A Worthy Walk — Donny Coulter

You would to Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 1. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 1. We have been talking about this command to holiness and how that that command to holiness becomes a reality in the life that we live every day.

You just sang about it. I don't know if you if you pay attention to the words that you sing but you just sang about it. I know that was a new song for many of us, new words, but the words have incredible power when you look at them.

They're very scripturally sound and strong theology when it talks about how your dependence is fully upon God and that's what we're talking about. But there's also a responsibility. There is a dependence on God himself and his power in our lives but there is also a responsibility on our part for us to live it out.

Walking Worthy of the Calling

Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 1. Let's read together. I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. We've talked multiple times about that calling.

As a matter of fact, if you look at Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1 through 10, we talked about the dead man walking and we connected dead walking to the trespasses in sin, walking according to the course of this world, being conformed by the world.

We talked about walking according to how Satan designs and desires for us to walk and that comes out in a walk of disobedience which gratifies the flesh, the desires of the flesh, the cravings of the flesh following the flesh's thoughts and its desires.

We talked about how that kind of walk is deserving of death or the wrath of God. But then we've seen how the calling, when the call comes in by God, from God, the call comes and that call involves this change in us.

It is a God, a sovereign God, sovereign work of God. That's a sovereign work of a sovereign God that we cannot do for ourselves. That's why we need the body and the blood of Christ so that we can find this kind of victory and this kind of call and when that call comes in then our walk begins to change.

We are no longer dead people walking. We are His workmanship walking in the good works that He has prepared for us to walk in. We talked about that calling that without the calling we are without Christ, we are without a country, we are without a promise, we're without hope, we're without a God.

But now in Christ Jesus, through the blood of Christ, we are brought near to God. There's the calling. All of those things are changed. We are with Christ. We are with God. We have a country and access to all of those things that citizenship in the people of God gives us and we have access to the promises and the covenant of God and we have hope, the hope of your calling.

Now back to Ephesians chapter 4. He says that you would walk worthy of the calling by which you were called. There is one body and one spirit just as you were called in one hope of your calling. Colossians chapter 1 and verse 10 says walk worthy of the Lord.

Philippians chapter 1 verse 27 says let your conduct be worthy of the gospel. Let your lifestyle be worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

First Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 12 says that we are to have a walk that is worthy of God. And we discover that there's no way that we deserve that, that we are worthy of God or that we are worthy of the Lord or that we are worthy of the gospel and the reason why that we are not so is because he makes us worthy.

If you remember, I believe I have that verse on here. Maybe not. We'll find it. But God makes us worthy. The gospel makes us worthy. Now we have to live according to that call. According to what God has done, we are called then to live.

Be holy for I am holy. Walk a worthy walk. So that's the challenge that we have before us. This calling that you have received, this change, this supernatural work of a sovereign God in your life to change you from a dead person to a live person, from a dead walk to an alive walk, that deserves your walk that is worthy, doesn't it?

So this misconception that we have that well we can just we can become a believer and just live however we can because I believe. I don't believe that that's the way that it works. I don't believe that that's the way that the cross and salvation works in our lives.

That's why Peter, as we'll find out a minute, I mean Paul says in the Philippians that that we are to work out our own salvation. Work it out. We talked about what it means to be worthy and I keep this up here because I want you to be able to visibly see the the expression of the worthiness of your walk and that is, and it's not quite in balance again and it's because it's a third grade project here, we are to be in balance.

To walk worthy means to have the same weight as. Remember? It means to have the same weight as. So we have the same weight of the scale over here and we are called to walk worthy. We said that when we begin and that the reference that Dana made that we start throwing the noodles in, we'll make this side the unworthy side.

And I'm throwing my noodles in, that's the sin in my life and every time that I commit a sin, you see what it does? When I begin to live in a way that is unworthy of the gospel, when I lie to my boss, when I cause my children to be angry, when I'm not disciplining them properly, when I'm when I'm lusting after other women, do you see how it works?

As I go through this life, that is an unworthy walk. When we are pursuing, when our intentions are to pursue things that take the balance away, then we are living an unworthy walk. And so we are challenged here in these scriptures to walk worthy of the gospel.

That we are to walk in such a way that these things are not there and the life that we live balances out with the calling that we have received. Don't let that picture go away from your mind. So we understand now that what it means to be to walk worthy.

