Go with me, if you would, back
to 1 Thessalonians 2. 1 Thessalonians 2, and let's read
verses 10 through 12 again. You are witnesses, and God also,
how holily and justly and unblameably we
behaved ourselves among you that believe. As you know how we exhorted
and comforted and charged every one of you as a father doth his
children that you would walk worthy of God who hath called
you unto his kingdom and glory." What an amazing thing to say. And what an amazing thing to
exhort. He said in verse 10, you are
witnesses in God also how holily and justly and unblameably we
behaved ourselves among you that believe. And he said, we exhort
you Paul and the other apostles, this is our exhortation to you
in verse 12, that you would walk worthy of God. Walk worthy of
God. Now, let's start here. This is
the first thing I'd like for us to acknowledge about this.
In Christ, we are holy. In Christ, we are just. We're justified. In Christ, we are unblameable. In Christ, that's exactly how
we are. How He said they were, that's
how they were. In Christ, unblameable. In Christ, we stand before God
perfectly holy. that's amazing perfectly holy
just as spotless and as pure as christ is as perfect as he
is as he is so are we in christ we stand before god totally justified
well done thou good and faithful servant In Christ, we stand before
God unblameable, righteous. The righteousness of God in Him. The reason is because Christ
traded places with us. That's the reason. Christ traded
places with us. He made Himself to be sin before
God. so we could be holy. He made
himself to be unjustified, not justified before God so we could
be justified. He made himself to be blamable. He put himself in blame. He stood
there blamable. as a sheep led to the slaughter
in his humiliation. He made himself to be blamable
before God so we could be unblameable. And he did that by trading places. Completely trading places with
us. Now I, and this is just an amazing thing to say, but I am
holy before God. But I'm not holy before you. I am justified before God, but
I'm not justified before you. I am unblameable before God,
but honestly it's so sad. I am not unblameable before you. The reason is because I still
have to live out the sin that Christ paid for. I have to live
it out. I have to go through it. He took
all of my record, all of our record. Every sin we will commit
until our last breath on this earth. He took all of the sin
upon himself, but we still have to commit them. We still have
to commit them against each other, in front of each other. And I am thrilled and I know
you are too. We are thrilled when we hear
it. Honestly, we are thrilled in
our standing before God. But it is sad to say, I'm very
sorry in my standing before you. All right, that's the first thing
I have to say about that. Here's the second thing I have
to say about this. Even though I will carry out
all of the sins that Christ paid for, and even though Christ paid for
them, even though He put them away, He paid for them and He
put them away. Even so, I have no excuse for
my sin. He paid for them, all of them,
all the way to the end. I am going to carry them out
in front of myself, in front of God, in front of you. And
even though Christ paid for all of them and put them all away,
I still have no excuse for my sin. Shall we continue in sin
that grace may abound? God forbid. God forbid. All throughout this word, the
exhortation from God to his people is, straighten up and fly right. Page one to the last page, God
is constantly telling us, straighten up and fly right. That's what
I am to do. That's what we all are to do. God's children ought to act like
God's children. I ought to act like a child of
God. We ought to strive to hear His
Word. We ought to strive to heed His
Word. We ought to strive to obey His
Word. We ought to strive to. At no
point does free grace give a man or a woman a license to sin.
And God's people don't want a license to sin. We don't want it at all. John wrote, My little children,
these things write I unto you that you sin not. This could
be my favorite and in all the scripture. I love but God, and
this could be my favorite and in all the scripture, he said,
My little children, these things write I unto you that you sin
not. And if any man sin. We have an
advocate with the father. Who is the advocate? Jesus Christ,
the righteous, the one who is daily making intercession for
his people. Is that not precious? As I carry
these sins out, God, my Savior, God the Son, is on the right
hand of his Father, saying, that one's under the blood. That one's
covered. I paid for that. I took that
upon myself. Through the preaching of forgiveness
from sin. That's what the gospel is. That's
what the good news is. Forgiveness from sin. Through the preaching of forgiveness
from sin. May God cause us to hate the
sin that Christ had to forgive. Honestly, don't we agree with
that? Don't we say amen to that? Through the preaching of absolute
forgiveness from sin. May God give us a heart that
hates the sin that Christ had to forgive. We're going to close
in a moment with this song. Listen to the words of this song.
