Walk As He Walked

Ascension Presbyterian Church Longwood

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:06

We start in your Bibles to 1st John and chapter 2 be reading the first 14 verses 1st

00:28

John chapter 2 My little children these things

00:35

I write to you so that you may not sin and if anyone sins we have an advocate with the

00:43

Father Jesus Christ the Righteous and He himself is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only

00:54

But also for the whole world Now by this we know that we know him if we keep his commandments he who says

01:04

I know him and does not keep his Commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him

01:12

But whoever keeps his word truly the love of God is perfected in him

01:19

By this we know that we are in him He who says he abides in him ought to himself also to walk just as he walked

01:32

Brethren, I write no new command to you But an old commandment which you have had from the beginning the old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning

01:43

Again a new commandment. I write to you Which thing is true in him and in you because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining

01:55

He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now

02:01

He who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him but he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and Does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes

02:19

I write to you little children because your sins are forgiving you for his namesake

02:24

I write to you fathers because you have known him who is from the beginning I write to you young men because you have overcome the wicked one

02:33

I write to you little children because you have known the father I have written to you written to you fathers because you have known him who is from the beginning.

02:42

I have written to you Young men because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you and you have overcome

02:52

The wicked one this is God's holy and infallible word.

02:57

Please pray with me Lord, I pray that we would keep your word

03:06

That your love would be perfected in us that we would know that we are in you

03:14

Lord I pray that you would cause us Abiding in Christ to walk as he has walked.

03:20

We ask all this in Jesus name. Amen Please be seated

03:32

Contrary to the bulletin we will be only considering verses 5 & 6 today and the title of the message is walk as He walked walk as He walked

03:49

For those of you who are in need of an outline, it's very simple in verse 5

03:54

It says keep his word that is point one To organize your thoughts and Second it says walk as he walks that's found in the end of verse 6 walk as He walked the believer in the

04:18

Lord Jesus Christ must keep his word and Walk as he walked

04:26

The spirit of this age is aimless It lacks direction and purpose

04:34

And of course because we live in this world that infiltrates the church the world seeks its own immediate gratification

04:48

And it seems they have no sense of right and wrong. But in reality, they are suppressing the truth and unrighteousness

04:59

The world in its system and its adherence act without wisdom the objective truth about who

05:09

God is and what he has done in Christ is replaced with a malleable subjective truth without anchor or mooring

05:22

Brethren the genuine believer has an aim a direction a purpose

05:30

You are called to keep his word and to walk as he walked

05:38

This way is the path of salvation joy Thanksgiving and Meaning the question to be answered today is how?

05:51

Should I live? John's problem was myriad.

05:59

There were many Difficulties that were facing the church so we can tell from internal evidence and that's what

06:05

I've focused on to this point But I want to give you some clues about the worldly wisdom of the time

06:13

John's problem here that he's addressing is that people saw

06:18

God as an intellectual exercise Saying I know

06:25

God Without being conscious of any ethical obligation to obey him

06:36

Another group of people would say I have had an emotional Experience I am in God and he is in me now you say well that sounds like today

06:47

And of course, there's nothing new under the Sun There's the intellectual ascent a philosophical approach to God and then an experiential one.

06:58

I am in God God is in me they to neglect his word

07:06

The only way that we can show that we have union with Christ is through imitation of him

07:15

Intellect and experience must be combined with moral action and Obedience As I told someone recently when

07:28

I'm preaching on obedience I want you to think that man is a legalist when

07:33

I'm preaching on God's free grace I want you to think that man's an antinomian. I want to push you to obedience from the backdrop of Christ and his grace.

07:46

I Am NOT saying that we earn salvation in any sense, but because we possess

07:52

Salvation it follows and it is necessary and is part of John's argument

07:58

It seems this was James's argument as well. Doesn't it that we must have a tendency toward obedience

08:07

We must have a yearning and a desire to walk with him and walk in his ways

08:13

Now if you are a Christian and you're not feeling that so much I implore you and I urge you

08:20

I beseech you to go in this direction obedience matters because it reflects the

08:28

Transformation that has occurred because of the grace of God in the person and work of Christ In the fifth and sixth centuries before Christ the the

08:41

Greeks were convinced That they could arrive at God through the sheer process of intellectual reasoning and argument

08:53

To that classical Greek and of course this mindset has Thoroughly influenced the world by this point

09:01

Curiosity was not a fault but a highly esteemed virtue and in fact in many respects

09:07

It could be said that curiosity was the highest virtue for the

09:13

Greek mind for the

09:19

Greeks The way to God was through the intellect But by the time and the writing of the

09:25

New Testament letters The Greeks in latter times here sought to find

09:30

God in emotional experience this is not so much knowing God as Feeling God we have that in our time too today, don't we?

