All of the apostles, Paul's letters that he wrote have been very precious to me. But I have to say that if there is one that has stood out for me personally, it has been his letter to the Ephesians. It's a letter that is simply divided up. The first three chapters talk about the Christian's wealth. It's showing how rich we are as Christians. From chapter 4 verse 1 through to chapter 6 verse 10, it is talking about the Christian's walk. And that's how we should live as Christians, how we should conduct ourselves. And then from chapter four, verse 10, to the very end of the whole letter, he's talking about the Christian's warfare. So we have three very easy to remember divisions, our wealth, our walk, and our warfare. Now when I talk to people, they love the first three chapters. Oh, to talk about the Christian wealth, that is something wonderful. Just preach it time and time again. But Paul just didn't talk about the Christian's wealth. He talked about the Christian's walk. And when we get into practical details of how we should conduct ourselves as believers, A lot of believers. This is getting a bit too close. The rubber's beginning to hit the road now. Well, I'm afraid the rubber's going to hit the road tonight because we're going to look at how we should walk as believers, how we should conduct ourselves as Christians. A text. I can't go further than the first verse. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called." I think it's seven times Paul uses the word walk in chapters four and five, and he relates them to a particular area in which we walk. So, let's just have a look at this verse tonight. Now, first of all, have you ever witnessed someone trying to walk in a straight line after they've had too much to drink? Apart from having difficulty standing, they are literally all over the place. their legs are completely out of control, their mind and legs do not coordinate together, hence their inability to walk properly. Now throughout the Bible we are instructed how to walk properly. We are to walk in a manner that brings glory to our God. So I want to just consider tonight just a number of points of how we should walk. And my dad always used to say to me this, he said, just remember lad, when you're going to hit a congregation, if you do, you can point one finger at them, but there's three coming back at you. And believe you me, when you prepare a message, as our brother knows here, God speaks to you right at the beginning of your preparation and He speaks to you right at the end. I just put that. So let's just look at how we should walk and the first thing I want to say is we should walk in truth. Christians should love the truth. In the prayer of our Lord Jesus in John 17, Verse 17 says, your word is truth. And you see, that's why the Bible is so important to Christians. It's the only book that you read that's reliable, that's trustworthy, and that's dependable. It's God's Word to us from beginning to end, no flaw, truth. And that's why Paul tells his young friend Timothy in his second letter, chapter 5 verse 15, truth makes you wise for salvation. If the Bible is true, then we must walk in the truth. Now in Isaiah chapter 38, we read that Hezekiah was sick and near death. He prayed to the Lord and said in verse 3, I have walked before you in truth. What a wonderful testimony. from this great King of Judah. And when you go through the Scriptures, there are many men and women in the Scriptures who have testified to that fact, that they have walked in truth. And how important it is for all of us who profess to be Christians, not only to live by the truth, but also to speak the truth. In writing to the church at Ephesus, Paul has many practical instructions to give to the church. In fact, in chapter 4, verse 25, he says, putting away lying, let each of you speak truth with his neighbor. We must never be guilty of telling lies. Oh, but it was only a white lie, but still a lie. Oh, it was only slight exaggeration, but it's still a lie. Oh, it was only to save me from embarrassment, but still a lie. Oh, it was only to get me out of a deep hole that I'm in, but still a lie. Truth is important whether it's read or whether it's spoken. And as Jesus himself lived by the truth and died by the truth, So, we as Christians should be truthful in everything and at all times. God can be relied upon because he was truthful. Therefore, those who are his followers should be relied upon because we walk in the truth. So, the first thing I leave with you we must walk in truth. The second thing I want to mention is that we should walk in light. When we read the biblical account of creation, we're told in verse 2 of Genesis 1, darkness was upon the face of the deep. The first thing that God created in verse 3 was light. And verse 4 tells us that God saw that it was good. It's when you're in darkness that you appreciate the light. Shortly after Catherine and myself were married, We went for a day trip to Derbyshire to visit some of the