Ephesians chapter 3, we'll begin near the end of the chapter and we'll run into the chapter 4. So Ephesians chapter 3 for our Bible reading this afternoon. The Apostle Paul, he's speaking here. In the verse 14 of the chapter 3 in the book of Ephesians, he says these words, For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. With all loneliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one face, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all. Amen and we'll end at the verse 6 of the chapter 4. Let's just briefly pray please. Appreciate you praying. You pray along. God will speak to your heart and God will help the preacher and may this be a very special meeting as we gather together. Loving Father, We pray for Thy presence. We thank Thee for the singing of Thy praise and help given in this. We rejoice, O God, in these voices that Thou has given, gifted to us, that we're able to lift them up to God and to worship Thee. We thank Thee for the worship of Thy people. O may it be acceptable worship in Thy sight. May it have come from the heart. Hold Thou my hand, so weak I am and helpless. And how true it is, Lord, oh, to walk with Thee. Lord, hold us up, we pray, as we walk through this world, a world that's full of many dangers, toils and snares. Lord, we pray that Thou wilt, Lord, keep our feet from falling. Lord, do that, we pray. Lord, if we have fallen, as we thought about even on Friday night, a just man falleth seven times, but riseth again. And we thank Thee, O God, for the for the new beginnings that we all can have. We thank Thee, O God, that we are not, as it were, cast aside and thrown into the spiritual rubbish bin whenever we falter and feel. But Thou does take us and cleanse us and set us on our feet again. Lord, Thou does desire to walk with us. Lord, we pray that Thou will do that. May we walk with Thee. And Lord, we cry to Thee that Thou would walk with us. Walk with us through this message. Open our hearts, we pray. And fill me now with Thy Holy Spirit. I pray this in Jesus' precious name. Amen. You know, folks, I don't think that we really appreciate fully what an honor it is to be a Christian. What a high privilege it is to be the son or the daughter of the Most High God. What untold blessings are ours because we have been made members of the household of faith. Too often, I believe, we take for granted what God has done for us, how he has lifted us out of the dunghill of sin and seated us with Christ in heavenly places, how he has cleansed us in his precious blood, how he has clothed us with the garments of his salvation and robed us with the robe of his righteousness, how he has made us heirs, joint heirs with Christ Jesus. We are daily loaded with benefits. We are the recipients of spiritual blessings. And with that, we must come to understand that there then is a responsibility placed upon us to walk worthy of our God, to walk in a manner and to live in a manner that represents God in a way that is worthy of Him. When great favors are conferred upon us, it places us then under great obligation. Paul will take up that very thought when he comes to write his epistle to the saints of God in the city of Ephesus, having laid out in his first three chapters of this great epistle the blessings that are ours through Christ Jesus. The apostle Paul then pens these words in the opening verse of chapter 4. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. The word vocation is simply calling. The calling by wherewith ye are called. The calling onto God in the gospel. That's really what Paul is referring to, our calling out of sin and on to Jesus Christ, that effectual call that we heard within the soul that brought us from a state of darkness and into the marvelous light. I wonder, is there someone here and you as yet have not obeyed that call, the call to leave your sin behind, your call to come to Christ, and cast your sin burden upon him who is the great sin bearer. I pray that today that you'll hear the call of God in the gospel. Now this isn't the only time that the Apostle Paul speaks about walking in a manner that is worthy of the Lord or of or calling, he will write to a different assembly of believers, this time assembled in the city of Thessalonica. In 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 12, the Apostle Paul wrote these words, that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom. and glory. And then he writes on a third occasion, almost the exact same words, this time to the saints of God in the city of Colossae. In Colossians 1 verse 10, Paul wrote that, Three times to three different separate church fellowships, Paul exhorted the Christians in those fellowships to walk worthy of the Lord. The saints in Ephesus, the saints in Thessalonica, the saints in Colossae, that they were to walk worthy of God, walk worthy of the calling wherewith they had been called. It is that then repeated exhortation that I want to preach today as we continue on in our series with respect to walking with God. I want to do that in a message that I've entitled, Walking Worthily. Worthily. Now as we think about walking worthily, I want to say a few things firstly about what it means to walk worthily. What does it mean to walk worthily? Well God the Holy Spirit here in Ephesians chapter 4 in the verse 1, the Holy Spirit, the inspirer of Scripture, uses this word worthy to describe the walk of those who profess Jesus Christ to be their Savior. But what does that term actually mean? Well the word worthy in simplest of terms means deservingly, appropriately, suitably, fittedly, or fittingly. The Greek word is translated elsewhere in Scripture. This word worthy is translated different ways in the New Testament. It is translated, becometh. Speaking of Phoebe, Paul wrote to the saints in Rome over there that they were to receive her in the Lord as becometh saints. In Philippians 1, verse 27, the apostle wrote, only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, as it is appropriate of the gospel of Christ, as it is deserving of the gospel of Christ. That