09:43

I need to have a dramatic experience and encounter with God. I need a mountaintop experience

09:52

The Philosophizers among us they want to only stay in the realm of ideas

09:58

And when we started first John I pointed out to you That the truth is found not in some mystical or some intellectual realm

10:09

The truth is found in the person of Jesus Christ the truth is corporeal the truth is

10:20

Incarnate in Christ, and of course that figures in to our message very strongly today

10:29

They sought a highly emotional experience and as such it was

10:36

Transient What happened to the big revival in Kentucky Just went away.

10:45

It's transient. It found God in an abnormal experience

10:54

And its aim was to escape ordinary life, but there was another worldview and It was the scriptural

11:03

Hebraic Christian worldview and It's a different way about thinking about God and knowing

11:11

God Knowledge of God has come not by man's speculation or by some exotic experience of emotions but by God's own

11:27

Revelation should be in Sunday school. You'd appreciate this a little bit more. We've been talking about these subjects the

11:35

God who revealed himself was a holy God and His holiness brought the obligation to the worshiper to be holy

11:51

Now I want you to think for a moment. I think in our sinfulness we tend to One of these two we have a connection to either the philosophical interest which

12:04

I think is the reformed people's struggle or The experiential one which may be the charismatic people's struggle

12:12

Both are not illegitimate I Think you should really feel and experience the presence of God the outpouring of the

12:22

Holy Spirit I Believe that the truth of God and his word should captivate every synapse and cell in your brain

12:31

But it can never be divorced from the reality that John is calling us to That to know

12:39

God to be united to Christ to love him Means I want to walk in his ways

12:48

Obedience is very important One author has said that John can conceive of no real knowledge of God What does not which does not issue in obedience

13:06

John can conceive of no real knowledge of God Which does not issue in obedience

13:19

Knowledge of God can only be proved by obedience to him To know

13:26

God is to experience his love in Christ and to return that love in Obedience Let's look at the text again whoever keeps his word

13:51

Truly the love of God is perfected in him What does it mean to keep his word?

14:01

Well, we study the language and its usage in Scripture. It means to watch over or to guard to keep intact

14:12

So in order To have the love of God perfected in me.

14:19

I have to Keep his word. I Have to maintain and preserve it

14:25

That doesn't mean I take the Holy Scrolls of Scripture and lock them in a vault and say, okay now

14:31

They're not going to be destroyed it means I take every jot and tittle of God's most holy and excellent

14:39

Word and I Apply it to my heart in life. I Have to know what it means and then

14:53

I have to take that truth and I have to keep guard over it I need to watch it.

14:59

I need to maintain it. I need to preserve it. I need to keep it intact

15:07

So you can see that it's comprehensive In an age when we just talked about it today in Sunday school where people have divergent ideas about creation and every other thing

15:19

It seems it is fitting for us as a lifelong pursuit that we would keep his word intact

15:28

Every jot, every tittle, every horn of the Hebrew letter, every bit of it parsing every verb understanding every concept laboring with great diligence and the sweat of our brows to know the mind and will of God and then to act upon it

15:51

It's all very basic, isn't it? whoever keeps his word

15:59

Truly the love of God is perfected in him now The first application for you today.

16:05

I want you to think if there be some want in your keeping of the word

16:12

Do not be discouraged today you have a Savior who is Christ the Lord You have an indwelling spirit who is at work and finishing and completing and laboring to bring you to full maturity, but but you and your own

16:30

Sensibility today you need to say Oh Lord cry out to him in your heart even in this moment

16:36

God make me one who longs and desires to keep your word

16:42

And that requires you to spend time in and reading it and meditating upon it the righteous man meditates on his law day and night

16:53

Jesus Christ the righteous man meditated upon the word Day and night you and I and all of our vocations and callings

17:02

We need to be thinking and dwelling and meditating upon the word That we might keep the spirit of this imperative that we might keep his commands

17:16

Now the second phraseology that I think needs some explanation Is the next part that says truly the love of God is perfected in him

17:28

When I think of perfect I think of Absolute perfection

17:33

I think of no mistakes Everything with exacting precision is

17:41

Just as it should be but that's not really the scriptural usage of perfect That we might be mature and complete lacking nothing we recently learned about To be perfected it's also where the root word of teleology comes from it's to bring to its end

18:03

To bring to its completion To consummate to reach its end state to reach the end and aim

18:17

God is at work and the Holy Spirit particularly in the work of sanctification employs the

18:26

Christian himself To grow up to this full maturity

18:31

That the love of God in its fullness Might be manifested in him.

