Fellowship with God (Part 3)

Knowing God — Steve Gregg

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Fellowship with God (Part 3)

Knowing GodSteve Gregg

Discover the key to experiencing true fellowship with God in this insightful discussion led by Steve Gregg. Drawing upon biblical teachings, Gregg emphasizes the importance of walking with God as exemplified by Jesus and the early Christians. He highlights the dynamic nature of this walk, emphasizing that it requires trust, obedience, and a new life in God. Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Gregg explains how walking with God enables believers to align their lives with His will, seek His direction, and exhibit the fruit of the Spirit.

Transcript

No consideration of the subject of fellowship with God would really be very complete if we didn't talk about the biblical teaching of walking with God. You know, fellowship with a person can sometimes be at its best when you go for a walk with that person. Especially in times when cars were not available and when most transportation that was not hurried was done on foot, as Jesus and his disciples, of course, always traveled that way.

We never read of Jesus or his disciples riding an animal except at the time of the triumphal entry. And so we know that they always, well, we don't know that they never rode animals, it's just never recorded that they did. All we know is that they did a lot of walking.

They traveled from Galilee to Judea and then back to Galilee and then back to Judea. And they went to Perea and they went to Decapolis and they went to various places, but they did not, they spent more time getting there than being there in all likelihood. That's part of the story of the Gospels that can easily be missed if you're not reading thoughtfully.

You know, it says, you know, Jesus left Judea to go to Galilee. Next you read, he arrived in Galilee. Well, you have to realize there are about five to seven days there that Jesus spent with his disciples doing nothing but walking with them, getting there.

And, you know, it takes a long time to get places on foot and that is probably, that was probably a great blessing to the disciples, that they could have unhurried time just walking with Jesus. On occasions we even read of some of the conversations that they have as they walk. We read, for example, of the disciples apparently trailing behind Jesus at one point.

After all, there were twelve of them, they couldn't all walk side by side on the road. But I'm sure that they kind of, on long trips where they were several days long, I'm sure some of them tended to trail behind a little bit at certain points. And there was a point at which they were talking among themselves who was the greatest, but in hushed tones, hoping that Jesus wouldn't hear their discussion.

And we read that once they got to where they were going and went into the house, Jesus said, what were you talking about among yourselves back there on the road? And they were silent because they were ashamed. But we have a little hint of some of the kinds of things that were talked about on the road. We know of the case after the resurrection of Jesus joining himself to a couple of men who were walking to Emmaus and talking with them probably for a few hours and opening the scriptures to them.

Afterwards they said, did not our hearts burn within us as he opened the scriptures to us? And to walk with Jesus, and you know like the old song, which is probably more romanticized than realistic, he walks with me and he talks with me and he tells me on his own, you know, I come to the garden alone, etc. etc. I shouldn't say that it's more romanticized than realistic.

I'm sure that that's very realistic. It's just written in a rather flowery way, I suppose. It's not exactly my taste in lyrics.

But the fact of the matter is, there is something delightful. The joy we share as we tarry there is like something that no one has ever known. There can hardly be any delight more fulfilling than that of walking with the Lord and communing with him along the way.

He does not anticipate a sedentary life for you. He does not call you to do nothing. He calls you to be in motion, some of the time at least.

And he wants you to keep step with him because Jesus is not a static entity. He did say, you know, come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. But he also said, if any man come after me, let him take up his cross, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.

So you've got an appeal to people to come to Christ. But having come to Christ, the motion doesn't stop there. They come after him.

He's going, he's doing things and we need to keep in step with him. We need to walk with him and be where he is. It says when the Israelites came out of Egypt and they were following the cloud.

And the cloud was sovereign. The cloud decided because God was manifest in the cloud. It was the cloud surprisingly and without warning would sometimes just lift and begin to move.

And they'd have to break camp and keep up. I'm sure he didn't move too fast. He must have moved at a speed that they could keep up if they were paying attention.

But then the cloud would stop again and they could see, well, I guess we're not moving anymore for us. So they'd set up their camp and stay there for however long it was, a day, two days, a week, a month. And then the cloud would move again and they'd have to move along.

They had to keep up with God. I remember hearing a preacher say years ago that he prayed this prayer. And it was, Lord, whatever you're doing, wherever you're going, don't leave me behind.

I want to be where you are and doing what you're doing. And that struck me as a prayer that rang true in my heart also. I want to keep up with the Lord.

I want to know what it is he's into. I want to be a part of it. I want to walk with him.

Now, at the same time, I don't want to give the impression, and the man who did express that prayer is one who could easily give that impression because of his other things he taught, that there's some kind of a cutting edge in Christianity and that the elite are on that edge, you know, those who are really hearing from God, those who are really keeping up with the Lord. And there's new things that God is doing in the world. And those who are really the sort of the elite ones who are hearing from God, they're right up there on the vanguard with them.

And the rest of us are back there, you know, camped out somewhere. The cloud has moved. And there is some measure of truth, perhaps, in that, in that we can see that over the years, God has tended to progress not only individuals, but the body of Christ as a whole.

When you consider that through the Middle Ages or the medieval times, the whole church was entrenched in Catholic traditions and very little motion was made of a significant or successful sort to break free from those traditions. And the church was just in, you know, in the swamp, as it were, and just standing still and rotting there. There were some little movements, some people like the Waldensys and others that were nonconformist and were persecuted and mostly driven out of existence by persecution from the church.

But when the Reformation occurred, then there seemed to be some actual progress, not just a few people, not just a little movement, but the whole church was shaken. Not all the whole church moved. The Catholic church stayed pretty much where it was, but a huge sector, perhaps, I mean, I don't want to be the judge of these things, perhaps all the true Christians, I don't know.

I wouldn't say that necessarily, but certainly those who were hungry and thirsting after truth, I think they tended to move in the direction of reform. And as time went on, it became clear that there were other reforms the church needed beyond that which Luther had introduced. You have the radical Reformation, the Anabaptists come along.

And at a later date, you've got the Missions Movement spearheaded by the Moravians and eventually by William Carey and the movement that began there with modern missions. And then you've got the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in certain revivals around the turn of this century and the arising of the Pentecostal slash Charismatic kind of things. Now, each of these things represent a crossing of a threshold of, in my opinion, the restoration of some understanding that was always there in the Bible, but which had been covered over by tradition or which had not been taught for a great long time or not understood well.

Luther rediscovered, as it were, certain things. And the Anabaptists, in my opinion, rediscovered certain things from Scripture. And each of these would represent perhaps a move forward for at least a portion of the church, a significant portion, so much so that we now, for example, in America, take for granted many things that were part of Luther's Reformation.

The evangelical movement today just takes for granted justification by faith. It's not even controversial anymore among us. Believer baptism is not universally believed among evangelicals because there are evangelical Lutherans and evangelical Presbyterians, for example, who don't believe in believer baptism.

They believe in infant baptism. But for the most part, that little movement of Anabaptists who believe that only believers and not infants should be baptized has won the larger part of the consensus of the evangelical world today. I mean, we could say the whole church has made some steps forward.

I can even think of in the last few decades how that in 1970, in the Jesus movement, I remember when I first visited Calvary Chapel, what was so remarkable to me is people weren't dressed up to go to church. And they sang from their hearts rather than from hymnals. And there was a lot of joy and so forth.

