We're turning to 1 Peter chapter number two. 1 Peter chapter two, you'll find Peter, the first epistle after the book of James, you'll find James after the book of Hebrews, and so I trust that'll help you in trying to find the portion of God's word. 1 Peter and the chapter number two will come into the chapter, the verse 11 of the chapter. 1 Peter chapter two, the verse 11, let's hear the word of God. The Apostle Peter, by inspiration, he pens these words, he says, Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man. for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme, or unto governors as unto them that are sent by him, for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For this is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, as free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honour all men, love the brotherhood, Fear God, honour the King. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the frail word, for this is thankworthy. If a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully, for what glory is it if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. or even here on to where ye call, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow in his steps. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. Whose own self bear our sins in his own body in the tree, that we being dead to sin should live on to righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were a sheep going astray, but now are returned. unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls. Amen. Let's bow briefly in prayer. Father in heaven, I now pray, Lord, that thou will fill me with thy spirit and with thy power. I pray for clarity of thought and of speech. Pray, Lord, that you'll minister to every heart, from youngest to oldest, We pray that we may be those who are instructed by the Lord and by the Word of God. We recognize that we have so many ideas of ourselves and at times they need to be set aside. For we find them to be contrary to the revelation of God and his word. And therefore, may we be submissive to thy word. May we be ready to yield to it. And whatever the Lord says to us today, that we'll do it and do it heartily because we love thee, those who are saved, because we love thee and we want to honor thee in all that we do and in how we live in this world. And so answer prayer. Give us an alert mind, we pray. Take away all tiredness of body and frame. And grant, Lord, help now in the preaching of the word. For we offer prayer in and through Jesus' precious name. Amen. I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day. I'd rather one would walk with me than merely show the way. The eyes are better pupil, much sharper than the ear. Fine counsels can confuse me, but examples always clear. The lectures you deliver may be very wise and true, but I'd rather get my lesson by observing what you do. Edgar Guest, the poet who penned those very words, wanted to convey to his readership the truth that the life we live before others has a greater impact on them than what we say to them. You and I, how we walk in this world, how we live our lives, how we conduct our affairs as Christians will make an impression on those who live around us. It'll make an impression on the ungodly with regard to how they view God, the God that we say that we love and we serve as believers. How we walk in this world has a bearing on the testimony and the name of Jesus Christ in this district. And so it ought to be the natural desire of every Christian to walk in a way that pleases not the minister, not the spiritual oversight of an assembly, not your Christian parents or your Christian friends, but to walk in a way that pleases the Lord, because not to do so dishonors His name and His cause. Having considered how we're not to walk as Christians, namely that we're not to walk as we once walked, as in how we lived before we once lived, before we met Christ and salvation. We're not to walk after the flesh. We're not to walk in craftiness. We're not to walk disorderly. We're not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly. We want to begin today by thinking together about how we are to walk. And no better place could we begin that particular line of thought than here in 1 Peter in the chapter number 2. Because it is here in this chapter that the Apostle Peter, he presents to us one whom we are to mimic. The person that we are to impersonate, the one that we are to copy when it comes to walking with God, that one is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 21, Peter writes, Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow in his steps. Now admittedly those words are penned in light and in the context of Christian suffering, but I believe that those words could be broadened out and applied to every aspect of Christian living, that we are to walk in Christ's footsteps. that we are to walk as Christ walked. If you think that is twisting the scripture, if you think in your mind that's stretching the thought a little bit, well then I direct you to words found in 1 John. If you want to turn there to 1 John and the chapter two in the verse number six, we read these words. He that saith, he abideth in him. Abiding in Christ, speaking about just simply other another way of saying he that confesses himself to be a christian she who professes to be a christian he that saith that he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk even as he christ walked over the next little while i i plan to deal with specific references of how we are to walk as christians but if you miss everything else in this series of messages. I trust