Learning How To Walk
Notes
Transcript
Let me apologize for not having the message previously promised for tonight.
we were going to speak about Calvinism and Arminianism
However for a few reasons we are not.
First, I want to be thoroughly prepared and I am not.
Second, Seeing as how this topic is focused on
Man’s interpretation of how salvation comes about
And this week is all about God’s salvation through His Son Jesus
I chose to celebrate Easter and the resurrection
Rather than discuss something that isn’t proven either way.
We will get to it in a few weeks
and I hope that you will be ok with that choice
And if you’re not as the Southerners would say
Bless your heart.
That being said, let’s begin with a word of prayer
Father, please give me the physical strength and spiritual energy to speak Your Word with faithfulness, clarity, authority, passion, wisdom, humility, and liberty.
In Jesus Name, Amen
Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise—making the most of the time, because the days are evil.
When I say the words
Walk this way
What’s the first thing that comes to your mind?
How many heathens do we have in the congregation
that immediately thought of Aerosmith and Steve Tyler and Run DMC?
That song was written in 1975.
How old do you feel now?
and it was covered by Run DMC in 1985.
How many songs tell us how to walk in the world?
Walk like an Egyptian
Walk on the Wild Side
I walk the Line
Walkin after midnight
Walkin on the moon
Walk of life
and I’m walkin on sunshine.
And the sad part is
you are singing at least one of those lines
right now in your head.
And none of those songs are fit for church!
So now that I have given you an earworm for the rest of the day
use it to remember what the apostle Paul tells us in
Ephesians 5:15-16
15 Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise—
16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil.
Then
The “Then” means therefore
and Paul has been talking about being imitators of God
and no longer walk as the Gentiles do
Paul is showing us how to walk
as believers in Christ
From the very beginning of Ephesians
Paul has been showing us how to walk
IN the first three chapters
Paul shares the doctrinal foundation of the practical application
Then, in the beginning of chapter 4
Paul tells us to walk worthy of our calling.
and he is going to continue to show us how to walk
and the first part is a warning to
Be Careful How You Walk
Walk Carefully
Walk Carefully
Paul says, “Pay Careful Attention To How You Walk”
Let’s look at what isn’t there beginning with
It Doesn’t Say Where to Walk
It Doesn’t Say Where to Walk
notice it doesn’t say where
Because we are called to go everywhere
Jesus never said to make disciples
only in your neighborhood or community.
He said to make disciples of all nations, ethne, people groups
He said in Acts 1 I am sending you to Jerusalem,
your neighborhood and community
Judea, which would be the equivalent of the state
Samaria, equivalent to the US
and the utter most parts of the world.
As I was walking around in Washington DC last week
I never ate at a restaurant or spoke to a person
From the same people group the entire time.
I spoke to people from El Salvador, Pakistan
Afghanistan, Iran, Lithuania, Liberia, Nepal, and India
And even if they were from the same country
They were from different places in that country.
When I was in Nepal
I went down back alleys and some side streets
That to Western American eyes
May have been considered dangerous and unsafe
It’s not about safety.
Paul, nor God, is concerned about our safety nor our comfort.
Yesterday, Henry and I went to lunch
and while we were there, here in Rocky Point
I got to share the gospel with two Oaxacan Hispanics behind the counter.
I asked them what they believe
and they said they were Catholic.
They also said they had family that were Christian.
Naturally I asked them what the difference was
and they said that the Christians lived out their life
but the Catholics follow the Bible
So I gave them a copy of the Bible in Spanish
you can find out more about that tonight if you choose to come
and then I shared the gospel with them.
They were amazed at what I shared
and said they never heard that before.
Here in Rocky Point, NC.
So I’ll follow up with them this week.
Please pray for Avi and John
as they will prayerfully begin their walk with the Lord.
I heard a gentleman preach the other day about going on missions
He spoke to the Senior Adult rally here in Wilmington
He was sharing about the trips he takes with the senior adults
Trips to the Ark.
Trips to Gatlinburg
Trips to the Amish country in Pennsylvania
He said people will get on a bus and go to the Amish Country
They will drive 15 hours with several stops
Usually at a gas station or for a meal.
