Life is short, eternity forever
[45:29] - Counting the cost of squandered time
[57:00] - Relationships and God’s timing
[69:50] - Jonah, unsanctified mercy, and timing
[73:40] - “I have finished the work” model
[89:53] - Scriptures on Jesus’ hour
[98:15] - Five practices for living God’s time
[110:56] - Prayer to enter God’s calendar
[113:17] - Response and giving

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Romans 13:11-14 (ESV)
11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

John 7:6-8 (ESV)
6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.”

Observation Questions

What two contrasting actions does Paul command in Romans 13:12 (“cast off” and “put on”)? How does he describe the urgency of this call?
In John 7:6-8, why does Jesus refuse His brothers’ suggestion to go public at the feast? What does He mean by “my time has not yet come”?
The sermon contrasts “Kairos” (God’s timing) and “Kronos” (human timing). What example does the sermon give of Jesus living by Kairos instead of rushing into opportunities? [17:57]
According to the sermon, how does eternity reframe daily decisions about relationships, money, or risks? [37:04]

Interpretation Questions

Why does Paul use the metaphor of “putting on” clothing (Romans 13:14) to describe following Christ? How does this imagery connect to identity and daily habits?
Jesus waited 30 years in obscurity before His public ministry. How does His patience challenge our cultural obsession with visibility and instant results? [19:11]
The sermon warns that “predators love those outside God’s time.” What vulnerabilities arise when we act prematurely or delay obedience? [35:01]
How does the tension between “man’s time” (always “opportune”) and “God’s time” impact our discernment in major life decisions?

Application Questions

Where in your life have you been hitting the “snooze button” spiritually—delaying repentance, avoiding accountability, or neglecting urgency? What practical step could “wake you up”?
“Putting on Christ” involves both rejecting darkness (Romans 13:12) and actively clothing yourself in His character. What specific “work of darkness” do you need to cast off this week? What Christlike trait could you intentionally practice?
Is there a decision you’re rushing (or avoiding) because it feels “opportune” by human standards? How might waiting for God’s timing require courage or patience? [18:59]
The sermon says, “Eternity clarifies the budget” [37:04]. How would your spending, career goals, or relationships shift if you evaluated them through the lens of forever?
When has “hiding and flourishing” in obscurity (like Jesus in Galilee) protected or prepared you? Are you in a season to step forward boldly or wait quietly? [32:18]
What cultural pressure (family traditions, social media trends, etc.) conflicts with God’s Word in your current choices? How can you prioritize obedience over approval? [17:25]

Sermon Clips

The night is far spent. The day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off. That word cast off means you are throwing out things that are undesirable. Just like taking a bath. There may be some things that are undesirable that needs to be washed off. Darkness and let us put on the armour of light. And he says let us walk properly. As in the day. So it must be in the spirit realm when we wake up. We then clean up. After that, it's time to dress up. [00:12:05] (38 seconds)

Not that I should live a life of being ill prepared. No. But the day everything else comes upon me. I'm busy with this and that. I'm saying Lord I'm ill prepared. It is when then you find yourself in God's time. God moves. Cronos into Kairos. And it zooms over you. What is Cronos? The natural time of man. You can never be effective if you walk under Kronos time every time. Because the whole world works under Kronos. But when Kairus time comes, Kairos time has a way of taking small things in your life. And amplifying them. Small things. [00:29:51] (51 seconds)

There are certain people in your hour that must leave. They must leave, and it's important that they leave and walk away so that the maximum impact of what God is doing in your life could be maximized and felt by everybody, including yourself. There are some people that you should not keep during your hour. You keep them, you're in trouble with God. There are some people that are ordained to leave you. I've been a pastor for long. I pastor different people. [01:35:01] (42 seconds)

it can't be so in the kingdom of God. It can't be live and let die. Live and let others live too. So may your life while you live. While we understand we are here on earth. You need to be relevant concerning things that are here on earth. But put the greater part of your efforts towards eternity. Because eternity cometh. And when it comes and it finds you not ready. It has no recourse. It it is merciless. Because when it's time to die, it's time to die. [00:39:41] (39 seconds)

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BISHOP DR. C. NYATHI - AWAKE CHURCH WHAT TIME IS IT ? (PART 2)

Devotional

Day 1: The Alarm at Midnight

Day 2: Armor in the Dawn

Day 3: Feast of Readiness

Day 4: Fields White at Noon

Day 5: The Hour of Glory

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Chatbot

BISHOP DR. C. NYATHI - AWAKE CHURCH WHAT TIME IS IT ? (PART 2)

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