Welcome, my friend. I’m Mack Lyon. The program’s In Search of the Lord's Way to become a Christian and His way to live the Christian life. We are so glad you have joined our study today. We pray we’ll both be blessed.
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We are talking about “Walking With The Lord” today. Some modern- speech versions of the New Testament translate this word “walk” as “live.” W.E. Vine in his “Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words,” says of this word “walk” that in the New Testament it’s used first in a physical way in the synoptic gospels. As an example of that, and he gives and we recall the healing of the lame man in Matthew chapter 9, when Jesus said, “Take up your bed and walk.” But in the epistles-- especially those penned by Paul and John, it’s used “signifying the whole round of activities of a person’s life,” of the unregenerate person as in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 17; and the true believer in 1 Corinthians 7:17 and Colossians 2:6 and other places as we will see. Of course, it is that that we’re studying today, the Christian life and the Christian walk with the Lord; and it is in Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus that we are studying especially. Ken Helterbrand will lead us now as we sing; and then I’ll be back for Bible reading and prayer.
Our Scripture reading today is from the book of Colossians, chapter 2; and we are going to begin reading at verse 6 and read through verse 10. “As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power;” reading through verse 10. Now let’s go to God in prayer. Holy Father, we are so thankful to You for the revelation of who we ought to be walking with You as Christians; and that we might someday live with You in the great eternity that lies beyond. And we pray Your blessings upon our study today so that we may learn better about this walk. In the lovely name of Jesus, we pray always. Amen!
As I said earlier, some modern speech versions of the New Testament sometimes (but not always) they translate this word “walk” as “live.” I preach from the New King James Version which has it “walk,” just as the old King James does. Although the word can be properly translated “live,” I prefer “walk” because it more clearly denotes a pathway. And in Amos 3 and 3 God asks, “Can two walk together except they be agreed?” Perhaps it would be possible to live together and not be agreed on even the most basic and important things in life the Christian faith, for example. Some husbands and wives, and, well, they live for fifty or sixty years together and they are not agreed religiously. But, it’s impossible for two to walk together except they walk in the same pathway. And, it is said in Genesis 5:24 that, “Enoch walked with God, and was not; for God took him.”
The word “walk” is used in the inspired epistles to signify the whole round of activities of the unregenerate people as in Ephesians 4:17, and at other times the devoted child of God as Galatians chapter 5, verse 25. Well, Christians are to “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6 and 4). “We walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). We’re to “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside of Christ” (Colossians 4 and 5). We’re to “walk in truth” (2 John and 4). And “If we live in the Spirit (meaning the Holy Spirit, of course) let us walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25).
However, our study today will be focused on the six times that the word “walk” appears in the apostle Paul’s epistle to the church in Ephesus. Now, please keep in mind that in all this study that the apostle is merely God’s penman. The message is, as all Scripture is, given by inspiration of God (2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 16 and 17).
Ephesus was widely known as the commercial as well as the political capital of Asia. However, the city was probably best known for the presence of one of the seven wonders of the ancient world the Temple of Diana or Artemis, which they believed had fallen down from Zeus. Now, Zeus was the supreme god of the ancient Greeks. Well, you might remember that Paul’s preaching there created such a riot, that he was virtually “run out of town” (Acts chapter 19). There were other temples in Ephesus in which other people worshiped other gods. Some worshiped Bachus, the god of wine. You can imagine, well, something about what their worship was like, can’t you? Well-- maybe you can’t unless, as I have, you have visited Ephesus and you have visited that temple oh, drunkenness and debauchery beyond your imagination. Obviously most of the members of the church at Ephesus, to whom this message was written that we are studying today, were Gentiles who had converted from such things, even worshiping these idols to walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.
The apostle loved these people; he’s writing them about how to live the Christian life. So, six times in so short a letter he tells them how to “walk.” You see, the Christian life is different, friend. It just is! You might have heard me say it before; I believe it very strongly: the Lord’s way of life is the best way to live that’s ever been introduced to the family of man. And, it couldn’t be so, if it were not different-- different from all the cultural norms; different from the religious rites and rituals of other religions. Christianity is just different! Christianity is the best thing that has ever happened to man.
