George McSherry went back in
the hospital this week. I think she's having some kind
of trouble that she had before with an infection. Everybody
remember her. She's a central Baptist. Lizzie got through her surgery
fabulously. I'm very thankful for that. struggled a great deal with the
message I want to bring this evening. The reason being, when
a preacher preaches a message in response to something, he
always overstates the case. And he usually does so to the
exclusion of something else. And I fear doing that. I don't
want to do that. I want the inspiration from a
message to be from the word of God. And not some kind of response. But there's a saying that I've
always had difficulty with thinking about. And you've heard it probably
many times. Living the Christian life. living the Christian life. We
need to live the Christian life. And twice on two different occasions
from two different preachers this week, I've heard these men
speak of living the Christian life. One preacher was referring to
the need of the Holy Spirit to help us to live the Christian
life. And the other preacher spoke of preachers who were deficient
in this thing of giving good instruction in living the Christian
life. Question. Does the Bible use
this kind of language? Living the Christian life. Is
this a biblical concept? No. The emphasis is all wrong. When Christ, our life, there's
the Christian life. When Christ, our life, shall
appear. The Lord said in John chapter
14, verse 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father But
by me, when people speak of the necessity of living the Christian
life, it seems to imply that it's possible to be a Christian
and not live the Christian life. Now, I believe I know what people
mean by that statement. I suppose they mean, how do you
act if you act like a Christian? behavior that would be consistent
with being a Christian. What Christians should act like.
There's one problem with that. It's an act. That's the problem. It's an act. I'm attempting to act like what
I believe a Christian ought to act like. And it only takes one
thing. to live the Christian life. You
have to be a Christian. And if you're a Christian, you
will live the Christian life and all its ups and downs and
going around and down one way and up another and all the ebbs
and flows. But if you have life, you live,
don't you? What's it take to live? You've
got to be alive. And if you're alive, you know
what? You'll live. If you are a Christian,
you will necessarily live the Christian life. If you're not
living the Christian life, then you're not a Christian. Being
a Christian necessitates living the Christian life. Now, I think
that perhaps this kind of language comes from seeing people who
profess to be Christians, who say they are Christians, but
their lives seem to be a complete contradiction of that, and they
don't appear to be Christians by their conduct. Now, so what people do is they
make a grid of what they think the Christian life is. and compare
others, or even themselves, to this grid to see how we measure
up. Are we living the Christian life? Let me show you a passage of
Scripture in 2 Corinthians 10. Paul says in verse 12, For we dare not Make ourselves
of the number or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves.
But they listen to this measuring themselves by themselves and
comparing themselves among themselves are not wise. That is not wise now. Does that mean that your life
does not matter? Does that mean your character
and your conduct do not matter? Does that mean your conversation
does not matter? Certainly not. There is a word
used in the New Testament very frequently. It describes the
conduct of the believer. It's called their walk. How many times have you read
that in the scriptures? The walk. The Greek dictionary
defines the word as the whole round of the activities of the
individual life. Your walk is your life in your
marriage, in your parenting, in your home, on the job, in
recreational activities, in your social life, sitting in the pew,
what you're doing right now. That's your walk. And our walk
is determined by who we are and what we are. Now, here's an example
of what I'm trying to say. The Beatitudes in Matthew chapter
5. Remember the blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are they
that mourn. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst after righteousness. This is not talking about something
that we strive to attain to. This is talking about what the
believer is. The believer is poor in spirit. The believer
is a peacemaker. The believer is one who's persecuted
for righteousness sake. The believer is one who mourns
before God. This is not something we're trying
to attain to. This is something we are. And the believer's walk is what
he is. Now, what I'd like for us to
do is look at what the Bible says about our walk. And everything that we're going
to look at is included in the Christians' walk. If you walk
in any one of these ways, you're walking all of them. And if you
don't walk in one of them, you don't walk in any of them. This
is the walk of the believer. And we're not saying that. Let
me say this also. When we talk about the walk of the believer,
that does mean, and you know this is so, you know, from the
scriptures, the walk of the believer can not look good. What did Paul
say to the Corinthians? Are ye not yet carnal and walk
as men? You're walking like an unbeliever.