But there was a style of worship and a style, certain assumptions about formality or informality, which were revolutionary at the time. But you can go to almost any town where there's evangelical churches today. You could walk into most churches in blue jeans and sandals if you wanted to, and a T-shirt, and there wouldn't be all that many people looking askance at you.

But in 1970, it was very unusual to go into any church. I mean, you wouldn't dare go into a church in blue jeans in most cases. You'd be offending people.

And, of course, the style of worship and so forth, which arose during that time, has also become almost universal through evangelical circles. What I'm saying is you can see trends. You can see, I think, forward movement.

Not just in an individual little group or denomination over here, but almost the whole church begins to see things a new way, and there's forward motion. And, therefore, we could say, in a sense, that there are churches that will go on with God, and there are churches that will probably just camp out where they are, and the cloud can go wherever he may, and they'll just stay where they are because they're comfortable there. After all, they got there last time the cloud moved.

What's wrong with that place? That was the place God chose last time. Let's stay here. And when the cloud moves again, they just soon stay where they are.

All this moving around and so forth contributes to insecurity. Well, that is speaking of walking with God corporately. Now, I want to say, having put my stamp of approval on that concept generally, that I don't want to take that as far as some people do.

I don't think, for example, that God is saying exactly the same thing to every church at exactly the same time. I believe that each church has its own internal dynamics and needs. And God might be leading one church to become more informal, and another to become more formal, because that church is too informal.

There may be a church that's gone too far into the area of breezy choruses, and God's leading them to go back to meaty hymns, whereas others have never known anything but deadness in the singing of hymns, and God's leading them into more freedom in worship. When you read the seven letters to the seven churches in Revelation, which were all contemporary with each other, churches, all even in the same country, you can see that the message of Christ was not identical to every church. There was, however, an exhortation to each of the churches, that he who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

Not just to your own church, but to the churches. To sort of stand back and see how Jesus is seeking to correct that church with its problems, and how he's seeking to correct that church over there with its problems, and what he's doing with this church over here to correct their problems. And as you hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches, then you can get more of a sense of the heart of God, and you can maybe steer clear of some of the same problems that he's trying to correct in other places.

Now, what I don't care for is those who take these concepts that I've just endorsed, and then come up with this elitist idea of cutting-edge Christianity. You know, what God's saying today is we need to restore prophets. Now we need to restore the apostles.

And this is what God is saying today. This is on the cutting edge. And if your church isn't doing that, then it's too bad.

You're just too far behind the move of the Spirit. To my mind, the Holy Spirit's not going to move very far beyond what Jesus taught himself. It seems like any forward motion to the church is going to feel in some ways like backward motion, because it's going to have to go back to what Jesus said, and rediscover how to live according to the words of Jesus, and how to walk with God as Jesus taught and did.

And, therefore, there is a fascination with the new. We read of the men of Athens in Acts chapter 17 that they met at Mars Hill regularly just to hear or to say some new thing. It was a fascination with novelty.

And there is that in human nature somewhat. And those who have come to the conclusion that God is not a static God, and that God might have some new ground for the church to take, some new insights to recover from Scripture that have been more or less ignored, those who accept this fact often get carried away into a fascination with novelty. And whatever weird thing comes along, they assume this is the next move of the Holy Spirit.

And they are pretty insistent that everyone ought to get on board with it. And this is so even if the so-called move of the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with Biblical Christianity at all. And so I want us to be cautious about this.

What I would encourage you to do is to really walk with God. And as more individuals walk with God, and especially as more church leaders walk with God, then the church as a whole will tend to walk more with God. But you need to know what a walk with God looks like so that you don't get into all kinds of things for the sheer pleasure of novelty and for lack of discernment.

Living with God is a walk. It is progress. There is a place you start and a place you end up.

The New Testament uses the word walk quite frequently in the metaphorical sense. In fact, we might even be so acquainted with it, when the Bible says walk in love or walk in the spirit or walk in charity or whatever, walk in wisdom. We might even lose sight of the fact that the word walk is not literal.

It's a metaphor. I mean, it's become so familiar that we don't think very often. This is a metaphor.

Walking is not what we're literally doing. It is a metaphor for Christian living. But it is an apt metaphor.

There are people who, like Enoch or Noah, have been said in the Bible to have walked with God. It's not clear exactly how much that's a metaphor and how much that's literal. In the case of Noah or Enoch, we just don't know.

Did God come down in a theophany and actually walk side by side with them? We know that God did that with Abraham, at least on one occasion in the 18th chapter of Genesis. Did Enoch walk with God in that way and actually walk alongside God like the disciples walked alongside Jesus? That's possible. And if so, then the walking with God that Noah and Enoch did is probably not identical to what the average Christian life is.

But we are to walk with God. And the Christian walk is described in many ways, all which use the word walk. And I have, at some time a few years ago, out of curiosity to know, I did a search of the scriptures to see all the ways in which the Bible is spoken of.

The Bible speaks of our Christian life as a walk. And to see what things those phrases that the Bible uses comparing the Christian life to the walk. Each phrase conveys a certain amount of information about how we are to walk with God and what a walk with God is.

Let me turn your attention first of all to Romans chapter 4. Romans 4 is talking about Abraham. In verses 9 through 12 it says, does this blessedness then, which is the blessedness of knowing your sins are forgiven according to the previous verses. Does this blessedness then come on the circumcised only or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.

How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised but while uncircumcised. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised. That he might be the father of all those who believe.

Though they are uncircumcised that righteousness might be imputed to them also. And the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised. Now what Paul is saying here is that both Gentiles and Jews can experience the blessedness of justification by faith that Abraham knew.

In particular what he says about the Jewish people. He says those who are of the circumcision of verse 12. It's not just those who are circumcised.

Being Jewish alone doesn't help but you would also have to if you're going to know the blessedness that Abraham knew. You'd have to not only have circumcision like he did. You'd have to have that walk of faith that he had prior to his own circumcision.

That is to say Abraham did not impute Abraham righteous because he was circumcised. Actually he imputed him righteous before he was circumcised. Abraham was declared to be righteous by faith in Genesis 15.6. Abraham was commanded to be circumcised two chapters later.

So Paul's point is that Abraham was righteous by faith before he was circumcised. Which means it translates into this message to Jews who put confidence in the fact that they're circumcised. It's not that.

Being circumcised like Abraham doesn't make you like him. Having the faith and the walk of faith that Abraham had before he was circumcised is what justifies you. And therefore Abraham's walk of faith is set forth as an example for believers.

It says those who walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised. I've always enjoyed while reading those 12 chapters or so in Genesis that talk about the life of Abraham to observe the comparisons that can be made to our own lives, to the average Christian life. I mean Abraham was the model, the prototype, the father of the faithful.

And the steps of faith that God took him through are the steps of faith that our walk with God will cover as well. And we can see that God called him first of all to leave his home, leave his family. Now not all people are required to physically leave their home or physically leave their family.

But all must do so in their hearts. Because Jesus said, he that loves father, mother, wife or children more than me is not worthy of me. And sometimes that leaving them in the heart actually is manifest by obeying a call to leave home physically.

And that's a hard thing to do. Most people get homesick when they're away from the home they've grown up in. But Abraham had to do that because he had to seal his commitment to God as preempting any commitment to his own familiar home or family.

As he goes along we see that he is made to separate his affections from many things. From Lot, his nephew. Eventually from Ishmael, his first son.