The Intention-Power Principle

Now last week I introduced to you the idea of what I called the intention power principle. I don't know that I've ever seen that or heard anybody talk about it that way, but this is our intention power principle.

Let me explain again like we talked about last week, but I want to talk about it again. The intention power principle in theory works like this, that when I am intentionally pursuing a worthy walk, in other words, I am intentionally pursuing a walk that rids my life of those kinds of things.

When I am intentionally pursuing that kind of walk, that is not a self-dependence. It doesn't come from, hey I'm going to live a holy life and I'm going to, I'm not going to, I'm not going to lie anymore, I'm not going to lust after somebody, I'm not going to do, it doesn't come from that.

It comes from an intention that says I am moving towards this in God. This is what God desires of me and what pleases God, I am intentionally moving towards that. Where do you find those things at anyway?

Help me out, where do you find those things at? What pleases God? In the Word of God, we find what pleases God in the Word of God. If you ever doubt that something that you are doing, something that you are thinking, something that you are saying is displeasing to God, get your head and your heart in the Word of God and you'll find it.

But we have this intention, so if you look there with me on the line going down to the worthy walk, that's me with my intentions of living a worthy walk. I am intentionally moving towards those things and in moving towards those things, that worthy walk, those things that please God, in doing that there is a power that comes along with it from God.

A supernatural power that comes from God that gives us the ability to be able to walk a worthy walk. We have power, our God, our calling was a sovereign work of God to make us alive and your ability to live out or work out your own salvation is a sovereign work of God as well.

So do you think that God just says, okay I'm gonna save you but I'm gonna leave the rest of it up to you? And do you think that if God says to us a huge statement like, be holy as I am holy, or walk a worthy walk, walk worthy of the gospel, do you think he would say those kind of things without giving us everything we need to be able to live it out in our lives?

Would he do that? I don't think so. That's not the kind of God that I find in Scripture. That when God calls, God provides. And when God calls us to a walk of holiness and a walk of worthiness, he is not saying it's all up to you Donnie, go ahead and try.

He's saying that we are working together, me and God are working together. Let's see it in Scripture. I therefore, Philippians chapter 2 verse 12, we covered this verse last week. Philippians chapter 2 and verse 12 and 13, therefore my beloved brothers and sisters as you have always obeyed, not in my presence only, notice that word obeyed, as you have always obeyed, there it is, as you have always obeyed, there's intention.

I want you to notice this intentional side, our responsibility in this worthy walk is I am intentional. They said they have always obeyed, look at that, always obeyed. There was an intention about them to obey even when Paul was not around.

Just because the boss man's not around, we can live like we want to live. There was an intention in them to live like this because they were desiring to work out, look at those words, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

There is this idea, let me say this verse here, is one of the greatest verses that you will find about your sanctification. What we are talking about, if you want to put a theological term on what we are talking about, walking worthy, living holy, there's a theological term for that, that is your sanctification.

That happens through Christ and Christ alone and the Holy Spirit in your life, it is your sanctification, you're setting apart, it is not something that happens instantly in terms of practical terms, it is something that we grow into and mature.

We are being sanctified and this talks about the sanctification, therefore my beloved brothers and sisters, as you have always obeyed, not in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation.

Now this word, work, me, work, the word work here has the idea of finally accomplishing, to fully accomplish, it means to accomplish or to perform. Now here's what he's saying, put some of those words now in that, he says that not much more in my absence that you would fully perform your own salvation.

In other words, you work out your salvation, let that come, become the energy by which you work. Now look at the next one, for it is God who works in you, now we have a different kind of work, that is the power that compels us.

See that power that compels us, it comes from the Spirit of God who indwells us. Do you hear that? The power that compels us comes from the Spirit who indwells us, that we have the Holy Spirit, we just sang about the Holy Spirit and welcoming here, this Holy Spirit that lives inside of us is where the real power, the energy comes from for this to take place in my life.

That's the word, the actual word here meaning power or work comes from where we get our word energy or energized. So I am trying to fully accomplish my salvation and then along with my intention, my working out of my salvation comes the power of God at work in my life.

That is the energy, God energizes the intentions of your life. I hope that that's something we're catching, that there is a supernatural energizing that is, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure.

In other words, I am intentionally moving and God in His power is empowering me or energizing me to accomplish His will and His good pleasure. It's not just about me deciding I'm gonna do what God wants me to do and I've got all the power to do it in me.

