Walk This Way Series

WALK THIS WAY

1 THESSALONIANS 2:1-20

#1Thessalonians2

INTRODUCTION… FAMOUS SONGS MADE FOR ‘WALKING’ (p)

To start out this morning, we are going to have some fun and we are going to play a little ‘Name that Tune.’ I have 5 short snippets of the beginning of songs ranging from 10 seconds to 24 seconds and let’s see if we can name the tune. The songs start from 1963 then go to 1966 then two from 1986 and then one from 1997. The sound clip will play and then you say the name of the song and you get bonus points if you know the musician or group…

‘Walk Like A Man” (1963) Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons (0:24)

“These Boots are Made for Walkin” (1966) Nancy Sinatra (0:14)

“Walk this Way” (1986) RunDMC with Aerosmith (0:10)

“Walk Like an Egyptian” (1986) The Bangles (0:11)

“Walkin’ on the Sun” (1997) Smash Mouth (0:14)

I happen to think that these songs are pretty recognizable even just based on the first ten seconds of the song. The tune is recognizable and you can pick out the name of the song and for some of them we even know the people who sang it. All of these songs happen to be about ‘walking’ in some form or fashion.

The way a person walks is also pretty recognizable I think. In a crowd, you might know a family member by the way they walk. We can definitely tell if a person has knee or hip problems based on how they walk. A person in a hurry walks in a particular way. Sometimes we can even tell if someone is confident or more cautious based on their walk.

In the New Testament, ‘walk’ is a term used to symbolize the manner of a person’s life with the Lord. I think ‘walking’ is used as a symbol because it is so recognizable and you can tell much from a person’s walk. It is a great metaphor for the Christian life and faith.

For example:

Luke 1:6 (ESV) about Zechariah and Elizabeth, “And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.”

Jesus said in John 8:12 (ESV): “Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” and later in John 11:9-10 (ESV) says, “If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”

Romans 6:4 (ESV) says: “We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

Galatians 5:16 (ESV) commands: “walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

Over and over and over again in the Bible we see this metaphor about walking and how it relates to our attitudes, our perspectives on life, and our actions as we live our lives. Again, I think this metaphor is used because the way a person walks tells a lot about them. Maybe they are a man, maybe they want to walk all over you, maybe they walk like an Egyptian, or maybe they are walking on the sun.

Let’s read what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 2, specifically verses 12 and 13 as these are the verses that focus on walking with the Lord.

READ 1 THESSALONIANS 2:1-20 (ESV)

For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. 2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. 3 For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. 5 For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. 6 Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. 7 But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. 9 For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. 11 For you know how, like a father with his children, 12 we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. 13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. 14 For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind 16 by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last! 17 But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, 18 because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. 19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20 For you are our glory and joy.