Later from Sarah, his wife, who dies. And then finally from Isaac, his very favorite, when he has to go up and offer him on the mountain. And these tests that God puts Abraham's faith through have corresponding counterparts in our own walk of faith.

There are ways in which you can see yourself, if you're knowing to look there, in the life of Abraham. And you can see the dealings of God in your life. By the steps of faith that he walked in, we who also walk in the steps of the faith of Abraham are justified as he was.

It says in 2 Corinthians 5, 7, we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5, 7. So we can see the walk with God is a walk of faith. A walk in the steps of faith.

And what that means is that we cannot see where we are going in this spiritual walk. We have to trust, just like a blind person being led by his seeing eye dog or being led by a trusted friend has to trust that when that person leads him forward that he's not going to hit a telephone pole or walk into the middle of busy traffic or walk off a cliff. A blind person cannot see where he is going.

And if he does not have a cane or if he has the advantage of having a living guide, then he just has to trust that guide. Now, we of course are not physically blind and in terms of physical walking we can see where we're going. But in terms of a spiritual walk, our walk is into the future.

We can't see the future. And so we need to be guided and we need to trust the guide who does know what the future holds. Many times you will feel that God is convicting you about a certain thing that you should do and it will not seem at all clear why that would be a wise move to make.

In fact, if God is mistaken or if you're mistaken about his guidance, it may be a very risky thing to take. But many people have taken those steps by faith forward and found that God could see what was coming and found that their obedience to him was that which was the safest and only right place for them to be and to do at that time. And so God calls us to move forward not knowing where we're going.

That's what it says of Abraham's faith in the New Testament. It says, by faith he left his family and went into a land that he did not know where he was going. And that is something about a walk of faith.

You don't quite know what is ahead. But God who leads you, with whom you walk, is familiar with the terrain. He's been there and he knows it well.

And that terrain even includes future things that you don't see and can't see. And therefore we simply must trust him completely. In every crisis, in everything that he guides in, we have to trust that he's giving the right path for us and that we walk along the path that he gives us.

It's a walk of faith. This walk of faith also means that we have to trust that he is guiding at times when we can't be sure by any other sensual knowledge. It's always nice if we have an angel appear and tell us what God wants us to do.

Or if there's a direct scripture telling us the exact thing that we must do when we're facing a crossroads. It's always nice to have very clear guidance like that. But we also have the general promise that the steps of a man are ordered by the Lord.

And that he will guide you by his eye. And that we simply need to trust that if we have committed our ways to the Lord, he will direct your paths. These are promises of scripture and therefore there are times when we don't have a scripture that tells us exactly what we should do.

We don't have an angel that visits and tells us what God wants us to do. We have to do something though. And all we can do is commit our way to the Lord and move forward along whatever way God opens to us.

We don't know what the next step will be but we're going to start moving forward. Like the Jews who had to cross the Jordan at flood time. They had to start walking into it.

Seemingly a very foolish thing to do. But of course in obedience to God they did and as they put their feet in the water, the water stopped. And they walked over on dry ground.

Sometimes you have to be in motion before God can steer the car. And so you don't know which way to go at times but you just go in motion. You say, okay God I've prayed, I don't know what to do but I just can't delay anymore to make some kind of decision.

I've got to answer for the situation. I've got to do something. So you do what seems right to do even if you're not 100% sure.

If you haven't heard any clear word from God, you still go forward and you trust him. You trust A, that he is guiding you. Or B, that if he is not guiding and you're misguided, that he will stop you.

Because you can be sure of his care for you, that he is not going to watch his child diligently and sincerely begging for guidance, receiving none, and then going forward and falling off a cliff. And God is going to stand by and just watch and chuckle about it. That's not how it is.

God will not disappoint those who put their trust in him. The Bible says, whosoever believeth in him shall not be ashamed. That's in Isaiah 28, 16, I think it is there.

Actually, it's different in Isaiah. It's quoted in the New Testament the way I just quoted it. But it's a little different in Isaiah.

Isaiah 28 and verse 16. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, wrong, wrong, wrong. No, that is right, isn't it? Wrong chapter here.

There we go. Yeah, behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornstone, a sure foundation. Whoever believes will not act hastily, it says in Isaiah.

However, in Romans 10, 11, Paul quotes this and quotes it. Whoever believes in him shall not be ashamed. That is, will not be disappointed.

Your trust in God will never fall to the ground. God will not allow those who trust in him to be led astray. If they are truly and sincerely trusting in him.

So that the walk with God is a walk of childlike faith. It requires that we trust wholly in him, but with great sincerity. We need to make sure that we are not, we don't have our own hidden agendas and we're just saying that we're trusting God.

We're just saying that we're surrendering to God. Because God has allowed people who seemed to be trusting him to make some very terrible mistakes, it would appear. But when those persons search their own hearts, they have been known to find that they had their own agendas.

I can think of a couple of cases in my life where I made very, very stupid mistakes. All the while I was praying for guidance. But I can look back and see that my conscience was not as clear as I should have required it to be.

And that I was, I really had a very, very strong desire for the guidance to be a certain way. And it wasn't really clear that way, but that's the way I took it. And I was convinced at the time of making certain bad decisions that I was trusting God and moving forward by faith.

But in hindsight I could see, well, I wasn't really being objective. I really knew what I wanted the answer to be and that's the direction I went. And I kind of interpreted every encouragement in my circumstances as God saying yes to something I really desperately wanted.

I think that if we truly have no agendas of our own, we have no preferences, or even if we have preferences, it's like Jesus. Jesus had a preference too in the Garden of Gethsemane. He said, you know, if it's your will, let this cup pass from you.

That was his preference. But he sincerely said, but not my will, but yours be done. Then I think when there is a true surrender of the will, then there will be no lack of divine aid in going the right way.

And we simply have to trust that the more we are surrendered to God and obedient to him, that he will make sure that we are in the right place at the right time as we move forward, as we walk. It's a walk that involves and requires faith, and faith is not by sight. We walk by faith, not by sight, into this unknown and unforeseen future.

There's another thing that Paul tells us in Romans about our walk with God, and that's in Romans 6 and verse 4. He says, therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Now, newness of life here is compared with the resurrection. We died and were buried with Christ, and just as, you know, in our baptism, and just as Christ rose from the dead, so also we are to walk in newness of life, which corresponds to Jesus rising from the dead.

We were buried like he was buried. He rose. We rise.

We have a new life. And therefore, walking with God requires a new life, a resurrection life. A person cannot walk with God adequately, certainly not perfectly, unless they have a new dynamic, a new life that has been given, unless there's a regeneration.

In other words, the old heart is stony. The old heart is corrupt above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? A person with an old heart, unregenerate, cannot walk with God.

Paul says later on, although not speaking of the, not using the terminology of walking, but he says in chapter 8, in verse 7 and 8, because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be, so then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. In the flesh means unregenerate. They have the old life, not a new one.

Those who are still in the natural life, in the flesh, rather than in the spirit, those who are not regenerated, cannot please God. The old carnal mind cannot be subject to the law of God. So there needs to be a new life, and the walk that we are to walk has got to be through a new dynamic, because one cannot walk where God walks, without the power of God inside.

So there needs to be regeneration, and once regenerated, we walk in this newness of life, Paul says there in Romans 6, 4, that we, even so, we should walk in newness of life. Our life, our walk, is in a new dimension, the dimension of the spirit, a new dimension of life, which, of course, colors everything different. When a baby is as yet unborn in the womb, it is alive, it is sensate, it has some little awareness of its surroundings, of course, we don't remember anything, not only do we not remember when we are in the womb, we don't remember very much from the first two or three years of our lives either.

