How to Maintain a Walk with God

Introduction: What are the basic steps of the Christian life? What are the necessary things we must be doing to maintain our Christian life with God? Another title that I could have given this section of Scripture is: How to avoid Apostasy. But I want this to be a very positive message. I want to teach you how you as a follower of Jesus Christ can maintain a life with God.

There are two clear ways to maintain one’s life with God. Are you ready to receive them? Here they are:

I. Discipleship (Take in)

All who follow Jesus Christ have been called to discipleship (Matthew 4:19). We are disciples (followers) of Christ. We are learners of Jesus. We are pupils under the tutorship of the Master, and we are to become like our Master.

So, what does discipleship look like?

A. Know God’s Word – v. 20

But you, Beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith.

What is the first step in discipleship? It is understanding one’s faith (the total embodiment of Christian doctrine). Contrary to the opinion of some, “Christian truth” (doctrine) is not an option, but a necessity. Christian MUST know the Bible well.

God’s people must read the Bible. Reading the Bible must become a habit in your life. A habit occurs naturally by a thing called consistency. Many people choose to read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation every year. That is a good option.

Dr. Tony Evans wrote, “Don’t become a static Christian.”

Do you have a quiet time with God on a regular basis? I believer that every Christian needs to invest in a good study Bible. Think of it as an eternal investment that will pay everlasting dividends.

Scripture says,

Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LordGod of hosts. (Jeremiah 15:16)

Not only do we read the Bible, but we must study the Bible (2 Timothy 2:15). How do we go about studying the Bible?

1. Bible: We read through a Book of the Bible (Get yourself a good Study Bible – spend some money). Study the Bible with a pen in your hand. As you read mark anything that the Holy Spirit speaks to us about.

2. Words: We stop and look up words that we do not understand. Such words as:

· Propitiation

· Atonement

· Redemption

3. People: We study the people we meet along our reading journey. Such people as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Job, Daniel, Jonah, Samuel, David, Jeremiah, Mary, Martha, Phobe, Sarah, and Priscilla. Do these individuals have character you want to emulate, or do they lack character? What did they do or not do for God? What can we learn from their lives?

4. Places: Locations are another thing we need to learn. The geography of the Bible is essential for placing key events. Learn about such things as the mountains and valleys mentioned in the Bible. Learn about the Seas mentioned in the Bible – Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Galilee (which isn’t a sea). And what about the dead sea? Or what about the major events that occurred along the Jordan River?

Every book of the Bible (all 66) must be read (Genesis to Revelation), and we should have an understanding about these books. For instance, if I called out:

· Genesis, you would say, Beginnings.

· Deuteronomy, you would say, Second Law.

· Job, you would say, Suffering.

· Proverbs, you would say, Wisdom.

· Mark, you would say, Jesus as a Servant.

· Romans, you would say, Doctrine.

· Philippians, you would say Joy.

· Revelation, you would say, Prophecy of the End Times.

Listen, I have studied the Bible for well over 40 years, and I still feel like I am a freshman. There are so many things I don’t know. And the more I think I know the less I discover I know! Some of you have an air of pride when it comes to what you think you know about the Bible. PRIDE was Satan’s downfall.

I would also say that we need to not only read, study, but we need to memorize the Bible. We need to hide God’s Word in our hearts.

Psalm 119:11 – Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

What is the second step in discipleship?

B. A Prayer Life – v. 20

Praying in the Holy Spirit.

What does this mean? It means that we learn how to pray and that we talk with God often. This is NOT speaking about praying in tongues. But praying and being mindful of the Holy Spirit.

· Ephesians 6:18 - praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

· 1 Thessalonians 5:17 – Pray without ceasing.

· Luke 18:1 – Men always ought to pray and not lose heart.

What is prayer? It is simply talking. In the same way that I am speaking to you right now, is the way you are to speak with God. This is called communication. I am talking with you. You and I are to talk with God.

Can you imagine a child who grow up and never speaks to their parent? We would see that as quite odd. God’s people must learn to pray in secret, and they must learn to pray in public. Every Christian should be ready to pray. Jesus taught His disciple to pray, just as John taught his disciples to pray – do you see the pattern?