your conversation, that simply means your conduct of life, is that which is appropriate to the gospel of Jesus Christ. This term is also translated godly sort. In 3 John 1 verse 6, John writes, of whom thou bringing forward on their journey after a godly sort thou shalt do well. And so if you could, as it were, take that little term, godly sort, and transport it into Ephesians chapter 4, Paul writes, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that ye walk after a godly sort wherewith of the vocation or the calling wherewith ye are called." The Christian is simply to walk in a way that is deserving of the Lord. I am to walk in a way that is appropriate for a person who takes to themselves the name of Jesus Christ. I am to walk in a way that is becoming, that is befitting that is matching the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am not to walk in a way that is out of step with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now I'm told by more intelligent men than myself that this word worthy in verse 1 of chapter 4 can also be translated of equal weight, of equal weight. The word picture sets before us a set of scales, where an item is set on one side of the scales and is found to be of equal weight to another item that is placed on the other side of the scales. It balances. That's the thought. It is of equal weight. Now, the Savior uses this term worthy to speak about wages. and an employee receiving their wages. In Luke chapter 10 verse 17, the Son of God says, the laborer is worthy of his hire. It's an axiom Greek word. To pay an employee, or sorry, the pay of an employee that today receives should equal or balance their labor according to the words of Jesus Christ. It should balance their labor. On one side is their labor, on the other side is their pay. Now, I wonder if that was the way in which you would be paid, if that was the standard by which you were paid, that your labor equaled your pay and your pay equaled your labor. I wonder how much money would have been in your pay packet on Friday if you're paid weekly. But that's just by the way. As Christians, we ought to be good workers. We should be the best workers in our place of employment. We certainly should not be wasting time. We should not be stealing time from our employer. Jesus Christ said that a laborer is worthy of his hire. Maybe a lot of businessmen could claim back a lot of money. If that is the standard, and that was the standard by which they were paying their employees. But that's just by the way. This worthy walk, this practical aspect of Christian living is to be of equal weight. But the question is, equal weight with what? Equal weight with what? Well, equal weight to what Paul has been setting forth already in the opening three chapters of this epistle, namely, the doctrine. The doctrine that he preached, this great treatise that he initially presents in these initial three chapters is to be placed on one side of the scale. And that their walk is to balance, is to equal what has already been set forth before them. You see, this word, therefore, really connects the first three chapters of Ephesians, which are doctrinally heavy, no doubt about that. This word, therefore, now connects the doctrinally heavy three chapters, the initial three chapters of the book, to the last three chapters of the book, which are more practical in their teaching. You see, the Apostle Paul has been in the heavenlies. You notice that in the chapter number one, blessed be the God and the Father for Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And so the Apostle Paul over the next three chapters, he presents the blessings, the benefits that are ours through the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he's been in the heavenlies, but now he comes down to earth with a bump. And he now says, therefore, therefore, in light of what I have been teaching, you're to walk worthy of the calling wherewith You have been called. He brings us to really consider our daily living. He's spoken about, in those three chapters initially, he's spoken about the believer's wealth in Christ. But now in these next three chapters, he's going to deal with the believer's walk with Christ. He's been dealing with the believer's position. And now he comes to speak of the believer's practice. He spoke about doctrine. Now he's going to speak to us about Judaea. He spoke about blessings. Now he's going to deal with our behavior. When Paul writes here that we are to walk worthy of our calling, he's informing us that we're not to be lopsided. were not to be unbalanced in our Christian lives. All the weight, all the emphasis is not to be placed entirely, exclusively on the doctrine side of life skills to the detriment of that which is more practical in nature and vice versa. To be a well-rounded, To be a balanced Christian, there needs to be equal weight with regard to doctrine and practice. Now you'll hear people saying from time to time, far too much doctrine in that preaching today. Not enough practical application. I'm sure you've maybe heard that. And then other people, they'll say something different. They'll say, too much practical application and not enough doctrine. And such a complaint might be very well legitimate. It ought to be the goal of every minister, every pastor, to lay a foundational doctrine, or a doctrinal foundation, I mean, and then to build upon that doctrine. And that's what you'll find Paul doing in many of his epistles. You think about the great book of Romans. You think of that great book, and right through the book of Romans, he deals with the doctrine of sin, and then of redemption, and then of our standing in Christ. and the Spirit of God and what He does for us. And then He comes to speak in the chapter 12. He says, I encourage you to present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. In light of all of the doctrine, now I'm going to speak about living it out, living out what you know. living it out in your life practically from day to day. And you'll find Paul, the Apostle