If your walk talks, talk will walk

The Christian Walk (Eph 5:1-20).

Most of us have a characteristic walk. During the last war, in Southampton, when I was walking down the street with hundreds of men dressed as I was in RAF uniform, a friend I hadn't seen for some 10 years called out my name. "How did you recognise me?" I asked.

 

He replied: "By the way you walk."

 

It is the same in our Christian life. People can recognise us as a follower of Christ by the way we walk ­ spiritually speaking. Ephesians 5:1-20 gives us valuable insight into the way we should walk the Christian path.

 

1. Walk in Love (v2)

In this passage of scripture Paul tells us to "walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us."

 

Our natural tendency is to love those who love us, to hate those who hate us, and to be quite indifferent about all the rest. But the Christian way cuts right across that. Christ has told us to, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Mt 5:44); and, in the story of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10), to be indifferent to no one.

This command, to "walk in love", is hard to obey, for it makes us very vulnerable to hurt. Others will take advantage of us, and "use" us.

 

But when we fully understand the wonder and depth of Christ's love for us in yielding up his body as a sacrifice for our sin then we realise our love for others is the outflow of our love for him.

 

To "walk in love", and to be the "followers of God as dear children" (v1 AV), is to walk in the way of peace and the way of joy. To love all men, to refuse to bear a grudge against any, to do good to all no matter what they do to us ­ that is the way Jesus walked; and that is the way His servants should walk.

 

Paul Gerhardt, the German mystic of the 17th Century, who suffered much at the hands of men, was surely right when he penned this lovely prayer to God:

"O grant that nothing in my soul may dwell, but thy pure love alone. "O may thy love possess me whole, my joy, my treasure and my crown. All coldness from my heart remove, may every act, word, and thought be love."

 

2. Walk as children of light (v9).

I remember once asking a pastor if he kept a roll of his church members. He replied that he did not need a roll, for he and his elders knew those who were "walking in the light." What he meant was that they knew their people, their lifestyle and their Christian practice. He was correct in suggesting that "walking in the light" has to do with conduct and behaviour.

 

Our passage of scripture lists the works of darkness as "immorality, impurity, covetousness, filthiness, silly talk" and "levity which is not fitting". It says that there was a time when the Christians as Ephesus were guilty of such things. "Once you were in darkness" (v8), that is, they lived under the control of Satan, the "ruler of darkness" (Eph 6:12); but now they could say, "God has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his believed Son" (Col 1:13).

 

Being delivered from darkness they were now called on to "walk as children of light", and to "try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord", namely, "all that is good and true" (v10). The "good and true" lifestyle, which "is pleasing to the Lord", is described elsewhere as, "compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you" (Col 3:12-13).

 

By "walking in the light" the child of God becomes "the light of the world" (Mt 5:14) in the sense that his good and true way of life illuminates, with the light of God, all with whom he comes in contact.

 

His light is derived light. It is derived from Jesus, who said, "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (Jn 8:12). In this dark world Jesus sheds around him a pool of light, and all who follow him walk in this pool of light, share his light, and help spread his light.

To "walk as children of light" commits us to a life of evangelism, to the task of rescuing those who "sit in darkness and in the shadow of death" (Lk 1:79).

 

Paul understood this to be his great mission in life. He testified before King Agrippa that God had sent him to the Gentiles "to open their eyes, that they my turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God" (Acts 26:18).

3. Walk circumspectly (v15 AV).

 

The Greek word "akribos", translated "circumspectly" in the AV, has the meaning of exactness and precision, of being very careful about people, and about things.

Paul used this word to describe his life before he became a Christian. He said, "according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee" (Act 26:5). By the word "strictest" he meant he was meticulous in his observance of the Law, and of the customs of the Pharisees.

 

We must be equally strict as Christians. The NEB translates, "Be most careful how you conduct yourselves". We must remember at all times that the world will judge the genuineness of our faith by those small things which make up our daily life.

