Sermon Tone Analysis

In Ephesians 4 we come to a major shift in this letter.

Up to this point Paul has been building a foundation of doctrine mingled with prayer for the understanding, wisdom, and knowledge of his readers.

Now Paul moves to the instructional part of his letter.

there are 41 imperatives or commands in Ephesians.

Only one of these is found in the first 3 chapters, the other 40 are found in chapters 4-6.

Paul’s method of teaching is to first focus on doctrine, theology and then after building a solid foundation he then moves to the practical application.

The Prisoner of The Lord

Why does Paul refer to himself here as the prisoner of the Lord?

Why not just “I, therefore beseech you”?

I believe that it is for the same reasons that he first mentioned that he was a prisoner in Eph 3:1-3

So now when Paul says...

It’s worth it.

Even though Paul efforts to walk worthy of his calling is the very thing that landed him in prison, the calling with which you were called and walking worthy of it is worth what ever hardship you may have to endure.

In other words that fact that Paul is writing this from prison and can still say i beseech you to walk worthy of this calling is evidence to it is worth it.

next we look at the command itself.

Walk Worthy

“Walk” is one of Paul favourite words to refer to how we live.

And it’s a beautiful metaphor.

It implies a journey, it implies a destination.

It shows us that we can either walk towards our destination or we can walk away from our destination.

But one of the greatest things about understanding our life as walking is that it demonstrates step by step progression.

For Paul to say walk worthy of you calling is like saying walk up mount Everest.

It’s imposable.

Even Paul said “I have not attained but I press towards the mark of the high calling of Christ Jesus.”

So how do we climb Mt Everest?

We take one step at a time.

We can take a step.

It’s easy, just put one foot in front of the other.

Keep doing that and your are walking.

to Walk worthy doesn’t mean that you are worthy.

It means that you are heading in the right direction, pressing towards the mark.

The word worthy means appropriately.

So what are some ways that we can walk appropriately?

First how do we not walk

So these are some examples of what Paul means when he says walk worthy.

Next we look at what it is that we are to walk worthy of.

The Calling With Which You Were Call

As a Christian you have a calling.

This is where Paul’s doctrinal foundation comes into play.

The calling with which you were called is what Paul spent the last three chapters teaching us.

The truely wonderful thing about the calling of God is that He didn’t say walk worthy and I will make you my child, or walk worthy and I will forgive your sins and draw to near, make you alive, save you, and make you fellow citizen with the saints.

No, God did all this for us, blessed us with all these spiritual blessings in heavenly places, even while we were unworthy, dead in our trespasses, sinners and then He says now walk like someone who is worthy.

So as you walk, as you live, in everything that you do measure it with this “is this appropriate for a child of God?” “is this appropriate for someone who has been forgiven?”

“Is this appropriate for someone who has receieved all these spiritual blessings in heavenly places?”

If it is then do it, If not then don’t do it.

It’s a walk so don’t be overwhelmed by the destination.

Just take the next step.