that you'll not, but if you miss everything else, I want you to get a hold of this in your heart and in your mind. As a Christian, as a believer, I am to walk as Christ walked. It's a very basic fundamental truth, but it's a truth that is sadly missing today, even in evangelical circles. There needs to be a walking as Christ walked. As a Christian, I am to walk in the steps. I am to walk in the footprints of the Savior. I'm sure you've all heard the illustration many times before about the father who liked to drink When the children were in bed, the father would leave the family home and make his way to the public house and there drink out the night with his friends. One snowy night, when he thought all of the family was tucked up in bed, the father made the familiar journey to the public house for another night's drinking with his drinking partners. But after sitting down, that man was shocked to see his young boy standing at the table. Enraged, he turned to his young boy and he asked him, how did you know where I was? The young boy replied, Dad, I just put my foot in your footprint and here I am. The father was so convicted by the words of his son that he took his boy up in his arms, he made his way back to the family home and he vowed never again, never again to return to the public house. The son placed his feet in the father's footprints in the snow. He walked as his father walked, and as a result, that young boy found himself in the pub that particular evening. You know, as Christians, we are to place our feet in the footprints of the Son of God. We are to walk as He walked. And so the natural question is, how did Christ walk? How did Christ walk in this world? You see, that's why He came into the world. Yes, thank God He came into this world to provide redemption for His people, but He also came into this world to provide for us an example of how we are to walk in this world. If Christ's only purpose for living in this world was to die on the cross, he would have immediately went to Calvary. But he lived 33 years. He lived through childhood, through adolescence, teenage years, young adulthood, and found himself at the age of 33 being kneeled to the cross. Why did he live 33 years? Well, he lived to fulfill righteousness for us. He lived to give his people an example in how they are to walk in this world. How did Christ walk? Well, that's what I want to answer in a message that I've simply entitled, Walking as Christ Walked. Walking as Christ Walked. Whenever I read through the record of Holy Scripture, and I read about the walk of the Lord Jesus Christ, I find, firstly, that His walk was marked by holiness. His walk was a walk that was marked by holiness. None walked as wholly a walk as Jesus Christ did when He lived on this earth. If ever there was a person who walked in the way of holiness, it was he who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. Never once did his feet stray from that pathway. Never once did he diverge from that particular road. Never once did he deviate from that way. But rather daily, constantly, meticulously, the Savior walked the highway of holiness. Beloved, whenever you think about the Savior, He couldn't do anything else but walk in a holy way. Whenever you think about the nature of God, whenever you think of the character of God, whenever you think of the being of God, Jesus Christ could not do anything else but to walk in the way of holiness. He was the Holy Child. He was the holy Son of God. Jesus Christ's character determined the walk that he walked. Being holy meant that he therefore walked in holiness. So important was that holy walk of the Son of God that without it, brethren and sisters, none of us would have hope of heaven. You see, while the death of Jesus Christ was necessary to take away our sin, the life of Christ was necessary to provide for us a perfect righteousness and make us fit for heaven. And if Jesus Christ did not live the holy life and did not walk the holy life, therefore He would not have been a suitable Savior for sinners. He had to walk in the way of holiness. He could have never fulfilled all righteousness for us if Christ's feet had have diverged at least even on one occasion from such a pathway of holiness. He could never have been our Savior. J.C. Ryle, he wrote, it was by Christ's holy walk that the divine law was magnified and made honorable in the very place where it had been so despised and dishonored. It was by his immaculate life that Christ convinced himself to be a fit sacrifice for sin. The lamb without blemish and without spot. It was by His holy life and holy walk that the Lord Jesus Christ secured for His people the righteousness that fits us for heaven. He fulfilled all righteousness on our behalf, walking a pathway of holiness. As children of God, we are called on holiness. Peter wrote in 1 Peter chapter 1 and the verses 14 through to 16, 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 14 through to 16, as obedient children Not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, as in not living as you used to live whenever you were in your sin, but as he which hath called you is holy, that's his character, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy. At salvation, we become partakers of the divine nature. We take on his character, his nature. And God's nature is holy. It is his primary. It is his chief characteristic. The angels cry, holy, holy. holy around the throne of God. Whilst God is love, and we thank God for that, they do not cry, He's love. While God is just, He does not cry. They do not cry that He is just. While God is perfect, they do not cry