Called to Walk Worthy

You really believe those words? Amen.

When I fear my faith will fail.! I hold through life's fearful path.

I couldn't do it. For my love is often cold. But He will hold me fast. That's just...

That's good stuff. Well, let's turn to some other good stuff. Open your Bibles to Ephesians. Chapter 4.

Breaking new ground today. One shovel at a time. Ephesians 4. And actually I'm going to read from the end of chapter 3, verse 20 through chapter 4, verse 3.

But we're just digging into verse 1, chapter 4 today. So if you're able, please stand. So read from Ephesians. The end of chapter 3, verse 20.

Ephesians 3, 20 through Ephesians 4, 3. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.

to Him is the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

So it reads. Let us pray. Father, hope in our hearts and our minds today, help us to grasp Paul's big therefore, his big, big implication of all that we believe and what the impact that is on our practical lives.

as now, Father, we enter into Paul's applications of all our faith, help us to hear it, help us to learn to walk, for some of us, help us to take the next step of faith.

So, pierce our hearts, Lord, with truth this day, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. Please be seated. So, our theme this morning is walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you've been called, right?

Walking. Walk. Walking. What are we doing? What is walking? What is that, what is that picture?

What does that mean to walk? Huh? To move. Forward. To live. Forward. Progress. Yes.

One step at a time. New scenery. Huh? New scenery. New scenery. Or, or as it is said in one of my favorite movies, baby steps.

Baby steps. Right? One little step. Just, just don't think about it. Just one step. Baby steps. Thinking about a baby. Think about a baby when he takes the first step.

He or she. Right? You ever, you watched a new, a baby that's, you know, ready to, you know, start toddling. Right? They're a little shaky.

They go, whoa. Sometimes they start to step and they fall back. Remember that picture? The baby's first step. And then they make that step. And then your life's in trouble.

Your life changes after that. Once they, once they get that down. This picture, walk. Paul says, walk. It's a metaphor. It's a picture. Taking one step at a time to follow a path.

We're on a journey. Jesus talked about the narrow road. Right? We walk in a narrow road. Right? Which leads through lots of different things.

There's pictures in walking. We walk up to the peak. We walk down into the valleys. Sometimes it seems in our Christian life we're walking, it's all downhill.

Or it's an uphill battle. Right? Walking. There are forks in the road. There are obstacles in the path.

Pilgrim's Progress is the whole book about walking that path. And pictures of the obstacles. And pictures of the distractions. And staying on that narrow road.

And all the various people that Christian meets. Walking. Sometimes we're trying to keep pace, huh?

Sometimes we're stuck in a rut. Sometimes we're wondering where the trail leads. Where are we going? What's next?

So in the Old Testament, walking was a theme too. Enoch walked with God. And he was gone. Noah walked with God.

Abraham walked faithfully on a journey to which God called him. Some ruts in the road.

David talked about in Psalm 43. Walking through the valley of the shadows. Walking into the darkness. There the Lord is with him.

So walking is about walking in a way, not wandering. In the New Testament, it picks up the theme of walk. Jesus talks about walking in the light.

Paul talks about walking not by sight, but by faith. And Paul also talks about walking with the Spirit.

Walking by the Spirit. Right? Walking is the theme. And it's the theme here in Ephesians chapters 4 and 5. He's going to repeat this metaphor of walking seven times in Ephesians.

Here he calls us to walk in a manner worthy of the calling. All of chapters 1 through 3. That's the calling. Right? And then chapters 4 to 6 is the conduct.

Right? Or the character. Walking. Application. So we see Paul laid a foundation in chapters 1 through 3.

Right? These are the foundations of healthy Christianity. It's the roots. It's that stability. Right? So he begins chapter 4, 1 with the word, therefore.

And when you see the word, therefore, you should ask, what's it there for? It is a logical connection. It's an important word.

It is a deduction. It is a therefore. Because of this, then this. It's based on the words before. So it's based on chapters 1 through 3.

What he said in chapters 1 through 3. Now, therefore, this is how you walk. This is how we live. If we believe all these things, then this is how we walk.

This is the logical, reasonable implications. So chapters 1 through 3, he's taught us the foundations for our Christian faith. It's what we might call the indicative.

It's what's true. It's what is. Chapters 4 to 6 become the imperative. So what is leads to what we must do.

