"Learning to Walk Away"

We take your Bibles and turn to Ephesians chapter 4 Ephesians chapter 4 our scripture reading this morning is verses 17 through 24

Ephesians 4 17 through 24 Courageous follow along in your copy of scripture as I read

Paul writes and he says this I say therefore and testify in the Lord That ye henceforth walk not as other

Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind having the understanding darkened

Being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart

Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness

But ye have not so learned Christ if so be that you've heard of him Heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus that you put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and Be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on the new man

Which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness Let's pray

Our Father and our God I pray that you would Show us in this passage today How it is we are to walk how it is.

We're not to walk this we pray in Jesus name. Amen As I'm sure, you know by now

I enjoy hiking and backpacking Look forward to doing some

I miss not when I don't get to do it and so forth But it seems the more I read about it and actually do it the more connections

I see with the Christian life one of them that is most obvious is evident in a couple of book titles

Bill Bryson wrote a book Chronicling his attempt at through hiking the

Appalachian Trail and he titled the book a walk in the woods Christopher Wren Wrote a book.

He I'm trying to remember. I think he retired and on his the day after his retirement he was living and working in New York City in Manhattan and the day after his retirement he took off and left his apartment in Manhattan to walk to Vermont and he entitled his book walking to Vermont a

Hike doesn't matter how long or how short it is It doesn't matter how easy or rugged it is a hike is most fundamentally a walk

It's a walk and that's precisely the way Paul describes life the

Christian life to be sure but life in general Now there are some other metaphors that Paul uses for the

Christian life in the New Testament He talks about it as being a race in the pur in the pursuit of a prize

He talks about fighting a good fight But those pictures are only used like three or four times in all of the

New Testament The idea of the Christian life as a walk on the other hand Occurs more than four dozen times in the

New Testament letters from Romans to the end of the of the end of the New Testament book of Revelation 48 times

I think it is that the that picture is used Now in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 1 begins with that idea of the walk

Paul Exhorts the believers at the church at Ephesus He says I beseech you to walk worthy of the vocation of the calling with which you have been called and When you look at the next 16 verses he expands upon that fact

He's going to do that the rest of the book, but particularly in these 16 verses we looked at the last few weeks he expands on that idea of The walk of the

Christian life and he says to walk worthy of this calling to which we have been called

It requires a thoughtfulness and an intentionality. It is a thoughtful and an intentional walk

It's not like you're just meandering along without any idea where you're going or where you are or why you're there it's like it's truly like You're you're you're wanting to do a through hike of the

Appalachian Trail you you have to be very thoughtful about that and very intentional if you're going to do such a thing and We know that it is a thoughtful intentional walk because Paul tells us in this first verse he exhorts us

I beseech you to walk worthy of this calling Well, if we're going to walk worthy, we have to think about that.

Well, what is a worthy walk? How do I do that? What would be an unworthy walk and so forth?

It's a thoughtful and intentional walk and verse 2 tells us that that walk is a humble walk

We're to do so with all lowliness and meekness with long -suffering Forbearing one another in love.

It's a humble walk, but the rest of that section verses 3 through 16 Indicate that this walk of the

Christian life is a church centered walk It's a church centered walk

He tells us we're to maintain the unity of the body in verses 3 and verses 4 verses 3 and following Endeavoring to maintain the unity of the spirit and he goes on talking about a sevenfold unity of the of the church

So there is that sense of maintaining the unity of the body but there is also the need in this walk within the body of Appreciating the diversity in the body that there's a diversity of gifts that Christ the gift giver has given to Those who make up the body of Christ we have to appreciate that diversity of the gift and then we have to actually employ our

Individual gifts within the body. We see that in verses 12 and following the the gifts of the pastor teacher for example are for the perfecting of the

Saints for the work of the ministry we are to employ our gifts in the work of the ministry and then is

This in this walk that is a church centered walk. We are to actually love the body of Christ and the members that are in that body all right, so the first 16 verses

Paul has been talking about a Walk that is worthy of the calling to which we've been called but now in verse 17

We just come we discover something that every hiker knows You can't simultaneously walk down two completely different divergent paths

So in verse 17 He says this I say therefore and testify on the Lord that from here on out you stop walking as other

Gentiles walk You cannot walk worthy of the calling to which you've been called and at the same time be walking as Other Gentiles walk you can't head in different directions at the same time so if you and I as Believers and followers of Christ are going to walk worthy of the high calling of being a

Christian Then we need to learn to walk away from a divergent path.

