Our Walk In This World Series

NTRO.- ILL.- You know it is time to resume running or walking when...

- You try to do a few pushups and discover that certain body parts refuse to leave the floor.

- You get winded just saying the words "10 kilometer run".

- You come to the conclusion that, if God really wanted you to touch your toes each morning, He would have put them somewhere around your knees.

- You analyze your body honestly and decide what you should develop first is your sense of humor.

- You step on a talking scale and it says, "Come back when you are alone".

How’s your walk? Pretty crippled? Smooth? Fast? Slow? Obviously, there is more than one kind of walk. We can physically walk and that’s good. They say that walking is one of the best exercises there is for your heart and lungs. Walking is healthy. Spiritual walking is also very healthy for a person. Spiritual walking is the best yet!

Do you remember the man who walked with God?

Genesis 5:21-24 “When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.”

I’ve always envied Enoch, not because God took him so that he wouldn’t experience death, but because of his close walk with God. CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT WALK? Can you imagine the communion, the fellowship, the talks he had with God? No, it’s difficult because none of us have experienced anything like what he had. Or so it seems.

ILL.- In a sermon on “Enoch walked with God,” Dr. G. Campbell Morgan gave the following illustration: A little child gave a most exquisite explanation of walking with God. She went home from Sunday School, and the mother said, “Tell me what you learned at Sunday school.”

And she said: “Don’t you know, Mother, one day they went for an extra long walk, and they walked on and on, until God said to Enoch, ‘You are a long way from home; you had better just come in and stay.’ And he went.”

What a great walk with God Enoch had! Would we all had such.

Deut. 10:12-13 “And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?”

Walk in His all ways. Yep, this is what we need to do. We need to put our heart and soul into this walk.

PROP.- John’s message is clear about the life we should live.

1- We must walk in obedience

2- We must walk in love

3- We must walk in truth

I. WE MUST WALK IN OBEDIENCE

II John 4It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands.

Some of your children are walking in the truth.

The truth is not every person who claims Christ as their savior walks in the truth or in obedience. Many people believe the truth, but they don’t obey the truth of God’s Word. Some will obey but not all.

6And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. Obedience to His commands. What a tall order!

ILL.- Do you like buffets like Ryan’s buffet? Most people do. But do you eat everything on the the bar? I doubt it. I am sure you are somewhat selective as I am. For example, I think salad is ok but I often bypass it for the real stuff, like meat and potatoes! I AM SELECTIVE AND YOU ARE TOO.

What we do at the buffet we also do with God’s buffet of commands. His commands are many but we often pick and choose what we want to do instead of trying to do everything God has commanded.

ILL.- For example, here is a command that we are not very good to obey: James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

I don’t know any orphans off hand, but I do know some widows that could use our visits and calls. But I don’t think we’re very good to obey this command.