How we shall live. Right? So what's the foundation? Chapter 1, we saw God's eternal purpose in Christ. Right?

The blessings. Right? We've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. And so from chapter 1, verses 3 through 14, he goes through all these blessings. Blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed.

And all of them are in Christ. In Him. And then we come to chapter 2, and he speaks now about salvation. What we're saved from, who we were before, and then after we're made alive, what we are now.

And then the second half of chapter 2 is about the creation of the church. What we were before as Gentiles. We were disassociated. We were without hope and without God.

And then Jesus brought us near. Jesus brought us in. And now we're included in the church. And now we can draw near to that holy place because of Christ. Jew and Gentile on equal footing.

Chapter 3 begins with that mystery of the gospel. Right? That great mystery of how the Gentiles come on to equal footing with the Jews. How now we're all, right, just children of God because of Christ.

That great mystery that the Old Testament did not reveal. It revealed that there would be blessing upon all the families of the earth. That somehow the Gentiles would be included. But no clue as to how much.

And with Christ comes the mystery. The unfolding. The revelation that everybody's... Jesus has broken down all the walls. And now anybody in Christ can come to the Father.

Anybody connected to Jesus can draw right into the holy throne and talk to the Father. So that's the first three chapters.

That's our foundation. All the blessings of Christ. What our salvation is. Who the church is. What is the gospel. And then chapter 3 ends with the prayer. Right? The prayer for power.

And the prayer for knowing. And experiencing the love of Christ which is beyond comprehending.

So, therefore. So, the foundation, chapters 1 through 3, leads to the fruitfulness of Christ's calling. Chapter 4 through 6.

So what difference does it make? So that's what we're getting to. What difference does it make that Christ has blessed us, God has blessed us in Christ? That He saved us in Christ?

That He's made us into a new people in Christ? Right? That He's opened all of this up. What difference does it make? So how does Paul address it? Here's what I want to do today.

That's why we're stuck on verse 1. We're stuck on verse 1 for a reason. I think it's very important that we understand the posture from which Paul comes from. I think it's important that we understand because there's a lot of wrongful, spiritual, shall I call it, abuse that happens that's not from a posture of grace, but rather one of law.

So I want you to understand Paul's, look at Paul's words here. So we're going to divide chapter 1 into 2, no surprise, right? First part, we're looking at the manner that Paul appeals to them in.

What is his manner? His manner is how he addresses them is from a posture of grace, not law. Okay, it's from a posture of grace.

He's not top down. He's coming as a prisoner in the Lord. He's coming as a brother in Christ. And then secondly, second part of the verse is the call here, right?

So walk in a manner worthy. So there's, and what we'll look at is not what the manner worthy look is. That's the next week. But the motive, why?

Why should we walk in a manner worthy? Why? So, all right, so manner and motive. So first observation here is the manner. I want you to see that Paul appeals to them from a posture of grace.

Not as the high and mighty apostle, but as the prisoner in the Lord. He appeals to them from a posture of grace. I hope you understand what I'm saying by that.

He's not coming, you know, legalistically. He's not coming, you should and you ought and I command. He doesn't say I command. He says, I beseech you.

I urge you. I entreat you. He's appealing to them from a posture of grace. This is the big therefore. He's not coming to control us.

See, the legalistic type, the spiritual abuse kind of type is the top down. And I want to tell you what you better do. You got to do this. You have to do this. You must do this. You should. And a lot of shoulds.

And what it creates is a person who feels controlled, guilty, shamed.

Right? So I'm talking about a different perspective that Paul's coming from. Posture of grace. So notice the gracious appeal. He's not saying as an apostle, I command you.

He's not coming as an authoritarian, should, ought. He's coming as someone who serves the Lord. Who's just a servant of Christ.

In fact, a prisoner in Christ. He says, I urge you. So the ESV and the NIV, the English Standard Version, right?

That's ESV. And the New International Version, right? They both use the word urge. I urge you. Para, kaleo.

So the Greek word is para, kaleo. So para, para. What's para? Alongside. Right? Parallel. Right? Paraprofessional.

Right? Para. Kaleo. Call. Calling. So it's a called alongside. I urge you. I call.

I come alongside. I urge you. Get the picture. The picture is gracious. So it could be translated, I exhort you.