that He is perfect, but rather they cry out that He is holy, and His children are to reflect the Father. The children are to reflect God himself. Our calling onto Christ and salvation will then manifest itself in a holy walk. As I've said, we're called on to holiness and therefore we are to walk in holiness. Our walk is to resemble the Savior's walk. A holy life will cause you to walk a holy walk. Now, this isn't optional, brethren and sisters. John states in 1 John 2, in the verse number 6, that we ought to walk. We ought to walk as Christ walked. A follower is to follow in the Savior's footsteps. We're following after the Master. You know, we can discern whether a person's profession of faith is genuine or not. by how they walk in this world, how they conduct their lives in this world. A Christian's walk, a genuine Christian's walk will be a Christ-like walk. And as I've said, our first point is that Christ walked in holiness. It will be marked by holiness. I wonder, is it your desire to walk in holiness? I'm not asking you how well you're getting on with that, because I know and you know that we have the struggles in this life to walk in holiness. We have competing enemies that come against us, that would bring us into sin, that would trip us up, would want us to be brought to a place where we are defeated overcome by sin we there is the world there is the flesh there is the devil that we have to contend with we often slip and fall but i'm not asking you how you're getting on with it i'm asking you do you have a longing to walk in holiness is there some desire in you that desires to walk as christ walk desiring to walk a holy walk in this world if so then I believe that that is a good indicator that a work of grace has been done in your soul. You see that the sinner has no desire to walk in the ways of holiness. No, the sinner wants to walk in the paths of unrighteousness. They want to walk in the paths Sin, that's their desire. That's their natural bent. It is to go to sin. It is to walk after sin It is to follow after unrighteousness, but the child of God Having been worked upon by the Spirit of God now desires to walk in righteousness to in the path of righteousness and in the way of holiness and And so let us seek to walk that path, and let us seek to walk that way, aided and helped along by the Spirit of God. He comes to help you. You may be here today and think, well, how am I going to walk a holy walk? How am I going to walk in holiness? Well, don't forget, you're now indwelled by the Spirit of God. And the Spirit of God will help you and assist you and aid you in that. He'll lead you and guide you into the paths of righteousness. Just obey the Lord. The light that God gives you, just obey the Lord. he'll lead you in holiness. The Savior's life or walk was marked not only by holiness, it was marked by obedience. The walk of the Savior was pre-eminently or pre-eminently a walk of Obedience. One preacher said obedience to his father was Christ's supreme mission when he came to this earth. He came to obey his father. And that obedience meant that he would walk a path of obedience. You just look at any part of the Savior's life, and you'll find that it's marked by obedience, even as a boy. He walked in obedience. I think of those words concerning the Lord Jesus Christ there in Luke 2, verse 51, whenever the Savior submitted himself to the authority of his earthly guardians. It says there in Luke 2, verse 51, and he went down with them, speaking of Mary and Joseph, and came to Nazareth and was subject unto them. They should have been subject to him. He was none other than the Son of God. And yet Christ takes up the position of a child in a home, and that child lives a life of obedience. The Christ child obeyed his parents. He was subject to them, subject to their authority, subject to their rules, subject to the regulations within the home. And so in the family, in family matters, Jesus Christ was obedient. In civil matters, Jesus Christ was obedient. The Savior taught one day, render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's. And so in civil matters, Jesus Christ lived an obedient life. He did not come to raise armies against the Romans. He did not come to push the Romans out of Israel, though they were the enemies of the Jewish nation. But in civil matters, Jesus Christ was obedient. In ceremonial matters, Jesus Christ was obedient. I read of him concerning the Savior. With regard to the Sabbath day, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue. You think of that synagogue. You think of the people that were there reading the law and the scriptures, probably unconverted men. And yet, though there was, because there was nowhere else for the Savior to go, he still submitted himself to the ceremonial law of attending the house of God on a weekly basis. and found himself under the teaching of others. Not only that, but Jesus Christ was circumcised. That was a right required in Jewish law. We read there in Luke 2 verse 21, And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, that his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the woman. So Jesus Christ as a Jewish man submitted himself, obeyed the ceremonial law in being circumcised. And so on family matters and civil matters and ceremonial matters, but also in religious matters, the Son of God was obedient. Matthew 5, 17, think not that I am come to destroy the Lord, the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. And so whether it was with respect to family duties, to civil obligations, religious requirements, the Son of God gave himself or gave obedience to each