18:40

You and I are to be striving after this maturity this

18:46

Completion. I think I'm only gonna have you turn to one place today. Let's go to the book of Ephesians in chapter 4

18:57

We're going to see just How central this is and this idea for the life of the church if you

19:08

Didn't know this the doctrine of the church is largely found in the book of Ephesians If you have a handle on Ephesians, you probably have a good doctrine of the church let's look at verse 11 and following of Ephesians 4

19:26

It says and he himself gave some to be apostles Some prophets some evangelists and some pastors and teachers

19:38

Now I want you to listen carefully because this part rolls off our tongue, but then the next part the 13th verse

19:45

It has something is very powerful for us verse 12 for the equipping of the

19:51

Saints for the work of ministry the duty of the pastors and elders and the church is to equip the

19:59

Saints that They might do the work of ministry You might say I wish we had more elders so we could get more work accomplished at Ascension Well in actuality, you are actually the ones who are supposed to do the work

20:13

So congratulations, you have more to do and it continues.

20:20

It's a very incredible Argumentation and a line of reasoning by Paul here under the inspiration of the

20:25

Spirit They do the work of the ministry after being equipped so that the body of Christ itself would be edified and built up So this is very beautiful picture

20:38

It's like the thriving and flourishing family the husband's working in the fields

20:44

He brings in the produce in the game. The wife prepares it. She cleans it.

20:50

She cooks it really well skillfully She feeds it to those little children and they grow up like gigantic olive shoots around their table

20:58

It's kind of a picture of what's happening in the life of the church And this builds the church and the church is strengthened that the people are engaged their laboring their life has purpose and meaning in Christ and they're serving and loving one another and it

21:16

Keeps going in verse 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the

21:25

Son of God to a perfect man That perfect word is the same that we're using here in 1st

21:34

John 2 to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ Paul James John Peter they're all calling us to grow up to full maturity

21:53

We don't want the little limp keys to stay little kids forever We want them to grow up Everybody says, oh, is it sad when someone leaves the house and gets married?

22:01

I love it when people leave my house and get married I want them to leave and have a bunch of kids and have their own families there's a very real sense that you and I need to labor and be diligent in this pursuit of growing up to full maturity

22:21

And the way this is accomplished is by us keeping his word knowing it

22:29

Meditating upon it being sure of its intention and purpose and then acting upon it appropriating living according to it

22:40

There's another practical benefit of this maturity and strength This full knowledge this mature knowledge of the

22:50

Son of God this perfect man this Growing into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ It leads to greater peace and unity in the church it says then we should no longer be children tossed to and fro

23:06

And carried about by every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men and the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting

23:13

But speaking the truth and love may grow up in all things into him who is the head

23:21

Christ From whom the whole body joined and knit together by whatever

23:27

Joint supplies according to the effective working by which each part does its share causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love

23:39

These themes are found throughout the scripture now. Let's go back to our text in first John 2 whoever keeps his word children parents

24:01

People of Ascension let us be the ones who labor in the first instance here to keep his word that the love of God may reach its end and it seems that that sanctification is

24:17

His aim this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus that you would be sanctified, right?

24:25

Let's look at verse 6 It says he who says he abides in him ought to himself also to walk just as he walked now when

24:41

I think about the holiness of God, I think about the the absolute purity and consecration of God and his holiness

24:51

But then there's that sticky command from Leviticus and first Peter be holy as I am holy

24:59

I cannot be as holy as God. He is other than me. I am NOT like him, but There's something here

25:08

Somehow now in Christ I have as an objective and a life pattern my scheme of living is holiness

25:21

And I was just thinking about this How do we reconcile the disconnect and we've all kind of experienced this

25:32

We love the idea of God and his holiness or so we say But we don't love holiness for ourselves is our love for God perfected if we have a disconnect and an inconsistency an

25:52

Irreconcilable difference between loving the holiness of God on the one hand We're sitting in awe of his splendor and his majesty

26:01

But on the other hand to say I don't really love holiness That's a big problem

26:09

There's a deficiency in our religion So we were right to say in theology proper about the character and attributes of God.

26:18

God is holy. Holy holy But what a disconnect to say holiness is not that important for me.