The leader counts the heads as they get off
And recounts as they get back on the bus.
There’s always someone, usually named Joyce
that is missing from the count.
So we have to wait to go find Joyce before they can leave.
When the bus stops for lunch
Bob is the last one to get served
And his meal isn’t correct
So we are waiting for Bob
And then everyone gets on the bus
And Joyce is missing again.
After traveling for 15 hours
and everyone is tired we get to the hotel
And at the hotel the hotel has shorted the group a room.
So now instead of Martha getting a room to herself
There are three ladies that have to share a room with Queen beds
And two gentlemen have to share a room.
That means that no one gets sleep because
George sleeps with a CPAP
And Martha snores in the other room.
They’ll spend four days touring around the Amish Country
and going to various places including
The Shady Maple home of the 7 mile long buffet.
And spend a ton of money going to see the
Latest Sight and Sound production
And walking 10,000 steps a day seeing all this stuff.
After all this money was spent
and after all the comforts have been given up
Because of the hotel situation
Because of the 15 hour bus ride
Because of the strange food that was being served in Amish country
everyone wants to go back and enjoy the trip again.
Ironically
It sounds exactly like a mission trip to South Asia
Without anyone ever sharing the gospel.
except that when you travel to South Asia
a lovely flight attendant gives you drinks and food the whole time
And yet, when I bring up going to South Asia
Washington DC, New York City, or Gloucester, Mass
Even driving to Morrisville, NC or a prayer walk in the community
I tend to get the same excuses of
I’m too old to go, it’s a busy time of year
I want to spend time with my family.
I see the same people going all over the place here in town.
I love to see the social media pics of people
they are so telling of what they worship
and where they put their priorities.
It’s easy. If you are unable to go to on a prayer walk here in Rocky Point,
Morrisville, Washington, New York, Or South Asia
You are unable to go to Amish Country, the Creation Museum,
Or even to a concert in North or South Carolina.
Pay Careful Attention to How You Walk
It’s not about where we walk,
It’s also not about how long we walk.
Its Not How Long We Walk
Its Not How Long We Walk
Jesus said it this way
And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two.
He was talking about this in the context of loving your enemies
But let me remind you that the purpose of doing that
Was to share who Jesus was along the way.
And by going the extra mile
It shows His love for someone else.
The more you walk the more fit you should be.
When Jesus tells us in the Great Commission
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
The go in the beginning is not just a call to go
but it also implies the meaning as you are going.
As you are going to eat at a restaurant
as you are going shopping fore groceries
as you are going to serve in the community
as you are going to visit family.
I’ve made this excuse in my life.
The one thing I hate to do is practice.
This is mostly because for some of the things I do
God has blessed me with talent.
Talent can be a blessing and a curse.
Growing up, I took piano lessons
and I used to frustrate my teacher
Because I could play by ear better than I could actually read music.
I never practiced, unless my mom threatened me to practice.
To this day I have a hard time practicing and rehearsing
Because I just don’t want to.
Recently the Lord challenged me about this.
I used to make up the excuse that I couldn’t memorize well.
Ever since the invention of the back screen
I’ve never really had to worry about memorizing music.
Growing up I sang in a children’s choir
that my brother directed.
We would go from time to time to my grandparents church
And we would sing for them during the service.
I would sing a solo with the choir.
It all had to be memorized because
This was an older church
And this was way before screens were even a thing.
HE wouldn’t let us use books so
Everything had to be memorized.
I got up to sing
and walked out to my place in front of the choir
When the music began, I blanked.
The only words that came out of my mouth
We’re words that you don’t normally hear in a church service
Let alone a choir solo.
The words were “O Crap.”
I was grateful the music kept going
and eventually the choir part kicked in
So I stepped back into the choir
And that was the last solo I sang until
Almost 20 years later when I was married to Shannon.
She didn’t know that I could sing until I was asked to sing a solo.
Satan has used that in my brain ever since.
He had placed it there that I couldn’t memorize anything.
I recently read a book about memorizing scripture.
