Every good medical doctor knows the value of walking, this is why they strongly recommend it to their patients. But walking has also proven to be good for other things.
Illus: A young fellow was walking in the park one day and he saw a beautiful young lady sitting on a bench reading a book.
• He walked past her, hoping she would notice him. She did notice him, she glanced up and smiled and went back to reading her book.
• He walked past her again and she looked up and gave him a nice smile and went back to reading her book.
• He walked in front of her the third time and she looked up and gave him a nice smile again.
• He walked by the fourth time, and she looked up and said, “Sorry, I am not trying to ignore you but I am reading this interesting book and I just can not stop reading it.”
• He said, “What is the book about?” She said, “It is about the kind of fellows a girl like myself should date and marry one day.”
• He said, “Who does the author recommend?”
• She said that research showed the best kind of men to date for a meaningful relationship were Indians and Hispanics.
She said, “What is your name?” He said, “Tonto Hernandez”
Walking has also proven to be good for expecting mothers.
Illus: A husband and wife were taking a Lamaze class where the husbands assist their wives in child birth. The instructor was teaching:
• How the women need to breathe properly
• How The men are to give the necessary assurances at this stage of the delivery
The teacher then announced, "Ladies, exercise is good for you. Walking is especially beneficial.”
The instructor looked at some of the overweight dads in this class and said, “And, gentlemen, it wouldn’t hurt you to take the time to go walking with your partner!"
The room got quiet. Finally, one of the husbands raised his hand.
"Yes?" said the teacher. "Is it OK if she carries a golf bag while we walk?"
Walking has proven to be very beneficial to us in many ways, but have you noticed that everyone has their own peculiar walk?
• Some walk on their toes
• Some walk on their heals
• Some walk pigeon toed
• Some walk light footed
• Some walk as if they are carrying a hundred pounds of potatoes on their shoulders
We all have distinct ways of walking.
Illus: Some say my brother and I both have a strange walk. I agree that my brother has a strange walk, but I do not think I do!
Everyone has a way of walking that makes them unique.
Illus: Have you ever noticed how John Wayne walked? His walk was different than any other man I have ever seen.
• PHYSICALLY we each have a distinctive walk that we are known for.
• This passage of scripture shows us that SPIRITUALLY we should have a distinct walk that is different than the lost. The Christian should not walk as those who are lost walk, we should be different from the lost world.
SPIRITUALLY there are only two kinds of walks, and every one of us has to choose which of these two we want for our life.
Some have chosen-
I. THE CARNAL WALK
Look at Ephesians 4:17-19, we read, “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.”
Paul tells these Christians they are not to walk as the Gentiles.
HOW DID THEY WALK? He mentions three things about their walk. They walked:
(1) IN THE VANITY OF THEIR MIND
We see vanity everywhere in our society.
Illus: A young girl knelt in the confessional booth and said:
• "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned."
• "What is it, child?"
• "Father, I have committed the sin of vanity. Twice a day I gaze at myself in the mirror and tell myself how beautiful I am."
• The priest turned, took a good look at the girl, and said, "My dear, I have good news. That isn't a sin... it's simply a mistake.”
The lost of this world have a high opinion of themselves. They put themselves above God their Creator.
HOW DO THEY DO THIS? Their attitude in life is, “I am the god of my life. I have things I want to do, things I am going to do, and no one is going to stop me!”
Paul says the lost people walk in the vanity of their minds. When a person walks in the VANITY OF THEIR MIND, it leads to-
(2) HAVING THEIR UNDERSTANDING DARKENED
When a person walks in the VANITY OF THEIR MIND, the Bible says that their UNDERSTANDING IS DARKENED. They were walking in darkness in the VANITY OF THEIR MIND, but notice that it has DARKENED.
The SPIRITUAL WALK in many ways is similar to the PHYSICAL WALK.
Illus: As time goes on in the PHYSICAL WORLD –
• Our EYES are not as sharp as they once were
• Our EARS are not as good as they once were
• Our MINDS are not as sharp as they once were
They tend to get worse through the years.
Illus: Three sons left home, went out on their own and prospered. Getting back together, they discussed the gifts they were able to give their elderly Mother.
• The first son said, "I built a big house for our Mother."
• The second son said, "I sent her a Mercedes with a driver."
• The third smiled and said, "I've got you both beat. You remember how Mom enjoyed reading the Bible? And you know she can't see very well any more. I sent her a remarkable parrot that recites the entire Bible. It took Elders in the church 12 years to teach him to do this. He's one of a kind. Mama just has to name the chapter and verse, and the parrot recites it."
Soon thereafter, Mom sent out her letters of thanks:
• "Milton," she wrote one son, "The house you built is so huge. I live in only one room, but I have to clean the whole house."
• "Gerald," she wrote to another, "I am too old to travel any more. My eyesight isn't what it used to be. I stay at home most of the time, so I rarely use the Mercedes. And the driver is so rude!"
• "Dearest Donald," she wrote to her third son, "You have the good sense to know what your Mother likes. The chicken was delicious!"
As we get up in age, our eyes, ears, and UNDERSTANDING seems to get worse.
This is true in the SPIRITUAL LIFE. The longer a person walks in DARKNESS, their UNDERSTANDING BECOMES EVEN MORE DARKENED!
Some have walked in the VANITY OF THEIR MINDS so long that now their UNDERSTANDING HAS DARKENED, and the Bible says they are “…Alienated from the life of God…”
Look at verse 18, we read, “Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:”
But look at the next step, it is far worse than the other two.
(3) THEY ARE GIVEN TO LASCIVIOUSNESS
“Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness”
They have given themselves over to lasciviousness (evil).
HOW CAN THEY LIVE SUCH A LIFE? Look at the words “past feeling”. People are motivated by their feelings.
