## I'm Going For A Walk

## Ephesians 4:1

Gen 3:8, "And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day:"

Gen 5:24, "And Enoch walked with God:"

Gen 6:9, "and Noah walked with God."

Deut 13:4, "Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him."

Rom 6:4, "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

Walking is a good illustration of the Christian life. Sometimes a walk is boring. But at other times it is very interesting. A lot of it has to do with where you are, who you are, and who you are with.

- When we go for a walk, we sometimes trip.
- When we go for a walk, we can encounter dangers.
- When we go for a walk, we meet many people.

This is true in our Christian walk as well. The word "WALK" is an appropriate word to illustrate living for the Lord! Let's look at Ephesians 4 and see what the Scripture has to say about our walk with the Lord.

“Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Eph 4:3-6)

I. A UNIFIED WALK vs 3-6

A. God's word tells us we have to ENDEAVOR to keep unity!

1. One thing is for sure:

a. If we all say the first thing that comes to mind.

b. And do the First thing impulse calls for.

c. If we all act like we want to act instead of how we ought to act.

2. We won't have much unity in our lives!

B. This Christian life is AN ENDEAVOR!

1. We have to WORK at prayer!

2. We have to WORK at Bible study!

3. We have to WORK at witnessing for Christ!

4. NONE OF THESE THINGS COME NATURALLY

5. So you have to endeavor to do them!

C. And we have to endeavor and WORK at getting along with the others in church!

1. We do that by remembering we are all in the same local church.

2. We are all indwelt by the same Spirit

3. We are all looking for the same return of Christ.

4. We all have the same master, all have the same doctrines, all have the same baptism, and all have the same God!

5. Anything beyond that is trivial!

6. We must work at getting along!

7. Because we can't consider ourselves walking worthy of Christ if we are always involved in causing some sort of division in church!

II. A MATURING WALK. vs 11-16

Nobody minds a little baby not being able to walk well.

But we all expect that, the baby will mature and be able to walk better and better!

If the child grows up and isn't able to walk well, we take them to special doctors to straighten their legs, and therapists to help them learn to walk right!

God has given us several sources to help us mature as Christians:

A. Apostles and Prophets.

1. These people actually lived, but, though they no longer exist, their ministries are still available to us through the Old and New Testaments!

2. Each time I read some of the Old Testament, one of those prophets of the past ministers to me and helps me mature in my faith.

3. And every time I read some of the New Testament, one of the Apostles has a continuing ministry, serving to make me more mature for Jesus Christ!

4. We Baptists have always been Bible People!

a. We aren't into book reports, or dissertations on what the doctors and professors believe!

b. Baptists have always held that a preacher got his credentials from the Lord and not from his diploma!

c. We put more stock in a man of God who proclaims the Word of God, than in any type of worldly wisdom and scholarship!

d. We encourage our people to bring their Bibles to church, to see for themselves what God's Word says.

e. And we encourage our people to read their Bibles day by day and apply those biblical principles to their lives.

B. The Evangelists Serve to Help us Mature in the Faith.

1. A missionary and church planter is an evangelist.

a. You may not personally plant a church and stay there as its pastor.

b. But you can have a part in the maturing of the faith of others.

c. There are people in Elnora, and around the world who are going to benefit and grow from your ministry here, and they may never know our name!

d. But as missionaries come and challenge us for the cause of Christ, they help to mature us in the faith.

2. Then we have the traditional Evangelist.

a. These are men who have been called by God to an itinerant ministry. (Jim and Lawanda)

b. Traveling from church to church and from community to community sharing the message of God and challenging folks for Christ.

c. They too have a part in maturing our faith.

3. And then, the evangelist is a term that is used for the soul winner.

a. Whenever you win a person to Christ, you have begun them in a walk for which they will be eternally grateful to you!

b. You might not see them much here on earth, but in heaven, they will tell you every day how thankful they are you gave to them the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

C. Pastors and Teachers.

1. These are the people who have a long term ministry with us in helping us to mature for the Lord.

2. We know who the pastors of this church are.

3. I believe that Teachers speaks of those of you involved in Sunday School, Junior Church, VBS, and Grace Baptist Academy.

4. These are those week after week ministries that God has given to us to help us mature and grow in the Lord!

III. A RENEWED WALK vs 17-24

A. I will not take much time with this except to say that, if we want to walk worthy of Christ, WE NEED TO EXPECT TO CHANGE!

B. The old things we used to do MUST BE PUT OFF And we MUST PUT ON a new kind of life and walk for the Lord!

C. We can't just do the things we used to do and still call that walking worthy of Christ!

IV. AN HONEST WALK vs 25

A. We are made free by the truth.

B. We are made clean by the truth.

C. We are saved by the truth.

D. And it is ridiculous to believe that we can walk worthy of Christ and not be truthful people!

E. We must be honest!

V. A KIND WALK vs 31-32

A. Kindness begins by changing our attitude.

1. Putting away that bitter and angry spirit, and then, changing what we say.

2. Some of us just say mean, hateful and hurting things!

B. Kindness means to become tender- hearted.

1. Thoughtful towards others feelings and how they will react to our words and actions.

2. Someone has said that actions speak louder than words.

3. Another said, "Your actions speak so loud that I cannot hear what you are saying!"

4. Let's be loud and clear with our kindness toward others.

C. And Kindness means to be quick to forgive.

1. One of the things I learned a long time ago is to be ready to forgive.

2. We need to develop a forgiving spirit.

3. If we wait until you are offended, to learn to forgive, we will have reacted before we have time to think it through!

As we close tonight, let's ask ourselves: How is my walk with God? Is my walk a unified walk, a maturing walk, a renewed walk, an honest walk, and a kind walk. If not will you say, "By the grace of God, this is the kind of walk I want to have."

As we mature in the Lord, attempt to walk more and more worthily of Christ. We'lI trip and fall sometimes, but hopefully we do it less as we keep growing. Will you come tonight and say to God, "With your help Lord, I want to go for a walk with You!"