We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit takes our requests before God (Romans 8:26), and God determines what he is going to do with our request.

God answers all prayers. He will answer with a:

· Yes

· No

· Wait

To pray means that we pray in line with the Holy Spirit. One thing we KNOW about the Holy Spirit is that He always is behind the scenes, and that He promotes Jesus and the Father. So, when we pray our prayers should not always be about self-promotion. We need to learn to pray BIG prayers, prayers that are BIGGER than ourselves (Jeremiah 33:3).

Do we believe that God moves mountains? (See Mark 11:23).

What is a third step in discipleship?

C. Stay Close to God – v. 21

keep yourselves in the love of God.

It is so easy to backslide. (Prone to wander – Margie Sowers). To allow ones most holy faith to become a dry faith, a parched faith, or an empty bottle faith. This is not what God wants for any one of us. No, God wants us to keep ourselves in His love.

Benjamin Chapman has explained that the meaning here seems to be – “keep yourselves from being dragged off into a life that is different from what God wants for you.”

How do you do this? Well, I believe that Scripture teaches that the Churchis a key to keeping yourself in the love of God. In Hebrews 10:25 we read,

not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

In the Strong’s concordance the Greek word for “assembly” has the following commentary. Please allow this to sink in (after all we are called disciples – learners – pupils):

1997. ἐπισυναγωγή episunagōgḗ; gen. episunagōgḗs, fem. noun from episunágō (1996), to gather together. The act of gathering or assembling together (2 Thess. 2:1 [cf. 1 Thess 4:17]). Heb. 10:25 does not merely denote the assembling for corporate worship as a solitary or occasional act, but as customary conduct. The prep. epí (1909), to, must refer to Christ Himself as the one to whom this assembly was attached. Thus it would have the meaning of not betraying one’s attachment to Jesus Christ and other believers, not avoiding one’s own personal responsibility as part of the body of Christ.

Syn.: sunagōgḗ (4864), a gathering of Jews for worship, a synagogue; ekklēsía(1577), an assembly, church; sunédrion(4892), a council; panḗguris (3831), a festive assembly; sunodía (4923), synod, companionship on a journey.

Ant.: egkataleípō (1459), to desert or leave stranded, to abandon. It refers rather to the separating of oneself from the local Christian community (often because of the dread of persecution). [1]

It has been said that the Church is God’s Plan A. He has no Plan B. And I tell people all the time that the Church provides everything a person needs from the cradle to the grave. We can be hatched, matched, and dispatched all within the Church.

Now, think about this:

· Jews go to Synagogue.

· Muslims go to Mosque.

· Buddhists go to Monastery.

· Hindus go to the Temple.

What about the cults?

· Mormons have Temples and Wards.

· Jehovah’s Witnesses have Kingdom Halls.

· Scientologists call their building Churches (a lie).

What about Christians? Well, we KNOW that we are called to assemble. Why? Because we are the body of Christ. Throughout time God has always had a place where His people came together:

· In the wilderness it was the Tabernacle.

· In the Promised Land it was the Temple.

· In the New Testament it was the Synagogue.

· Later in the New Testament it was homes (Peter’s home is a good example. I saw his residence in 1994).

· Much later God’s people-built buildings that today we call, Churches.

Note: The oldest known purpose-built Christian church in the world is in Aqaba, Jordan. Built between 293 and 303, the building pre-dates the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, Israel, and the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, West Bank, both of which were constructed in the late 320s.

It was unearthed in 1998 by a group of archaeologists and is the world's oldest-known purpose-built Christian church.

Jesus said,

I will build My Church… (Matthew 16:18)

The Church was born on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. 3,000 souls became a part of the Church on day one. The 28 Chapters of the Book of Acts are the history of the first 30-year of the Church. Thousands upon thousands became a part of the early Church.

· 3 Times the Church is presented in the Gospels.

· 19 times it is presented in the Book of Acts.

