Ephesians 5:14 NKJV –“Therefore He says: ‘AWAKE, YOU WHO SLEEP, ARISE FROM THE DEAD, AND CHRIST WILL GIVE YOU LIGHT.’”

Do you know what time it is for the Church? IT IS TIME TO AWAKEN FROM SLEEP AND ARISE TO ACTION! It is not a time for the Church to lie back, cozy, comfortable, and complacent when the world is under the judgment of fire and souls perishing. Instead, this should be the time for the Church to arise, become vigilant, take action in obedience to God, recognize its calling, embrace the mission, and make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. The Church is God’s anointed and fearless battleship, not a cruise ship. We are trained and equipped to war and win, seeing multitudes saved through faith in Jesus Christ!

Do you know what time it is in the world? It is a time of demonic “wokeness” and the rise of wickedness. It is a time marked by a profound and unsettling surge of woke deception in which adherents have given themselves over to deviant behavior such as sexual perversion, gender assignment and confusion, surgical mutilation of the human body in an attempt to change the gender of birth to one of choice, and claiming abortion to be a woman’s right and health issue instead of the murder of millions of babies. This extreme wokeness is a significant departure from long-held traditional values, virtues and norms. There is a noticeable and increasing acceptance of various behaviors and lifestyles that are considered abominable—forbidden in the Bible, behaviors which are now not only tolerated but also actively embraced and promoted by both government entities and large corporations. The lines between right and wrong, and natural and unnatural, are becoming increasingly blurred, leading to widespread moral and ethical confusion and decay. The Bible warns, “What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter. What sorrow for those who are wise in their own eyes and think themselves so clever” Isaiah 5:20–21 NLT.

The recent Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony bizarrely recreated Leonardo da Vinci’s interpretation of the Last Supper of Jesus Christ and His twelve disciples with drag queens and transgender performers. This profane interpretation of the Last Supper sparked controversy for its derisive mockery of Christ and Christianity, featuring transvestites and a metal horse galloping along the Seine River carrying the Olympic flag. Nicky Doll, a drag queen who was one of the many torchbearers for the Paris Olympics, had a message for the critics amid the uproar over the scorning presentation of the Last Supper. “It was my absolute honor to perform in front of billions of people around the world and celebrate our Olympians,” Doll proclaimed, adding, “To the ones that had their feathers ruffled seeing queerness on their screen: ‘We ain’t going nowhere.’” This comment was just more evidence of how the spirit of wickedness is spreading globally.

For the Christians in the world, it is also a time of increased waves of religious persecution. Individuals and communities are being targeted, marginalized, and oppressed for their beliefs and practices, often facing discrimination, violence, and even death. This persecution is not limited to any one region or faith; it is a global phenomenon affecting people of various religious backgrounds. The good news is that where sin abounds, GRACE ABOUNDS MUCH MORE! In the day of DEEP DARKNESS, God is AWAKENING the CHURCH to ARISE and MAKE THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY in these evil days.

In Ephesians 5:15–18 NLT, Paul writes, “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

The Church can no longer afford to keep hitting the snooze button and continue to sleep comfortably while millions die in their sin and wake up in hell. GOD IS SOUNDING THE ALARM FOR THE CHURCH TO WAKE UP AND ARISE, as He sounded the alarm for Jerusalem in Isaiah 51:17 NIV, “Awake, awake! Rise up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of His wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes people stagger.” Just as God then awakened His people out of their sleep of sin and stupor of despair, overwhelmed with their troubles, He is sounding the alarm for the Church to awaken and rise up. The apostle Paul, in his epistle to the saints at Rome, wrote Romans 13:11–14 NASB95,

DO THIS, KNOWING THE TIME, THAT IT IS ALREADY THE HOUR FOR YOU TO AWAKEN FROM SLEEP; FOR NOW SALVATION IS NEARER TO US THAN WHEN WE BELIEVED. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

Many churches are not evangelizing and actively impacting culture because they lack awareness that this is God’s time for harvest. They do not know what time it is. They think it is their bedtime and they have more time to sleep. When the Bible in Romans 13:11 NKJV says, “Do this, knowing the time,” it is talking not about man’s time but God’s time. THE WORD TIME IN THIS PASSAGE IS KAIROS, WHICH IS GOD’S APPOINTED TIME TO ACT IN HUMAN AFFAIRS. It is now God’s right time, season, or opportunity. Also, the hour is late because this kairos time is running out. The Greek word for sleep is hypnos, from where we get the word hypnosis. A definition from the National Library of Medicine says hypnosis is “a waking state of awareness (or consciousness) in which a person’s attention is detached from his or her immediate environment and is absorbed by inner experiences such as feelings, cognition, and imagery.” Sadly, this describes the state of many churches and why God is sounding the alarm to wake up His Church.

The good news is that there are Christians and churches who do know God’s time (kairos) and know the Lord’s return is imminent; they know it is the gospel time, it is the accepted time, it is working time; it is a time to arise and shine because darkness covers the earth and deep darkness the people (Isaiah 60:2); it is time to be watchful, for the enemy of our soul roams around seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). They know it is time to be busy because there is much work to do. Our Master is calling us not to say there are four months and then come the harvest, but to lift up our eyes and see that the harvest is already ripe (John 4:35). They know the time is perilous (2 Timothy 3:1–13). It is time to stay awake for the bridegroom is coming (Matthew 25:13). It’s time to awaken from sleep because our salvation is nearer than we first believed (Romans 13:11). We need to wake out of the state of spiritual hypnosis of being detached from spiritual reality in a feeling of carnal security, lukewarmness, negligence, and the sleep of spiritual deadness. It is time to wake up! The NLT translation of Romans 13:11 says, “THIS IS ALL THE MORE URGENT, FOR YOU KNOW HOW LATE IT IS; TIME IS RUNNING OUT.” IT IS TIME FOR THE CHURCH TO WAKE UP!

Knowing the time, we must live carefully—not as fools but as wise—making the most of every opportunity in these evil days (Ephesians 5:15–17). We need to understand what the Lord wants us to do. Let’s cast off the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. We should conduct ourselves properly, as befits the day, with no carousing or drunkenness, no sexual promiscuity or sensuality, and no strife or jealousy. Instead, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit.

The combination of spiritual, societal, and cultural wokeness has created an atmosphere of moral and ethical confusion, challenging traditional values and norms on a global scale. The world is experiencing a period of evil and wickedness in which long-standing principles are being questioned and redefined, leading to moral instability and uncertainty similar to the days of Noah and the great flood when every intent of man’s thoughts was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Just as Noah, who walked with God in his time, was righteous and blameless, this is the time for the Church to awaken and rise up in faith, discernment, courage, and a steadfast commitment to truth and holiness. Just as the favor of God was upon Noah, in the midst of the deep darkness in the world, God’s favor will rest upon His people who now walk with Him.

In light of the evil days we are living in, we are exhorted to WAKE UP and be careful how we live, living not as fools but in wisdom making the most of every opportunity. Our theme for 2025 is AWAKENING: CHURCH ARISE! We need to…

• AWAKE TO KNOW THE TIMES
• AWAKE TO RIGHTEOUSNESS
• AWAKE TO PRAYER
• ARISE AND WALK AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT
• ARISE AND REDEEM THE TIME
• ARISE AND BE CLOTHED WITH CHRIST

Let us hear Christ’s clarion call to the Church to awaken and arise to boldly obey His mandate to go, preach the gospel to all nations, and see His kingdom come, and His will be done globally!

Klayton Ko, Senior Pastor
First Assembly of God, Hawaii