I entreat you. New America Standard Version, which is what I'm using, says entreat. I entreat you. King James says, I beseech you. So you see how this word can be.

It's pretty elastic. But all of it has this gracious tone. Right? I'm pleading. I'm beseeching. I'm entreating. There's an intensity there.

So we see it's also an earnest appeal. There's a passionate pleading here that is from the heart. It's not from someone who wants to control you. It's from someone who wants you to come, wants you to go.

Right? It's from the heart. There's strong feelings in it. It is a gentle kind of beseeching instead of a harsh one that tries to get you to measure up.

There's a kind of spiritual abuse in the church that happens among elders and preachers that the posture is you need to measure up.

You're failing. You need to measure up. And people under that kind of ministry get real beat down, get real tired. It's abuse. It's abusive.

Of power. Of authority. And it leaves people feeling like I'll never measure up. And we just sang, he will hold me fast.

Not me will hold me fast. Right? I discovered this way back with a member of the Promise Keepers. Wonderful, wonderful thing.

Right? It inspired men all over the nation to come to Christ and want to be more faithful. The problem with Promise Keepers, as wonderful as it was, was that men realized, I can't promise.

I can't keep my promise. Right? So what do you do? And Promise Keepers, I think, has recognized that over the years. And I think they've tried to address that better.

The all good intention. Right? Nothing. There's nothing theologically wrong with Promise Keepers. The problem was what it made people feel. Because we can't keep our promise. We fail.

We fail. Right? So, Jesus is the only Promise Keeper. He holds me fast. Right? So, somehow change that.

Right? I think we realize that over time. It's not an intentional, you know. People with a kind of personality that can be controlling can get into that.

I've been beat down too much to maybe do that. I don't know. I hope I don't do that. If I ever do that to you, you come and do it back to me. Call me on it.

Seriously. Seriously. I do not want to hurt your soul in this. So, it's not top down.

It's a call alongside of encouragement as a brother in Christ. And then notice that he adds kind of a personal appeal here.

He's not appealing again. Not as an apostle. He doesn't say, I'm the apostle. You need to do this. He says, I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord.

That's where he's. That's his person. That's where his personal appeal comes. As a prisoner in the Lord, I'm beseeching you. As one who is a prisoner of Christ.

Who belongs to Christ. Rome has me in bonds. But Jesus is the one who really has me in bonds. Because Rome is nothing compared to Jesus.

If Jesus wants me out, I'd be out. And I said, Jesus wants me there. What an attitude. Right? I belong to the Lord.

I'm captive to the Lord. Whatever my present circumstances. Whatever I'm enduring right now. Whatever trial I'm going through. It's as a servant of Christ.

It's as a bond person of Christ. Christ has purchased me. Right? So I belong to him. He's my captain. He's my Lord. He's my master. So in the Lord.

I'm in the Lord. And I'm a prisoner because I'm serving Christ. I'm a prisoner because I'm committed to the gospel that brings this kind of radical unity between people of all different backgrounds.

People of all different... Right? Not one nationality. Not one race. But from all peoples and groups.

So Paul's a prisoner of the Lord. Or a prisoner in the Lord. Because he's willing to pay the price.

Right? How am I doing with that? I have to ask myself. How are you doing with that? You need to ask yourself. Do you consider yourself a servant that's willing to pay the price?

Right? I mean, I struggle with the physical stuff I'm going through. I want to be healed. Right? I want to be released from that stuff. But maybe Jesus has a different plan. Because he had a different plan for Paul.

Lord, take away this thorn of flesh. Nope. Nope. But it's of Satan. Nope. Nope. I want you to live with it. Spurgeon lived with it too.

Great pain and suffering. Depression. All through his ministry. Many men of the faith we could look at that way. Edwards. So who am I?

Right? Huh? Story. Story. Story. So maybe the Lord wants me to do that. And I need to deal with that personally. I need to humble myself under his mighty hand so that he might lift me up in his time.

Right? We were talking about that in his time. Okay. Okay. So. Paul's appeal from grace is not unique. It's not just that he does it here.

It's his common approach. A couple examples in Romans. He does it three times in Romans. Romans 12. 1. Again. Romans 12. 1. That's the big therefore in Romans.

For 11 chapters of Romans. He's talking about what God has done. What God has done. How it affects you. But chapter 12. 1 is therefore. What? Therefore. What? I appeal to you therefore.