We need to leave that path behind and stop Walking down that path this is the exhortation here at the beginning of verse 17 and we're we see an indication of just how important and authoritative that exhortation is when

Paul says I Beseech you or I testify in the Lord. I testify in the

Lord that you don't walk down this way That the testifying in the

Lord is Paul is it Paul is it? It's He's expressing here the authority behind this exhortation.

This isn't just this isn't just my opinion now there are places where Paul Does say

I'm just sharing my opinion about this and then he goes on to share his opinion I think particularly in 1st

Corinthians 7 when he talks about the matter of whether or not to stay single or to get married and He shares his opinion about a particular matter

But here Paul doesn't do that. He doesn't say, you know, I think in my opinion It would be a good idea if you just didn't walk like other

Gentiles. Well, no, he says I'm testifying in the Lord I'm telling you this is the will of the Lord.

This is the Word of the Lord Stop walking in this way that makes this exhortation a very important and critical exhortation to follow but also notice that It is this this

Learning to walk away from this other path is an essential consequence of the worthy walk

Paul uses the word at the beginning of verse 17 therefore therefore Which communicates that when you look at what

I've just written Paul is saying if you look at what I've just written Therefore it follows

It is a consequence of what I've just written that you have to stop walking as other

Gentiles walk You have to leave that other path altogether These two ways of living

Paul is communicating here are absolutely incompatible with one another

So the one is a consequence this exhortation to leave the the path of the

Gentiles If you will is a consequence of the exhortation to walk worthy of the calling with which you've been called to which you've been called and Furthermore this exhortation calls for an immediate response.

It calls for immediate action he says that you henceforth that is from here on out and Then the command itself is in the present tense from here on out stop walking as the way in the way of the

Gentiles Now, what does that communicate to you? When he says to you, okay from here on out

Stop doing this that tells you something doesn't it that tells you that there's some who are reading this epistle

Who profess to be Christians? who are walking the way Gentiles walk and The sad reality is that in our churches as we gather together that there can very well be within our congregations within the sound of my voice those who are professing believers in Christ and yet are walking as Gentiles walk and Paul calls for an immediate response to that exhortation immediate action from here on out stop walking in this way and That then brings up the need for a radical departure a radical departure

Stop walking as other Gentiles walk So it's like okay you're going down this particular path and You realize it's the wrong path you realize it's taking you to the wrong destination.

So what do you do? Do you keep walking down that path? No, you stop walking down that path and you get back on the right path.

It's going to take you to the right destination Now here's the thing about What Paul the people to whom

Paul is writing? These are primarily Gentiles That is they're non -jewish people.

They're they're us Except for those of you who might have an ounce of Jewish blood in you somewhere You are a

Gentile. I am a Gentile a non -jewish individual and These Gentiles these non -jewish people are living in the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor What is now

Turkey and they were living? surrounded by in the context and culture of Gentiles so they are

Primarily Gentiles living in a Gentile world But what

Paul what is Paul telling him to do? Don't live like Gentiles living in a

Gentile world He's calling for a radical departure. It's like Maybe to help us put it into a contemporary context.

It's it's like when When a Muslim living in Yemen or in Saudi Arabia comes to Christ They have to radically depart from the whole culture and Way of life that they have known all their lives in these these nations these countries that are

Islamic Nations and the whole culture is built around Sharia law and all the rest of that and they they're now

Followers of Christ and there are simply some things that they cannot any longer do they there are certain ways

They can no longer live in the midst of that culture, they have to radically depart from that and Some of them are brothers and sisters in Christ in those places

They have lost their lives They have faced imprisonment Because they were willing to no longer walk as Gentiles walk

So he's calling for a radical departure now the the big reason why is the big reason why if the the need to radically depart from that way is seen in the rest of verses 17 through 19

And that is that former path of the Gentiles the the believing now believing

Gentiles The way they used to live the the way the other Gentiles live that that path is a miserable way to live

Look at how Paul describes it in verse 17 the last part of verse 17 He says walk not as the other

Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind my word vanity means

Emptiness or the futility the word futility is probably the best way to think of it

The Gentiles who walk in the futility of their mind Now think with me here how you think how you think determines how you behave

What you think what you think about shapes how you live

It's often been said this way You are What you think?