and every one of those aspects as he lived in this world. He walked in a pathway of obedience. And as He walked, so we are to walk in this world. We are to walk in obedience, in family matters, obeying, in civil matters, in ceremonial matters, in religious matters. We are to obey the Lord. You see, it should be the goal of every Christian to obey the Lord in all things. That's how you'll be able to live the Christian life to its fullest. That you'll simply go into Christian living with this mindset, I just want to obey the Lord. Whatever that means, I just want to obey the Lord. I want to obey the Lord in my family. As the head of the home, we as a family, we want to obey the Lord. Whatever the cause that is. In our church matters, we just simply want to obey the Lord. And so if you're a new Christian, just set out. Just set out the Christian life saying, I'm going to obey the Lord. Whatever He says to me, in meetings like this, as I read the scripture for myself, as I pray and I seek His will for my life, I'm just going to obey the Lord. I'm just going to walk in obedience. As I've already hinted and already read the scripture there in 1 Peter 1 we are described there as being obedient children. And that obedience will manifest itself in how we conduct ourselves in this world. And daily opportunities will come your way and daily opportunities come my way when it comes to walking in obedience. And as I've already said, when such occasions arise, when such occasions arise, we need to simply obey the Lord and what He has revealed to us in His Word in regard to that particular issue and then leave the fallout with Him, remembering that it's better to obey. It's better to obey than to sacrifice. The Savior walked a walk of obedience. He walked, obeying the Father. And that's how we are to walk. We're to walk in obedience. In the third instance, the Savior's walk was marked by self-denial. Self-denial. The Savior, He said these words in John 8, 29, He didn't say that. He said, I do always those things that please Him. Please the Father. In Romans chapter 15 verse 3, we read something similar. We read there Paul said, For even Christ pleased not himself. The Son of God, when he came to live on this earth, he came not to do his own will, but the will of the Father who had sent him. And that would involve, that would involve him walking a walk that was marked by self-denial. I think of that day whenever a group of people came to make Jesus Christ king. They wanted to make him king. What did the Savior do? He denied himself. And he took himself out of the way, for he realized that his kingdom was not of this world. His was a heavenly kingdom. Now, he could have made him, he could have allowed those men to, as it were, make him their king. He could have taken, as it were, the throne and the crown of Israel. It was his right. But he decided to deny himself, deny himself a position in society, because it wasn't the Father's will. And at times you'll have to do that. Maybe deny yourself a position in your place of work because what is required of you in that position will mean that you live contrary to the teaching of God's Word. You'll have to deny yourself. I remember, I'm sure I've told the story before, whenever I was at university. I studied, I don't want to bore you, but I studied geology, looking at rocks and all that type of thing. Well, I remember the opportunity that came up to go to the United Arab Emirates. I remember speaking to the person on the telephone and I told him the qualifications that I had and he seemed keen enough with regard to taking up that position. Then I asked him this question, I said, will it require me to work on the Lord's Day? He says, well, the drill will continue, it's 24-7, and so it will require you to work on the Lord's Day. I said, well, I'm sorry, but that's the end of this conversation. I said to him, I'm a Christian, and I'll not be working on the Lord's Day. I don't know how much money I would have made, And maybe more than preaching, I don't know, probably not. But you know, you have to deny yourself. There are going to be choices that you're going to have to make. That's if you're going to walk as Christ walked. He had the opportunity of holding a position, and yet he denied himself. Or what about that occasion whenever he spoke to the woman at the well there in John chapter four? You know, the disciples, they brought him food, but Jesus Christ, he refused to take that food. And he told them, his disciples, that his meat was to do the will of the Father. And so in order to speak to that woman and to deal with that woman, he denied himself in a physical way with regard to even partaking of food. I think of him whenever the sun had set and all of the people had gathered around the door, those that were sick and those were there and they were Unwell, some were lame and some were blind, some were possessed with the devil. It was a late hour. The Savior had been working all that particular day. And while others would have chased those individuals away, the Lord Jesus Christ, he denied himself, he denied rest, rest for the body, and he healed all that were there. It was a life of self-denial. But surely the greatest act of self-denial and the part of the Son of God occurred when he walked the Calvary road, and he found himself at the cross. For our sakes, he gave himself to the scoffing, to the spitting, the scourging, the suffering of the cross, and the greatest act of self-denial that this world has ever witnessed. He said, I lay down my life. I lay down my life. What a sacrifice. And while we're not called to make and to deny