I thought, I’m going to give this a try.
It’s less about memorizing a verse or two
The book is about memorizing whole books of the Bible.
I started with the book of James
spoiler alert, that’s the next book we are going to.
I’ve been able to memorize a verse a day
Since I began fifteen days ago
and am now on James 1:15.
Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.
Lovely verse for the morning.
hang on to that thought
I believe this is the next book we’ll walk through on Sundays
if we ever get through Ephesians.
The Lord had to teach me that it was a lie
that I couldn’t memorize things.
It was all about the practice everyday.
The more we walk correctly
the more we want to keep walking.
That’s just not for physical exercise either
That’s also for spiritual disciplines
Bible intake
And sharing the gospel.
Pay careful attention to how you walk
It’s not about safety or comfort
It’s not about where we walk
It’s not about how long we walk or how long we’ve been walking
It’s about how we walk and where we are walking to.
It’s about doing what God has commanded us to do.
So the big question then is how should we walk?
15 Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise—
Walk Wisely
Walk Wisely
Not as unwise people but as wise.
that brings up the question in my mind
What’s the difference between unwise and wise people?
Let’s go to the book written by the wisest man in the world, Solomon
and find out what he says about wisdom and foolishness
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.
A fool’s way is right in his own eyes, but whoever listens to counsel is wise.
A wise person is cautious and turns from evil, but a fool is easily angered and is careless.
The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.
Even a fool is considered wise when he keeps silent— discerning, when he seals his lips.
Ok, that gives us an idea of the difference between
wisdom and foolishness.
Wisdom is knowledge applied to one’s life
Ignorance is not knowing the right thing,
but also knowing you don’t know the right thing.
Foolishness is knowing the right thing to do
and choosing not to do it
and then getting offended when someone tells you
what you did wrong.
Back to Ephesians, How else should we walk?
16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil.
We walk making the most of our time
That means, a wise person walks with intention
Walk Intentionally
Walk Intentionally
It’s one thing to walk with urgency
I’ve heard people speak about the urgency of the gospel
Meaning that we need to get the gospel out there quickly.
Because there are people dying and going to hell.
I understand that completely.
Scripturally speaking,
God isn’t coming back until God plans to come back.
We don’t know when that is
So I get urgency to share the gospel with people.
However, urgency can sometimes breed mistakes.
If we rush into something
And we miss steps in the process
We tend to bring a lot of error into whatever we were rushing to finish.
There are times in my life I am urgent but forgetful.
you know, running out of the door to go somewhere
so that we won’t be late to wherever we are going
and we forget half of the stuff we are supposed to bring with us.
I remember one of the first churches I served at
It was just Shannon, me and three year old Arthur.
Arthur was the only child in the nursery.
He may have been the only child period
I’m not really sure.
We lived in this little 100 year old farm house
almost right around the corner from the church.
I say right around the corner
but this was a big corner.
We had to go around an entire development
of multi million dollar homes
to get around the corner.
I don’t remember how it really happened but
I do remember when
We got done with the service and I got to talking.
We had two cars at the church
and Shannon had to rush home for something.
I was having a conversation
but knew I had to get home quickly for some reason
so I rushed out of my conversation
and got in the car and headed home.
I got home and walked in the house
and it was at that point Shannon panicked.
Nobody got Arthur from the nursery.
So I got back in the car and headed back to the church
when I got there I was so embarrassed.
It would almost be funny
if it didn’t happen twice to this poor child.
So rushing and urgency isn’t necessarily a good word.
Instead of the word urgency,
and hear me, I don’t believe urgency is a bad thing in some situations
Let’s use the word intentional.
That means there was a plan prepared
There was a strategy thought out ahead of time
There was order thought about before
we did the whole ready fire aim strategy.
It means we expected this to happen
and we were prepared for it.
a Prepared Strategy and being intentional means
we were proactive and not reactive.
I think sometimes when we hear a lot of numbers and data
we tend to be more reactive than proactive.
Let me put this into a Christian perspective.
When we pray are we more proactive or reactive?