You are what you think? so when Paul says here at the end of verse 17 that the

Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind it Is he's dealing with how they think?

how the Gentile mind thinks and it is a futile way of thinking because No matter how you describe it on a specific and in detail way the bottom line is the

Gentile way of thinking the Gentile path is a path that follows a futile way of thinking because That path and those on it cannot answer the most fundamental questions of human life questions like Who am

I? And what am I doing here? Why do I exist?

Where did I come from? Where am I going? Where am

I going? You see how futile that is by the way if you don't know where you're going

How will you ever know if you get there or is that that dialogue in?

Alice in Wonderland and and Alice is talking to one of the characters. I don't remember which one and She asked the question.

How do I get to such and such which way do I go? She asked the question, which way do I go and the response is well that depends on where you want to end up Where you want to end up Well, I don't know

Then the response is well, it doesn't really much matter which way you go then does it? And that's that's the

Gentile mind That's a Gentile you you don't really know where you're headed if you don't know where you're headed

Then I guess it doesn't really matter which way you go You're gonna get there anyway one way or the other and and then that does ask the question

The follow -up question that there is no good answer for how do I get there? Where am

I going? I don't know. Well, how do I get there? There is no real settled confidence

About the path of life that is chosen along the Gentile path

And then the question This very fundamental question of life as we even as we look at the world around us today

Why is everything such a mess? Why is everything such a mess? as a

Rodney King asked decades ago now Why can't we all just get along?

Indeed why can't we all just get along? why is the the euphoric

Idealism of the mind that says well surely we can build a utopia where everybody lives in peace

And everybody just gets along and John Lennon's vision for a world at peace

Will be realized when he sings his song imagine that there is no and he goes all the things he and we're on the world

It's all at one It's a pipe dream and the Gentile path

It'll never happen Why not? The Gentile path doesn't have an answer to that question

So they walk in the futility of their mind can't answer life's most fundamental questions and In as a result it is therefore an empty meaningless

Purple it purposeless way to live most Accurately described by the existentialist

When he says something to the effect that listen, yeah, you're just a meaningless clump of dirt

That's it a meaningless clump of dirt when you die. That's it.

Nothing more William Hendrickson in commenting on this

Vanity of or futility of the mind He says this for the Gentile in the gentle on the

Gentile path. He says life is a long series of mocked expectations a pursuing but never achieving

Blossoming but never bearing fruit. The eye is never satisfied with seeing the ear with hearing

What a way to live futility Summarizes the

Gentile path and they walk in the Gentile path as a path of futility because of what

Paul says in verses 18 and 19 and it can be summarized in three words It's a futile path because of darkness alienation and callousness

Look at those three ideas in verse 18 They walk in the futility of their mind having and each of these three words is connected to these participles

Having the understanding darkened Darkness darkness

And what Paul is talking about is the inability to be able to perceive reality accurately

This inability to perceive reality accurately began at the fall follow with me here follow

Right after Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit. What did they do? They took off for the woods

But not on a very clear path. Did they they took off for the woods and they found some fig leaves and they covered themselves

And they said what did they say? We've got to hide from God we've got to hide from God and and that Action on the part of Adam and Eve tells you they did not perceive reality

Accurately because what the way they perceived God was that he is someone to avoid he is someone to stay away from Instead of running to him in repentance and falling upon their knees in repentance and the beseeching of forgiveness of a compassionate and merciful and gracious God They saw him as one to run from to hide from and to not be found

By that God began at the fall this darkness this inability to perceive reality

Rightly, and it has been perpetuated by the wicked one ever since as Paul tells us in 2nd

Corinthians 4 Verses 3 and 4 he says he says if our gospel is hid it is hid to them that are lost

Who of whom the the God of this world has blind the God of this world has blinded the minds

That they cannot see can't see the reality of the glorious gospel of the

Lord Jesus Christ and This this blindness this darkness

I should say this darkness continues to the very present In the world in which we live this isn't something for the first century world and limited to that It's it's all around us today.

We've been talking in the adult Sunday school class about You know the developing of a Christian worldview in the last few weeks.