This is not about self-sufficiency, it's about intentions. I am intending to be pleasing and obedient to God. Look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 11 and 12. With this in mind, we constantly pray for you that God may make you worthy.

There is the power of God right there. That God make you worthy. That word make, some of you will have count, that God would count you worthy. It all means the same thing. It means to be deemed, to be deemed worthy.

It means, He says, that God may deem you fit for His calling. That God will make it happen. There's the power of God at work and that by His power He may bring to fruition, His power, His vigor, His might, He may bring to fruition in you every desire for goodness and every deep prompt, every deed prompted by faith.

You see what He's saying? That here's my, look, here's the intentions, here's the power of God, power, here's that power principle and then here, these two sentences, or those parts of the sentence there, those two sections of the sentence, those are intentions.

I intend every desire for goodness. Does that sound like an intention to you? A desire to follow in goodness and every deed that is prompted by faith. Sound like intention to you? I intend to carry out the deeds of faith in my life and those are empowered by God so that in our lives that the name of the Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and you in Him according to the grace of God.

There's that power again, the grace of God right there. Now, if we're going to follow this and understand this, 2 Peter chapter 1, 2 Peter chapter 1, verses 3 and 4, now you've heard me refer to this many times in my preaching.

God Provides Power for Holiness

Peter says as His divine power, whose power? Look at it, as His divine power, His, that being God, His divine power, the word for power there is a different word that's been used before and the other ones that we have looked at, it is dunamis, it is a miraculous power, it is a force at work.

God's miraculous power, miraculous force at work and look what God's miraculous force, God's miraculous power has done. It has given to us all things. Notice what it says. Did I not say that there's this idea that if God tells you to be holy or God wants you to walk a worthy walk, does He rob you of anything that would keep you from being able to do that?

Absolutely not. How do we know? Because look what He says, that through His miraculous power, God has given to us, that's you and me as believers who are called to be holy, who are called to have a holy walk or a worthy walk, He has given to us all things, look at that word, all things that pertain to life and what's the next one?

Godliness. So has God left you in your own emptiness to be able to live a godly worthy walk? Has God left you there? He has not, has He? God has given you all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who has called us by glory and virtue.

There's that word calling again. By which you have been given, by which have we, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises that through these we might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Now are you seeing, I'm hoping that you're seeing the theme that there is a power that is available to us. There is this this promise of God, this ability to be able to live a worthy walk, to be able to walk holy as He has called us to be holy.

I'm hoping that you're seeing that that it's not just up to you to do it but at the same time there is a responsibility Philippians chapter 2 again that says work out your own salvation, that we are responsible to be working with God and His Holy Spirit in our life to be able to live that out.

Are you seeing that? Am I missing the mark? I'm seeing a bunch of confused looks. How can I, how can I simplify it, bring it down? Well let me let me do it this way. Let me go back to that intention power principle again.

Here's, here's me with all of my my intentions. I am intending to move towards the things that please God. That's why we, as Dana said, we look into the Word of God. We look into the Word of God and we find out what pleases God in our intention is to move towards those things.

As we move towards those things we experience. It's not that all of a sudden you're getting, as you get closer here, the principle is not you get a little more power and a little more power and a little more power.

The principle is that as soon as you start to move in the direction, as soon as you have an intention to do what God pleases, what pleases God, as soon as you make that move there is power that is already available.

It's already been given to you. He has given, has given to us all things pertaining to life and Godliness. You believe it? Do you, do we really believe the Word of God? That he has given that to us. As soon as I begin to make that intention towards God, towards this worthy walk, then there's this power principle that empowers me to be able to walk that walk.

It's not about how well you can do it. It's about how good you re-cooperate with the Holy Spirit and God in your life. Now, I made a comment last week and I want to go back there in the 10 minutes I've got left.

I want to go back to that. James chapter 1 verse 13. Now I said last week, and I had a couple of people ask me about this, but I said that when we make a comment like, well I didn't intend to do that.

I really didn't intend to hurt my wife that way. I really didn't intend to to go against my boss and do exactly the opposite. I didn't intend to to go to that party. I didn't intend to do exactly what my mom and daddy said not to do.

I didn't intend to do that. And it is my belief that yes, you did intend. Because if you had not intended in that direction, you would have not done it. And I said that last week, that I think that that is a lie.

