Walking with God

Walking with God Eph. 5:1-21

As some of you may know one of my jobs is with the Windsor Police Department, in a civilian role with the auxiliary police. And during the summers we patrol the parks, essentially to keep the peace and to help with any problems that may arise. I’ve been doing this for two years now, and often times I would end up talking to a drunk homeless person or dealing with drug addicted individuals. And every year we get to go on ride alongs with police officers on their shifts and just seeing the types of people we have had to arrest for drug possession, assault, domestic disputes and so on. In the past 6 months or so there have even been some arrests human and sex trafficking in Windsor.

My point to saying this is this; doing this job I have gotten to see how dark, rotten and sinful the world really is, and it got me thinking,

How in the world are we to walk with God effectively in a dark, sinful and selfish world?

Well we have examples of individuals throughout the bible that we can draw and learn from, who were said to have walked with God, to name a few;

Enoch:

Genesis 5:24 (NASB) 24 Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

Noah:

Genesis 6:9 (NASB) 9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.

We also have the examples of Abraham, Isaac and David to name a few others and of course we also have the example of Jesus Christ as He walked on this earth.

Tonight, I mainly want to focus on the ways that Paul tells us we ought to walk, and how to have a successful walk with God. Please if you would turn to Ephesians 5 with me.

(READ Eph. 5:1-21)

Here is chapter 5 we see the 3rd, 4th, and 5th ways that Paul tells us how we ought to walk in the book of Ephesians. I feel my message would be incomplete if I didn’t at least touch on the first 2.

We find the first one in chapter 4 (READ 4:1-6)

WALK IN UNITY:

Here Paul is calling us to walk in manner worthy, in all humility, gentleness with patience but Paul stresses that we must maintain unity in doing so. To summarize it we are to walk in unity with one another. These are examples that are completely opposite from what the world does, the world seeks out for its own and does not care if it hurts someone, only if it makes them feel good.

Paul gives a great description of what unity should look like in his letter to the Philippians in chapter 2.

Philippians 2:1-5 (NASB) 1 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus,

WALK IN HOLINESS:

Then in chapter 4:17-23; here Paul is calling us to walk in holiness. (READ 4:17-23).

How true is this of the world today, people are not willing to change their ways even when they know they are wrong. In verse 19 the NASB uses the word callous to describe the way that people have fallen into sin and are now numb to it. But in spite of this, all the things that are happening in the world we are commanded to walk in holiness. Peter in his epistle explains it this way.

1 Peter 1:13-16 (NASB) 13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY."

Now we come to Eph. 5, here we see that Paul instructs us to walk in love, to walk as children of light and to walk circumspectly, or wisely.

WALKING IN LOVE (1-7):

In verse 1 Paul calls us to be imitators of God. We are to imitate God, but Paul also adds, “as dear children”, just as a child innocently imitates their parents, so are we to imitate God.

When I was a kid we used to have a little battery powered tractor that we were able to sit in and drive, and when my dad would be cutting the grass, I would often imitate him and pretend as if I were cutting the grass behind him. This is how Paul tells us to imitate God, but what are we to imitate God in? Well we can see the answer in the last verse of chapter 4 and also in the verses to follow. (READ Eph. 4:32)

Forgiveness means to pardon freely, with no strings attached. God forgave us more than we can ever be called on to forgive others, so really, we should be forgiving everyone. ***

Now here in verse 2 Paul is calling us to walk in love, and he gives the highest standard to which we are to walk in love -- Jesus Christ and His sacrifice that atoned for our sins. Often times people will say love is a choice we make, to a degree that is true, but it is also a command that we are given.

In Matthew 23 the Pharisee’s were trying to test Jesus and asked Him what the greatest commandment was and He said this:

Matthew 22:37-39 (NASB) 37 And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' 38 "This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 "The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'

John 15:12-13 (NASB) 12 "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

So now we understand that love is a command, but now how are we to walk in love? Love as it pertains to the Christian life is defined in 1 Cor. 13:4-7.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NASB) 4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

John also says in his first epistle in chapter 2:4-6;

1 John 2:4-6 (NASB) 4 The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

So essentially, we are called to walk as Jesus himself walked, it’s as simple as that…

Verses 3-4 are what the world believes love to be, immorality, impurity and greed. We can barely turn the tv on or walk down the street without hearing or seeing something that falls into one of these categories.