It says, Oh, for a closer walk with God, a calm and heavenly
frame, a light to shine upon the road that leads me to the
land. Return, oh, holy dove, return,
sweet messenger of rest. I hate the sins that made thee
mourn and drove thee from my breast. I hate the fact that
I quenched the Spirit. The dearest idol I have ever
known, whatever that idol be, help me to tear it from thy throne
and worship only thee. So shall my walk be close with
God, calm and serene my frame. So pure light shall mark the
road that leads me to the land. May we exhort each other. Let's
exhort each other and encourage each other in the good word of
our Lord. Turn with me over to Ephesians
chapter two. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 says,
For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them." That's clear as a bell, isn't
it? By grace, we are saved through faith. That is not of ourselves,
that's the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. We are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works. which God hath before ordained,
that we should walk in them. Look at Ephesians chapter 4 verse
1. I therefore, the prisoner of
the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith
you are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering,
forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace. That's how we ought to
walk. Look at Ephesians 5 verse 1 says, Be ye therefore followers
of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also hath loved
us and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling savor." These things are not hard to
understand, are they? Not hard to understand. Paul
told the Philippians, be examples to each other. He told the Colossians,
be fruitful in every good work. He told the Galatians, the fruit
of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance. Our Lord himself said, take my
yoke upon you and learn of me for I'm meek and lowly in heart
and you shall find rest unto your souls. That's not shocking,
is it? Not shocking at all. This is
written on the conscience of every man and woman, boy and
girl. We all know this. We all know
this. How should God's people be? What
brings more glory to him? Which one is more in agreement
with his word? We could go through a list. Love
or hate? Retaliation or forgiveness? Selfishness
or selflessness? We all know the answer. We all
know the answer to these things. We ought to strive for these
things. And the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace does
not diminish these things. It establishes them. All right. So the new man is holy before
God. The old man is still a sinner
before us, and we ought to strive to put off the old man and put
on the new man. I want to really establish that.
No buts about it. All right, here's the third thing
I have to say about our text tonight. Humanly speaking, worldly
speaking, in the flesh, there are some fine people out there there are some fine people. There
are some people who achieve better works than you and I will ever
achieve. Some people really do love. Some people really do forgive. Some people sincerely, I mean
honestly in the depths of their soul, forgive. Some people really
do strive to take all the blame, esteem others better than themselves. Some people do that. Some people
show willing generosity in a way that just can't even be described. With all of that being said,
They are still not, as Paul exhorted in our text, walking worthy of
God. Now that's his exhortation. Walk worthy of God. Everything
that I just said got us to me telling the title of this message.
Walking worthy of God. The second to the last thing
that I would ever want to do. This is so important to me. I
want to be so clear. This holds the number two spot.
The second to the last thing that I would ever want to do
is diminish good works. I don't want to do that. The last thing that I would ever
want to do is insinuate that our good works cause us to walk
worthy of God. In no way, shape, or form do
we diminish what our Lord has commanded of us. And in no way,
shape, or form do we look at our doing of these good works
as evidence of walking worthy with God. That is the great error
that men have added to the gospel. That is the great error that
many people add to the gospel. All of our righteousnesses are
filthy rags. All of them, all of our good
works are filthy rags to God. If we love, our love is so imperfect. We call it unconditional love. That's only as long as I have
a reason to keep loving unconditionally. We think we forgive, but we never
forget. Listen to our God. This is what
our God said. I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember
their sin no more. Is that not great news? Never
remember it again. That is perfect forgiveness. That's perfect love. I exhort
myself. I exhort all of us. Love, don't
hate. But don't then in pride take
that love to God and say, well, you told me to love. Here it
is. I'm walking worthy of you. Let's all walk worthy of God.
He said, love less love. Take that to him. I exhort all
of us, make peace, not war. Truly forgive, but don't then
in pride take that to God and say, you told me to forgive,
here it is. I'm walking worthy of you. Walking worthy of God
has nothing to do with the deeds of this flesh. Nothing to do
with it. It would strike absolute horror
in me if I knew that God was looking at my deeds and looking
at the motive of my heart to see whether or not I was worthy
to walk with Him. Strive for good works. That's
the exhortation. But rest in the fact that our
worthiness to walk with God has nothing to do with the deeds
of this flesh. Nothing. What is walking worthy of God? I found quite a few scriptures
that talked about being worthy and unworthy. Our Lord said,
if the house is worthy, preach to it. He said, don't partake
of my table unworthily. So there's something that defines
what it is to be worthy or unworthy, specifically in walking with
God. So because of all these scriptures,
there are many things. I believe there are quite a few
things we could see. Many scriptures we could see
to define what it is to walk worthy of God. I want to emphasize
three. If we can enter into these three,
