A Believer's Walk

Ephesians chapter 4 and we'll read it verse 1. We're going to pick up on the little word walk. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 1. I therefore the prisoner of the Lord, Paul is a writer, the Apostle, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. With all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

I'll drop down in the chapter verse 15 but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in him into him in all things which is the head, even Christ. From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. This I say therefore and testify in the Lord that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind.

Now chapter 5 verse 1. Be therefore followers or imitators of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us an offering of a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness let it not be once named among you as become as saints. Let's drop down to verse 8. For ye were sometimes darkness but now are ye light in the Lord.

Walk as children of light. Again to verse 15. Seeing then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil.

Now in the letter to the Ephesians there's different themes you could follow. There's actually seven mentions of the thought of walk. The first one Ephesians in chapter 2. It was our past in our unsaved days.

We walked according to the course of this world. And as I think of the Ephesians they were normal people the like of you and I. Centuries and centuries ago. But their minds were blinded to their need of Christ.

At that time you were without Christ, without God, and without hope. And thus in the mercy of God they were quickened and made alive in Christ. You come to that verse 8 of chapter 2 for by grace are you saved through faith that not of yourselves it is a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.

And we look back with joy when that wondrous gift we received in the Lord Jesus, trusting Christ, how sweet it is to be saved. And then that 8th verse, the 9th verse, not of works lest any man should boast, but we are created in Christ unto good works which God hath ordained that we should walk in them. So that while God's salvation was purely and wholly a gift which we received in Christ and God gave us the ability to put our faith in Christ, Christ plus nothing, his work, his worth, and his word.

And thus we have two walks in chapter 2. We have read these now two or more in chapter 4 and 3 in chapter 5. And just to look at them for a few minutes, because after all it is our life. Only one life will soon be passed. And how we all realize uncertainties can happen.

I think years back when I was in construction work in the 50s in Waterloo, it was a Christian, a brother in the Lord, in the assembly, and they were doing the excavating as to the basement and the footings and so on. This evening at the close of the day, 530, he said I must go home. So I was on the scaffold in the basement part there laying the block wall.

I said, Andrew, we'll see you in the morning. He was just getting into the pickup across the street. He got out of his truck, he come back across the street over to the edge of the bank.

Robert, Lord willing, I'll see you in the morning. You know, he wasn't a brother that I don't know as I've known even that he gave out of him as to the assembly meetings. But brethren like that have left their impressions because we never know what a day may bring forth.

But here's Paul now saying, chapter 4, as a prisoner shut up as to physical activity and movements. But he kept himself busy as he wrote these prison epistles. And he says, I therefore a prisoner of the Lord beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation by which ye are called.

What an honor conveyed to poor sinners, Jew or Gentile, were now one in Christ, saved by his grace. That which is our calling out of darkness unto light, he says, you walk worthy of that calling. Make that life count because after all, here we are in the world and what people around us as to family or whether it's our friends, workmates, classmates, the most of them read very little of the scripture.

But what they see in you and I as believers as to the norm of our walk, our life, leaves, I trust, an impression that will create some desire in the heart of someone who needs the Savior to be awakened and reached by his grace. And thus the Apostle speaks of that loneliness and meekness as to taking that consideration of self, unworthy by nature, yet the Lord saved us. And yet to realize meekness, to bring God into your life, to bring the Lord Jesus into your life, and he says with long-suffering forbearing one another in love.

It's an honor, brothers and sisters, that as we move away from the conference, if the Lord be not come back to the normal cares tomorrow, that we realize I have the privilege to walk before my people, my fellow men, for the Lord Jesus. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace, he's showing a practical element. God united Jew and Gentile, each saved by his grace into one body.

And there's the truth of headship given in this epistle as well. We don't have to keep the unity of the Spirit, but to keep and enjoy it in the bond of peace. In other words, he made peace for us by the blood of his cross.