ourselves to the extent that the Savior denied himself on the cross of Calvary, we are called to walk a path of self-denial. Jesus turned to his disciples one day and he said these words to them, whosoever will come after me, whosoever will be my disciple, let him deny himself. take up his cross and follow me." It's going to involve self-denial on our part. There's a cross that we'll have to bear. You know, often this truth is hidden from the sinner in the hope of winning them to Jesus Christ, Beloved, I believe that we need to be upfront with the unsaved and tell them, if they are to be a Christian, that they're going to have to deny themselves. Gardner Spring defines self-denial in this way. Self-denial consists in the voluntary renunciation of everything which is inconsistent with the glory of God and the highest good of our fellow man. All that comes between us and God must be denied and rejected. Now let me say, brethren and sisters, this kind of living, this living a life of self-denial, really goes against all that society teaches today. This really goes against the green. It is the complete opposite of how we're encouraged to live by society today. You see, 21st century society tells us that you need to pamper yourself. You need to look after yourself, and you do need to look after yourself. I don't mean that everything goes, but they'll tell you you need to focus on yourself, you need to indulge yourself. But God tells us what we are to deny ourselves. We're to go to the cross and be crucified with Christ. To walk as Christ walked will find us walking a road of self-denial. Are we willing? Are we ready? to take up the cross and follow Him. Young person, it'll involve you self-denial in your school. While others will go to places, you'll have to stay at home. You'll have to pull yourself out of that situation. If you're going to be a Christian, if you want to follow the Lord, that's if you're going to follow the Lord. You're going to have to deny yourself. That can be very difficult and it can be very embarrassing. as well, but I tell you, the Lord will bless you. The Lord will bless you. We need to be ready for much self-denial, and maybe, just maybe, we will be required to lay down our lives for the testimony of Christ. As others are in this world, what are they doing? They're walking that road of self-denial. That's what they're doing. But what they lose is little compared to what they'll gain. Notice with me that Christ's walk was fourthly, it was marked by loneliness. Loneliness. While crowds flocked to hear the Savior preach during his years, especially during his years of popularity, those years were also marked by episodes of loneliness with others, went to their own home. Remember that occasion? They all went to their own home in order to find rest in their home, a bed to lie upon, food to eat. But we read in the record of Scripture that Christ didn't go to their homes. He was never invited by them. It's not a tragedy. They never thought of inviting the Savior. And so where did he go? Where did he go that night? He went out into the mountains. And there he spent time communing And there he spent time in fellowship and prayer with his father. It was one of the most bitter elements of the Savior's days of humiliation, his days of condescension, to be lonely, to be lonely. Even the friendship of his chosen disciples was at times most unsatisfactory for the Savior. He went alone into Gethsemane's garden. He went alone into Pilate's judgment hall. He went alone to Golgotha's hillside. He alone went into the darkness of Calvary. He alone trod the winepress. Isaiah 63 verse 3, I have trodden the winepress alone. And of the people there was none with me. You know, life in this world must have been a lonely experience for the Son of God in human terms. Who could really understand Him? He was a unique individual. God and man in one person. Who could have fully comprehended the sorrows? Who could have understood the heartache? Who could have thought of the pathway that the Savior trod? He was God in the flesh. The greatness of his character made it impossible for the Son of God to find real deep and full companionship among the sons of man. Maybe today you're a Christian and you're walking a very lonely pathway. There's no one in this life that you could really call a friend. in your school or in your workplace. There's maybe no one there in a place of work or a place of education who lives according to the Bible as you live. And really life for you is very, very, very lonely. There's maybe nobody in your home who's a Christian. And you're here today and you feel yourself to be a very lonely individual. And especially if you're walking with the Lord and you want to continue to walk with Him, you're going to find yourself walking a lonely walk. But I want to encourage you today with this truth that Jesus Christ walked that road. He walked that road. And so he knows how you feel going into school or going into work, and there's no other Christian there. And maybe there are those and they profess to be Christians, but their lives really don't line up to the teaching of God's word. And you find yourself to be a very lonely individual. Let me say that Christ walked the lonely way. We sing about it in one of our hymns. Ah, lonely was the path he trod. then wilt thou not go through with God? If you're going to walk with God, it's going to be lonely for you. It's going to be a lonely pathway. But brethren and sisters, it may be lonely in human terms, but not in spiritual terms. Because while Christ really had no one to call his friends, although he did call men his