I believe we'll understand a little bit of what it is to walk worthy
of God. Go with me to Amos chapter 3. Page 1142, if your Bible is like
mine. Amos chapter 3. Amos 3 verse 3 says, Can two
walk together except they be agreed? Enoch walked with God. Enoch walked with God. We know
God considered him to be worthy because God took him. He was
not. Took him right into heaven. Anytime
we consider walking with God or walking worthy of God, the
first thing we need to remember is the scripture says two cannot
walk together except they be agreed. To walk worthy of God
is to agree with God. I exhort myself, I exhort all
of us. Agree with God. Agree with God,
whatever He has to say about anything and everything. Agree
with Him. Agree with Him. What does He
have to say about us? What does God have to say about
us? Nothing good. His exact words are, none good,
no, not one. Lord, I agree. I completely agree. We've already mentioned what
He had to say about our righteousnesses, all of our good works. Do I diminish
good works? Absolutely not. But all of them
are filthy rags. Filthy rags. What does this heart
have to say about it? Lord, I agree. I completely agree. Everything He has to say about
God, His sovereignty, His control, His right, In everything, choose
whom He will, pass by whom He will, harden whom He will. He
is the potter, we are the clay. Lord, I agree. I completely agree. Everything He has to say about
salvation, it's totally finished. It was accomplished without our
help, in the blood of Christ alone. It can only be had in
Him, no place else. I agree. Lord, I totally agree. Here's the second definition
of walking worthy. Go with me over to 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 7 says,
For we walk by faith, not by sight. Walking worthy of God
is walking with a single eye on Christ. Totally, completely
looking to Christ. Faith looks to Christ. We walk by faith. God's people
all walk by faith. Faith looks to Christ. It trusts
Christ. It waits on Christ. It follows
Christ. Our Lord said to all of his apostles,
follow me. That's what he says to every
child of God when he calls them, follow me. Faith follows Christ. If we're going to walk worthy
of God, we must follow Christ. We must look to Christ. Completely
trust Him. Paul said, follow me as I follow
Christ. Our Lord said, I am the light. Walk in the light. He said, while
the light is here, walk in the light. Walk worthy. Walk worthy of God, walking in
Christ. That's the only place a sinner
can be found worthy. In Christ, that's it. Look over
at Colossians chapter 2. Colossians 2 verse 6 says, as
you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in
him. I heard a good illustration on
receiving Christ Jesus the Lord. My brother poured water in that
glass just a minute ago. This glass received the water. This glass did nothing but receive
the water. This glass did not put the water
in it. It just received it. That's all
it did. That's the same thing for us.
As we have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. We have received Him. How do
we approach God? In Christ. How do we walk with
God in Christ? We are holy in Christ. We are
justified in Christ. We're unblameable in Christ. We agree in Christ. We walk in Christ by faith in
Him. Alright, this is the third definition
of a worthy walk. And to say it in one word, it's
humility. Humility. John the Baptist said
over and over again, I am not worthy. What is a worthy walk? John kept crying. I am not worthy. I am unworthy. I am so unworthy. I'm not even worthy to stoop
down and tie his shoes. The centurion said, Lord, I am
not worthy for you to come under my roof. What what you talk about
walking by faith, trust in Christ, he said, my servant is lying
at home sick. Would you heal him? The Lord
said, I'll come to your house. Could you imagine? God said,
I'll come to your house. He said, I'm not worthy for you
to come to my house. Say the word only. And he'll
be healed. The worthy cry of all the worthy
saints in heaven is, thou alone art worthy. Worthy is the lamb
that was slain. Everyone there is crying, not
unto us, O Lord, not unto us, unto thy name give glory. You must increase, we must decrease. That is worthy of God. God says that is worthy to him. Walking worthy is knowing our
own unworthiness and His all-worthiness. And I'm going to show you an
example of that in closing. Go with me over to Luke chapter
15. This is a precious story. The
prodigal son, most everyone I'm sure knows this story. He ran
off. He wanted his money from his father. He ran off and he
rebelled against his father. He wasted everything his father
gave him. And now he's a broke beggar.
Now he has nothing left. And he's broken. Look at Luke
15 verse 17. And when he came to himself, And we know that's God's mercy
to him. God brought him to himself. When he came to himself, he said,
how many hired servants of my father's house or of my father's
have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger. I will
arise and go to my father and will say unto him, father, I
have sinned against heaven and before thee. and am no more worthy
to be called thy son. I'm not worthy to be called your
son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose and came to his
father, but when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and
had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said unto him, father,
I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight and am no more
worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants,
bring forth the best robe and put it on him and put a ring
on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring hither the fatted
calf and kill it. And let us eat and be merry.
For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and
is found. And they began to be married.
He came crying, Lord, I'm not worthy. I'm so unworthy. Thou
alone art worthy. And this is the exhortation from
the apostle to us. Let's agree with God. All of
us agree with God. Look to Christ, crying, Thou
alone art worthy. I am unworthy. You alone are
worthy. Lord, your blood is worthy. It's worthy to save my soul.
And I'm begging you for it. Our God said that is a worthy
walk. That's a worthy walk. Alright,
let's all stand together.