Stop Walking That Way
Ephesians 4:17-24
Have you ever noticed the difference in how different people walk? Some walk daintily, some slouch, others shuffle their feet, some walk tall, some sprightly. Assuming that the feet and limbs are in good condition, a man's walk will generally reveal his character. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they walk. Paul in writing to the church located in Ephesus was interested in the way that they were walking as their walk revealed their attitudes, desires and relationship with Christ.
"There is a story of the old gardener of Versailles, who was distressed because the courtiers from, the palace constantly tramped over his flower beds and ruthlessly destroyed his seedlings. He went to the king, Louis the Fourteenth, and confided his trouble to his royal master. The king ordered that little tablets--"etiquette"--be neatly arranged along the sides of the flower beds, and a state order was issued ordering all his courtiers to walk carefully within the etiquette. "And so the poor old gardener not only protected the flowers that he loved from the pitiless feet of the high-born vandals, but he enriched our vocabulary with a new and startlingly significant word. The art of life consists in keeping carefully within the ways marked out by the etiquette. (copied)" In Ephesians, Paul tells us that there is a Christian etiquette that God has laid out in His Word that we are to walk within and a way that we are to stop walking.
I Stop walking like the world of unbelievers. vs. 17-19
A Let me paraphrase what Paul is saying in verses 17, "Stop continuing to walk like those who do not believe, whose thoughts are worth nothing."
B In other words stop going along with the crowd.
C Wayne Barber commenting on this verse said that Paul saying ""I have just raised you up to the highest level of understanding that you could possibly get to. Now I am warning you. Don’t you go back and live like you used to live. When you do, sin will take you further than you ever wanted to stray, keep you longer than you ever wanted to stay and cost you more than you ever dreamed you would pay."
D When you become a true Christian, not one just in word, you begin a walk on a new road in a new world leading to a new destination.
E The unregenerate man, the one who has never put his faith and trust in the Lord walks, pursues, and regulates his life and conduct according the dictates of his heart and mind. The only problem with that is according to verse 18-19a "They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous..."
F The unsaved world focuses on empty things which do not matter in the eternal scheme of things rather they focus on things that are self indulgent and self gratifying.
G Paul says that the unsaved walk "in the futility of their mind". The word used for futility in the Greek is the word "mataiotes" which describes the state of being without use or value, empty, futile, purposeless.
H The way the unregenerate world thinks is totally foreign to the way God thinks.
I 1 Corinthians 2:14 "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
J Psalm 1:1a "Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly."
K As in the Newt Testament the word walk in Psalm 1 metaphorically means, “to go along with, follow a course of action,” or “to live, follow a way of life.” It has the idea of “go along with, use, follow.”
L Sadly numerous past Gallop polls which compared those churched individuals claiming to know Christ with the unchurched revealed there was basically no difference in the way they lived their lives.
II Stop acting like we did before we came to Christ
A Ephesians 4:22-23 (ESV) " But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
B Before we came to Christ we based our lives on what we wanted, what satisfied us, what met our needs, what made us feel good, what gave us pleasure.
C Ephesians 2:2 "...you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience"
D 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."
E "Today I went back to the place where I used to go,
Today I saw the same old crowd I knew before.
And when they asked me what had happened,
I tried to tell them: Thanks to Calvary I don't come here anymore." - Copied
F John Newton, the author of the song "Amazing Grace" on one occasion said to a friend, "I am not all that I should be or what I want to be, but thank God I am not what I used to be."
G Romans 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."
H God saved for our old walk that we might walk a different walk - a walk that pleases Him.
III Start thinking right
A Ephesians 4:23 "be renewed in the spirit of your mind,"
B The challenge here is that we need to have the mind of Christ which can only be accomplished by allowing the Holy Spirit of God to renew our minds.
C The idea as Vine points out is that as believers we are to allow the controlling power of the indwelling Holy Spirit to direct our mind's bent and energies God-ward. - Vine, W E:Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words
D Romans 12:2 " And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
E "My thoughts today lead to who I become tomorrow! You are who you are today... and where you are today... primarily because of your thinking in the past! This works in the other direction as well. If you want to change where you will be and who you will be tomorrow, you need to start with your thinking today!" - Mark Pierce
F Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
IV Start walking like one who has been truly redeemed.
A Ephesians 4:24 "that you put on the new man which was created according to (after the likeness of) God, in true righteousness and holiness."
B The believer has received a change of life that should result in a change in his walk. We are called upon to "put off", once for all, the ways of the old man who is just growing worse day by day. We are commanded to "put on", once for all, the new man, who had been created in the likeness of God in righteousness and holiness. - Copied
C 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
D Our lives should reflect Christ as we are to bear his image to the world. Consider this Christ said concerning Himself in John 8:12," I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” And He said to those who followed Him in Matthew 5:14 " You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden." We are to be reflections of Him. Do we reflect Him by the way we walk?
E Ray Stedman gives the following illustration:"When I get up in the morning I put on my clothes, intending them to be part of me all day, to go where I go and do what I do. They cover me and make me presentable to others. That is the purpose of clothes. In the same way, the apostle is saying to us (Ro 13:12, 13, 14-see notes Ro13:12,13, 14), “Put on Jesus Christ when you get up in the morning. Make Him a part of your life that day. Intend that He go with you everywhere you go, and that He act through you in everything you do. Call upon His resources. Live your life IN CHRIST.” (Stedman, Ray C. From Guilt to Glory. Vol 2. p136. Waco, TX: Word, 1978) (Bolding added)
F Dear Lord, You've given new life to me—
A great and full salvation;
And may the life that others see
Display the transformation. —Hess