We lie to ourselves when we say, well I didn't intend to do it. I think we need to admit, yeah I did. I intended to do it. Let me see if I can prove that in Scripture. Look at James chapter 1. Let no one say that when he is tempted, and I want you to notice intention and power principle even in these verses, okay?

Notice the intention power principle. Let no one say when he is tempted that I am tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil. Do you see an intention of God there? What do you tell you about God?

God never intends to do evil. It is not in God to ever intend to do evil. God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone with evil. But you ready? Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his screaming wife, who really got under my skin and just made me do it.

I keep going back to that 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 7. Live with our wives with understanding and honor as a weaker vessel, that our prayers not be hindered as joint heirs in Jesus. Now that's not what it says, is it?

You got proof that it doesn't say that up there. But each one, that means every individual, every one of us are tempted when we are drawn away by our own desires. Do you see an intention there? I am drawn away from what God, what pleases God, because my own desires have moved away from what pleases God over to what pleases me.

Do you see it? That I am drawn away from this, I'm drawn away from that by my own selfish, ungodly desires, my own lust. As I think the old King James says, by my own lust, I'm drawn away by my own lust.

And when I'm drawn away by my own lust, my intentions move from being intentional about what pleases God to be intentional about what pleases me. And when I'm intentional about what pleases me, look what happens.

I am enticed or I am ensnared. I'm entrapped. I've moved away from what pleases God and I've moved over here to what pleases me and then I'm stuck. I'm stuck. What does he say happens when we find ourselves in that place?

Then when desire has conceived, when it turns into action, when my desires, when my intentions towards my selfish desires turn into actions, it is conceived and it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

Now, do you see why I say that if I'm going to say that I never intended to do that, it's kind of hard to disprove that when we look at a scripture like this. That if I do something that is displeasing to God, it's because I've been drawn away from what pleases him and what is worthy and what is holy.

I've been drawn away by my own lust, my own selfish desires, fleshly desires. I've been drawn away and when I give in to it, it entraps me and I'm stuck. Now, here's the picture. You see it? The yellow line now shows me that I'm moving away from what is considered to be a worthy walk and I need us to catch this principle because if we're not careful, we can get stuck over here and go, well, I'm stuck and I can't get back and I want us to see how this works.

Repentance Restores the Experience of God's Power

It's there that I have this unworthy walk. My intentions are now no longer towards what pleases God but what pleases me and it is an unworthy walk. I am now living in absolute disobedience to God. You follow me?

In this intentions of mine, I am now living in disobedience to God and when I do that, I get stuck. Well, how do I get unstuck? I want to say to you that you never, ever, even in this condition, we never lose the power of God in your life.

God doesn't look up there and go, well, his intentions are wrong. Let's withdraw the power and it's no longer available to him. You don't lose that. To lose that would lose the calling and I don't believe we can lose our calling.

I don't believe we can be dead again but look what he says. What Donnie is saying. I don't think that we lose the power but we will lose the experience of that power when we are walking in disobedience.

Do you follow me? When I'm out here in this disobedience, how in the world does that allow me to connect to the power of God which empowers me to do a worthy walk? You follow me? So it's not that I have lost the power or access to the power, it's that I have lost the experience of the power because I am moving in disobedience.

And so, how do I fix that? How do I get unstuck? I believe that to be unstuck means that we find a place of a simple word, repentance. And repentance just says that I am turning away from my desires and I am turning to that which pleases God.

May I say to you that that becomes your time of obedience, right? And as soon as you find yourself in obedience, I want you to know this, as soon as you find a place of repentance and begin an intentional move towards God, that power is instantly and immediately experiential in your life if you make access to it.

Do you follow me? So God is not waiting for you to turn away from it and make ten steps towards Him to be able to empower you to do it. When you say, oh my God, I am sorry for what I have done to you, I'm sorry that I have followed off on my own track and my own trail, my own desires, and I have done what displeases you, I am sorry and I turn from that and I turn back to, I am intentional about what you desire and what pleases you, at that very moment of turning is when the power becomes yours.

It's hard to illustrate that here, but it's at the very moment of turning, the experience of the power is yours to have. You don't have to beat yourself up, you don't have to do flips, you don't have to frog your body, you just turn away.

That's what repentance is. We've done this before, but repentance is I'm going away from God. If I believe, in the illustration, I'm God and my hand is me and I'm going away from God, and repentance says what I'm doing is wrong.

