Sit, Walk, Stand Series

Sit Walk Stand

Ephesians

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

Chenoa Baptist Church

01-05-20

A Visit with Jim

Right at the beginning of my time at Chenoa Baptist Church, I paid a visit to my friend Jim Probst. Jim is the executive pastor at Eastview Christian Church in Bloomington and a wise friend.

When we meet, it’s not unusual for him to put a piece of paper on the wall and start drawing disciple-making strategies or how to grow leaders. He also has taken many books of his shelf and handed them to me to read.

As I walked into his office, he immediately read my body language. I was tired. As a fellow pastor, he understood my weariness. After listening, encouraging, and praying for me, he pulled a little book off his shelf entitled, “Sit Walk Stand” by a Chinese pastor named Watchman Nee. He asked me to read it and said that it changed the way he looked at ministry and his Christian journey.

Over the next few days, I sat at the feet of pastor Nee and learned that I had really been going about ministry the wrong way. I was doing too much walking and not enough sitting and standing. I began to understand what I must do.

Over the next three weeks, I want to take you through what I learned from this little book. It’s really just a small commentary on the book of Ephesians, a book we will go through together, Lord willing, next January.

I want you to learn to sit, walk, and stand. I believe it will change your life and your spiritual experience in 2020.

Watchman Nee

Watchman Nee was a Chinese pastor, leader, and author who lived from 1903 to 1972. He established churches, lead youth conferences, wrote prolifically, and, after the Communist revolution, spent the last twenty years of his life in prison for his faith. He was not even allowed to attend his wife’s funeral.

When he died, the family was contacted only after he had been cremated. His great niece, went into his jail cell and found a note under his pillow that read:

"Christ is the Son of God who died for the redemption of sinners and resurrected after three days. This is the greatest truth in the universe. I die because of my belief in Christ. Watchman Nee.”

Watchman was a faithful servant of God and his writings are still influencing believers today.

Key Words

The letter to the Ephesians can be dived into two parts - doctrinal (chapters 1-3) and practical (4-6). In the doctrinal section, we learn about our position in Christ (1:1-3:21). The practical section can be divided into two parts - our life in the world (4:1-6:9) and our attitude to the enemy (6:10-24).

Pastor Nee saw three key words in these verses:

Our position in Christ - SIT

Our life in the World - WALK

Our attitude toward the Enemy - STAND

Pastor Nee writes:

“The life of the believer always presents these three aspects - to God, to man, and to the satanic powers. To be useful in God’s hand a man must be properly adjusted in respect to all three: his position, his life, and his warfare.”

Today we will learn to sit. Next week to walk. And then we will learn to take our stand against the Enemy.

Turn in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians.

Prayer.

Seated in Heavenly Places

Let’s begin in chapter one, verse 15. Paul begins his letter with a summary of what he prays for the believers at the church in Ephesus:

 “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,  far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” ( Ephesians 1:18-21)

Paul prays for these believers to know the sure hope they have in Christ. He prays that they would understand their worth and the significance of God’s choosing them. And he prays that the eyes of their hearts would be open to understand the incomparably great power that raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him at the right hand in the heavenly realms.

Because of Jesus’ resurrection and exaltation, that power is available to those who believe.

Paul is probably alluding to Psalm 110:1, where David writes:

The Lord says to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” (Psalm 110:1)

To sit at the right hand is to hold a place of privilege, honor, favor, and victory.