· 62 times in the epistles of Paul (The Theologian of the New Testament).[2]

Listen to these words from Paul. He is writing about the Church:

· Ephesians 2:19—22 - Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

· Ephesians 4:11-16 - And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

And over in Colossians 2:7 Paul penned these words,

rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

One other thought before we move on. Nature doesn’t visit you when you are sick and in the hospital. Nature doesn’t care for your family when you die. And when you are in a bad financial situation, nature doesn’t provide you with gas for your car, or meals for your family. And when you are lonely and depressed, nature doesn’t hug you, or pray with you. No, it’s the Church that does all these things.

What is a fourth step in discipleship?

D. Look for Christ’s Coming – v. 21

Looking for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Benjamin C. Chapman wrote,

“Looking for (Gr. Prosdechomai) means to “anticipate.”

What it meant here is probably the same exhortation as was given by Paul when he used this very word in a similar connection in Titus 2:13, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” It is interesting that Paul also used the word mercy in a reference to the Second Coming, “The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy… in that day (II Timothy 1:18). Peter also closed his second epitle with a triple use of a synonym, asking his readers to look for the coming of the day of God.” (Liberty Bible Commentary on the New Testament).

What is mercy? The biblical definition for mercy is that which keeps us from getting what we deserve. God’s mercy is NEW every day!

Dr. Kenneth Wuest’s translates this verse in like manner, “expectantly looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ resulting in life eternal.”

As people we don’t deserve mercy, it is just given to us. We have a merciful God. God knows us through-and-through, and He is mindful that we are but dust. God knows our weaknesses and our frailness, and yet instead of giving us what we deserve he shows us mercy.

I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever,

I will sing of the mercies of the Lord.

With my mouth will I make known,

Thy Faithfulness, thy faithfulness,

With my mouth will I make known

Thy faithfulness to all generations.

Because we have a merciful God, we should continue maintaining our life with God. And as we walk with God our eyes should be looking up. Jesus really is ONE day closer to coming!

There is a second way for us to maintain our life with God. It is…

II. Evangelism (Give out)

Healthy Christians Reproduce! The by-product of having a relationship with Jesus Christ is sharing Jesus Christ with others. This is called, evangelism. Paul was an evangelist, Phillip was an evangelist, and Timothy was told to do the work of an evangelist.

I like the way one evangelist explained evangelism. He said,

“It is one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.”

Two Old Testament verses tell us,

· Proverbs 11:30 – The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise.

· Daniel 12:3 - Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.

And in the New Testament (Matthew 28:18-20) we read,

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

If you had the answer to man’s greatest problem and you kept it to yourself, it would be the greats crime against humanity. Well, guess what? You do possess the answer to man’s greatest problem - SIN! Jesus Christ is the answer, and we must NOT keep Him to ourselves.

It is easy for people to pass out tracts (on the 4th of July Phillip, Caleb, and others passed out over 900 tracts), but it is another thing to develop relationships with people and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them.

I believe that our text tells us about two types of people that we are to reach. They are:

A. The Ignorant Sinner (Clueless) – v. 22

And on some have compassion, making a distinction.

What does this mean? Well, there are some people are ignorant when they sin. They have no clue about God, Scripture, or Salvation. They are clueless in life to the things of God.

When Steven Tranthrum spoke at SLBC a few months back he shared that he has run across students attending University of Nevada at Reno from the State of California that have never heard of Jesus Christ. Imagine in 2022 people who have never heard of Jesus Christ!

In Acts 17, when the Apostle Paul entered Athens, he saw a group of people that were worshipping everything, and they even erected an altar to the UNKOWN GOD. Well, Paul saw these people ignorance, and he told them that he was there to tell them about the UNKNOWN GOD. He preached Jesus to them, and some men joined him and believed (Acts 17:34). Had Paul attacked them in their ignorance he wouldn’t have gotten anywhere with them. No, he was wise in recognizing their ignorance. We would do well by following Paul’s example in witnessing.

An Evangelism Question

Who was the last person you talked to Jesus Christ about? How did the conversation turn to Jesus Christ? Where did the conversation lead? Will anyone be in heaven because you cared enough to share Jesus Christ with them?

B. The Deliberate Sinner - v. 23

But others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire.

We know that not all people sin in ignorance. No, some sin with eyes wide open. These people need Jesus Christ too.

There are some people around us that smell like hell. They smell like the flames of hell are already trying to grab ahold of them. Have you meet these people? Satan appears to have a tight grip on them.