26:27

I Don't really love holiness. The things I really enjoy are worldly things and again, first John John in his first epistle is not kicking us out of the kingdom, but Drawing us closer in he said you should love these things because these are the best things

26:47

We should love holiness because holiness is so much better than wickedness righteousness and purity is so much better than Defilement, but you see we have to acknowledge in the church in our own lives in homes

27:04

We esteem the positional place of God is holy, but we ourselves don't love holiness as we ought

27:12

There's room for us to repent to lament and hope

27:23

But also to rejoice because we have an example to follow

27:29

The Lord Jesus Christ It begs the question. What does it mean to abide?

27:37

I Think if you needed something to read on this glorious Sabbath afternoon read

27:44

John 15 and the vine and the branches a very appropriate text is probably the

27:52

Locus classicus text of abiding in Christ To abide means to not depart so in verse 6 listen to what it says he who says he abides

28:08

It's not the one who's abiding the one who says he's abiding. It's like those errors I pointed out in the very beginning.

28:14

There are people who are saying I abide in God. I've experienced God God is in me and I am in God they might say

28:24

He counters that with his truth. He says he who says he abides in him Also ought to walk

28:33

Just as he has walked To abide means to not depart

28:41

Jesus is the way the truth and the life and abiding means

28:46

I don't depart from that truth We recently talked about give me the old paths from Jeremiah There's a path that Christ has trod ahead of us and we walk in that path

29:04

We don't move to the right or the left We do not depart We continue to be present with him

29:12

We desire to maintain an unbroken fellowship with Christ We want to stay and adhere to his party his people his purposes

29:26

And Christians are said to be rooted in him knit together

29:32

To him by the Spirit that they have received from him So therefore we cleave to him and hold fast to Christ and Maybe most strikingly and exciting to me when you kind of peer into this word and its usage in the

29:49

New Testament It is to abide in Christ is to have Christ exert his power

29:56

In you that you would dwell in his presence and Walk in his power

30:06

So it's not surface level. It's not superficial. It's deep to abide is to go very deep with Christ and To be unshakable and unwavering in our devotion and our allegiance to him

30:23

Well the last word definition I need to give to you is the idea of walking

30:33

My first became a Christian. I thought it was funny that people talked about the

30:39

Christian walk I don't understand what that means kind of a strange kind of church jargon to the

30:47

Hebrew mind The scriptural mind the way it's used in Scripture. It is not the act of pedestrians

30:55

It's not just walking as we think of it To walk as he has walked

31:02

Once you think about this the righteous one Jesus Christ the righteous walking in perfect obedience submission to the

31:12

Father To walk is the course and manner of life

31:19

Now this makes sense because Most people in the ancient world their primary mode of transportation was walking

31:28

It's how they lived It refers to conduct how you conduct yourself.

31:35

How do you regulate your life and For the

31:40

Christian it means to live a life that is conformed To the

31:46

Union that you have entered into with Christ So, how's your keeping you're perfecting you're abiding

31:59

You're walking Some more material to help us understand the walking when you think about the

32:10

Christian life as a walk. There's There's a path It's set forth in Scripture.

32:17

There's a purpose. It's to grow up into Christ's likeness and there's a destination which is

32:25

Complete sanctification and glorification at the end of things

32:31

This walking as a Christian and I'm asking you and pouring you

32:36

To get out and walk as Christians This requires effort

32:45

Movement action The walking with God is not passive We are passive in our

32:56

Salvation, but we are not passive in our sanctification. We are active

33:04

We must every day choose the path that we're going to walk on There's a way in which to walk the path is a way of life light love truth and Righteousness and I think a next one big part of why

33:27

John is writing is we must continue on the path repentance and new obedience gets us back on the path of Righteousness you say

33:40

I've blown it. I've not been walking with him. Well today Start walking again Using that I was thinking about The Mehar girls and I was thinking about this and the idea of walking it's fresh in my memory when a

34:01

Little baby girl was starting to walk. She fell down on her little bottom and she got up again

34:08

She fell down and she got up again The Christian life is an infant getting up and walking

34:18

They're stumbling there's falling but but there is a resolve in that little child they don't even know it

34:26

It's almost unconscious They get up and they stand and they walk again so to we as the

34:34

Christians as the followers of Christ, we must get up and Walk, there's another thing.

34:44

It's very important And DJ you're gonna find this disappointing.