We noted in verse 17, Thus I say therefore and testify in the Lord that ye henceforth walk, not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened. It would apparently seem to be that the most of the believers at Ephesus may have had a Gentile background, yet he showed them that they have been brought into the same blessings as every other one, whether Jew or Gentile, a sinner saved by grace. But as you notice, he's speaking about again the life, not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind.

My plans, my purpose, my desire, and really the claims of the Lord Jesus in second place. I was saved a few weeks in Mr. Fred Lakin, one of the brethren there in the assembly at Waterloo. In fact, he was a milk customer of the late Oliver Smith.

He was the last one on the route. Mr. Smith had milk cows, then sold the milk through using the bottles in those days and delivered them to people who were in town there in Waterloo. And he began to converse with the last stop of the house in the home, Mr. Lakin.

God saved him. Years later, now I've gotten saved. He was saved in 1920s.

In fact, before that, Mr. Smith was still on the farm. But he said to me, Robert, one evening after the gospel meeting, you're saved. I said, yes, that's been a great joy.

Have you thought about baptism? That's part of the walk, you know. You know how I answered him? I've said this right from this platform years back. I suppose that's something I should think about.

You know, that's not obedience. Dear Fred put his arm on my, his hand on my shoulder and quoted to me a couple of scriptures. A few days later, I said to the brethren, I would like to be baptized.

In fact, one of the brethren that was baptized the same occasion, not only my own fleshly brother, but another brother in Elvin Stickford. And that first Saturday night, first time on the cross, I mentioned last night, the testimony meeting. He was saved just five days, the night after I was.

He got up before the conference and told how he got saved. You know, a few weeks ago, I shared in a funeral for him. But when we think of walking is not as other Gentiles.

He was a maintenance man, custodian for the school system where he lived. You know, the world's watching us. My wife and I went into a place that we had not visited before of late.

A sister in the Lord, a widow was living there. And we had been told you go into large areas. It's not a care center or just a place where older people live.

They can get meals and so on. So they say you turn to the right, go down one of the hallways. We're standing there.

And a lady, a voice behind us said, are you here to see? I'm calling her by name. Robert sometimes spills out some words without thinking. I says, how do you know that that's the lady we wanted to see? Well, I turned around and she blushed a little.

But just analyzing, you know, and we're not trying to lift up ourselves or my wife either. But people are observing. And they link us with fellow saints.

Not only possibly by our appearance, but our dress and adornment. And you know, it cheered me when I thought about that. Because the world is observing.

And we can pick up as we think of the world and its habits. Here he says, the exhortation, walk not as other Gentiles in the vanity of their mind. What does God want of you and I? He not only saved us from eternal doom and damnation.

He has fettered us for heaven. But he's left you and I as witnesses and examples to honor the one whom we have come to know. Now these Ephesians, a company of saints in the city of Ephesus in the assembly there, that God worked as the book of the Acts records.

And thus they learned as to the truth of recognizing they were in the body of believers. That's not just the reference here to the local company. The end of chapter one or chapter two would seem to breed the universal picture.

But we're interested in the local company as well. And here where we note in our chapter the truth of not only walking, but we recognize we need direction. Where does it come from? Our risen head through the Scripture.

And that's the Lord Jesus Christ. I know folks at home, and sometimes we had a neighbor one day, he'd usually ask me when I'd come home, you know, about the meetings, what you've been doing. He wasn't among us.

But anyway, it's amazing, he says, how things go with you people. Where's your head? We know you and I understand our head is in heaven. But when we think of the truth of headship, for that's a theme as well as in this view of our walk, he says, therefore, be kind one to another, tenderhearted.

That's the last verse of chapter four. Forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God, that's imitators as dear children, and walk in love.

We must recognize whether as we think of fellow believers, but as well those that are near and dear to us that are not yet saved. It was the love of God that captivated your soul and mine and drew us to Christ. And thus as we think of imitating God, what is the desire? That this little life of mine might express in a practical way God's love to be channeled to our dear, dear friends and loved ones that are not saved.