caverns in Derbyshire. We went to Speedwell on a boat, we went to Blue John Mine, and then we went to High Peak Cavern. Now, if you've ever been in High Peak Cavern, it's huge. There's a massive opening. The guide will meet you at the opening, and you start your walk through High Peak. You come to a particular area after a while that is, I can only describe it as an amphitheater. And in that cavern, in the amphitheater, many of Yorkshire's great brass bands will go there to practice. Because in it, the conductor can hear every mistake that they make. Sometimes choirs will go there to sing and to practice. Again, the conductor can hear everyone who's a little out of tune. it's huge and then the guide said have you any of you experienced darkness so everybody put their hand up he said you haven't until you've been in here he said because you may say things are dark but you can have just little images and pictures of light He said, you are going to now experience total darkness. He said, I do warn you to get close up to your wife or husband, and if possible, hold their hand. Well, as we haven't been married long, that wasn't a problem. So I got Catherine as close, held her hand, and then he said, the lights are going out now. what a sensation it was the strangest sensation that I've ever experienced it was total darkness and it stayed in total darkness for a few minutes and then all of a sudden the lights were back on and everyone went whew in the darkness we stumble and we injure ourselves in the light we can see clearly where we put our feet if it's wiser to physically walk in the light how much more important it is to do that spiritually yet Many today still walk in darkness. Why? The Bible tells us, they walk in darkness because their deeds are evil. In Isaiah 2, 5, the prophet encourages the house of Jacob to walk in the light of the Lord. The Apostle John, in his first letter, chapter 1, verse 7, encourages believer to walk in the light as he is in the light. Paul, in his letter to Ephesians, chapter 5, verse 8, reminds the church that they were once in darkness, but it's through God's grace that they now walk in the light. I would just remind us all, as I do myself, that there was a time when we all walked in darkness. Sometimes, you know, we forget it. But thank God a day came when a beam of light began to shine through the darkness and we came in contact. with the light of the world, with Jesus himself. But now we've been in contact with the light of the world, there should be no need for us to walk in darkness. Who wants to walk in darkness when we've experienced the light of the world? So we're to walk in truth. we're to walk in the light. Third thing, we're to walk in wisdom. When Tony Blair came into power as Prime Minister on the 2nd of May 1997, he said in his first conference address that education, education education was his priority. Well, today, more people go to university than at any previous time. And people of all ages can do degrees through open university from home And people can, at any age, take GCSEs in any particular subject. In fact, it's only a few weeks ago now that a man of 92 years of age passed his GCSE in maths. Still hope for us yet, brother. Let me just say this, though. Our people today have heads crammed with all kinds of knowledge. We don't watch much telly, but one program I just like to watch is University Challenge. If I get four questions right in that half-hour program, I'm celebrating. I think I've done brilliantly. young people there on that quiz are around 20, 21, 22 years of age. Their knowledge of a variety of subjects is astounding, absolutely astounding. Their heads are full of knowledge, but wisdom we seem to be wise in our own eyes. Our parliament, our judiciary, comprises of many learned men and women who have been to the top education establishments in the country. Their level of education is at its peak but wisdom Job chapter 12 verse 17 says God makes fools of the judges are we not seeing that in our own land today and in many other lands of the world both by the conduct of those in authority and by the godless laws that have been enacted in the colleges of power. I cannot believe that laws are being passed today that my parents would have been appalled at. Job 28.28 closes with these words, Behold the fear of the Lord. That is wisdom. And I say to young people when I meet them, and I have the opportunity of talking to groups of young people, search for knowledge. Educate yourselves in as many areas of life as you can. But never ever forget this. Wisdom is far more valuable to possess. And this can be achieved through God alone. Many today have knowledge but lack wisdom. Some have little knowledge. but abound in wisdom. So I say to us all, yes, education's good and I encourage my family, but wisdom is far more precious. Walk in wisdom. Another one I want to mention, walk in love. In chapter 5 of his letter to the Ephesians, Paul again uses the word walk. And in verse 2, he