But that doesn't mean we were not aware of our existence at the time, we just don't remember now. But we know that babies react and so forth in the womb, and sometimes even appear to cry, and they suck their thumbs, and they experience pain. But that baby, of course, doesn't have very much awareness of its surroundings, but suppose you could give a baby in the womb as much awareness of its surroundings as we have today of our surroundings.

That baby would be aware of being in a dark place, but wouldn't know any difference because it's never seen any light. Darkness would be all it knows, just like a person born blind, doesn't know what it's like to be otherwise. The baby would know itself to be relatively comfortable, having its needs met for the most part, and if the baby knew that it was going to pass into a new dimension outside the womb, it might be afraid because it doesn't know what's out there.

But of course, once the baby does come out, it comes out into a world of light, a world of stimulation, mental stimulation, physical stimulation, and relationships at a level that it could never have dreamed of or imagined in the womb. And so also, when a person is born again, and they come into the spiritual dimension, when they become spiritual beings, they're born of the Spirit, they come into a dimension that is so different from the life that was before, that it would be impossible to describe it to somebody except those who have experienced it. I remember a preacher saying that when he first got saved, and I think I told you this before, but it strikes me, it's worthy of repeating, that he gave his testimony in the little Pentecostal church where he got saved, and he had just gotten saved, and he came out of the church after giving his testimony there, and a little old lady there who had been saved most of her life, and in that church came up to him, she said, Sonny, the day is going to come when the things of God are more real to you than this sidewalk we're standing on.

And he said at the time, he thought she must be a little bit nutty, because how could it ever be that the intangible realities which he now believed in, how could it ever be that they would be as real to him as the sidewalk, which he could see and feel and depended upon, under his feet. But when he was telling this story, he said that he could testify that this has in fact come to pass, that it is really true. I can testify the same.

I remember when I heard that, it just rung true in my heart, because I mean, sure, the tangible world is real to me, but the things of God are, I think, if anything, more real. I am more convinced of the things of God than I am of the things that people testify to, that I can even see with my eyes. I've been deceived by my eyes before, but I've never been deceived by God.

My ears have thought they heard things and they were mistaken, but my eyes have seen illusions, and I've seen people with slight of hand fool my eyes, but I've never been fooled by God. And God's word is true, and I can have more certainty of a whole new realm of reality in this newness of life than I had before. It's like taking a blindfold off.

You're walking in a different dimension. Before you were saved, you made decisions on a certain basis, probably on the basis of your own pleasure or staying out of trouble or pleasing somebody that you cared to please, or remaining accepted in some group that you wanted to remain accepted in, or whatever. Your decisions were made by some things like this, but generally speaking, not by an awareness of God, not by awareness of judgment, not by the awareness of demons and a warfare going on over your soul.

These things were not known to you. But when you're born again, you become aware of these spiritual realities, and it changes the whole way you walk. You walk very differently as a result of that.

And it's a new dimension. It's a new life. And Paul says that we walk in the steps of faith of Abraham, but we also walk in a newness of life, and it is essential to walk with God that we have the new life, so that we can walk with him in that dimension that he lives in.

And this newness of life, this walk in the newness of life, is also called walking in the Spirit, or walking after the Spirit. Paul uses both terms, I think, interchangeably. Romans 8, 4 is where we find the first reference in Paul's writings to this.

Although I don't believe that when Paul in Romans 8 speaks of walking according to the Spirit, I don't think he's talking about something really any different than walking in the newness of life, or walking in the steps of Abraham. This is all part of walking with God. It's just another aspect of it.

A walk with God is a walk in the Spirit, or according to the Spirit. Paul says in Romans 8, 4, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Now, it's a very, very fine line between what is meant by walking in the Spirit and what is meant in the previous expression we had considered, walking in newness of life, because the newness of life is a life in the Spirit.

And it is the Spirit of God who has brought our lives to life, has brought our spirits to life. And the Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are the children of God, for example, as Paul says in this very chapter, in verse 16. But walking in the Spirit, we need to have an idea of what that means.

What does it mean to walk in the Spirit? In this verse it says according to the Spirit. One thing is clear, it says that the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in our lives when we walk according to the Spirit. So whatever God's law laid out as the standard of excellence, as the standard of righteousness that God desires and requires, that standard is attained.

That standard is fulfilled in us when we are walking not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. What does it mean to walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh? I'm going to attempt to answer that from Paul's own words in Romans 8, but before we look at that clarification, look also at Galatians chapter 5. In Galatians chapter 5, verse 16, Paul says, and to me this is one of the most encouraging statements I could imagine. Paul says, I say then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

He goes on to describe a few verses later what the lust of the flesh are and what the fruit of the Spirit is. He says there is a conflict in verse 17 between the flesh and the Spirit, but there is this promise and this conflict for holiness and for obedience to God, the conflict between our flesh and the Spirit. We are told, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

This I take as a promise of God. If I am walking in the Spirit, I will not be fulfilling the lust of the flesh. And the lust of the flesh are something I don't want to be fulfilling.

Likewise, in the same chapter, in verse 25, he says, if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Now, in the Spirit is a phrase that I've seen some translations render as by the Spirit. If we live by the Spirit, then let us walk by the Spirit.

Meaning, we have life as new creatures because of the work of the Holy Spirit. It's by the Spirit that we have come to life. Therefore, we live as a result of the Holy Spirit.

Let us therefore walk through the power of and as a result of and by the Holy Spirit. It's simply Paul's way of saying let's continue walking in the same power that has brought us to life in the first place, which is the power of the Spirit. Now, Paul said, if we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Here, or in Romans chapter 8, that the righteous requirements of the law are fulfilled in us who walk according to or after the Spirit. Now, what does it mean to walk in the Spirit or walk after the Spirit or according to the Spirit? I believe that this is perhaps one of the most important parts of understanding a walk with God. God is Spirit.

Those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. Those who walk with Him must also walk with Him in Spirit or in the Spirit. And I think that walking in the Spirit has at least two very important considerations as components.

When you are walking, let me give you three components. First of all, some of you who were here last year may have heard me say this before. I don't know that I've said it this year.

But we never read in the Scripture of flowing in the Spirit. We don't read God saying, this I say, flow in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. It's walk in the Spirit.

Now, especially among Charismatics, I know, there's a real fascination for the imagery of a river. I mean, a lot of prophecies and a lot of visions that people have. There's always a river frequently figures prominently and that river always represents the Holy Spirit.

Now, by the way, that's scriptural. In Ezekiel, Ezekiel saw a river flowing from under the threshold of the house of God. It went out and watered and brought blessing.

It was not a natural river. It grew deeper and fuller the further it got from its source. So, it's almost like it almost supernaturally was increasing as it went along.

And that river is never explained in Ezekiel as to what it really represents. But Jesus seems to have referred to it. When he said in John chapter 7 and verses 34 through 37, I think it is, on the Feast of Tabernacles, on the great day of the feast, Jesus stood up and said, if anyone thirsts, let him come unto me.

And he said this, he that believes on me as the scripture has said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. And John makes this comment in verse 37, John 7, verse 37. He says, this he spoke of the Holy Spirit, who was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Now, it's interesting, Jesus said that a person who believes in him, as the scripture has said, and he must be referring to the Old Testament scripture, since no other scripture existed when he said this, as the scripture has said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. Well, you'll find no scripture in the Old Testament that says that in those words. You can comb the Old Testament, you'll never find a passage that says, out of the innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.