Time is short. But when we think of the Apostle writing, he links immediately in verse two, chapter five, as Christ also hath loved us and given himself for an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor. Whatever you spend as far as time for the Lord, in the practical sense, I trust that your motive is, I'm prepared to pay the price to walk that which is becoming of saints.

You know when I think of the truth of headship, because we have a risen head, doctrinally it's mentioned at least I think three, maybe four times in this epistle. The display of headship and this is what has been taken note because we attend funerals at home and I appreciate the dear sisters that whether it's in the systems of man or whether it's elsewhere, it's not an assembly meeting. But we do appreciate the manifestation of that which displays headship.

I'm not going to take the time to turn to 1 Corinthians 11. We cherish the record of Paul giving us of the institution of the Lord's Supper. But we realize as he relates in the earlier parts of the chapter, the head of man is Christ.

The head of Christ is God. The head of the woman is a man. It's not that our sisters are inferior.

God has given us each a place to identify publicly and display in the assembly the headship of the Lord Jesus. And he says here in chapter 11, I'm quoting it, that the brethren uncover their heads in the assembly. We know those truths, but do you know the reason why? We're there as a company to uncover spiritually the person of Christ.

The sisters cover their heads. And verse 6 of chapter 11, if the woman be not covered, let it be a shame for her to be shaven or shorn. There's the two coverings in verse 6 there.

And so you think of that which the world doesn't seem to care as to the weight of Scripture. But that other covering mentioned in chapter 11 is this. Our dear sisters who recognize and you remember, brethren and sisters, this is God's truth.

I thought of it a while ago. In the first few years, it had to be in the early 50s, Mr. DeBoer now gone to be of the Lord a little over a year. He gave a word at the Manchester, Iowa conference.

I think it's Judges chapter 8. The trees wanted to have a certain use of parable. And he went to this tree that they might have him reign over us. Three times you have the little word should I. That's what the topic of Leonard's message was.

What others do, should I. And I'm here to say not to insult anyone, but dear sisters, the time that you spend to let your glory, your hair grow and take care of it, God will bless you for it. We're saying with kindness. It's a trend.

We're in the last days. But listen, God has given you a glory that's yours to be adorned with for his glory. I don't have a barber anymore in town.

I have to go to a lady that's a beautician. And sometimes she's got a few minutes, a minute or two between her customers. She sweeps the floor.

And again, I say this with love, but I say it with affection. If you're a sister, don't allow that to be your glory on the floor and swept up in a dustpan. May God help you to pay the little price of time.

You honor the Lord in these simple ways. Walk in love. We have walk in light.

We have walk circumspectly. They're all found to show us this, the light of God's truth identified not only in our life, but in our assembly life. And that which we are reminded faithfully yesterday of separation and acknowledgement, not only the fact that we serve the living Christ, he's head over all, but he's Lord of all.

Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. And thus to walk with circumspectly simply means to walk with carefulness. There was a man who was postmaster for years in Applington.

And once in a while I had to get stamps. What do you know today? After hearing that statement for about six times, I thought, Roberts, it's time that you say something in response, because he had relation relatives in two of the assemblies nearby. John, I says, I'm going to heaven.

That's what I know today. He never asked me that question again, but be as it may. God can take a little seed that you sow and implant it in a heart that'll lead you we trust to the Savior, seeing someone else saved.

And above that, to see believers gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus. I thought, what a sweet, precious remembrance meeting we had this morning. There were a lot of voices of brethren I didn't recognize, but be that as it is, heaven heard, and every saint here, we can say amen.

As we think of God, what he has done for us in the person of Christ, only one life will soon be passed, redeeming the time, for the days are evil. We have a hope. We have a prospect.

The Lord is coming. In the meanwhile, occupy, live and walk for him. You'll be blessed in your soul for his name's sake.