Romans 12. 1. Brothers. By the mercies of God. To present your bodies as a living sacrifice. Holy and acceptable to God. Which is your spiritual worship. He calls them to do that.

Not as a command. But as an appeal. Again. Chapter 15 of Romans 30. I appeal to you brothers. By the Lord Jesus Christ. And by the love of the Spirit. To strive together with me.

In your prayers. To God on my behalf. Chapter 16. 17 of Romans. I appeal to you. I urge you. I entreat you. Right.

Brothers. To watch out for those. Who cause divisions. Who? Watch out for those. There are people that will try to cause divisions.

And create obstacles. Contrary to the doctrine. That you have been taught. What do you do with those people? Avoid them. Is that the Christian thing to do?

Absolutely. That's the Christian thing to do. There are some people we avoid. And they are people that try to destroy. The unity of the flock. We've confronted people about that.

Ron knows that. Rick knows that. We've confronted people like that. And politely asked them to move on. Maybe not politely.

Because they were offended. So okay. Again. To Corinth. Okay. Now the Corinthians. They had all these problems. Right? They're divided people. They're immature.

They had scandals going on in their church. Surely the right approach to them. Is a posture of command. And a posture of. You must do this. Right?

These people got to get their act together. So how does Paul appeal to the Corinthians? 1 Corinthians 1.10. Right at the beginning. I appeal to you. I urge you.

Brothers. By the name of our Lord Jesus. That all of you agree. And that there be no divisions among you. But that you be united. In the same mind. And the same judgment.

He appeals to them. Same thing. Peter. 1 Peter 2.11. Peter also appeals to believers. From a posture of grace. Beloved. 1 Peter 2.11.

Beloved. I urge you. I entreat you. I beseech you. As sojourners and exiles. To abstain from the passions. Of the flesh.

Which wage war against your soul. Now there's not a more important. Probably personal appeal. That Peter could make. About what's waging war against your soul.

And how does he do it? From a posture of grace. He wants them to hear it. It's not top down. It's not to control them. And oh I'm sure he wanted to.

You know. But he comes from a posture of grace. I appeal to you. I'm begging you. Right. Not commanding you. I'm entreating you.

Because I love you. Right. So here in the first part of the verse. We have. I want us to notice. Observe. Paul's manner. That he appeals.

To them. From a posture of grace. And now the second part of verse one. We'll see the motive. What. Why walk worthy. He calls us to walk in a manner worthy.

Right. But why. What motivates us to that. So. I entreat you. To walk in a manner worthy. Of the calling. With which you have been called.

So he appeals to them. As receivers of grace. As receivers of grace. The motivation.

How he seeks to motivate them. To walk. Is as receivers of grace. Because you've been called. Worthy of the calling. With which you've been called.

Right. So. So we see. He gives a cause. A specific cause. Worthy. Walk worthy of. The. Calling. The specific.

Calling. This is why we do it. This is our motivation. So what's the right understanding of our calling? What's he mean? So. Calling.

What's calling? Well. Let's kind of do some. Looking at verses. Where he uses these words. Back in chapter 1.

Verse 18. He's praying. Right. Praying that the eyes of your heart. May be enlightened. So that you may know. What is the hope. Of. His. Calling.

That you may know the hope. So he's. This calling is so important. He's praying that you'll. Your. The eyes of your heart. Will be opened. And enlightened. So that you may know. What it is. What's the hope.

Of. The calling. What's he calling? What's what are we called to? What are we called to? What is he? When did he call us?

Well. He may. In my life. He was calling. All along. Because I was convicted. And I walked the aisle. And I prayed the prayer. And I. Threw the stick in the fire. Did everything possible. That I knew what to do.

That I was told to do. And I would. You know. Then I could. Answer the call. And become something different. It didn't work. And then. One day. After seeing a demonic encounter.

I went and prayed. More fervently. And I don't think. That's what did it. But that. That was the night. God changed my soul. Thank the demon. That God used.

In a young child. Speaking in a. Low guttural voice. Calling. So he calls us.

Right. He calls us to come to him. He calls us. Right. To. To. To walk with him. We're called into fellowship. With Christ. And so we see it in chapter one.

When it talks about. Blessed. Blessed. Blessed be the father. Who has blessed us. With every spiritual blessing. In. Christ. Right.