friends, but I mean individuals that fully could understand who he was and what he had come to do. Yet, brethren and sisters, in spiritual terms, we have a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. His is the only friendship that really meets the deepest human needs, and his is an enduring friendship. for he's a friend that loveth at all times." Lonely was the path of the Savior in this world. Why then do we think as Christians that our journey through life is going to be any different? If you're going to follow the master and in his footsteps, At times there's going to be episodes that it's going to be lonely in your life. There's going to be no one there for you. But God would have you to continue to walk with Him. Though at times you feel alone. I know there are wives here and they feel alone. Husbands, young people, older people. You feel yourself to be alone. You remember the words there in Hebrews. For He has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. And so in youth and in old age and sickness and sorrow and life and death, God is a faithful companion. But the Christian walk is a lonely walk. Prepare for it. Prepare for it. Fifthly and finally, the Savior's walk. Oh, look at the time. I need to go. Humility. Humility. It was marked by humility. You can trace the footsteps of the Savior into the valley of humility. The Savior said that he was making lonely When he stooped to wash his disciples' feet prior to his crucifixion, the Son of God evidenced humility. Though so highly exalted, yet he stooped to the lowest place. The Apostle Paul, he says these words, that Christ humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. The walk of the Son of God was marked by humility. We'll be considering that thought. I don't know when it will be, maybe next, I don't know. But if you're going to walk as Christ walked, then it's going to be marked by humility. Laying aside all human pride, God knoweth the pride of far off, we are to be clothed with humility. You know, just if we would consider who we were before grace intervened, and if we would then add to that what we now are even as Christians. Then such thoughts should keep us away from any pedestal of pride that we would ever think of climbing up upon, understand who we were and what sadly we still are, though so blessed by the Word and faithful preaching and a copy of Holy Scripture, yet how far, how little along the road of spiritual maturity we are, surely this will keep us at the Savior's feet. A look within, a look about us, a look below us, a look above us. should be sufficient to keep us humble. Micah 6 verse 8, He has shown thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee? What does God expect of me? Here it is, to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. I could go on today or I thought I could go on today, I don't have notes with regard to it. Sometimes preachers say that and you know right well that they haven't got any notes with regard to the matter, but I thought of a number of other things about the Savior's walk. I thought about His walk, His walk was marked by devotion, devoted to the Father. His walk was marked by submission. His walk was marked by perfection. His walk was marked by faith. His walk was marked by love. But I want to end with a quote and the quotes from Martin Luther. And it might help us. from becoming a little overwhelmed from the task that is now before us, because we're being taught now, this is how I am to walk, as Christ is walking, and you're thinking, how am I going to do that? This is what Martin Luther said, he said this, He doesn't expect us to live some kind of extraordinary Christian life that we could never attain to. He walked on the sea. He doesn't want us to walk in the sea. That was left for Him to do. He just simply wants us to walk as He walked, His ordinary walk as a man, yet God-man, as He walked in this world. He just expects us to walk the ordinary walk of Christ. And so the question is, are we striving to walk as he walked? May every Christian in this house lift their hearts just now in prayer and say, Lord, help me. Help me to follow in thy footsteps. Help me to walk as thou didst walk. And then as others look on, they'll say, there's a Christian. There's a Christian. There's one who's walking after Christ and walking like Christ. Oh, for Christ-likeness in our walk, may we be found following in his footsteps. Let's bow our heads in prayer, please. Let's pray. Our loving Father, we thank thee for thy word and the walk of our Savior. What a walk it was. What an example before us is now set And yet we thank Thee that there's all the grace and all the help that we need in God to walk such a pathway. This isn't set out for us in Holy Scripture in order to, as it were, beat us into some kind of defeat, but there is, Lord, all that we need to be able to walk this way. And we realize that it'll not come all at once. Maybe today we'll walk in love as Christ walked. We'll walk maybe tomorrow in humility. We'll be called to walk in that way. And then, Lord, we'll come to walk in a manner that is obedient, maybe on Tuesday. But Lord, whatever way you take us, we thank thee, Lord, that you have given us all the grace and help to walk as Christ walked. Oh God, help me to walk as the Savior walked. And grant, Lord, as others look on, that they'll see Christ in me. Christ, my example, the one I'm following after. We say with Solomon, draw me and we will run after thee. Lord, may we not run after each other. or what poor examples they are, oh, but to follow after thee. May that be our testimony. We pray this in Jesus' name.