That's what you look like. And we can do that. We can do
that. And you all know you've done
it. I know I've done it. We're all aware of that. But
still, this walk is the tenor of the believer's life. If you
want to know what a believer is, if you want to know what
the Christian life is, what is the Christian's walk? So turn
with me to Colossians chapter two. Now, every one of these passages from
scripture, I believe I can enter into. It's not just some kind
of ideal that I strive to reach for living the Christian life,
but it's something that I enter into and experience. Look what
he says in verse six of Colossians chapter two. As you have therefore
received Christ Jesus, the Lord, So walk ye in Him. Now how did you receive Christ
Jesus the Lord? How did you receive Him? Well, I know this. When I received Him, I received
Him as an empty-handed sinner with not one good thing to recommend
me to Him. That's the way I received Him.
And you know what? I've not grown past that. As
you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, you received Him freely. You received Him knowing that
He was the gift of God's grace, that He was the unspeakable gift.
You received Him gratefully. You received Him joyfully. But
you received Him, or you didn't receive Him at all if you didn't
receive Him like this. You received Him as an empty-handed sinner,
needing everything about Him. You needed His grace. You needed
His righteousness. That's how you received Him.
Now, as you've received Christ Jesus the Lord, you walk in Him
just like that. You never graduate past that.
You never get past that. Oh, if you get past that, you're
in a bad place. As a matter of fact, you never
were there in the first place if you get past that. I'm sure of that.
As you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. Turn back to Romans chapter 6. Verse 4, Romans 6, verse 4, Therefore,
we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even
so we should also walk in newness of life. Now, what is this newness
of life? The new life, the new heart. the new nature that God gives
you. That's how I'm to walk in newness of life. Look in Romans
7, verse 6. But now we're delivered from
the law of being dead wherein we were held, that we should
serve in the newness of spirit. Same thing. And not in the oldness
of the letter, salvation by works. We walk in newness of life, the
new man. Romans 8. Beginning in verse
1. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk. Who walk, there's that
word. Not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. For what the law could not do,
The Old Covenant, salvation by works, the Ten Commandments,
in that it was weak through the flesh. The problem wasn't with
the law, the problem was with the flesh. God sending His own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh. But after the spirit,
now most folks will look at that passage of Scripture and think,
well, when you walk in the spirit, that means you're kind of walking
above sin. And when you walk in the flesh, you're walking
in sin and you kind of go in and out. You know, sometimes
you're walking in the spirit and sometimes you're walking
in the flesh. That has absolutely nothing to do with what that
passage of Scripture means. If you walk in the flesh, you're
walking in the law, you're walking in works. You're working in self-reliance
and self-dependence. If you walk in the Spirit, you're
looking to Christ only. Now, this is what the new man
does. He walks in the Spirit. Now, this walking in the Spirit
does not mean you no longer battle with sin. What's Galatians 5,
17 say? The flesh lusts against the Spirit. And the Spirit lusts against
the flesh. And these two are contrary one
to the other. They're at odds. They're battling
so that you can't do the things that you would. Now, this battle
means you're walking in the Spirit. You still have the flesh. You
know that. But this battle means you're walking in the Spirit.
You can read Romans, Chapter 7, and that will give you some
idea that this is not freedom from the flesh. But I'll tell
you what, a believer doesn't walk in the flesh. The weapons
of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God. 1 John chapter 1, verse 5, This then is the message
which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is
light. And in him is no darkness at
all. And the light that's being spoken
of is the light of how God can say regarding me, he has no sin. It's the light of justification,
the light of the gospel, the light of how he saves sinners. There's no darkness at all, nothing
unclean. It magnifies God's justice and
his holiness and his righteousness in his way of saving sinners.
God is light and in him is no darkness at all. Verse six, if
we say we have fellowship with him, A lot of folks make that
claim. I pray God hears me. I know God
and He knows me. We're in good shape. I'm all
right with God. If we say we have fellowship
with Him and walk in darkness, what do we do? If we walk in
the darkness of salvation by words, if we don't walk in the
light of the gospel but we walk in darkness, what do we do? We
lie. That talk about fellowship with
God was a big, fat lie and nothing more. But if we walk in the light,
as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.