Immediately after his salutations and familiarities in chapter one of Ephesians, Paul addressed the matter of their change. “And you (that would be) He [God] made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.....But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love.....made us alive together with Christ. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Now that is Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1 to 10. During His earthly presence Jesus had taught about the day of final judgment; and in it He said, “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, Come you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me. I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, “Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? Or when did we see You sick or in prison, and come to You? And the King will answer and say to them, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me. Then He will also say to those on the left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me. Then they also will answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry and thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick and in prison, and did not minister to You? Then He will answer them, saying, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me. And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” And that is from Matthew chapter 25, verses 31 through 46.
The second reference in the Ephesian letter to the walk with Christ is in chapter 4, verses 1 to 3. Here he writes, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the calling with which you are called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” They (being Gentiles), by the grace of God have been given a place with the “circumcision” in the family of God. They are no longer strangers and foreigners, but they are now fellow citizens with the saints and are members of the family of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. Now they have a place not in the temple of Diana, but in “the temple of the Lord, the holy temple of the Lord.” They are, as all Christians are, “a dwelling place for the Lord.” “I, therefore, beseech you,” he said, “to walk worthy” of that holy calling of the Lord.
Hey! He even mentions some specific-- some special-- qualities of character which, if they develop them, can carry them along to successfully “keeping [or maintaining] the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” which should be an aim of every church of Christ everywhere. Christians are to walk with “lowliness” and “gentleness” with “longsuffering” and “forbearing with one another.” None of these qualities was highly regarded in the pagan world of which they had been a part. Neither are they honored traits of virtue in the unconverted world of the 21st century. However, they have been glorified by Christianity.
The third time the admonition to “walk with the Lord” appears in Ephesians chapter 4, verses 17 through 20. In addition to “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” he says: “This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is, because of the blindness of heart; who being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ....” Don’t you see, my friend, that Christians are not to be influenced in their demeanor, their speech, their dress, their manners well, they are just not to be controlled by the world out of which they were called, into a holy calling? You see that, don’t you, now? Of course, you do! And you don’t expect that of the true Christian, do you? In fact, we can be a bit stronger even and say, that you are disappointed when you see a Christian, someone who is supposed to really be a Christian doing so, aren’t you now?
Well, the fourth appearance of the word “walk” in Ephesians is in chapter 5, verse 2. Well, we’ll have to begin, going to have to begin in verse one to get the message. “Therefore be imitators of God.” Oh, no one appreciates an imitator, does he? Or is that so? Well now, it depends on who he is imitating, doesn’t it? So verse one says, “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” Well, by that our minds are turned quickly to that “love chapter of the Bible,” 1 Corinthians 13 that says, beginning in verse 4 through verse 8: “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, it is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” And immediately following that admonition is to “walk in love.” “But, fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are fitting, not fitting I should say, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, (they already knew what he was about to write-- and so do we, but he wrote it and we are going to quote it anyway) that no fornicator, unclean person, or covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.”
Then in verse eight, the teaching about walking with the Lord appears for the fifth time in Ephesians. “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.”
Finally, the word “walk” appears for the sixth time, last time in this epistle in verse 15. It says, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Let us pray. Holy Father, we are so thankful to You for Your blessing us with the written word to tell us how we can walk with Thee in this life so we may walk with Thee in the one to come. Amen, in Jesus’ name!
I pray you have been encouraged today to “walk with the Lord” the remaining days of your life. I hope I have been successful in showing you what it means to walk with Him. You know, there was a time in the earthly ministry of our Lord that He preached a sermon and it’s said of some of His followers-- even His disciples-- that they were so displeased with Him-- or His teaching-- that they “went back and walked with Him no more” (John 6:66). Oh, I hope you won’t do that, but that you will see the fallacy of it, and obey Him at once.
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It has been a real pleasure to visit in your home today; and I pray that you’ve been as blessed as I have. I hope we can do it again next week at this same time, and that we can also be a blessing. God bless you now. We love you.
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