If we’re honest, our entire prayer list
is mostly reactive
Typically we pray for people when we say
Something has gone wrong and we need to pray for them
We only seem to pray when someone has been put into the hospital
or when someone is going through a situation.
Families in crisis
We don’t pray for someone until the enemy is already winning
We should pray for people
before the enemy is already in their lives.
Do we know anyone that needs Jesus?
Let’s do an exercise.
On the bulletin somewhere
write down 10 people you know
that you could share a prayer request with.
I’ll give you a minute
Just first names of those people to be quick
you and God already know who they are.
OK, now make a new list
write down ten names of people you know
that are non-believers you could share the gospel with.
one minute, go.
Which list was easier to write?
unless we know people who need the gospel
we will not be burdened over them
an unamed burden is no burden at all
a burden for lostness has a name and a face
We can be proactive for the people we are burdened for
by praying for them proactively
But Art, I don’t know how to pray for someone that’s lost?
Go back to Ephesians 2 and look at verse 1
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins
2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient.
3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.
According to these verses
what do lost people have in common?
Dead in their sins
walking in the ways of this world / fleshly desires
Following the enemy
Children of wrath
Here’s how you pray for people who are lost.
I have a friend named Samreen
She is a Muslim that owns a restaurant in Cary
I’ve had a few conversations with her
and when we go to Morrisville,
it’s her restaurant I intentionally go to.
Here’s the irony in that
her restaurant is located directly behind FBC Cary.
She’s from Pakistan and a wonderfully lost woman.
Here’s what we can do
we can pray for Samreen
and we would pray something like this
Lord, God, I lift up Samreen
She is dead in her trespasses and sins
and only You can raise the dead
I ask that you would remove her from the trap
of the ruler of the power of the air
I ask that somehow she would see her fleshly desires
and that she is following the enemy
I beg that you were help her to see she is a child of wrath
and make her your child and fellow sister in Christ.
Thank You Lord because only you have that ability
In Jesus name amen.
If you remember Brother Russell Abraham from Queens
He was a former muslim from Bangladesh
His mother would pray for him
and one night after hearing and dismissing the gospel
he had a dream
and through that dream
the next day he prayed to receive Christ
and is now reaching over 250,000 Muslims in New York.
Imagine what would happen if we began to pray proactively like that?
especially for brothers and sisters in Christ?
Instead of praying the enemy out of their lives
we could pray for the protection from the enemy to
ever get into someone’s life.
Why should we be intentional?
16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil.
This is when urgency isn’t better than intentionality.
Last week I spoke about critical thinking
Let’s put that to good use speaking about evil days and urgency.
Have you ever heard the news say something like
This will destroy everything, mark my words.
Or we’re on the brink of some kind of disaster.
Or in five years we are going to see…
Let me put it into some specific contexts that you may have heard.
mark my words, AI is going to replace every job in the next five years, or
We are on the brink of total economic collapse, or
This will destroy everything we know about family relationships, or
In five years no one is going to go to college anymore.
Ever hear any of those?
Here’s the questions you have to ask as we slow our thinking
What makes someone think they can predict the future?
What gives them the qualifications to be able to predict the future?
What data are they drawing from that will show this prediction?
These all predict a future scenario and present it
like they are guaranteed future outcomes.
Here are the critical thinking points
this is called the overconfidence bias or effect
This is the tendency to believe that we know more
Or are more accurate or more capable than we actually are
We feel this effect when we watch the weatherman on the news.
When someone uses these phrases they are saying
I can predict very complex future outcomes
With a very high level of certainty
But what they don’t take into account is
That the future has a lot of different variables involved to get there.
Human behavior, unexpected events, God
All things that can make a certain outcome not so certain.
The cognitive fallacy, wrong thinking, that happens here
is called the slippery slope fallacy
This assumes that if this one thing happens
it will inevitably lead to extreme consequences
but it doesn’t necessarily show the steps in between
or consider that there are other conditions that could effect or
change the outcome.
This fallacy can be, in this example, paired up with what is known as
catastrophizing.
This is the tendency to assume
that the worst possible outcome is the most likely outcome.