To walk in Christ. Is to. To have all those blessings. Chapter one. Chapter two. It's to. Awaken from the dead. Right. We were dead. And he made us alive. Even when we were dead.

He made us alive. In. Christ. It all comes through Christ. So I'm called to Christ. So.

Notice this. He uses this word. Call twice. Here. Right. Walk in a manner worthy of the calling. With which you have been called. So walk of the calling in general.

And then. With which you have been called. So it's already happened. To you. You've. It's passive. Which you. Have been called. So God has called.

Has God called you? Anyone? Yeah. Yeah. He's called you. He's. The voice. The inner voice. Right. The calling. The.

Might come through. Conviction. Might come through. And by conviction. I don't mean guilt. Conviction. I mean like. Oh. That's truth. Right.

Seeing truth. Coming to him. The. The word church. Right. The meaning of the word church. In the New Testament. Does anybody just happen to know.

The. The Greek word for church. Ekklesia. I knew somebody would know. Ekklesia. So. It has the word calling in it.

Klesia. Call. Ek. Ek. What do you think ek is? I don't know what that. I don't know what the ek means. Right. What's. Ek.

It means out. So. Church means. Called out. Where do you think we're called out from? The world. Church means.

Called out ones. Ones who are called out from the world. Called out. They're called out of darkness. Into light. They're called out of the kingdom.

Of Satan. Into. The kingdom. Of God's son. This call. That we hear. Comes through the gospel.

Now we might hear the gospel. Many many times. And the preacher might call you. To come to Christ. But you don't. Effectively. Hear it. Until the Holy Spirit.

Goes. Now. Right. For me. It was up on that mountain. Even though I did it thousands of times. For me. It was up on that mountain. The Lord said. Finally.

The Lord said. Now. The Holy Spirit came. And pierced my heart. And changed things. Not just conviction. But now conversion.

Right. Paul. How did it happen to Paul? Was he seeking it? Right. No. He's on. He's gone to persecute Christians. And all of a sudden. The Lord said. Now. Paul's on his.

Face. And he's blinded by the light. Right. Who are you Lord? I don't even know who you are. I'm Jesus. Uh oh.

Uh oh. Okay. Please Lord. I got it wrong. I just. I love that stuff. Um. Called.

To sonship. Right. Chapter one. Talks about that. We're called. Right. He's blessed us. By adopting us. Right. By adopting us. Into fellowship.

With his son. So. Here he appeals to walk. Now. On that basis. Because of the calling. Right. He says. Walk in a manner worthy of the calling. Which have been called. So now.

Let's get to the walk part. Walk. Walk. He urges us to walk. Walk. Walk we said. Was about movement. It's about going on a path. Right. It's about walking.

On. A path. A narrow path. Right. Walking. Movement. Stepping forward. So now. He urges us. In our walk.

So. So. Walk involves all. All those things. It's. The walk is about our pattern of life. He urges us. In the pattern of our life. In the. Day to day living.

About how we orient our life. How we live. The manner in which we walk. Do you know the difference between godliness and ungodliness?

What's godliness? Does that mean having a whole bunch of characteristics and checking boxes? No. You know what godliness is? It's an orientation toward God. Just.

I'm oriented toward God. I'm godliness means. I'm not oriented toward God. I'm oriented toward whatever I want to do in life. Toward this career path. Or toward this goal.

Or toward this. Making this money. Toward this. You know. Whatever. Godliness is just. God directed. God oriented.

And I follow the path. See. That's the walking. The walking has that orientation. Into it. So. I mentioned before. That Ephesians has.

Uses this word. Paul uses this. Word walk. Seven times in Ephesians. So. Back in chapter 2. Verse. 2. When he's talking about. When we were dead.

He said. You were dead. In your trespasses and sins. In which you formerly walked. Right. You led your life. The pattern of your life.

Was according to the course of this world. According to the prince of the power of the air. You were following worldly ways. That's just the natural thing to do. And what you didn't know. Was you were also following.

The course of the power of the air. The one behind the whole worldly system. That's the one God frees us from. When we're converted. So.

2. 2. Then 2. 10. After we're saved. Right. Chapter 2. He wakes us up. And we've been saved by grace. Chapter 2. Verse 10.

For we are his workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus. For good works. Which God prepared beforehand. That we should. Walk in them.