But you do find three times in the Old Testament, references to a river flowing out of Jerusalem. In Joel, chapter 3, I think it's verse 18, and I've already mentioned Ezekiel, I believe it's chapter 47 or 48, that you find it. And also in Zechariah, chapter 14.

Interestingly, all of these talk about a river flowing out of Jerusalem. And in particular, Zechariah speaks of it as living waters flowing out of Jerusalem. Now, all these passages are no doubt, they're all using the same imagery, and no doubt have the same thing in view.

Whether it's the river in Ezekiel, that gets deeper and fuller as it goes further from its source, as it progresses, it grows. Or whether it's the river in the third chapter of Joel, which waters the dried land of the Gentiles and makes them fruitful. Or whether it's the river in Zechariah, I believe it's all the same imagery and all the same river.

But what's interesting is that only in Zechariah 14 does it actually use the expression, a river of living water. In Zechariah 14, verse 8, it says, In that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem. Now, when Jesus said, as the scripture has said, living waters will flow.

This is the only scripture that uses that expression, Zechariah 14, verse 8. And he said, the scripture said it. It is my opinion that he is referring to this scripture and those like it, which speak of living waters flowing like a river out of, in the scriptures, it's out of Jerusalem. Jesus says, out of he who believes in me, because we are the new Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem is the church in these passages. As the apostles very typically understood Jerusalem, the new Jerusalem, the heavenly Jerusalem. That we, the church, are the believers.

Out of the believers shall flow rivers of living water, as the scripture said. I'm sure alluding to Zechariah 14 and the other like passages. Now, the point I'm making here is that I do not disapprove of the idea of seeing the Holy Spirit's activity in the imagery of a river.

That is fine. There's nothing wrong with that. But we never find in scripture an exhortation, therefore flow with the Holy Spirit, or flow in the Spirit.

That's something, a terminology that has been developed, I think, among modern Christians, I don't know how recently. But it's sort of an upshot from this idea of the Holy Spirit's like a river, therefore we need to get in and just flow with the river. It's interesting that neither Jesus nor the apostles ever used that terminology, but frequently spoke of walking.

Walking in the Spirit. Walking in newness of life. Now, there is a distinctive and significant difference between the imagery, the metaphor of walking in the Spirit and flowing in the Spirit.

And the difference that is most obvious is that walking is a process that involves individual steps. Flowing does not. If you just kind of get in and just flow, there's no individual steps.

You just get carried right along and it's just one continuum. But walking, though it is a continuum, it's not an automatic continuum. It requires individual steps to be executed successfully.

As long as steps are being taken successfully, the walk continues. As soon as someone stops taking new steps, the walk doesn't exist anymore. Walking isn't a thing.

Walking is something that is done. And when it stops being done, it's not there anymore. A walk with God, a walk in the Spirit requires that we keep taking steps with the Holy Spirit.

And that each step, in order to be truly walking in the Spirit, each step must be a step taken in the Spirit. Now, I emphasize this point for the simple reason that I believe that people, most Christians, all Christians perhaps, walk in the Spirit only imperfectly. Some walk in the Spirit very little at all.

Some walk in the Spirit rather consistently. But even those who walk in the Spirit the most consistently do not walk perfectly, to my knowledge. I mean, there may be some who do that I've never met.

And I can't prove a universal negative. I can't say that there is no such thing as a person who walks perfectly in the Spirit. After all, Jesus did it.

And I don't know, maybe some others have reached there, but I haven't. And I'm not convinced by anyone I've met who's told me they have. But I will say this.

You walk in the Spirit as long as you take steps in the Spirit. As soon as you take a step that's not in the Spirit, you're not walking in the Spirit anymore. Now, Paul said, if you walk in the Spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

One of the easiest ways to know whether you're walking in the Spirit is whether you're fulfilling the lust of the flesh. If you're committing sin, then you're not walking in the Spirit. It's just that easy.

But if you are walking in the Spirit, you are not committing sin. You are not following the flesh and its desires. You are, in fact, as Paul put it in Romans 8, for you will be as you are walking according to the Spirit, you are fulfilling the righteous requirements of the law.

And not fulfilling the desires of the flesh. Now, walking in the Spirit, which is a key idea in Paul's description of the Christian walk with God, it yields many, I mean, that metaphor yields a lot of insights. When we think about how we learn to walk as children, a little child does not walk perfectly when it's born.

In fact, it doesn't walk at all when it's born. But in time, it does. It has to be carried immediately when it's born.

It just has to be carried by others who know how to walk. Because it's an infant. It doesn't know where to walk or how to walk.

It doesn't have the strength to walk, perhaps. But it needs to be carried. But in a short time, and I do emphasize short, because I think some churches try to carry people too long.

But very shortly into the life of a child, even before the child knows how to speak usually, the child is walking. But the first steps are halting usually. There are exceptions.

But usually a baby takes one or two steps at first and then down it goes. And then gets up again and takes a few more steps and down it goes. And eventually, if he does that every day, it might be a week, he'll walk across the room.

And eventually he'll be toddling along or waddling along everywhere he goes. And it's really cute to watch a baby who takes its first steps and then gets to a place where it's a toddler. And it's definitely toddling.

And then move beyond that to a more athletic... I remember one of my children, I won't say who, walked early enough but didn't run very early. It seemed like that child didn't know how to run for the longest time. Knew how to walk fine.

I remember thinking, I can't even imagine this child ever running. I can't even picture it in my mind. Because the child was not sure-footed enough.

And yet that child now, of course, is long past those days and runs quite as well as anybody else. Now, learning to walk then is nothing other than learning to consistently take successful steps. And babies typically take a few successful steps and then have their disappointments.

But fortunately for the human race, babies don't just figure, well, I guess I'll never walk. They get up and try again eventually. And eventually they're not content to just sit still.

They insist on learning to walk and eventually they get better at it. And when they're young walkers, they sometimes fall down still, even after they're pretty good at walking around the room. Maybe they can take a hundred or a thousand steps for every one that they miss and fall.

But eventually they get to a place where they almost never fall down. As adults, we almost never fall down. Though sometimes we do.

Not very often, but we become quite adept at walking. It becomes second nature to us. Walking by faith, walking by the Spirit.

This becomes second nature. It's new and unusual to a new Christian. And often much progress in the very beginning of the Christian life is by older Christians carrying you, doing most of your walking for you, keeping you closely accountable or teaching you everything you know, answering all your questions and so forth.

But as time goes on you learn to walk in the Spirit. You probably don't do it perfectly initially. I'm sure you don't.

But after a while you should be able to do it more or less by second nature. But even if you walk very well and very naturally in the Spirit, just like an adult who walks without falling down very often, it doesn't mean there are no dangers that can trip you up. It doesn't mean you can never fall.

A man who walks will almost never fall unless something gives out in his leg or ankle or foot, or he's walking in the dark and trips over something, or the ground is more slippery and he miscalculates it and he slips and falls. But it's the rare thing, a really embarrassing thing really. When an adult falls down he always feels kind of embarrassed because it's so unusual.