Those who walk in sin, no longer have any feeling for God to motivate them to want to walk right before God. You see, our feelings are what motivate us.
Illus: Liz goes to her first show at an art gallery and is looking at the paintings.
• One is a huge canvas that has black with yellow blobs of paint splattered all over it.
• The next painting is a murky gray color that has drips of purple paint streaked across it.
Liz walks over to the artist and says, "I don't understand your paintings."
• "I paint what I feel inside me," explains the artist.
• "Have you ever tried Alka Seltzer?" she asked!
Paul is talking about people who walk the path of sin and have become so hardened and so callous that they can not be motivated by feelings for God.
The Church at Ephesus was a Gentile church. Paul is writing to these Gentile Christians and telling them they should not walk as “other Gentiles.”
WHY SHOULDN’T BELIEVERS WALK AS LOST MEN WALK? The answer is obvious; because we have been born again and they haven’t!
Before we were saved, we walked the same way they walked, but once we are born again, we are different, we are NEW CREATURES IN CHRIST.
There are three life changing experiences.
• When a person has a child, they are never again the same
• When a person gets married, they are never again the same
• When a person accepts the Lord Jesus, they are never again the same
Listen, if a person claims they have been born-again and they are living like they did before they got saved, they are kidding themselves.
The Lord talks about those who are not really saved and are fooling themselves. He says, in Matthew 7:22-23, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Illus: This reminds me of a young boy who goes off to college, but about 1/3 of the way through the semester, he has foolishly squandered what money his parents gave him. "Hmmmm," he wonders, "How am I gonna get some money?" Then he gets an idea about giving his dad some information that is, NOT FOR REAL!
• "Dad," he says, "you won't believe the wonders that modern education are coming up with! Why, they have a program here that will teach Fido, our dog, how to talk!" "That's absolutely amazing!" his father says. "How do I get him in that program?" "Just send him down here with $1000," the boy says, "I'll get him into the course."
His father sends the dog and the $1000. About 2/3 way through the semester, the money runs out.
• The boy calls his father again. "So how's Fido doing, son?" his father asks. "Awesome, dad, he's talking up a storm," he says, "but you just won't believe this, they've had such good results with this program, that they've implemented a new course to teach the animals to READ!" "READ!?" says his father, "No kidding! What do I have to do to get him in that program?" "Just send $2,500, I'll get him in the class." And his father sends the money.
At the end of the semester, the boy has a problem. When he gets home, his father will find out that the information is NOT FOR REAL. The dog can not talk or read like he claimed, so he decides to shoot the dog.
When he gets home, his father is all excited. "Where's Fido? I just can't wait to hear him talk and listen to him read something!"
"Dad," the boy says, "I have some grim news. This morning when I got out of the shower, Fido was in the living room kicking back in the recliner, reading the morning paper, like he usually does.” “Then he turned to me and asked, ‘So, is your dad still messin" around with that little redhead who lives down the street?’ The father says, "That lying rascal, I hope you SHOT that lyin' dog!" "Dad, don’t worry, I took care of him, I shot him, he will never tell a lie again!”
When folks are kidding themselves they are dealing with something that is not real, something that never took place.
Many folks claim they are born again, but they are just kidding themselves, IT NEVER REALLY HAPPENED! Their daily walk reveals that they are the same old creature they have always been.
Many have chosen to walk THE CARNAL WALK, but others who truly have been born again, have chosen-
II. THE CHRISTIAN WALK
When we speak of the Christian walk, we are talking about people who profess to be saved, living their life daily as Christ lived His.
In this passage Paul is telling these Gentile Christians they are NOT TO WALK as the Gentiles walked.
Look at Ephesians 4:20-24, we read, “But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
Look at verse 22 especially, the Bible says we have something to “put off”. That’s like we are wearing some filthy piece of clothes and we “put it off”.
Have you ever seen anyone that was wearing dirty clothes and you wondered how they could live like that?”
Illus: We all have seen folks that were so filthy that soap and water wouldn’t clean them, it would take a sandblasting machine to clean them.
• When we see people like that in the PHYSICAL WORLD we wonder how people can live like that, BUT THEY DO!
• When we see people like that in the SPIRITUAL WORLD we wonder how they could live like that, BUT THEY DO!
Notice, Paul is not like some preachers. Some preachers are always preaching about WHAT YOU SHOULD NOT DO, but they never tell you WHAT YOU SHOULD DO.
Look at verse 24, we not only take something off, we also put something on. We read, “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
Notice, the Christian is referred to as the “new man” in verse 24 in contrast to being the “old man” in verse 22.
HOW DO WE DO THIS? Look at verse 23, we read, “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.”
The word “Repentance” means we had a change of mind. Today repentance is something we do not hear about in many churches. We live in an age when people want to be told they can be A CHILD OF GOD and live like THE LOST WORLD!
People who think this way do not know a thing about repentance. Many have the wrong idea about repentance.
• It is not being sorry we got caught. It is being sorry we committed the act.
• Josh Billings said this about repentance, "It is much easier to repent of sins that we have committed than to repent of those that we intend to commit."
• Josh Billings also said, "Most people repent of their sins by thanking God they ain't so wicked as their neighbors."
• David Smith said, “Repentance is what makes religion more than ritual.”
There are many false ideas about repentance, but repentance is simply being SORRY WE COMMITTED THE EVIL. If we are so sorry for what we did, we will not continue to do it.
Illus: It is like a man who is walking in one direction, then he changes his mind and walks in another direction.
Paul is writing to these Gentile Christians, telling them they are not to walk the way the lost world walks because they have changed their direction.
Conclusion:
I. THE CARNAL WALK
II. THE CHRISTIAN WALK
Note: You can hear Dr Odell Belger preach some of these sermons on Youtube. Type Youtube and the word Lykesland