Paul, doing that. He is, at times, as heavy in doctrine, no doubt about it. Peter would write that some of the things that Paul wrote about were heavy and hard to understand. And yet he comes to a very practical aspect in his preaching. He lays the foundation, the doctrine, And then he applies the doctrine to daily living. And I must hold up my hands and admit to you as a congregation that I often feel in this particular manner, and I fear that you suffer as a congregation for my failure. Too little doctrine and too much application at times. And then at other times, too much doctrine and not enough practical application. I'm sure some of you ladies, some of you men, of course you do, you go out shopping. Whenever you go out shopping, you have your bags that you have to take now to the shopping, and those bags are filled. What do you do with those bags when you've filled them? Do you hold them all in one hand? Of course not, because you know that if you hold all the bags in one hand, that your walk is going to be affected. You're not going to walk straight, you're going to walk lopsided. And so what do you do? You calibrate yourself, you spread out the load, I'm nearly saying that you're nearly like a trailer, but sometimes whenever you're met, some of you are, so many bags in the hand, what you do is you hold equal weight on both hands and you become an individual that is now balanced. You're not going to fall. You're not going to stumble. And so it is in Christian living, all doctrine, but not enough practice. Or all practice and not enough doctrine, you're going to be an ill-balanced, an unbalanced believer. There's always the balance that needs to be found. Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, who was a deep theologian, this is what Dr. Lloyd-Jones says. He says, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how packed your head is with knowledge. If you're feeling in your life you'll be a hindrance to the spreading of the gospel. If we are to walk in a worthy way, in a balanced way of equal weight, then we must not stop at the doctrine, but rather doctrine must work itself out in the life. The doctrine that we believe should regulate how we behave. Let me repeat that. The doctrine that we believe ought to regulate how we behave. And so that's what it means to walk worthily. But in the second instance, I want you to note the marks of walking worthily. The marks of walking worthily. Now, I've already addressed at least one of these marks in last week's message, but it's worth repeating again, if only for emphasis sake, Peter didn't mind writing again to the believers, repeating something, neither did Paul. And so there is a repetition of times, it's good for emphasis sake. And so having spoke about how to walk worthily, Paul doesn't leave the believers in Ephesus to decide for themselves what it means to walk worthily. As it were, well, I'm going to tell you what to do, and now it's really up to you to decide what a worthy walk looks like. You know, brethren and sisters, we're all to walk the same way. There needs to be a continuity in the body of Jesus Christ. The problem is that people just want to go their own way. They don't want to align themselves with what the Bible teaches. And so they're not walking in a worthy way. So what does it mean to walk in a worthy way? I could throw in many a thing, but I'm not going to do that. I'm simply going to look at what we have Because Paul goes on to speak of what a worthy walk looks like. Because in verse number two he writes these words, You see in these verses, basically the verse number two, you get a sense of what a worthy walk looks like, from God's viewpoint, from God's viewpoint. And brethren and sisters, that's all that matters. That's all that matters. Don't walk in a worthy way that you think that fits in with the standards of this church or this denomination. You need to walk worthy of the Lord. And what does that look like? What does a worthy walk look like from God's vantage point, from God's viewpoint? Well, first of all, let's look at these terms. Loneliness. Really, loneliness is not a word that you would use today. A more modern term is the word humility. We thought about that last week, didn't we? Micah chapter 6 in the verse 8. What does the Lord require of thee but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God? And so this is a repetition, an Old Testament prophet, now a New Testament apostle. He's bringing together this thought because there is a harmony, there is a unity in the Scriptures. Scriptures will not contradict one another. And so the Old Testament, it tells us we're to walk humbly with God, And now the New Testament, we're finding the same. We are to walk in loneliness or in with all loneliness. Really, that word loneliness, it carries the thought of having a deep sense of one's littleness. That's how it could be translated. having a sense of one's littleness. It's really a compound word, a word made up of two parts. It means to think or to judge with humility, with loneliness. Now, the world would have us to think about our greatness, how great we are. They have their award ceremonies promoting greatness. They have their pay scale. The individuals brought up the pay scale because they're a great worker. And so the world has us to think about our greatness, but God would have us to think about our littleness. God's economy is a different economy. Well, the world would have you to think greatly of yourself. God would have you to think of your littleness. And we thought last week about two things that would help in cultivating this sense of humility, this grace of humility, this sense of loneliness within our lives. What were those two things? I trust you remember them. A revelation of God's greatness. That's the first thing. Secondly, a revelation of our own sinfulness. One preacher said, humility begins with an honest, unadorned, unretouched view of oneself. Warts and all, that's how Cromwell told the man to paint him. when it came to his self-portrait, or to his portrait. Paint