encourages the believers to walk in love. The Apostle John in his first letter, chapter 2 verse 6, tells the believers that we should walk just as He walked. Then in chapters 3 and 4, He emphasizes the importance of showing love towards one another. The epistle of John should be read regularly and demonstrated openly in every area of our life. 1 Corinthians 16 14 says, let all that you do be done in love. And the key word in that sentence is not love. I think it's the word all. Do all in love. If there is a challenge, that's it. The Bible instructs us to perform every responsibility, whether spiritual or temporal, in love. And the implications of this command are quite staggering. If we obeyed, all our earthly relationships would be remarkably transformed. Let me put some examples. The traditional family unit, now under vicious attack from some quarters, would be immediately strengthened if we walked in love. Divorce rates, juvenile delinquency would significantly drop if we followed these instructions. the frustration of job pressure would suddenly be lowered because Christians would perform even their most monotonous duties in love for Christ and obedience to his command. And let me add this, even the services of worship in our local churches would become more elevating and more meaningful if we obeyed this command. In returning to Paul's letter to the Ephesians, where the apostle instructs us to walk in love, we must ask, who is our example to follow in this? I think you know the answer. Christ is our example to follow. He's the standard before us. He demonstrated the depth of his love in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. And if you go to the previous chapter, we have another example, verse 32, I love this verse in 4.32. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another. Then the example, even as God in Christ forgave you. We're never commanded to do anything in the Bible without having a pattern to follow. how often you come across particularly in Paul's letters the word as this is how we do it it gives the instruction then as that's how to do it you see I've done a little study I'm not saying a lot in other religions but one thing I find Love is very rarely mentioned. Very rarely mentioned. If you read the Koran, you will not find love displayed there. Christianity is unique because at the heart of Christianity is love. take love away and Christianity loses its power. We ought to love one another. Now I know we're all different, we all come from different parts of the country, we all have different temperaments, we have all our own ideas of what we think is right and wrong, and that often causes clash. But despite all that, we are still to love one another. I'm just going to mention two more, and I'll do it briefly. We are to walk in unity. Let me just read these verses that I read earlier. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beginning of chapter 4, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love, here we go, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. I love the word that Paul uses. endeavoring. In some versions, you'll have the word striving. But what it's trying to put across is this, that unity does not come naturally. We have our beliefs. We hold to our beliefs. We will not change our beliefs. We won't even discuss our beliefs. We're rigid. Now, No one will move me, I pray, on the primary things of our faith. But when it comes to some secondary things, people can still be as stubborn on secondary and thirdly and fourthly as what they are on primary. We must not let second, third, fourth, fifth things cause division among us. Yes, the primary things don't budge an inch. But we are to walk in unity. I'll just give you an illustration here. Before we left our previous church at Hook in London, we had friends who said, Oh, look, we don't want you to go without us doing something. Could we all just go together? Because we all like popular classics. Could we go to one of the big popular classics in London? And so we agreed, and we went. And there's one of the main London orchestras. We sat there and we were listening now. I don't know whether you've been to anything or seen anything like this but one thing that I always notice during these events is that there will be a group of people on stage and they'll come to the end of the piece and then it's like Clapham Junction. They're changing lines, they're moving, going off stage, coming off on stage. The orchestra's just changing around. And I remember after one particular piece, some members of the orchestra left and then some came on. And a particular girl came onto the stage and walked right to the very, very back of the orchestra. And she stood. The piece began. And she just stood there. And the piece went on for quite a while. and then all of a sudden midway through this long piece she picked up a triangle held it up and hit it twice and then she put it down again I just leaned to Catherine and said wow she's earned