We've been looking at some non -christian worldviews and one of the threads the common threads that runs through all of those non -christian worldviews is a

Distorted view of reality an inability to perceive things the way they really are

Consequently, there's all kinds of different ways to Inappropriately live. All right. Now look the

Gentile path is a path marked by darkness the inability to perceive reality correctly

That is not the path of the Christian life Look back a couple pages in your

Bible at chapter 1 and verses 17 through 19 Paul is in the middle of a prayer for the

Ephesians and he says I'm praying for you that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the

Father of glory may give you the spirit of wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of him the eyes of your understanding being enlightened

So that you may know What is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the

Saints and what is the exceeding? Greatness of his power to us word who believe what Paul is saying in chapter 1 is that listen you who are believers in Christ You are not

Walking in darkness. You do not have to be you shouldn't be leave that path of walking in darkness because as a believer in Christ you have at your disposal the enlightenment of the truth

The that the God of eternity can open your blind eyes that you might see things the way they really are

The Christian is not in darkness, but is in light you can see

So why go down a path? That is marked by darkness the second word that Paul uses back in chapter 4 verse 18 is that they are

Alienated being alienated from the life of God being alienated. There's our word alienated darkness and alienation

Alienation and this alienation is really because of our natural state as human beings you look at chapter 2 beginning of chapter 2 and He says

You who were dead in trespasses and sins Now we understand the concept that the one who is dead.

The person who is dead is alienated from life right They're not with us anymore they're alienated from the realm of the living and And those who are dead in trespasses and sins are by their very nature of deadness

Alienated from the life of God as Paul puts it here in verse 18 of chapter 4 alienated from the life of God But it's even worse than that Yeah, that's our nature.

We're born dead if you will in trespasses and sins Alienated from the life of God, but we're further alienated from the life of God because of our own willful ignorance of God Paul brings us out in the book of Romans.

So look at Romans chapter 1 and Look at these couple of verses in the middle of the chapter verses 18 and 19

Romans 1 verse 18 Paul says for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who look at look at what we do

Who suppress the truth who hold the truth down in unrighteousness

Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God has showed it to them

He has revealed the truth. But what does man do? in his already state of alienation

Because he's alienated from the life of God dead in trespasses and sins He furthers that alienation by holding down the truth by suppressing the truth and look at what

Paul says in verses 22 and 3 He says professing themselves to be wise

They become fools they change the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man and to and birds and creeping things and so on and so forth they they profess to be so wise

In their suppressing and holding down the truth, but in fact are fools.

They become fools this willful ignorance of God it is rooted.

Look at look at it again in verse 18 in chapter 4 of Ephesians and look at where that that Alienation is rooted not only in our nature, but it's rooted in our hard -heartedness

He says being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them there's that suppressing of the truth because of The hardness literally there the hardness of their heart the hardness of their heart

So this alienation that is exacerbated by our willful ignorance is

Rooted in the hard -heartedness of fallen sinful men Let me give you an illustration of this hard -heartedness and how it is alive and well in our day came across an article this past week about An investigation going on in Finland and and listen just because it's on you know

Quarter of a world away Don't think that this has nothing to do with us because we're just a few years away from this exact same thing

Happening right here in the good old us of a So there's an investigation by the authorities in Finland against an evangelical

Branch of Lutherans, this isn't like the liberal. These are these are conservative

Evangelical Lutherans who believe the gospel believe in salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Okay, and The denomination a denominational leader is under investigation as is the author of a booklet that the denomination published and the booklet has to do with the what the

Bible says about Human sexuality and marriage and Of course it clearly if you're gonna say what the

Bible says about human sexuality and marriage What the summary is this God made men and male and female and God intends for male and female to marry

Period that's it. You know, that's the one sentence summary and so the authorities launched this investigation against these individuals because Finland has enacted legislation that puts

Sexual orientation in the same protected class as things like race

So you can't discriminate or say anything that will incite hatred against people of a different race and now

Finland has included Sexual orientation in that list of protected classes. You can't say anything

That will potentially incite hatred against those who are

Homosexuals or lesbians or who are married of people of the same gender But listen to what the author of that book said after this investigation was started

She's a medical doctor and she said quote. I One Suppress the truth hold down the truth.