And Paul warns the Ephesians that those people who practice the things listed above do not have an inheritance in the Kingdom of God, and he commands them to not take part in them. When we each look at our own lives are there times when we are may be joining in on that kind of talk? Or maybe laughing at a crude joke? As Christians we need to make it a priority that others can notice there is something different about us, in the way that we talk and act and the things that we are involved in, we need to be the light and let our light shine bright in this dark world.

WALK AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT (8-14):

Speaking of light. Here in verses 8-14 we see a contrast that is so popular throughout the new testament, the comparison between light and darkness. We have a calling to walk as children of light. This is done by the things we say and do in our everyday lives, notice in verse 9;

Ephesians 5:9 (NKJV) 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

The word for Spirit here, in the Greek literally means ‘to shine, or to make manifest, especially by rays.’ So, the fruit of the children of light or the things that we do and say should be good, righteous and true.

Verse 11, Paul continues (READ v.11). First off, we already have been told what the unfruitful works of darkness are, in verses 3-4. But also notice that Paul does not call them the ‘fruit’ of darkness, but the unfruitful, meaning that the things that are done by those people do not do any good for them, there is no eternal gain received by those works. For this reason Paul tells us not to be partakers of.

In verse 11 it continues; “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful work of darkness, but rather expose them”

What does this mean exactly? Have no fellowship…

Here are some similar verses to that.

1 Thessalonians 5:5 (NASB) 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness;

Philippians 2:15 (NASB) 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,

Some have said that the best way to get to know God, obey His commands and to abstain from the things of the world is to live in seclusion and continually be with like-minded individuals, that may be true to a degree, but how then are we supposed to fulfill the command that Jesus gave us in Matt. 5:13-16;

Matthew 5:13-16 (NASB) 13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. 14 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

How are we to be the light of the world if we live in seclusion, basically what is happening with that is we’re are hiding it under a basket like Jesus says here.

Jesus even placed Himself in the presence of sinners and tax collectors, and Jesus said this when the Pharisees accused Him of eating with them.

Luke 5:31-32 (NASB) 31 And Jesus answered and said to them, "It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. 32 "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."

We are to live in the world but we are not to participate or be partakers in the unfruitful works of darkness, but we are to rather expose them. This does not mean we are to go around pointing figures at people’s faults, we should not be trying to act more righteous or spiritual then someone when doing this.

We should be pointing out to people that we are all sinners, we all fall short of the glory of God, that we cannot save ourselves. I also believe this has implications in the believers’ circle as well, we are to point out, bring to light the sins that we may be seeing fellow believers committing, once again not in a way that makes ourselves look better. But as we were just told in the previous section, out of LOVE.

Verse 14 (READ) has been suggested by some scholars to be part of a song or a proverb that would be said at people’s baptisms, as this is not a direct quote from anywhere else in Scripture. But either way the imagery here is that we were buried in darkness, and through Christ we have been raised from darkness to light.

We were asleep in darkness and buried in the grave of sin, then the light of Christ shone on us and we awoke and followed Him.

I remember when I was about 6 years old, my dad and I went to the cottage up in Bancroft in the winter, and to get to the cottage in the winter we have to drive across the frozen lake to get there. By the time we started heading back to the cottage at night it was snowing and completely dark, the only light we could see was the light from the cottage. We were in utter darkness that my dad was still confused with where we were, but because of that light we were able to find our way. I say this for two reasons;

One being that this is like our life before we were saved in that we had to choose to follow the light in order to make it to safety, we could have very easily ignored it and tried to find land on our own which seems silly to do that, but it is what people do today. The second is that once we are saved we are that light, no matter how dark the world because we are commanded to shine brighter than ever, by the things we say and do.

WALK CIRCUMSPECTLY/IN WISDOM (15-21):

Paul continues with the fifth way we ought to walk in verse 15; “see that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise”. Circumspectly brings with it the thought of moving with diligence and making precise movements. A commentator I read put it this way;

“We used to live in England and while there I observed that some Brits had built high brick walls around buildings to protect them from intruders. Their concrete tops are often imbedded with broken shards of glass, with their jagged points protruding upward, threatening to pierce any trespasser. It was interesting to watch a cat walk on such a wall. With extreme care and slow, deliberate moves, it deftly and cautiously placed its paws, one at a time, between the sharp cutting edges. That is walking circumspectly. You and I need to walk like that. We cannot go through a single day carelessly. We need to take every step carefully.”