Most adults don't fall down very much. You almost feel like a little kid again and kind of embarrassed. But what I'm saying is, when you walk in the Spirit, your walk in the Spirit becomes more consistent as you do it more, as you learn to more consistently take steps in the Spirit, you will much less often succumb to the lust of the flesh or do anything that's contrary to the righteousness of the law.

The righteousness of the law are fulfilled in us as we walk according to the Spirit. And even if you get very good at it, you should never assume that you could never fall, because we always have to be careful about that. But what does it mean to walk in the Spirit or to take steps in the Spirit as opposed to taking any other kind of steps? Well, if I could illustrate, when this class is over, I'm going to leave this podium and at some point or another I'm going to go out that door, Lord willing.

That's the plan at this point. And in order to do so, I have to have at least two things going for me. I have to first of all know where the door is and how to get there without tripping over all these tables.

I need to in other words have some way of directing my steps. I have to have some goal that I can perceive and some way of navigating. I need to be able to navigate the distance because the room is not without its obstacles.

If I could not see and could not direct my steps, I might bump into one of you that's just standing around. I thought you were gone because I wasn't paying attention. I need to be able to direct my steps in order to walk to that door.

I also need to have the strength to do it. If I would suddenly have a stroke as I stand here, then I'll not be able to walk out of this room today because I would not have the strength. If something very unexpected happened, my legs gave out and I couldn't walk out, then it won't happen.

I've got to have the ability, I've got to have the strength to execute it, to take steps. To get out that door from here, I need to take a certain number of steps. Those steps ideally will all progress me a little more toward the goal.

I might take a winding course or I might be distracted or something and that's not as ideal. But really, each step has to be directed and each step has to be executed by sufficient strength to carry my weight. That is just what we take for granted.

What I've said is, everyone knows, but I don't know if we always think about it. But walking in the Spirit requires that we have the strength and the direction of the Holy Spirit in the steps we take, in the decisions we make. Every decision in life is like taking another step.

If we make a wrong decision, you've made a bad step. If you make a right decision, you've made a good step. The goal for us is to be just like Jesus and to be exactly doing what He wants us to do at any given time.

It's important that we don't take additional steps in the wrong direction, but that we continually take steps directed by the Holy Spirit and empowered by the Holy Spirit. This is how one walks in the Spirit. We see that even stated, it would appear, in Romans 8, verse 13.

Paul says, For if you live according to the flesh, you'll die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Now notice the expression, by the Spirit, how it functions in that verse.

It's in contrast to live according to the flesh. That expression, according to the flesh, was also found in verse 4. Where he says, the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh. But the contrast to walking according to the flesh was walking according to the Spirit.

Here the contrast is between living according to the flesh and by the Spirit putting to death the deeds of the flesh. By the Spirit, living according to the Spirit, means we're doing it by the Spirit. By His ability, by His enabling, by His empowering.

And, if you'll look at verse 14, just one verse later, Romans 8, verse 14, it says, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. Now what do we have? We have an exhortation or a description or a statement of the normativeness in verse 4 that we should walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. It is, I think, unpacked for us in verses 13 and 14.

And this means that we live by the Spirit. As he said, and we noticed a moment ago in Galatians 5, 25, If we live by the Spirit, then we should walk by the Spirit. But it also means we're directed by the Holy Spirit.

Just as my walking from this podium to the room requires that I have some way of directing my steps, knowing which way to go, where the goal is and how to navigate the distance, so to walk in the Spirit I have to be guided. I have to have some guidance. And that guidance has to be from the Holy Spirit.

Just as my getting from here to there requires that I have sufficient strength to execute the number of steps necessary to get there, so walking in the Spirit requires that I have the strength of the Spirit to take each step that I need to take. And that's not always easy because sometimes a step, which I've identified as a choice, a decision, sometimes the wrong decision pulls very hard. There's still gravity, the gravity of sin pulling down, trying to get you to fall rather than walk.

Rather than execute that step successfully, there is sin that would draw you in the direction of missteps. And therefore, in our natural energy, our natural innate virtue, let us say, we may not have what it takes, and probably don't, very often to make the right decisions when there's a choice to do what is holy and pleasing to God, but not all that gratifying to our flesh. And an alternative, which is to do that which is gratifying to our flesh and which we think we might be able to get away with.

Without the power of the Holy Spirit we cannot make those right steps. We cannot make the right choices. But this is what I understand to be meant by walking in the Spirit.

The Spirit gives us the power. The Spirit gives us the guidance. Now, we are going to have an entirely separate lecture to talk about guidance, about how God guides us, how we know the voice of God and are led by the Spirit.

And the whole issue of divine guidance, a very major issue of concern to all Christians, we'll take that as a separate thing, a separate lecture. It requires that much attention and consideration of what the Scripture says on it. But let me just say at this point that to live by the power of the Holy Spirit requires that we are trusting wholly in God, trusting wholly in the Holy Spirit, not in ourselves, not in any sense of our own virtue or our own ability to accomplish anything, but trusting in the Holy Spirit to accomplish everything.

I remember from my youth, I've told you before, I never really did enjoy being in counseling situations. I guess I don't know if I enjoy it even now, but I'm not so gun-shy about it as I used to be when I was younger. But I remember when people would come to me and they'd just start talking to me.

It wasn't a formal counseling session, but it was clear that from what they were saying they were going to ask my opinion about something or ask for some direction about something. I remember being afraid, thinking, uh-oh, this person is going to ask me for some direction in their spiritual life. What if I tell them wrong? I just got in the habit of as soon as I recognized that someone was telling me a story or telling me of some options of it because they were going to try to sound me out to see if they could get some guidance from the Lord about it, then I would just silent and say, God, just fill me with the Spirit and give me your mind, give me your wisdom.

And then I didn't worry about it. I just asked God. I didn't trust in my own wisdom.

I just figured, well, if I ask God, he'll give it to me. Remember what Jesus said when they, this is a slightly different scenario, but the same kind of principle, when they bring you before the synagogues and before the courts and so forth, don't premeditate what you shall say because it is the Spirit of your Father who is in you will give you the words to speak in that hour. And I just took that literally.

I just thought, well, okay, I've got to, if I answer at all, I either have to say I don't know, don't listen to what I have to say, or more profitably for them, if I could give them the mind of God on the problem they were facing. So I just got, it became habitual for me. Whenever I was talking to them, whenever I began to witness to someone, or some situation would arise where I knew that something for God had to be accomplished.

I just got in the habit of just saying, God, fill me with your Spirit. God, give me your Spirit's wisdom and the words from your Spirit. And I would then just say what seemed right to say, trusting that God was enabling me to do it.

And I've never been disappointed, to tell you the truth, when I did that. I'm not saying that I always for sure had the mind of God. I guess I would by faith say that I did because I don't know.

And I did ask, so I guess faith would suggest that I did. But all I can say is, I have found that just trusting the Holy Spirit to give all the ability to do and say what is right, is the way in which we receive His aid. And walking in the Spirit requires this.

Now there's more, and perhaps everything else that I'm going to list is simply another aspect of what it means to walk in the Spirit. For example, in Ephesians chapter 5, Ephesians chapter 5, verse 1 and 2, says, Therefore be followers of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Walking in love, as Christ did, is one of the things that obviously a walk in the Spirit is.

Because the fruit of the Spirit is love. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, Paul says. And so you can know whether you're walking with God or not by whether you're walking in love or not.