In particular we must make the utmost use of God's precious gift of time. The wise Christian makes "the most of time, because the days are evil" (v16).

 

It has been well said that we will never find time to do anything. If we want time we must make it. It is a sobering thought that men like John Wesley, Dwight L. Moody and Charles Haddon Spurgeon had no more time than we have. The difference is they made full use of it, whereas all too often we fitter it away.

 

Secondly, the wise Christian determines "what the will of the Lord is" (v17) and lives accordingly. God has a plan for our lives, and it is a matter of great importance for us that we search until we discover this will, for a life lived outside the will of God is a life lived in vain.

 

Thirdly, the wise Christian seeks to be "filled with the Spirit", and to keep on being filled with the Spirit, for this command is in the present imperative. To endeavour to do spiritual work in our own strength is to court disaster.

 

Fourthly, the wise Christian is a praising Christian, "singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart" (v19).

 

Fifthly, the wise Christian is at all times a thankful Christian, "Always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father" (v20).

 

Tuesday

PSALM 1

It has often been pointed out that progress towards an evil end is usually gradual.

If a man is walking away from "the counsel of the wicked" he must keep on walking if he is to avoid being trapped by them. If he ceases to walk, and stands listening, it will not be long before he becomes one of them, and "sits in the seat of scoffers" (v1).

 

The man who is blessed is the one who walks in the way of the Lord, whose "delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night" (v2).

Such a man is "like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers" (v3).

Paul probably had this psalm in mind when he spoke of "the unfruitful works of darkness" (Eph 5:11).

 

The man who walks in the way of the Lord produces fruit. He enjoys a fruitful life.

But "the wicked are not so, but are like chaff which the wind drives away" (v4). Chaff differs from grain in that it is unfruitful. It comes to nothing.

 

Wednesday

1 THESSALONIANS 5:1-11

"You are all sons of light and sons of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness" (v5). The natural man lives in the domain of darkness. Here the power of Satan holds sway (Eph 6:12), and here men do the evil works of darkness (Jn 3:19).

 

Christ came to deliver us from this darkness. he said, "I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness" (Jn 12:44).

This deliverance was accomplished on the cross, where he did battle with Satan and defeated him. There, "He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them" (Col 2:15).

 

Satan is now a defeated foe, and all those imprisoned by him can escape into freedom by trusting in Christ, the greater deliverer and, through this trust, share in his victory.

"Once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord" (Eph 5:8), for he has called us "out of darkness into his marvellous light" (1 Pet 2:9).

 

We need to remember continually that we are now "sons of light and sons of the day", and to live accordingly.

 

Thursday

ROMANS 13:8-14

"Cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light" (v12).

The Christian warrior, like the foolish virgins (Mt 25:5), is often liable to sleep when he should be vigilant and active. We are to live at all times in the expectation that our Lord may return tomorrow (Mt 24:44; Heb 9:28).

 

It is this expectation, and the knowledge of our accountability on that great day, that should impel us to "cast off the works of darkness." All those habits and ways of life which are unworthy of a follower of Christ should be discarded as unclean things.

"The armour of light" is described in Ephesians 6 as "the belt of truth", "the breastplate of righteousness", "the shield of faith", "the helmet of salvation", and the "the sword of the Spirit".

 

Equipped with this armour we must do battle with our great enemy (Eph 6:12).

The daily conduct of the children of light must at all times be a reflection of the life of the Saviour. We are to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ" (v14) in the sense of demonstrating to those outside the reality of the change inside.

 

It should be clear to all that "we walk in the light, as he is in the light" (1 Jn 1:7).

The command to "make no provisions for the flesh to gratify its desires" (v14), together with the preceding verses, was the means of the conversion of the great Augustine in the summer of 386 AD.

 

Friday

MATTHEW 5:13-20

"You are the light of the world" (v14).

How does a Christian become "the light of the world"?

