MS Wed 11.04.2020 The Walk of a Christian

So two weeks ago we talked about the eye, Give me your eyes, last week was the way we talk. Well this week is the way we walk. How do we walk as Christians. Have you ever tried to walk in someone’s shoe? Jessica when she was little she walked in my shoes. It was tough because they were big, but she wanted to walk like her daddy. They say you can not know until you do.. But Paul tells us in Ephesians how to walk.

Last week I was Oscar the grouch - mostly everyone knew who I was by the way i walked. Bro Eddie said that is Kevin by the way he walks.

Walk in Love (5:1–7)

Paul continues his exhortation for the Ephesians to live according to the new life they have in Christ.

His initial call, which has guided this section of the letter, was for them to walk in a manner worthy of their calling (4:1).

Paul picks back up the language of the “walk” in this paragraph and the next by discussing two themes that should characterize the method of the walk.

The first is walking in love.

Paul desires the readers to love like Christ did and to exemplify this in particular practices such as morality and purity of speech.

Meditation is a happy, holy, profitable engagement; and it will instruct us, strengthen us, comfort us, inspire our hearts, and make our souls steadfast. But we may not stop at meditation. We must go on to imitation of the character of God. We must let our spiritual life not only bud and blossom in devout thought, but let it bring forth fruit in holy action. We must not be satisfied with feeding the soul by meditation but rise up from the banquet and use the strength we have gained.

The Spurgeon Study Bible: Notes Chapter 5

Man is a creature formed for Society and for imitation. He will imitate something,

5:1 provides an exhortation to be imitators of God.

5:2 Paul continues explaining how the Ephesians are to be imitators of God.

In this verse he commands them to walk in love, modeled after the love Jesus displayed.

The love Jesus exemplified was experienced by believers and was demonstrated in Christ’s sacrificial death.

Paul then explains that this love’s purpose was to be a pleasing offering to God.

Thus, the walk of the Ephesians is to honor God by being characterized by sacrificial, giving love.

5:3–4 Paul reminded believers that what we talk and think about will eventually find expression in our behaviors. When we are in Christ, our conversations will change, as will our actions.

He explains that one walking in love should reject any form of immorality or impurity.

These habits are not appropriate for those set apart by God,

Not proper for the believers.

5:4 In this verse Paul continues his call to walk in love by explicitly calling for loving speech.

No impure, silly, or coarse speech should be on the lips of believers.

5:5 Paul further explains the idea of appropriateness from 5:3–4 in this verse.

Paul’s emphasis is on detailing that the behavior in 5:3–4 is not appropriate for one who has an inheritance in the kingdom of God.

5:6 Paul has encouraged the Ephesians to flee from their old lives, but he recognizes that there will be temptation to return and pick up the former walk.

Thus in this verse he calls on them to not let anyone deceive them with empty/false words.

To further solidify this point, he says that God’s wrath is actually poured out on those who participate in such vices.

5:7 This paragraph on walking in love is concluded with Paul imploring the believers to not join with the deceivers.

He calls on them to not be fellow participants in this immorality, which entails impure behaviors and speech.

Walk in Light (5:8–14)

5:8 Paul begins his explanation of why the Ephesians should not be deceived by reminding them that they were formerly in darkness, but that is not their current state.

As such, they should walk as children of the light.

He states that the fruit of light entails goodness, righteousness, and truth.

Thus, if the Ephesians are children of the light, they should be demonstrating this with a walk characterized by goodness, righteousness, and truth.

They should be walking according to the light by trying to discern what is pleasing to God.

Thus the believers are to strive to understand what such practices are and then to adopt them in their own lives.

Walk in Wisdom (5:15–21)

Paul now further calls on them to embrace wisdom.

He recognizes the difficulty of learning what pleases the Lord (5:10) and thus expresses his desire that they walk with discernment.

This means that they must be careful and mindful of their use of time and energy (5:15–18).

They are encouraged to make better use of their efforts by being filled with the Spirit, which will draw them together in praise, thanksgiving, and submission (5:19–21).

Specifically, he calls on them to be careful in the manner of their walk.

Paul instructs them to walk as wise people as opposed to being foolish.

Paul explains that this walk makes the best use of time.

Instead of living for oneself or wasting days, the wise one will use his or her time to the fullest.

Paul further states that this should be done because the days are evil.

5:17 In 5:17–21 Paul more fully describes what it means to walk in wisdom. To do this, he provides two pairs of instructions in 5:17–18 and then expands on his last imperative in 5:19–21. The first command is not to be foolish. In contrast to this, he calls on the Ephesians to understand God’s will. They are not to use ignorance as an excuse, but instead are to make efforts to become informed so that they can walk appropriately.

5:18 Similar to 5:17, Paul provides two contrasting commands in this verse. He first instructs the Ephesians to not be drunk with wine. Instead of being filled with wine, Paul exhorts them to be filled with the Spirit. The juxtaposition is clear and the choice evident. They can be consumed with wine or consumed with the Spirit, but they can’t do both.

5:19 In 5:19–21 Paul provides four characteristics of being filled with the Spirit (from 5:18). These are each introduced with a descriptive participle. In 5:19 the first two aspects are provided. The first is that those who are filled with the Spirit will speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Those filled with the Spirit will be unified as they praise God together. The second characteristic of those filled with the Spirit is singing and making melody in their hearts unto God.

5:20 In 5:19 Paul called on the Ephesians to speak praise to one another and to sing praises to God. In this verse he adds the third characteristic of Spirit-filled believers, which is that they are to give thanks to God the Father. Instead of qualifying this thanksgiving based on circumstances, Paul explains that this thanks should always be offered, and that it should be offered for all things.

5:21 The last quality of a Spirit-filled believer is being subject to one another. Those who are filled with the Spirit are not concerned for personal ambition or glory; rather, they are willing to humble themselves and submit to others. Furthermore, they are to be subject due to their understanding of Jesus, who demonstrated true love by giving his very life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofY-_TjaVd8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkzqoGBXiXo

Bur the way you walk reveals your personality

https://youtu.be/hlcHTMfIc6E

Bro Eddie said about my walk with Oscar the Grouch