God, I repent, I turn, I confess that what I do, I agree with you that what I'm doing is wrong and I'm turning back to you. Do you see that turn? As soon as we turn in that repentance, the access of power, the experience of power is available to us because the intention becomes what pleases God, not what pleases my own selfish desires.

I hope that makes sense. Read with me the rest of James chapter 1. Look at verse 19,. So then, my beloved brothers and sisters, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. Do you see intention?

When you start reading the Word of God with these ideas in mind, you will see this everywhere in all of Scripture. There is an intention here. The intention, let every man intend to be swift at hearing, slow at speaking, and slow to wrath.

Why? Because the wrath of God, or the wrath of man, does not produce what? The righteousness of God. Therefore, lay aside all filthiness and overflowing. We're going to come back to this verse at some point in our practical talk, but I wanted you to see intentionality in this.

Is there an intention now in laying aside? Is there intention there? Absolutely. Lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted Word which is able to save your souls.

But be doers of the Word. Does that sound intentional? Be doers of the Word and not hearers only. Hearing doesn't sound very intentional, does it? Deceiving yourselves, for if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror, for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it. Perfect law of liberty is power and continues in it is intention. And it is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the Word. You see the intention?

This one, look what happens, this one will be blessed in what he does. My question to me and to you is, do we believe that there is a power available to us as believers to help us to accomplish this? Do you believe it?

If you read Ephesians chapters 1 through 3, then you will find riches that are given to you. Every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies has been given to you. You are seated with Christ in the heavenlies and you have access to all of the spiritual blessings.

You just keep reading Ephesians 1 through 3 and see all of the things that you have access to, that will allow you to, that give you the power to be able to to live out your intentions. So my question then, to end the day, is this.

Practical Intentions in Marriage, Family, and Daily Life

What are your intentions? What are your intentions? Are your intentions those things which are pleasing to God or worthy of the gospel, are worthy of the Lord? Yes, we are going to mess up along the way of our intentions, are we not?

We're gonna have some yellow lines in our lives. For some of us, more often than others, but we're going to have yellow lines in our lives. But what are we going to do when we find ourselves there? Are we going to turn?

Are we going to continue? Intentions. And as soon as we, if we find ourselves on a yellow line and we we we intend to turn away, we actually turn away and we have access for power to live a worthy walk.

So I get mad at my wife and I say some some hurtful words, things that are intentionally done to hurt her. There is no power available to live that way, is there? I don't need any power. I got all the power to do that right inside of me.

But when I recognize that I have hurt my wife and I have gone against what pleases God, when I have not lived with my wife with understanding and I turn away from that and I say to her and to God, I am sorry.

Forgive. I turn away from that. And instantly. The power of God is available to you, men, do you love your wives the way Christ loved the church? Are you loving them in a way that pleases God, women? Are you walking in relationship with your husbands the way that God has intended for you to walk in relationship with your husband?

Children. Young people. Are you living in obedience to your parents? Are consistent and constant disobedience to your parents? Turn. And move towards God. And things will change. What is your intention?

This week, would you with me look at your life and find out what you intend to do? In every situation, when you feel the anger and bitterness starting to roll up at your neighbor or your husband or your wife or your child, will you intend to follow through with that?

Or will you intend to do what is pleasing to God? Will you do what is, will you intend to do what is pleasing to God? Will you do that with me this week? Let's make this real and practical and then trust in the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life to help you to do it.

Prayer for a Worthy Walk

Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word this morning. I pray God that that your Holy Spirit, who is our teacher, would drive the truth home. I pray, Father, that we, that your children, those who have been recipients of the call, who have been changed from from dead people to alive, I pray that our walk would reflect that.

And God, may we recognize the worthiness of the blood of Christ that has bought this calling for us. Lord, I pray that we would recognize the power that is at work in our lives and that it is worthy of our walk.

I pray that during this week as we walk in our life, I pray that when something comes up where we are tempted to do something that is, that draws us away according to our own fleshly lust, I pray Father that we would that we would take a moment to see what our intention is and then intend, rather than to do what is wrong, to do what is right, to do what is holy and experience the very presence and power of the Holy Spirit at work in us to accomplish that.

Thank you for that power. Thank you that we are not left to ourselves. Thank you that you are in us, that you dwell in us, and I pray that you would help us all to experience that power this week. We ask these things now in your precious and powerful and holy name.

Amen.