Let me ask you, can you have fellowship with anybody who doesn't
believe Christ is everything but salvation? You can't have
fellowship with that person, can you? It's impossible. But
you can have anybody who really believes they're a sinner and
believes that Christ is everything in salvation, they really believe
His righteousness is the only righteousness there is, you can
have fellowship with that person, can't you? Sweet, blessed fellowship. If we walk in the light as He
is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. And the blood
of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. 2nd Corinthians
5. Verse 7. For we walk by faith. Here's
our walk. We walk by faith and not by sight. Now what does that mean? We walk
by faith and not by sight. According to 1 Corinthians 1.30,
one of my favorite verses of scripture, and I know it is yours
too, of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto
us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Don't you love that? Now, can
you look at yourself and see that you're so wise that the
infinite God can embrace you and have fellowship with you
and sweet communion with you? Can you see that in yourself?
No. You can't see that in yourself.
But you know, you're believing what you can't see. God's Word
says, I'm wise in Christ and the holy, infinite God can have
fellowship with me. Can you look at yourself and
see that you're altogether righteous? That when God sees you, He sees
no sin, nothing but pure righteousness, just like His Son. Can you see
that? Of course you can't. If you can,
you're deceived. But you believe it, don't you?
You believe God has made Christ your righteousness before Him.
Can you see that you're utterly sanctified and holy? that God
looks at you and He sees one who is as holy as His Son. Can
you see that? No, you can't. But you believe
it. You believe what you cannot see. We walk by faith and not by sight. Can you see that you're fully
redeemed, fully delivered? No, you can't see it, but you
believe you are. Now, I can't see that I stand perfect before
God, but I believe I do. I walk by faith. and not by sight. And we walk in the blessedness
of knowing we're justified before God without any reference to
our works. What a blessed walk this is. We walk by faith, not by sight,
not by what we can see. Look in Ephesians chapter 5. There's one. Be therefore followers
of God as dear children and walk in love. Walk in love, that same love
Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 13, as Christ also hath loved
us. Walk in love as Christ has also
loved us. Now, how has Christ loved us? You know, he said, As the Father
has loved me, so have I loved you. I want you to think about
that. How did the Father love Christ? When we think of God's love for
us quite often, this is the way we feel, He tolerates me for
Christ's sake. Does the Father tolerate Christ? No, he sees him as altogether
lovely and perfect and beautiful and holy. Christ tells us that's
how he loves us. That's how he sees us. And you
think of his love for you. The first thing I think of for
him to love me, he's got to forgive me all the time. It's a forgiving
love. It's a giving love he gave himself
for me. It's a free love. Walk in love. Toward each other. That's the
believer's walk. Galatians chapter 6. Galatians chapter 6. Verse 16. And as many as walk
According to this rule, this standard of measurement, you
want a rule of life for a believer? Here it is. As many as walk according
to this rule. I don't know how many times I've
heard preachers say, well, the Ten Commandments are our rule
of life. We're saved by grace, but the Ten Commandments are
our rule of life. Well, if that's the standard of measurement,
you're in trouble. And I am too. But he does give
us a standard of measurement, a rule of life. He says as many
as walk according to this rule. Peace be upon them and mercy
upon the Israel of God. But what is the rule he's speaking
of? Verse 14. But God forbid that I should
glory, that I should have confidence in anything save the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ. God forbid that I should glory
in anything. The only thing I have confidence
in is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is why God will
accept me. because of the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I'm not finding rest or comfort
in anything else. God forbid that I should glory,
save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is Paul
speaking. This is God speaking. This is Paul speaking. This is
the man that God used more than anybody else to expound the gospel. This is the mighty apostle Paul,
who the Lord used so greatly. Paul, do you glory in any of
that? No. Not a bit. I don't glory in my
scripture or writing. I don't glory in my preaching.
I don't glory in the way God used me. I glory only in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified
unto me and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus, neither
circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new
creation. I know this. The work of Christ
for me is what I glory in, and the work of Christ in me, He's
made me a new creation. I didn't have anything to do
with that. A creative work of God where He created something
from nothing. I know that's true regarding
myself. All I can glory in is His work
for me and His work in me. He gets all the glory, and as
many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them. I tell you what, you walk according
to that rule, you feel peace, don't you? And you know the mercy
of God. Turn to Ephesians chapter 4.
This has already been read earlier. I, therefore, the prisoner of
the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation,
the calling wherewith you are called. Now, what is this worthy
walk? Look at the first thing he mentions.
With all your lowliness. With all humility is what the
word is. Humility. What is humility? Humility, it's not acting humble. I tell you what, when people
act humble, it's very offensive. I know that because I've done
it to you. Let's act humble. That's so wretchedly proud. It's pathetic. What is humility? It's a just estimate of yourself. I am what I am by the grace of
God. Whatever I am, it's by the grace
of God. It's not denying what God's done
for you. It's not denying a gift God's
given you. But it's knowing you are what you are by the grace
of God. And let me say this about humility.