2 Timothy 2:15 (NASB) 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

Throughout the book of Proverbs there are several comparisons between the diligent person and the lazy person, we must not let our guard down.

Paul continues with giving us a reason why we must walk with diligence, because the days are evil, and we must redeem all the time that the we have on this earth to bring honor and glory to God. The darker and more self-centered this world becomes the harder that will continue to be.

The word redeem here means to purchase, buy up from the possession or power of another. In this context it means that we must purchase our time from waste, to improve it for great and important purposes. In this world there are so many temptations to waste our time with, although all that we do are not sinful by themselves, but if we are dedicating most of our free time toward it can become sinful.

You can utilize almost any kind of waste, except the waste of time.

David really captures how little time we really have in this life in the book of Psalms, I’ll quickly read 2, the first one is in Psalm 39.

Psalm 39:4-5 (NASB) 4 "LORD, make me to know my end And what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am. 5 "Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Selah.

Psalm 90:10-12 (NASB) 10 As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away. 11 Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? 12 So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

In verses 17 Paul once again says to not act as fools but understand what the will of the Lord is. To act foolish means to behave contrary to what we know is right. But the way we can walk wisely is by knowing what the will of the Lord is. And in the next few verses Paul tells us how to do that, by being filled with the Spirit.

Ephesians 5:18-21 (NASB) 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

When someone is drunk, they are giving the control of their body over to alcohol, it can make a person do things that they would not normally do. Paul equates this with being filled with the Spirit, when we are filled and controlled by the Spirit, we will not do the things that we want, we will do the will of God. Both of these acts, being drunk and being filled with the Spirit are both passive acts, we must be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to fill us completely, He will not force himself upon us.

And when we have allowed ourselves to be filled with the Spirit, we see the results of that in the next few verses.

Our speech will be proper and uplifting to one another, with our every action and thought we will be praising the Lord in our heart and we will sincerely be able to thank God for everything that He has given us and continues to do in us daily.

And the last part as well, “and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.”

The word submit, in the society today if often taken the wrong way, today people often attach an abusive or authoritarian relationship with it.

But the word submit here as in the next verse when it talks about husbands and wives is Hupotasso in greek, which conveys the idea of military rank and rank order. Literally it means to be set in array under another the general officer. This does not imply any inferior qualities but simply describes the functional relationship of objectively appointed rank order.

We are not there to judge one each other or exalt ourselves, but just as in the military there are different ranks, we ourselves as members of the body of Christ all have different roles, but we are all pursuing the same goal, to bring glory to the God and to be more like Christ.

APPLICATION:

So how are we supposed to do this then, to walk in unity, to walk in holiness, walk in love, walk as children of light and to walk circumspectly??

Well I feel the answers are very simplistic if you think about it but can also be very difficult and challenging at the same time. First, we must be in the Word daily, this is how we will be able to discover a lot of what the will of the Lord is as Paul says here. We must be studying His word and learning more about our Saviour Jesus Christ because the accounts that we have of Him are the best examples that we have to walk in love, in the light and to walk wisely.

Secondly, we must be involved with Christian friends, with likeminded people who are pursuing the same relationship with the Lord as we are. We will be able to encourage one another and be there for when one another falls.

But the most important thing we must be doing to have a successful walk with God is committing to prayer. Just one chapter over in Ephesians Paul lists for us the armour of God, the things that we must put on to be able to stand against the temptations of this world. If you wouldn’t mind let’s just turn there quickly.

Ephesians 6:10-13 (NASB) 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

And then Paul goes on the lists the pieces of the armour of God and then we come to verse 18;

Ephesians 6:18 (NASB) 18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,

Paul gives us the armour of God and in this section and he concludes it with prayer, prayer is so important, here prayer is the glue that holds all the armour together. TRUTH, RIGHTOUSNESS, PEACE, FAITH and SALVATION. Prayer is what holds all of these together for a believer.

In Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians in verse 16 he says these three words. PRAY WITHOUT CEASING.

Without prayer I do not believe that we can have an effective walk with God. When we look at the lives people in the old testament, I referred to earlier, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and David. For them to have an effective walk with God they were in constant communication with God, we even have a lot of David’s communication with God in Psalms. We also see through the example of Daniel how he would go to his room and pray 3 times a day, he considered it so important that even when there was a law stating that no one could pray to anyone but the king he still continued to pray.

I’ll just finish here with a quote from C.S. Lewis;

“I pray because I can’t help myself. ... I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God. It changes me.” C.S. Lewis