How far are we willing to go to snatch someone out of hell’s flames? I’m talking about those in the gutter of life. Will we pass them by and allow them to be swallowed up by hells fames, or will we get dirty and covered in sooth, and grab people by their collars and pull them out of the fire?

The Fireman’s Creed

When I am called to duty, God wherever flames may rage, give me strength to save a life, whatever be its age. Help me to embrace a little child before it's too late or save an older person from the horror of that fate.

I can’t imagine being a fireman and going into a burning building and rescuing people, but there has GOT to be great satisfaction from doing so. And on the other hand, when a fireman is unable to reach a person and the flames consume them there has got to be an awful anguish. No fireman wants to see a person perish in flames.

And no Christian should ever want to see a people perish in the fire without knowing Jesus Christ. Yes, we must share the gospel with lost people.

We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations

1 We've a story to tell to the nations, that shall turn their hearts to the right, a story of truth and mercy, a story of peace and light, a story of peace and light.

Refrain: For the darkness shall turn to dawning, and the dawning to noonday bright, and Christ's great kingdom shall come on earth, the kingdom of love and light.

2 We've a song to be sung to the nations, that shall lift their hearts to the Lord, a song that shall conquer evil, and shatter the spear and sword, and shatter the spear and sword. [Refrain]

3 We've a message to give to the nations, that the Lord who reigneth above has sent us His Son to save us, and show us that God is love, and show us that God is love. [Refrain]

4 We've a Savior to show to the nations, who the path of sorrow has trod, that all of the world's great peoples may come to the truth of God, may come to the truth of God! [Refrain]

There is one other thought that needs to be shared when it comes to this second group of people that we are trying to reach with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

C. Hate all Sin – v. 23

Hating even the garments defiled by the flesh.

A final but just as important aspect of seeing people come to faith in Christ is hating the things (the garments that defile the flesh) that take people to hell. We all know that more and more sin is being legalized today and it is being legitimized by State politicians.

A garment is something that people wear. What we are looking at here are the sins that people hold on to tightly and don’t want to let them go.

In Romans 12:9 we read,

Abhor what is evil.

We are to hate sins that take people to hell. The greatest sin is the rejection of Jesus Christ. And the reasons why the deliberate sinner rejects Jesus Christ is because of the garments that have utterly defiled their flesh. Sin is a cancer that eats away at the flesh. And if a person sins often enough and long enough sin just may take their life. After death there are no second chances!

Can I remind all of us that God doesn’t send people to hell? Going to hell is a decision that individuals make. People send themselves to hell because they refuse to acknowledge their sin and their need for a Savior.

A list of what I hate:

· Rejection of Jesus Christ

· Idolatry the worship of anything other than God.

· Defilement, any sin that has a grip on your whole life.

· Hedonism the belief that happiness is found outside of Jesus Christ.

· Addictions filling your life with a substance instead of the Substance.

Are you getting the idea of what we are to hate? We are to hate any garment that would keep a person from coming to faith in Jesus Christ.

Conclusion: Do you know another name that I could have given to this message? How to AVIOD Apostasy (to fall away). Jude penned this letter desiring to write about our common salvation, but he found it more needful to encourage his readers to contend for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints (v. 3).

If you and I want to avoid apostacy in our Christian walk, we too must take heed to Jude’s instructions. If we desire to maintain a walk with God, we should make sure that we are engaged disciples (Take in):

· That we KNOW God’s Word.

· That we have a Prayer life.

· That we are staying close to God (Church attendance).

· That we are looking for Christ’s return.

And make sure that we are busy at evangelism (Give out):

· Reach the ignorant sinner (the clueless). Those who have never heard of Jesus Christ or have a concept of sin.

· Reach the deliberate sinner (eyes wide open). They may smell like hell, but they need our hand pulling them out of the flames.

· Hate all garments that defile the flesh. Any sin that has a grip on a human being that cause someone to reject Jesus Christ.

Discipleship and Evangelism are two ways to maintain a life with God.

gen (genitive) prep (preposition) [1] Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). AMG Publishers. [2]What about the Church? Paul R. Van Gorder, p.5