34:49

I say that only jokingly You must have companions on the walk

34:56

We need to walk with God himself the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit, but we desperately need to walk with other believers

35:06

We are to follow them as they follow Christ Proverbs 13 says whoever walks with the wise

35:19

Becomes wise Children this is why as parents we tell you be careful who you associate with and what material

35:29

Media you consume because if you walk with the wise you're gonna be wise But the companion of fools will suffer harm

35:43

First Peter 2 says for even here unto are you called? Because Christ also suffered for us

35:54

Leaving us an example that you should follow in his steps

36:01

Abiding in Christ brings forth much fruit in us without him

36:07

We can do nothing We read it just a few weeks ago in Genesis 5

36:15

Enoch walked with God Enoch walked with God and was no more for God took him

36:30

Colossians 2 therefore just as you receive Christ Jesus the

36:36

Lord so walk in him Rooted and built up in him and established in the faith just as you were taught abounding and thanksgiving

36:52

Walking in Christ in his manner after his way is nothing short or less than submitting to his lordship and his kingly office

37:05

We love Christ We love the idea of Christ conquering the nations.

37:10

We say we love the kingship of Christ. We love post -millennial eschatology It must accord if we believe that Then we have to walk in his ways

37:24

You see the disconnect. I love the holiness of God. Oh, it's what's so beautiful about him

37:29

I don't care so much about holiness. I love the kingship of Christ I love his authority his power.

37:38

I Have to walk in his ways Some of the ways which

37:46

Christ has walked as he's walked in wisdom He's walked in suffering.

37:52

He's walked in the complete obedience to the law of God He's walked in mercy toward the hurting he walked

38:06

Rebuking the self -righteous Pharisees and the prideful he walked with complete

38:12

Thanksgiving and complete joy He lived for the good of others denying his own comfort

38:20

He walked in the light a theme in our book He taught others that they might teach others still

38:30

He reconciled men to God he walked in humility He embodied in his person the fruit of the

38:39

Spirit How many more things could we say?

38:46

About Christ do we love Christ if we love him we'll keep his word and we'll walk in his ways

38:55

The last thing I'd like to do is connect something to today

39:05

Want to ask you a question. I want you. These are rhetorical questions. I want you to think about it.

39:11

Who am I? I'm a Christian That's a cause of great rejoicing

39:17

Thanksgiving But but the next question is the really the thrust of our time today

39:25

What should I do? Therefore that I'm a Christian I Should keep his word.

39:31

I should walk in his ways And if a Christian has kept his word and walks in his ways, what will

39:40

His life be like It'll be blessed.

39:46

It'll be joy -filled. There will be Rewards, he will have a purpose. He will have an aim.

39:53

He'll have fulfillment the love of God and its completion

39:59

Will be realized in this way of living transforms our life on the path to glory in fact, there is a glory yet to be revealed in its fullness, but Even now for the people of God it breaks through Think about how useful we could be in the

40:25

King's service in our work and our vocation and our calling if we keep his word and Walk in his ways.

40:32

What about our marriages our families our relationships? How useful is this idea and application in those realms?

40:42

And what about accomplishing a mission and setting forth a vision for ourselves and our families in the church?

40:51

What if a wonderful legacy what if they your children engraved on your headstone

40:58

He kept his word he walked in his ways these are existential questions and Philosophical and philosophical inquiry they

41:19

In particular, I'm going to think about the practical realm for us because of the pop psychology world in which we live in in psychotherapy this idea of existential thought is found of course in philosophy and rhetoric and logic and Psychology I want you to think about there are four major fears in Existentialism in relation to psychotherapy, and I don't want you to think it's so amazing how there's a

41:51

Christian answer clear to all of them the first is death huge Fear apparently in the psychotherapy realm a fear of death

42:06

Is this a trouble for the Christian? No the Christian Knows that Christ has come and he's brought life in that Abundant and full and not only that he's brought resurrection and glorification

42:21

So what a different world we live in versus those who are in that world.

42:27

These are Existential questions the idea of what is my existence? What is the meaning of life?

42:33

They're out there pondering these things in the church the people of God have the answer

42:40

Meaninglessness We have great purpose These are the great fears the world a loss of freedom

42:52

The people of God have entered into the glorious liberty of Christ and the last one

43:03

Isolation Christian knows nothing of isolation

43:09

We know communion with God And his people How should

43:17

I live? Who am I? What should I do? Keep his word walk as he walked

43:29

And enjoy the limitless blessing of communion with God and His people something to ponder as we approach the table now

43:43

Please pray with me. Oh Lord we come to you and we see a lot of defect and shortcoming in our own performance.

44:00

I Pray that now and the power of your spirit we'd see the glory of Christ That we would see the perfection the glory the wonder of Christ and this would spur us on to love and good deeds and Because we love you and your holiness

44:20

We want to be holy and because we love your word we want to keep it and because we love you

44:26

Lord Jesus We ask that you would cause us to walk in your ways that our love and our devotion our profession would not be duplicitous