WALKING WITH CHRIST
REVELATION 3:1-6
INTRODUCTION: In writing to the churches in Asia Minor, Christ censured the church at Sardis for failure to walk with Him. Christ found their works imperfect and their spiritual life for all intent and purpose dead. Our walk with Christ is the necessary foundation for any and all work for Christ. God has not called us to find fulfillment in the quantity of our work for him but in the quality of our walk with him. The church is often short of workers as a result of so many Christians who are not daily walking with Christ. What does it mean to walk with Christ?
I. To walk with Christ is to walk side by side with Christ.
A. Amos 3:3 "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"
B. We are not to walk ahead of Christ
1. Many times we try to get ahead of God and His schedule. We want certain things and we want them to happen "right now!"
2. The scriptures use the phrase, "In the fullness of time." God’s timing is always right, while ours is usually flawed.
3. Psalms 46:10. "Be still, and know that I am God."
4. Psalms 27:14 "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the LORD"
5. Isaiah 40:31 "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."
6. Don’t live your life ahead of God’s will or outside of his will.
7. Psalm 32:8 says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way, which you should go: I will guide you with my eyes."
8. Getting Ahead of God by Debbie Porter
There’s one thing I have noticed, Since my Christian walk begun,
And that’s my growing passion For the Father, Spirit, Son.
With every day that passes There’s a hunger more and more
To live and breathe the message Of the One that I adore.
Although at times I falter, And my pace may sometimes slow,
God’s always there to guide me, And His perfect way to show.
He is my strength both day and night. No greater friend I’ll meet.
When solid ground begins to shake, He’s the rock beneath my feet.
So with this strong assurance Of God’s steadfast, faithful love,
You’d think that I would always seek, His wisdom from above.
Yet all too often, I’m afraid, I fail to wait and ask
Before I race to action - Jumping first into the task.
It’s when I find myself neck deep In trouble, mess and strife,
I stop and take some time to think ’Bout this detour in my life.
That’s when I hear God’s gentle voice, Murmured whisper to my soul,
Reminding me that in my hands Was a piece, but not the whole.
"My precious child, you only saw The smallest little part
Of the vision that I have for you. I never said to start."
"I didn’t tell you when to go, Or where the dream would lead.
There’s a little bit of work to do That’s why you shouldn’t speed!"
"Stay close to me and watch and wait, Until the time is right
Then when you start upon My way, The road will blaze with light."
"No more wrong turns to misdirect, Dead ends will cease to be.
Your feet will always be secure, If You’ll wait and follow Me."
So once again I heed God’s voice, And slow my eager feet.
I know the day will come when I Step out on vision street.
Our Lord is not a man who lies, He doesn’t tease and cheat.
The work He started through our lives, He’s promised to complete.
For now it’s patience all the way, Not straining at the bit.
For when that perfect time is right, That dream is going to fit.
C. We are not to lag behind Christ.
1. Luke 9:57-62 "And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whither so ever you go. [58] And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has not where to lay his head. [59] And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. [60] Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. [61] And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. [62] And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
2. We say, "Go ahead Lord, I’ll catch up with you later."
3. Sometimes we lag behind God, He tells us to do something and we hesitate sometimes as a result of a lack of faith and trust, sometimes out of sheer procrastination, sometimes out of rebellion or distain for what God wants us to do.
4. Matthew 21:28-31 "But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. [29] He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. [30] And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go sir: and went not. [31] Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you."
5. Why is it some people seem to be always a few minutes late? They are late for school, late for church, late everywhere for everything! They appear in as much of a hurry as anybody else. If they could only set themselves forward ten minutes they would be right the rest of their lives. A little boy who ran to the station just as the train had pulled out was greeted with the cry: "You didn’t run quite hard enough.” “Oh yes I did," said he. "I ran as hard as ever I could, but I didn’t start soon enough." That is the reason many will fail to get into the kingdom of God. They will run fast enough and try hard enough, but they will start too late. - from Topical Illustrations
6. Hebrews 3:7-8 "Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost says, Today if ye will hear his voice, [8] Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:"
7. Those who hesitate to devote themselves unreservedly to God make poor work of following Christ. They follow Him at so great a distance that half the time they do not really know whether they are following His footprints or the footsteps of their great enemy.
8. Revelation 3:2 "Be watchful, and strengthen the things, which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God."
9. Remember, God is never late, and he is never, never early.
D. We are to walk in unison with Christ.
1. Matthew 11:28-30 "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
2. To walk in unison with Christ is to allow Him to lead, to allow Him to direct and to control, to allow Him to carry the burden, to allow Him to hold us and strengthen us. To walk with Christ is to go in the same direction as Christ. It is not allowing Him to be our co-pilot; rather it is allowing Christ to be the pilot of our lives. It is to be infinitely bonded together with Him in every aspect of our lives.
II. To walk with Christ is to walk in the light of Christ
A. 1 John 1:5-7 "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."
B. Walking in the light exposes sin. Walking in darkness hides sin. Walking in the light deals with sin by confessing it, repenting of it, and that always brings forgiveness.
C. Revelation 3:4 "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy."
D. Without holiness "no man shall see the Lord."
III. To walk with is to walk in service with Christ
A. John 15:5 "I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.’
B. Abiding is a continuous thing. Your Christian life began with a once and for all commitment of your life to Christ. You are to live each day with a fresh commitment to walk with Christ. Fruitfulness is the natural result of doing so.
C. "It’s time we stopped staring up the steps and started steadily stepping up the stairs!"
D. It may not be on the mountain height Or over the stormy sea,
It may not be at the battle’s front My Lord will have need of me.
But if, by a still, small voice he calls To paths that I do not know,
I’ll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in thine; I’ll go where you want me to go.
I’ll go where you want me to go, dear Lord, Over mountain or plain or sea;
I’ll say what you want me to say, dear Lord; I’ll be what you want me to be.