So everything becomes a terrible crisis
even when the evidence doesn’t necessarily support
that level of awfulness.
Instead of saying, “I’m concerned where this could go”
they give the gloom and doom, end of all life on the planet
and in the end, all we get is a little rain.
They tend to constantly make these predictions
And drive people to a level of fear. Why?
Because fear sells.
We forget as Christians,
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.
This is why they use these phrases together
and when you add urgency to that fear
it can make people think
“Oh if this is coming, I need to act now!”
This gives power and perceived authority to the person
delivering said bad news
And people love to sound like an expert
and we as humans love dramatic narratives about the future.
Which is interesting,
because God’s Word says things with authority and hopefulness
and yet somehow, even as believers
we have a tendency to dismiss them
because we base our facts on what we are feeling.
By the way that’s called relativism.
This is why the authority of the Word of God
and renewing our mind with the Word of God
Is so important in our minds,
as Paul said in the beginning of this letter
Because we can counter the extremism, catastrophizing, relativism
the Cognitive fallacies of slippery slope
and over confidence biases
that people and fear mongering news agencies and
social media “experts” try to throw out there
All for the sake of money, power, and authority.
Why?
Because the days are evil.
without knowing what comes from the Word of God
anyone could sound as catastrophizing, and a slippery slope fallacy.
this goes to James 1:6-8
But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord,
being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.
However, what Paul is saying
is inspired and the Word of God
And do I really need to convince anyone that the days are evil?
Let me ask this a different way
Do I need to convince anyone that the world is broken?
Let me share with you something that I learned in Washington DC
Talk about a broken world, just go to Washington.
You don’t have to go very far to see the world is broken.
just turn on the news if you are living in a bubble.
Death all around
Disease that has no cure
Destruction taking place all over the world
Either by man’s wars or natural disaster.
Now we know that’s not everywhere
and we can all feel that there should be something different
Because when we hear the laughter of a little child
Or we experience the joy of emotions
Or we can see the beauty of nature on a Spring morning
We know there should be something more than the brokenness of the world.
That’s because God originally created the world perfect.
He created us and placed us in this perfect place
And gave us the perfect setting to live in
He told us to take care of this place
And that we should be fruitful and multiply within it.
And gave us only one rule to follow
Don’t eat from this certain tree in the garden.
But, the first man and first woman disobeyed
and they ate from that tree
And because God is holy
He punished mankind for their disobedience and
Removed us from this perfect place.
And placed a barrier between us and that perfect place with Him.
Ever since that time,
we’ve been trying to get back somehow
And experience what was lost.
So we try to fulfill our lives with a better education
Some try to fulfill our lives with power and success and money
Some try to fulfill their lives with relationships.
Some get really desperate and fill their lives with addictions.
But none of these fulfill our lives the way they should.
So we try to get back to God
and we pray
And we go to church
And we’ll read the Bible
We may pray five times a day
Or pray through a string of beads
Or worship at holy temples.
None of these work because
There is a barrier between us and Him.
The other part of that is
because we are in a broken world
And because we can’t get back to God
By anything that we can do on our own
We have only one destination and that is in the lake of fire.
God made a way for us to get to Him
HE sent His son Jesus to come down to us.
Jesus then paid the price for our brokenness on a cross
He died for us and the bearer days later
He rose again for us.
And by this He paid the price for our brokenness.
So what God has asked us to do
is to turn away from all this trying to reach Him on our own
And go to Jesus who has paid the price for our brokenness.
And by asking Jesus to forgive us
And by placing Him as Lord over our life
He gives us a new body and His Spirit to live in us.
And returns our relationship back to God.
When we return back to God
God places Himself in our heart
And our heart changes toward Him
And then God sends us back to the brokenness of the world
But this time with Jesus
So that we can tell everyone else about Him.
That’s why the days are evil
because this world is broken
But for the believer in Jesus
We have hope for the future
And a job to share the good news about Jesus with everyone
So even with evil days
We can live with Joy because of Jesus living in us.
Let’s be careful how we walk
Let’s be wise
Let’s be intentional