This is always true concerning true spiritual humility. It's seen By these two things,
number one, with true humility, there's no sense of entitlement. Not there at all. And in true
humility, you're totally unqualified to judge somebody else. In true
humility, you feel totally unqualified. I can't look in judgment on anybody. Now, if I walk worthy of the
vocation wherewith I'm called, I'll do it with all lowliness,
humility, and meekness. Whatever the Lord sends my way
is right because He sent it. Whatever He sends my way is good.
And you know, I really believe that. The Lord's good. I might
not like it, but if He sent it, it's good. I believe that. Whatever
He does is right because He is God. And next He says, with all
longsuffering, patience, Knowing God's on the throne, forbearing
one another in love. You know what that means? That
means if you're going to have a relationship with me, you're
going to have to put up with me. And you're going to love
me anyway. And I'm going to do things that
trouble you, and you're going to love me anyway. And if I'm
going to have a relationship with you, I'm going to forbear
you. That's what it is, forbearing one another in love. Really, it's easy to do that
when you esteem the other person as better than yourself. It's
just not hard, is it? Endeavoring, he says. Endeavoring,
giving every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond
of peace. How do I go about endeavoring
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace? First of
all, by taking the lowest seat. Always taking the lowest seat. That's where I belong. and by
not promoting myself, and by making the gospel the only issue,
not any side issues, and by learning the art of minding my own business
and hoeing my own tater row. Romans 13. This speaks for itself,
but it's just as important as any of the other ones. Romans
chapter 13, verse 13. Let us walk, there's the word,
honestly, decently is the word. As in the day, not in rioting
and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife
and envying, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no
provision for the flesh to fulfill it in the lust thereof. Now to walk decently is to walk
in opposite of what he says in verses 13 and 14. Now I hesitate
to use the word morally, just simply because the Bible never
uses that word. So I'm not real sure that it's a good word. I
don't know what it means. But I know this. I'm not supposed
to be doing this stuff. I'll just walk decently. Ephesians 5.15. Just got a few more. Three more to
be exact. I'll be quick. Verse 15, Ephesians chapter 5,
verse 15, see that you walk circumspectly. Not as fools, but as wise. Now,
when I've read that, I've never really paid much attention to
what circumspectly meant. I was just talking to be careful,
you know, watch out. Watch what you're doing. Just be careful.
Have a careful walk. And that's a good idea. Be careful. But the word means literally
to trace out. To be exact. to be accurate. If you trace something, it's
right, isn't it? You've traced things before.
Now, David put it this way, and this is what this means when
it says walk circumspectly, walk accurately. David said, order
my steps in thy word. Now, there's the circumspect
walk. It's not just looking around. Order my steps in thy word. Whatever God's word says, that's
the way we want to go. However, God's word says to walk,
that's the way we walk. Order my steps in thy word and
let not any iniquity have dominion over me. Colossians 4. Verse 5. Walk in wisdom toward them that
are without. redeeming the time, making the
most of every opportunity with those people that you're walking
before. Now, remember, at all times,
you and I are ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I
want to behave myself before unbelievers in such a way as
will glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to walk in wisdom toward
those that are without not not in foolishness, not acting like
an idiot, but in wisdom. Before any unbeliever, may I
always remember, I'm an ambassador of Christ. Walk in wisdom toward
them that are without. Last one, Ephesians chapter 2. Verse 8. For by grace are you saved. And
that, that faith, it's not of yourselves, it's 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 is the believer's walk,
ordained by God. Well, what does it take to live
the Christian life? You've got to be a Christian. That's all
it takes. Be a Christian. A Christian walks
in Christ the way he received him. He walks in newness of life.
He walks not after the flesh, but after the spirit. He walks
in the light. He walks by faith. He walks in
love. He walks according to the rule of Galatians 4 or 6, 14
and 15. He walks worthy of the vocation
wherewith he was called. He walks honestly, he walks circumspectly,
he walks in wisdom, and he walks in good works. Does a believer
have to be taught these things or do they just naturally do
them? Yes and yes. Yes, a believer
does have to be taught these things. And yes, they come natural
because you live. Let's pray together.