You know, a lot of these things I'm going to be showing you in the Scripture are just different ways of knowing whether the steps you're taking are in the Spirit or not. Is what you are doing consistent with the love of God? Is it the most loving conceivable thing you can do? If you're walking in love, then it is certain you are walking with God. You're walking in the Spirit, because that is the fruit of the Spirit.

In the same chapter, Ephesians 5, verse 15, it says, I see that you walk circumspectly. Circumspectly comes from two particles. Circum, which is a prefix that I'm sure many of you will instantly know what it means.

We have the English word circumference, for example, or circumcision, or other circums. Circum means around. Circumcision, scissors, you know, is cutting around.

Circumspectly has an additional part of that word, and that is spect, from which we get the word spectacle or inspect. And it means to look. And circumspect means to look around.

Around looking. That's what circumspect means. Around looking.

Looking around. To walk circumspectly suggests caution. It suggests a degree of fearfulness of dangers around.

Not such fear as has torment, but such fear as causes caution. And I'm sure that what Paul means by this, that we should walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, is that we should be aware of the danger all around us that would trip us up. So if you are walking on ice or walking through a thick jungle, you would walk looking around.

Looking for things that you might, you know, irregularities, vines across the path, something that would trip you up. Keeping your eyes open. Watching, you know, everything that is related to where you're walking.

Related to the safety of where you're walking. And Christians often do walk more as fools than circumspectly. They'll walk right into danger.

A danger they could easily have foreseen or discerned if they were a little more interested in discerning. But we are told that walking in the spirit requires that we walk with caution, circumspectly. What's the marginal reading of this? It says carefully.

Okay, so we walk in love and we walk carefully. Also in that same chapter, verse 8, For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.

And of course we know that we read in 1 John 1, 7, that if we walk in the light, we have fellowship with God. If we walk in darkness, we can say we have fellowship with God, but we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light where he is, then we have fellowship with him.

So walking in the light. We've already talked a little bit about what that means. It means that if you're walking in the spirit, you're not going to have a bunch of secrets that you're afraid to have people discover.

There may be things that out of concern for them and their feelings or whatever you want, you won't tell them. But not because you've got some kind of skeletons in your closet. You walk in light.

You let the light shine all over your life and people will see what's there. Some of it may not be all that pretty, but that's what John says after he says, walk in the light. He says, if we say we have no sin, we're deceiving ourselves.

But if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That is walking in the light means we confess our faults. We don't deny them.

We don't hide them. We're transparent. So in Ephesians 5 we read that we walk in love.

We walk as children of light, in the light. And we walk circumspectly. I could have given you some earlier verses in Ephesians.

There's quite a bit in Ephesians about our walk. If you look back at Ephesians chapter 2, for example. Ephesians chapter 2, excuse me, verse 10, Paul said, For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

So obviously the Christian walk is a walk in good works that God has prepared for us. There are good works that we might choose for ourselves. But we need to walk in those works that God has prepared for us.

You might wish that you could be the next Mother Teresa. But that might not be what God wants you to be. Your desire to be that might be well-intentioned or it might even be delusions of grandeur or whatever.

But the fact of the matter is what Mother Teresa did was a good work. And God has prepared that work for some people to do. But it may not be the good works that God has prepared you to do.

But whatever he has prepared you to do will be a good work. And God has created us in Christ Jesus for good works that he has beforehand prepared for us to walk in. And so you can know if you're walking with God by seeing if your works are good works.

If what you're occupied with is a good work. And if you have some conviction or reason to believe that it's a good work that God has specially prepared for you to have delivered to you to do. We could also point out that in Ephesians 4.1 as well as some other places in Paul's writings.

There is the exhortation to walk worthy. It says in Ephesians 4.1, Therefore I the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to have a walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. Well what is that walk like? Well with all lowliness and gentleness and long-suffering bearing with one another in love.

What is all that? What are those things? Lowliness and gentleness and long-suffering in love. What are those things? Those are fruit of the Spirit aren't they? I mean if you know the list of the fruit of the Spirit. He's saying walk in the Spirit.

That's the only way to walk worthy of the calling. You've been called of God to represent him. To exhibit him.

To be a demonstration to the world of what he is. Walk worthy of that calling. To do that you have to walk exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit.

You have to walk in the Spirit. In other words. Some of the other places in the Bible that actually talk about walking worthy.

Don't talk so much about walking worthy of your calling but walking worthy of God. In Colossians chapter 1 verse 10. Colossians 1.10 says that you may have a walk worthy of the Lord.

Fully pleasing him. Being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Now notice fruitful in every good work.

That's the fruit of the Spirit. When you walk worthy of your calling you'll produce the fruit of the Spirit. As Ephesians 4.1 and 2 point out.

But also you'll be. What happens when you walk with the Lord? When you walk worthy of the Lord? You'll be increasing in the knowledge of God. Well that's what we're talking about here.

Fellowship with God. You will. If you walk with God in a way worthy of him.

Then you will increase in the knowledge of him. Why? Because you'll be in communion with him. As you walk along.

Your heart will burn within you at times as he opens to you the scriptures. And you will increase in the knowledge of him. What I'd especially point out to you in this verse.

In Colossians 1.10 it says that you may have a walk worthy of the Lord. Fully pleasing him. The Christian walk is a walk committed to fully pleasing him.

If you look over at 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 1. 1 Thessalonians 4.1 This says essentially the same thing. Paul says, Finally then brethren we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more just as you received from us. How you ought to walk and to please God.

Earlier he has described this walk in the same book as a walk worthy of God. In chapter 2 verse 12. 1 Thessalonians 2.12 He says that you would have a walk worthy of God.

Now he says walk to please the Lord. That's what he said in Colossians. That you would walk worthy of the Lord.

Fully pleasing him. The connection to walking in a way worthy of God is a way that is committed to pleasing him. It is not worthy of God for you to live to please yourself.

It is not worthy of God even for you to please men. To the extent that it means pleasing men who would have you compromise. There is a place for pleasing people in the Lord.

For example, look at Romans chapter 15. In Romans 15 it says in verse 1. We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good leading to edification.

Now there is a place where walking with God and pleasing God is a call to please your neighbor. Not in all things but in such things as will edify him. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good leading to edification.

But not all pleasing a man is good or edifying. So that Paul in another situation in mind in Galatians 1.10. Says for do I now persuade men or God? Do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1.10. If I am still trying to please men, if I am a slave to human approval.

Then I can't serve Christ. I do want to please others more than myself. But I can't please men more than God.

I can't be a servant of Christ if pleasing men is my highest priority. My highest priority is to walk to please God. That is a walk worthy of the Lord.

Anything less than that is unworthy of your calling in God. Since we are in 1 Thessalonians. We just happen to have gotten here.

In chapter 4 verse 12. He says that you may walk properly toward those who are outside. That you may lack nothing.

What he is referring to here in the context is working with your hands. Supporting yourself. Not being a beggar.

Carrying your own weight financially. He says you should do that. You should aspire to lead a quiet life.

Verse 11 says to mind your own business. Work with your own hands. As we command you that you may walk properly toward those who are outside.

That is that your walk with God will not seem improper to those who watch you. That you should not offend them by your slothfulness. You should not offend them by becoming a parasite.

That you should be a good example. That your walk will be a proper one. Proper to society.

Proper in the sight of those who have a sense instinctively of right behavior. Also we are told to walk according to Romans 13. Honestly.

You cannot walk in the spirit if you are not walking honestly. But actually I should say this. Both the scripture I showed you in 1 Thessalonians 4. And here in Romans 13.