her money tonight hasn't she never did another thing until the end of the piece and then walked off Yet, those two strikes of that piece brought a harmony to the whole piece of music. She hardly did anything, but what she did, she did well. You see, I find in the church today there are a lot of people who love to be the leader of the orchestra, and they don't want to be in the back row. We've all a part to play in the life of the church. God appoints and calls people to be pastors and elders and deacons and leaders. But not everyone's called in that way. Some of us have to do the menial jobs, cleaning jobs, welcoming jobs. But every job is important. And whatever job we do, we don't do it unto man, we do it unto the Lord. And we've got to keep remembering that. We are to walk in unity. So important today. Don't ever let the evil one get in and cause disruption. Just one more to mention. we are to walk with God. I used to have a very bad habit. Catherine knows what I'm going to say now. I always, when we were going for a walk, I would unintentionally find myself walking ahead. we'd be going to a church that I was due to preach at and I'd find myself walking ahead my mind was totally fixed on what I was going to preach and I was going through it and I was just walking ahead until one day Catherine stopped me and said how can I talk with you when you're about five to ten yards ahead I can only talk with you when you walk in beside me. And you know one of the greatest mistakes we make spiritually is that sometimes we try and rush God or we try and slow him down. We're either walking ahead or we're lagging behind. God wants us to walk with him because it's only when we walk with him that we can truly communicate with him we can talk with him and he can talk with us there are only two bible characters who we're told walked with God Genesis chapter 5 22 we read Enoch walked with God Genesis 6-9 we read that Noah walked with God. What a great testimony to leave to those who were due to follow. Although not directly mentioned, there are many others who walked with God, Abraham walked with God, Moses walked with God, Elijah walked with God, Ruth walked with God, Esther walked with God, John walked with God, Paul walked with God, I feel a little bit like the writers of the Hebrews in verse 32 of chapter 11 when he said, for time would fail me to tell of because though not mentioned directly There are so many in the Bible who walked with God. But the final question that I want to ask is, what about us? I said a message that Catherine gave to me and I'll pass it on to you again. You can only have communication with someone if you walk with them. When we walk with our Savior, let us ensure that we walk in truth, that we walk in the light, that we walk in wisdom, that we walk in unity, that we walk in love, let us make sure that we journey through life walking with God. And when we do, we won't go astray. And we will not slip down on those truths that I've mentioned earlier. walk with God. Let's just pray. Father, there are times in our life we acknowledge when we rush ahead of you. We're so busy. Our minds are on so many things. that we're rushing ahead and leaving God behind. And then forgive us for those times when we become idle, slovenly, careless, and we find God well ahead of us. Lord, I pray that Christians in these days will learn more and more how to walk with God. Speak to us, Lord, and teach us how to walk with you. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's sing our closing hymn. 764. When we walk with the Lord, the light of His word, what a glory He sheds on our way. 764. All the glory he sheds on our way. Trust and pray, all is well all the way. You'll be happy in Jesus, but in Christ alone. ♪ Not a shadow in the night ♪ ♪ Not a cloud in the sky ♪ ♪ But his smile with me drives it away ♪ ♪ Not a doubt nor a fear ♪ ♪ Not a sigh nor a tear ♪ ♪ Can abide by me, trust and obey ♪ Trust not the rain, for there's no other way. To be happy in Jesus, how to trust not the rain. ♪ But a token of which we refrain ♪ ♪ Not a grave for our loss ♪ ♪ Not a frown for our cross ♪ ♪ But blessed if we trust and obey ♪ ♪ Trust and obey ♪ ♪ For there's no other way ♪ ♪ To be happy in Jesus' sight ♪ ♪ But to trust and obey ♪ ♪ But he never went free ♪ ♪ Early I saw his love ♪ ♪ But it all went wrong ♪ For the favour he shows, and the joy he bestows, are for those who have trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus. When he fell on the ship's sleeve, we were sent at least three. Oh, we'll walk by his side in the grave. ever fear only trust and obey. To trust and obey, for there's no other way. To be happy in Jesus and to trust and obey. and in Fellowship Suite. We will sit at his feet, or we'll walk by his side in the way. What he says, we will do. And where he sends, we will go. We'll never fear, but trust and obey him. May the words of our mouths and the meditation of all our hearts have been acceptable in your sight. Amen.