Walk. So walk. There we go. Then over to chapter 4. We've got 4. 1. Walk in a manner worthy. Then 4. 17. This I say. This I say. Therefore. To firm together with the Lord.

That you walk. No longer as the Gentiles. Also walk. In the futility of their mind. And then he goes on. To talk about what this walk. This new walk. Looks like.

It's a counter cultural walk. And then in chapter 5. Verse 2. He uses the word walk. Once again. Walk in love. Walk in love.

Just as Christ also loved you. And gave himself up for you. So walk in love. Chapter 5. Verse 8. Continues. Therefore. Be careful how you walk.

Be careful about your pattern of life. The steps that you take. Not as unwise men. But as wise. Making the most of your time.

Because the days are evil. So then don't be foolish. But understand. What the will of the Lord is. Don't get drunk with wine. But be. Drunk in the Holy Spirit. Right? Don't be filled with wine.

But be filled with the Holy Spirit. So walk. Walk spiritually. And then. Yeah. That was it. To walk. Seven times.

Walk. Walk. Walk. Not walking according to the world. Walking in good works. Walking in a counter cultural kind of way. Walking in relationship with others.

By love. Walking in light. Oh. That's the one I missed. Verse 8. Chapter 5. 8. Now you are in the light. In the Lord. Walk as children of light.

So again. Walk. Walk. Walk. So. How do we walk? 4. 1. Walk in a manner. Worthy. Worthy.

What's that mean? Worthy. That sounds like a word that's going to stir up some guilt and shame. Because. How can I walk worthy?

How can I ever be worthy? Well. Well. I can't ever be. Worthy. In my own. Efforts. Right?

My best efforts are for what? Filthy rags. But what is walking? So. So God. Calls us to cooperate with us. Right? So we do.

Are called to walk. To take this road. But we do it. In cooperation with God and the Holy Spirit. So we walk. Right?

We walk. With the spirit. We walk by faith. Right? So worthy.

Worthy has the idea of in keeping. Walk. In a manner that's keeping with your calling. Walk in a way that is appropriate. To the calling.

Called out of the world. Right? A life that matches your faith. So that's what we're striving for. We're striving. Right? By faith.

To walk appropriately. As we now have learned by the spirit. To walk. Not as we used to. But now. Depending on God. Looking for strength from the Lord.

So it's an ever deepening. It's a process. It's an ever deepening. Conformity to the image of Christ. Remember. That's the Lord's purpose for our lives. Is to conform us to the image of his son.

Romans 8.28. Hey. Call us. To conformity. To make us more like Christ. So how do we do this? We just. Okay.

I got to decide. I got to make a promise. I got to sign a covenant. And then. I'm picking on movies now. Christian movies. They're all about. Just kind of make a decision.

Make a commitment. Make a. You know. You got to do this kind of stuff. Which. Those are. Well intentioned. But they don't do it. If I make a promise.

That doesn't mean. I'm not keep. Good for me. That I want to do that. That's. That's. That's good. That's. That's good. That's my heart. How am I going to do it?

I'm going to go back to the end of chapter three. Here's what. What's the prayer. That he would grant you. According to the riches of his glory. To be strengthened with power. Through his spirit. In the inner man. So that Christ might dwell. In your hearts.

Through. Hey. There you go. I need spirit and power. Spirit and power. So. And we spent time in that. Right. It's not.

It's like. Paul didn't say. Just pray for power. He says. Pray for. Strength. With power. Right. According to the great. Okay. Paul's very deliberate. Okay.

So what does it look like? Now. The rest of chapter four. And five. Are going to basically. Spell out. What Paul means. By walking worthy. He's going to kind of go down the line.

He's going to say it. In fact. We see it in verses two and three. Right. What does walking worthy. Looks like. With humility. And gentleness. With patience. Showing forbearance. To one another. In love.

Being diligent. To preserve. The unity of the spirit. In the bond of peace. So. So. There's. There's a basic summary. That he gives. It talks about. Humility. And gentleness. And perseverance. With one another.

Forbearing. And all that kind of. Kind of interrelational stuff. Right. Walking worthy. Is. Has. I got to be involved. With the. Other believers. Like.

Forgiving them. Bearing. How do you. Bear with somebody. Grin and bear it. With. You know. And. That's Christianity. Yeah. That's what walking worthy looks.