That is so obvious to him to nature. I Believe that ultimately the purpose of these attacks is to eliminate the

Word of God and discard the law of God It is very problematic that expressing

Christian beliefs is often seen as insulting in the West for example

Marriage between a man and a woman has become a concept that is understood as restrictive even threatening

She goes on to say I believe that every person has the right to hear the whole truth of God's Word both the gospel and the law

Only people who recognize their sins need Jesus the propitiation for our sins

Debatable themes such as immoral sexual relations have to do with guilt Guilt cannot be solved by denying it

But only by confessing it and receiving mercy and the message of forgiveness in Jesus sacrifice

It is impossible. She says to think that classical Christian doctrine would become illegal in the

West But why see why? Because in the

Gentile path The Gentile path wants to suppress the truth wants to make that doctrine illegal because we don't like it and That furthers the alienation from the life of God so darkness

Alienation and the third word in verse 19 the beginning of verse now Oh, by the way, by the way, that alienation is absolutely contrary to the

Christian walk in the Christian life Right just as darkness is contrary to the

Christian life of enlightenment alienation is contrary to the Christian life of having been embraced in adoption back in chapter 1 verse 5 you have been chosen to the

Adoption of sons where God the Father embraces you as his children not alienated from the life

But embraced into the life. That's the Christian life Darkness alienation and at the first part of verse 19 callousness

Here's our third participle who? being past feeling being past feeling and what

Paul is referring to here is The lost ability to feel shame and embarrassment about sin about one's sin a

Lost capacity to feel shame and embarrassment about sin and This marks the

Gentile path. We saw this extremely illustrated

Maybe you did I may if you didn't you haven't missed a thing. I saw this extremely illustrated this past week in a photograph of the

Democratic presidential candidate the mayor of South Bend Peter Buttigieg On stage at a political event with his husband they embrace and they kiss one another and the cameras are going off and they're all smiles and They're all happy about it, and they're showing the world

We are enlightened We have arrived

This is the new way to live no sense of shame no sense of embarrassment, but Proudly brazenly

Expressing the sinfulness of their lifestyle and interestingly ironically

Do you know what Pete's husband's name is? Chastened engaging in this with no sense of the need to be chastened

For what is done what is being done? now again, just as the darkness is contrary to the

Christian walk of enlightenment and the alienation is contrary to the

Christian walk of Being embraced by God as sons this callousness is contrary to the

Christian walk of increasingly being sensitized to the to the truth of God the grace of God The will of God the law of God and so forth.

So for example back in chapter 3 verses 16 and following Paul says

I'm praying that God would grant you According to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might in By his spirit in the inner man that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith

That you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the

Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know by experience the love of Christ which surpasses all

Knowledge that you might be filled with all the fullness of God having an increasing sensitivity to the love of Christ and walking living accordingly callousness

So this Gentile walk is a walk of futility because of darkness alienation and callousness

Then I want you also notice at the end of verse 19 how this Gentile path is Wholly Unsatisfying it is wholly unsatisfying

It's a life that is given over because of this darkness alienation and hardness or callousness it is given over a life given over to an attempt to Satisfy the senses this is wrapped up in that word lasciviousness given over to Lasciviousness That's an attempt to try to satisfy the senses.

It's a lifestyle that a lifestyle that Indulges in the senses without any restraint.

In other words, it says if it feels good We'll do it

If it feels good, we'll do it if it makes you happy Do it if it gives you pleasure then do it if it's if it feels good

Do it Does it don't let anybody tell you you shouldn't don't let anybody really put any boundaries

Around what you do if it's gonna make you feel good break through those boundaries if it's gonna make you feel good

Go ahead and kiss the guy right on the national stage for all the world to see if it's gonna make you feel good

Then do it then do it But then it's not only trying to satisfy the senses, but it's

It's trying to find something anything that satisfies

So as it says in verse 19 They've given themselves over until lasciviousness and to work all uncleanness all kinds of uncleanness and The idea is this it doesn't matter how deviant something is doesn't matter if You think it's gonna give you satisfaction

Then go for it it's kind of like again back in Romans chapter 1 verse 24 the same idea of of giving over to this

Romans 1 24 says wherefore God also Gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves

Doesn't matter how deviant If it's going to bring satisfaction go for it, but the thing of it is it never does it never does now by the way, what

Paul is describing here in Ephesians chapter 4 is Shall we say that the general?

the general path of humanity since the fall this is this is human society

Since the fall and I mentioned that because I mean you I mean I can think of a lot of people that I know

That are not professing believers in Christ who don't live utterly morally degenerate lives

But when you step back and you look at human society as a whole What path is that society headed on what path is it walking on?