 

The answer can be illustrated in this way. Say we found ourselves in some tropical forest just before dawn. In the absence of light everything would appear an indistinct grey. But with the coming of dawn we would be able to see everything in its true perspective, colour and contour.

 

All the horrible and dangerous things would be made evident, and all the beautiful and breath-taking things would be made evident. So it is with the Christian. Before his joining a group of men everything would be an indistinct grey. If he is a true Christian he would cast light, so that everything could be seen in its true perspective, colour and contour.

 

Foul talk would cease to appear an indistinct grey. Its black colour would be revealed. Uncleanness would cease to appear sophisticated. Dishonest action would be revealed as being dishonourable.

 

At the same time those things which were "just", "pure", "lovely" and "gracious" would be highlighted (Phil 4:8). If we are "in Christ" we have received a new nature, and one aspect of that new nature is luminosity. We have been recreated to shine in such a way that we expose that which is evil, and illuminate that which is good.

 

Saturday

COLOSSIANS 4:1-6

"Making the most of time" (v5).

In Eastern religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, time is circular, in the sense that existence has neither beginning nor end. But in the Bible time is revealed as a straight line. It has a beginning (Gen 1:1), and it has an end (1 Cor 15:24).

"History has a beginning in God, it has its centre in Christ and its end in the final consummation and the Last Judgment" (Richard Kromer).

 

Time is limited in extent. It has been created by God in order to achieve his redemptive purpose through Christ, and as "the arena of man's decision on his way to eternity" (Carl Henry).

 

Time, therefore, is of very great importance in the plan and purpose of God. It is also very important when it is applied to our own life-span. We must make the most of it for God, we must buy up every opportunity now.

If you have work to do ­ do it now

If you have a witness to give ­ give it now

If you have a soul to win ­ win him now

If you have an obligation to discharge ­ discharge it now

If you have a debt to pay ­ pay it now

If you have a wrong to right ­ right it now

If you have a confession to make ­ make it now

If you have children to train ­ train them now"

Author unknown

 

 

Sunday

2 CORINTHIANS 10:1-6

"The weapons of our warfare are not worldly" (v4).

P.E. Hughes says in his book, Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians, p 350:

"The satanic forces against which the soldiers of Christ's army contend are not forces of flesh and blood; therefore to attempt to withstand them with weapons of the flesh would be nothing short of folly. Only spiritual weapons are divinely powerful for the overthrow of the fortresses of evil.

 

"This constitutes an admonition to the Church, and particularly to her leaders, for the temptation is ever present to meet the challenge of the world, which is under the sway of the evil one, with the carnal weapons of the world ­ with human wisdom and philosophy, with the attractions of secular entertainment, with the display of massive organisation.

 

"Not only do such weapons fail to make an impression on the strongholds of Satan, but a secularised Church is a Church which, having adopted the standards of the world, has ceased to fight, and is herself overshadowed by the powers of darkness.

"But this verse also constitutes a promise to the Church, for it is constantly true of those weapons with which the Holy Spirit has supplied her that they are divinely powerful for the destruction of those very strongholds. When engaging the enemy with these weapons the Church is assured of victory.

 

"And what are these weapons? They are the weapons of truth, righteousness, evangelism, faith, salvation, the Word of God and prayer."

 

Monday

1 JOHN 1:5-10

"If we say we have fellowship with Him" (v6).

Light always means the removal of darkness, so enabling men to see, and to be able to walk on the path of life. "Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Ps 119:105).

 

It is not enough to see the light; we must walk on the path it illuminates.

As "God is light", to "walk in darkness" means that although we see the light we prefer to walk in our own path, and not in His path. This passage of Scripture refutes those who say that we can do this and still be Christians, that we can live as we like and still be the Lord's children; that morality is not necessarily connected with spirituality.

 

The facts are that our God is "not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not sojourn with thee" (Ps 5:4); and, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Ps 66:18).

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