It's sacrificial. It's not about me. It's about. Others. Right. So. But here's another picture. Paul gives. Of walking worthy.

In Colossians 1. He's. He. His prayer. He tells. The Colossians. How he's praying for them. This is one of Paul's prayers. And this prayer.

He gives a summary of it. So he says to the Colossians. And so from the day we heard. We have not ceased to pray for you. Asking. That you may be filled.

With the knowledge of his will. In all spiritual wisdom. And understanding. What will that lead to? Once I know his will.

In all spiritual wisdom. And understanding. It leads to walk. In a manner. Worthy. There's the same words. So that we walk. In a manner worthy. Of the Lord.

Fully pleasing. To him. So. Walking in a manner worthy. Means fully pleasing. And then what is it. How does it express itself? What is involved? By. Bearing fruit.

In every good work. And. By. Increasing. In the knowledge of God. That's personal knowledge of God. And. By being strengthened. With all power. According to his glorious might. For all endurance.

And patience. And with joy. Giving thanks. To the father. Who. Has qualified you. To share. In the inheritance. Of the saints. In light.

He has delivered you. From the domain. Of. There's the called out part. From the domain of darkness. And transferred you. To the kingdom. Of his beloved son. In whom. By the way. We have redemption.

The forgiveness. Of sins. And he goes on and on. He's still praying. He gets carried away. But notice what.

To walk in a manner. Worthy of the Lord. Involves. Bearing fruit. Right. It involves. Increasing. Or growing. In the knowledge of God.

Growing closer. When I. I pray this prayer all the time. When I. When I. Pray it. I say. That I might. Increase. In the deeper. And more intimate.

Knowledge. Of the Lord. I pray that. That. Will happen. That. Being strengthened. So not. You know. So that I receive strength. With all. And here. When Paul talks about strength.

He's got to say. With all power. According to the glory. Right. So big time power. And then he talks about. Giving thanks. To the Father. That's part of. Walking worthy.

Recognizing. All is it. All of it's from him. So giving thanks. With joy. Joyfully giving thanks. It's great. To copy. Prayers.

With Paul. Because he. He knows what he's doing. So I. I pray a lot of Paul's prayers. I just use his words. Because. They're better than anything. I can come up with. And as I do it. I. You know.

I'm kind of meditating. At the same time. Thinking through these words. Right. How they connect to each other. And. And. Great. Some days. It's the giving thanks part. That. That's like. Yeah.

Get. Get. Get back with that. I heard you Bill. Give a whole bunch of thanks today. Lord. Right. So.

How are you doing? How are you doing? In this walk? Do you see growth in your life? I don't mean how you're doing.

Like. Have you achieved it? Get that out of your. You're not going to achieve it. But is there growth? Gross. Growth. Gross growth. Is there progress?

How are you seeing that? As you look back over the months. Right. Maybe the years. If you've been a Christian for a long time. As you look over there. Has there been growth? Maybe it's growth in a new way. Right. Maybe it's growth in a new direction.

God's. God's. Challenging you in different ways. And are there. Are there areas of gradual change? Are you seeing. Some victory overcoming. Some struggles.

Yeah. Desires in you changing. Okay. So. Just. Just for self. And what motivates you to grow?

What motivates you to grow with Christ? Let it be. What he's done. Let it be the calling.

That he's. He's graced us with the calling. Right. No ought. And no. No. No. No ought. No shoulds. No shaming. Right. He will hold me fast.

He will hold me fast. Even when my love grows cold. He will hold me fast. And bring me back. And you know the difference between. Conviction and guilt.

Right. Conviction of the Holy Spirit. What is that? So. So what does guilt do? Guilt brings shame. And what does that do.

With me and my relationship to the Lord? Takes you away. Moves me away. From the Lord. Conviction draws me in. The sweet Holy Spirit comes to me in soft ways.

And in gentle ways. And in ways that draw me back. That's how I know when it's the Lord. And when it's the evil one. Evil one wants to push me away.

Wants me to guilt and shame. Holy Spirit wants. Wants me. Draw close. He loves me being close. Okay. All right.

Let's close in prayer. Now to him. Who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond. All that we ask or think.

According to the power that is working within us. To him be the glory in the church. And in Christ Jesus. To all generations forever and ever. Amen. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you.