What end is it heading toward see that's the question This is a human society as a whole

But this pursuit this pursuit of trying to find something that satisfies anything that satisfies

It never ends and you see that in the last two words of verse 19 when

Paul says they do this with greediness with covetousness with an an ongoing

Craving for something more It's like and you've probably experienced this at some things in your own in your own personal life

You you get you get a taste of this and you've got to have some more. It's like No, remember that old

Lay's potato chip commercial No one can eat just one. I know

I'm dating myself there's no usually what no, I never heard that one But yeah, I mean what's what's the whole idea behind that commercial?

It's the realization that Frito -Lay's Company made these potato chips and they produced them in such a way to produce just the right amount of salt and Taste to them that once you get a taste of that You've got to keep getting more and before you know it the bag is gone

You know the bag is gone And if you had another one there you'd open it up and keep going if you didn't have any restraint whatsoever

That's the picture here that there is this There is this ongoing

Pursuit on this Gentile path for something to satisfy

But everything that I think is going to bring satisfaction when I get it. It's just a taste.

It's just an appetizer There's got to be more and so Life has given over to this with greediness

Summarizing all of this Ian Hamilton says this He says the moral freefall that is increasingly defining

Western society Has its roots in the West's resolve to abandon

God and the Bible That's the path

That Paul tells you and me Stop walking down that path Stop walking down that path and in verses 20 and 21

He he again gets back to the idea that the reason you need to stop walking down that path is that that path

Absolutely contradicts the new path that you're to be walking on He says in verse 20 you have not so learned

Christ You haven't learned Christ in this way.

In other words, what he's saying is this You definitely have not learned

Christ as being an advocate of sin and selfishness of lewdness and licentiousness

Now Charles Hodge describes it you haven't learned Christ to live this way When you when you read the

Gospels and you hear God speak through his word you don't hear about a Christ Who is giving himself over to lasciviousness and Uncleanness and the pursuit of it all with greediness that isn't

Christ You haven't learned him like that Christ did not and does not walk the

Gentile path And he goes on in verse 21 to say furthermore

Christ hasn't and will not lead you down that path

He says if indeed you've heard of him if indeed you've heard him and you have been taught by him as The truth is in Jesus What is that truth that you have heard that you have been taught well he goes on in verses 22 through 24 to tell us what that is and it's a summary that he's going to He's going to expand upon in verses 25 through the end of the chapter.

What have you been taught of Christ? What has he taught you? He has taught you that you need to put off concerning the former way of life the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust that is the

Gentile path and Be being renewed in the spirit of your mind verse 23 and verse 24

Put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

What is that? That is the walking the path that is worthy of the calling to which you've been called

That is what Christ has taught you That is what he's taught you

Now, where are you headed? Where are you headed?

Are you still headed down that? that Gentile path that path of futility

Alienated from the life of God well, listen here the voice of Jesus as He says to you

Come unto me all you who labor you're striving after something to give you rest and satisfaction

You're not gonna find it except in him. He says come to me all you who labor in a heavy laden

I will give you rest. I will give you rest come to him Come to Jesus turn from that path of sin and selfishness and Self -righteousness repent of that Put your faith and trust in Jesus and what will happen?

He will snatch you from that dead -end path and he'll put you on the path that leads to life

Are you a follower of Jesus Profess faith in Christ as your personal savior

You profess to have heard Christ to have learned of Christ But are you trying to walk these two paths at the same time?

You're finding it's awful difficult, isn't it awfully difficult you find yourself frustrated conflicted

You find yourself Feeling the sense of guilt and remorse and the need for repentance

Yeah Yeah because Paul is telling us stop walking down that path

Stop walking down that path Walk worthy of the calling to which you've been called our father in our

God. I pray this morning that Through this passage of scripture you would challenge us about our walk

Where we're headed Why we're walking where we're walking and how Father if there's one here today who

Is on that path that leads to destruction. I pray by your grace open those blind eyes to see

Remove the darkness And cause them to see the light that is in Christ Jesus the life that is in Christ Jesus They turn from sin and unrighteousness

And turn to the savior who saves to call upon him Who has said if you call upon me?

You shall be saved Lord for the believer in Christ who's trying to straddle two different paths going in two different directions

The farther they go the more difficult it becomes the more split they are

I pray that you would challenge us To stop walking in that divergent path