INTRODUCTION:
We have begun a new sermon series on walking by faith, not by sight. We are dealing with the
walk or experiences of the Christian after conversion - what he should expect his life to be like. Last
week we saw that this walk of faith should be a new walk every day. Today, we’ll see it as an honest
walk.
READ 2Co 5:7; Rom 13:12-14
The old evangelist, Charles Finney, says, “ a person who is dishonest in little things isn’t really
honest in anything.”
Some people are like Ken, the struggling student, who, during an exam was asked by his
teacher, “how close are you to the right answers?” He replied, “About two seats.”
Other people merely think they are honest, like Grandma, who had been sitting in the back seat
quietly for some time. Finally she spoke up: “Honestly, I told them, Sherriff, that we would never get far
in a stolen car.”
Still others are like Dennis the Menace. He caught his friend Joey trying to get a paper out of the
machine without paying any money. He said, “Wait, Joey. First you have to put in the money... and then
you can get all the papers you want.”
Finally, there are those who are brutally honest. The elderly woman was talking to a little girl,
“How do you do, my dear?” The girl replied very politely, “Quite well, thank you.” After a long pause, the
lady asked, “Why don’t you ask me how I am?” The child paused and said calmly, “Because I’m not
interested.”
These humorous quips are fun, and we might find ourselves in them a bit. But that is merely
honesty as we are used to thinking about it. Today, we need to take this honesty issue a bit further.
John Phillips says of this passage in his book, “Exploring Romans”...
“Walk, incidentally, has to do with the outward life of a Christian which men see. A Christian’s
behavior shoudl be such that none can find fault with it. How do our lives stand in the light of God’s
word? Can anyone find fault? The honest walk is one that is becoming of a Christian. There used to be
a dry-cleaning company that advertised saying, ‘If your clothes aren’t becoming to you, they shoudl be
coming to us.’ Is our conduct becoming to us as believers? Can we stand the full light of day shining on
our behavior? Love’s moral conscience, quickened by the thought of our coming Lord, will surely
guarantee this.”
But this begs the question, Are we alive and alert to the moral conscience of which John Phillips
speaks? Have we only begun to consider that our behavior speaks to the world of our profession of
Christ?
Many people refuse to take Christ as their Savior for fear of having to give up too much sinful
pleasure. Indeed, the sinful pleasures must be given up. However, the true gospel includes the reality
that pleasure is part of the experience - just the absence of the sinful pleasures and excesses.
These three verses give us three different contrasts:
Works of darkness -- armor of light (v. 12)
Walking honestly, as in day -- rioting and drunkenness, chambering and wantonness, strife
and envying (v. 13)
Putting on the Lord Jesus Christ -- making provisions for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts (v. 14)
There is an element of equality in these three verses, in which the works of darkness include the
list of behaviors we practiced before we were saved, and making provisions for them to continue after
salvation. Contrariwise, the armor of light is the same as walking honestly, and that is done by putting on
the Lord Jesus Christ.
This walk of faith is a daily, momentary walk for all to see. Many a Christian has fallen into these
things again after conversion, thinking that such is acceptable, or that grace will forgive it! Heaven
forbid. We are strongly urged here to walk honestly - as the person we say we are, not as the person
we WERE before Christ came to lead our lives.
Has Christ set you free of sin and the destruction that inevitably results from sin? You’ve been
forgiven and claimed Christ as your Lord, but do you do the deeds of the devil and not your Lord? Who
is truly your Lord?
So lets examine God’s Word and see what He has to say about it. What is right for the Believer?
What will please our Lord? What will Grieve Him.
The Honest Walk:
I. WHAT IT IS.
A. Put on the Armor of LIght -
1. Armor of God (Eph 6:11)
2. Armor or Righteousness (2Co 6:1-10)
- Doing what’s right because of Christ’s work in us.
B. Let Us Walk Honestly, as in the day
1. The Honest walk should credit our profession
John Phillips - “Paul spells out the WRONG way to walk - these sins were once common in the
lives of many of Paul’s pagan converts, saved as they were. They were to make sure these sins did not
creep back into their lives, now that they were saved. Paul was a realist. He knew only too well what
dark strongholds the old nature maintains within any believer’s heart; what abominable lusts lurk in the
shadows of the soul awaiting a favorable moment to leap forth in dreadful force. To be forwarned is to be
forearmed. The believer is to walk virtuously, slaying with the Spirit’s shining sword the very thought of
sin.”
a. Honest in Deed - before man
b. Honest in Word - before self
c. Honest in Thought - before God
2. Honest before all.
Matthew Henry - “When we are up and dressed, we are not to sit still in an affected closeness and privacy,
as monks and hermits. What have we good clothes for, but to appear abroad in them?—Let us walk. Christianity
teaches us how to walk so as to please God, whose eye is upon us”
C. Let us Put on the Lord Jesus Christ
1. He becomes our cloak, our garment.
2. We are what we wear.
II. WHAT IT IS NOT.
A. Works of Darkness
1. Sins to be hidden.
2. Things we would be embarrassed about
3. The old ways.
4. Destructive ways
B. Lustful behavior
1. Rioting and Drunkneness
2. Chambering and Wantonness
3. Strife and Envying
C. Making Provisions for the Flesh
Matthew Henry: “We are not forbidden barely to provide for the body (it is a lamp that must be supplied
with oil), but we are forbidden to fulfil the lusts thereof. The necessities of the body must be considered, but the
lusts of it must not be gratified. Natural desires must be answered, but wanton appetites must be checked and denied.
To ask meat for our necessities is duty: we are taught to pray for daily bread; but to ask meat for our lusts is
provoking, #Ps 78:18. Those who profess to walk in the spirit must not fulfil the lusts of the flesh, #Ga 5:16.”
CONCLUSION:
The honest walk is an honest walk before both God and men. But it should be an honest walk
that is honest with all we stand for. We should avoid hypocrisy. If that means that we need to stop
certain behaviors, then repent. Don’t cash in your position in Christ just because you have a desire to do
the things that are of the devil. That is not fixing your hypocrisy. Once you are in Christ, nothing can
change that. Act like you are who you are, not who you WERE!
Perhaps today you are struggling with something in your life that you wish wasn’t there, but you
don’t know where to turn. I say today, Christ is the Answer. Give your life to Him, committing yourself to
cloak your life - mind, body, and soul - in Him. Won’t you ask Him to clean your life up? Won’t you trust
Him to save you? Come forward today and receive His forgiveness as you publicly trust Him.
Perhaps today, you have been hiding your Christianity by not siding with Him on anything.
Maybe you’ve been a closet Christian, and you need to come out in the open. Join His church here, and
commit to serving Him here. Come forward and join with us as we serve Christ.
Perhaps you’ve just got to recommit your life to Christ. Won’t you come forward and do so
today?