Both of them say honestly in the King James. But both of them in the New King James say properly. So perhaps the King James in using the word honestly is not quite up to date on the meaning of the Greek word.

Because the New King James here says let us walk properly as in the day. That would certainly mean in the light. Walk in the light.

All these ideas interconnect with one another. But they all tell us something about what walking with God looks like. It is walking in a new life.

It is walking in the spirit. This involves walking in love. It means walking in good works.

Walking as children of light. Walking circumspectly. Walking worthy of the Lord and of our calling.

It also means walking in wisdom. Not human wisdom of course. We know that James told us if we lack wisdom we can ask of God and he will give us wisdom.

But we are told in Colossians 4 and verse 5. Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside redeeming the time. Your relationships with those who are as it says here outside. Meaning outside the body of Christ.

Non-Christians. Your relationship with unbelievers should be wise. Jesus himself said be as wise as serpents but harmless as doves.

We need to be wise in the sense that we don't fall prey unnecessarily to the craftiness of men. Now if despite all of our good caution and so forth we end up being persecuted and maybe even killed. Then there is no sin in that.

But it is a shame if you walk right into a trap either spiritually or physically. You need to beware. Don't cast your pearls before a swine.

You need to not let your enemies know all of your strategies. You need to have some wisdom there. Some discretion.

That is part of walking with God too. Showing some discretion and wisdom. Now let me very quickly summarize from some other scriptures what walking with God involves.

Look at 2 John. 2 John of course is a very short epistle. 13 verses only.

In verse 6 John says this is love that we walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment that as you have heard from the beginning you should walk in it. Now this particular commandment that he is referring to is love.

This is love that we walk according to his commandments. But his commandments plural I believe what he is saying is that to follow the commandments of the Lord is what love is. Love is nothing else but following the commandments.

Now it is not so much that love then gets swallowed up in legalism of obedience to law. But rather what he is saying is the commandments describe what love behaves like. We just had to do something with one of our children recently who was kind of having trouble with so many household rules.

We have a lot of rules. I am not a very legalistic person. When I started this school I told the first student body we are not into rules here.

In fact Paul said that the law is for the lawless not for the righteous. I am going to give all you guys the benefit of the doubt that you are righteous and we will have no rules here. And as we find that you are lawless we will have to make laws.

We will have to make rules as we find that we need them. By the end of the school year we had a whole bunch of rules because we found out that there were a lot of lawless people with us. And I am in favor of having as few rules as possible.

But where there is lawless behavior there must be rules to govern it. One of our children in particular has had a hard time staying within the perimeters of correct behavior. I am not talking about sinful behavior.

I am just talking about in some cases careless or inconsiderate. That could be called sinful. But not brazen rebellion.

Not at all. We don't have any brazen rebellion in any of our children. But we certainly have what might be called passive rebellion or indifference toward things that they should take seriously.

Lack of caution and considerateness and so forth. We were talking to this child about the rules that were being broken. And that child indicated that the child rebelled against the idea of having so many rules.

It just seemed like life was just so many rules. And so Kristen came up with a new way of describing it just the other day. She said, okay, we will call these not rules but kindnesses.

We are not going to have any rules. We will just expect kindnesses. And if you hurt somebody, you have broken a kindness.

You have not been kind. And all the rules that we have are simply kindnesses. Well, that seemed to make them a little less objectionable.

Most people don't have any objection to being kind. And really we have all the same rules as before. We just changed them from calling them rules to calling them kindnesses because that's really what they are.

The rules are just a description of kindness. And children sometimes don't know innately what kindness calls for, so we have the rules to describe it. Now we change it to kindness and it's the same rules, just a different name for it.

And actually the laws of God are just kindnesses. They are just expressions of love. We don't automatically know what loving behavior is because we are so lawless and therefore God has had to legislate kindness.

He has had to legislate good behavior. Only because we don't automatically love. But if we walk in love, we will find ourselves walking according to these kindnesses, to these laws, these commandments.

And when John says, this is love, that we walk according to his commandments, it just means, well, you might say you are loving, you might say you love this person, but if you are behaving toward them contrary to Christ's commands, then you are not acting in love after all. You are misinterpreting what love is. And his commandments are the definition of love.

And we walk according to his commandments. We also walk not just according to his commandments, but according to his steps. Look at 1 John 2, verse 6. 1 John 2, verse 6 says, He who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked.

Walking with God requires that we walk as Jesus walked. We walk according to his commands and according to his example. We walk the way he told us to walk and we walk the way he walked.

And he is one person of whom it would never be necessary for him to say, do as I say, not as I do. Because he walked according to the same rule, according to the same love that he commands us to walk in. Therefore, walking with Christ, walking with God, is seen when we are walking according to his commandments and walking as he walked.

Now, how did he walk? Well, there are many things about the way Jesus walked that we are not compelled to imitate. We don't have to walk, for example, in sandals as he did. We don't have to walk necessarily in the land of Israel as he walked.

We don't have to go there, in other words. That's where he walked. We don't have to walk there necessarily.

We don't have to imitate everything in his life. He was an unmarried, itinerant preacher. Not everyone who is a Christian is called necessarily to be an unmarried, itinerant preacher.

There were many things about his calling and special things he did that won't be reproduced in our exact circumstances. But what does it mean to walk as he walked? I believe he walked in the Spirit. And we are to walk as he walked, in the Spirit.

And an example of this that I find helpful is that of Jesus and Peter on the sea. And Jesus was walking on the water. Well, people can't do that, you know.

He did that by the power of the Spirit. He walked in the Spirit. It was a supernatural way of walking on water.

But Peter wanted to walk even as Jesus walked. Peter wanted to walk on the water too. But he couldn't.

Because people can't do that. Humans can't do that. In the flesh you cannot walk on water.

But Peter said, Lord, if you command me, then I will come. And I'll walk on the water. And Jesus said, then come.

And he gave the command. And Peter got up and sure enough, what do you know, he walked even as Jesus walked on the water. He walked not as men walked, but as Jesus walked.

He walked a supernatural walk. And that walk was made possible by two things. One, the command of Christ.

And two, Peter's own faith in the command of Christ. And the command of Christ was not enough without the faith. Because after a while, Peter began to look at other things and see the obstacles and the storm.

And he began to get afraid. His faith withered and he sank. And Jesus pulled him out and said, where was your faith? You of little faith.

Why didn't you believe? You see, walking as Jesus walked is possible for those who, like Jesus, have the Holy Spirit. We have the Spirit of Christ. We have his commands.

We have his example. But we can't walk except by faith. We have to walk as he walked, but we have to do so through the power of the Spirit.

We have to walk in complete faith and newness of life. Because the walk of the Christian, the walk with God, requires a supernatural being to perform it. There's only one person in all history who's ever been able to walk the Christian life, and that was the Holy Spirit.

You thought I was going to say Jesus, but it was the Holy Spirit. Because everything Jesus did, he did through the Holy Spirit. He said so.

The Bible says so. But that's encouraging, because the same Spirit is in us. That was in him.

And therefore, it is possible through faith and through obedience to his commands to walk in the Spirit as he walked. And to walk with God, and to enjoy his fellowship in the walk and in the way, and to ever be increasing in the knowledge of God. With that, we must stop.

But we will take another session to talk about the subject of guidance, divine guidance. So we might know how to know where we're supposed to walk. And so we'll take that up next time.