me, he said, warts and all. In other words, don't remove, don't, let's use the modern term, don't Photoshop out my blemishes. Paint me as what I am. And that's what we need to see ourselves, brethren and sisters, what we are, not what we think we are, but what we truly are. The worthy walk that is befitting our calling unto God in the gospel is the one whereby we take the lowest place. He's steaming others better than ourselves. Whenever you think about it, the Christian life begins with humility. Because at the cross, we have to humble ourselves. We have to take the position of the sinner. God be merciful to me, the sinner. I tell you, that strikes against our pride. That's going against the grain to admit our failure, our inability to find ourselves or to bring ourselves to a place where we could ever be right with God. We humble ourselves in repentance. The Christian life begins with humility and it continues with humility. Because those that walk in pride, He is able to abase. God resisteth the proud, but He giveth grace to the humble. If God would only give us an insight to our own insignificance, then we would have no problem in putting away our pride. The story is told of a group of people who went to see the great composer Beethoven's home in Germany. After the tour guide had finished and showed them Beethoven's piano, he asked if any of them would like to come up and play for a few moments on the great composer's piano, playing a chord or two on that particular piano. Everyone in that crowd rushed towards the piano, except for one man in that tour group, a gray-haired gentleman with long flowing hair. The guide finally asked him, would you not like to sit down and play the piano, play a few notes on it? The man replied to the tour guide, no, because I don't feel worthy. That man was Per Rutski, the Polish composer and statesman. He was the only one in the group who was worthy to play the piano. Beethoven but he found himself to be unworthy. Too often in my pride I find myself rushing forward in God's work like those who were eager to play Beethoven's piano and all the time I ought to be like the gray-haired Paderewski who felt himself unworthy to play the maestro's instrument. A worthy walk is marked secondly by meekness, gentleness, mildness. These are other words that could be used to speak about meekness. You know that meekness is one of the fruit of the Spirit, and it was something that marked the life of the one who was anointed with the Spirit of God without measure, the Lord Jesus Christ. In actual fact, these two initial marks of a worthy walk are seen in the life of Jesus Christ. Matthew 11, verse 29, having already spoken to those on that occasion to come on to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Jesus Christ went on to say these words, take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek, and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls." We sing about the meekness of the Savior in that children's hymn, gentle Jesus, meek and mild. But what is this meekness? Well, Thomas Watson, he wrote, meekness is a grace whereby we are enabled by the Spirit of God to moderate our passion. It is the moderating of our passions to be meek, bringing, as it were, our passions under control. I wonder, is your Christian walk in this world, is it marked by this Christian grace of meekness? When someone doesn't know how to use the mini roundabout at the head of the town, wonder do you display meekness behind your own steering wheel. Some of you will have an opportunity within probably about 20 minutes to see whether you're meek or not whenever you hit that mini roundabout at the top of the town. You'll understand whether you're meek. When the teacher at the parent interview informs you of your child's misbehavior in the class or their carelessness in their work, I wonder, do you respond to that justifiable criticism in meekness? Are you meek? Are you known about the school as being a meek parent? When you hear something preached upon that convicts you. Do you receive the word? How are we to receive it? We're to receive it with meekness. Do you receive it with meekness or do you go out through the door and vent your disapproval to anyone who would care to listen to you in the church car park? When your employer draws your attention to a flaw in your working practices, do you accept their justifiable criticism with meekness? Are you a mild-spirited person, or do you flare up under provocation? Short-fused, is that you? The one who walks worthy of this calling in Christ Jesus is a person who is known for their meekness, because Christ was meek, and where to walk is Christ walked, and he was lonely. Let's think about long-suffering. We would use a more common word, it would be the word patient. John Calvin said this word longsuffering refers to the quality of mind that disposes us to everything in good part and not to be easily offended. And again, longsuffering is one of the fruit of the Spirit. I don't know. about you, but I know at least on my part, in my interaction with society at large, people just seem to be getting less patient. I don't know what it is, if it's vent up frustration, but just people just are lacking patience. It seems to me that impatience is the order of the day. You see, as believers, we are to reflect the God we serve. And the God that we serve, brethren and sisters, is a long-suffering God. And how glad I am of that. Exodus 34, 6, and the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth. Psalm 86, 15, But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion and gracious, longsuffering and plenteous in mercy and truth. To Peter 3 verse 9, the Lord is not slack concerning His promises. Some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And if God is long-suffering, then His children ought to be long-suffering. But we're not. We're impatient. We're short-fused. We're impestuous. We're rash. We're hasty. Put yourself in the company of someone who has a completely different viewpoint than you do, and you'll get to see how long-suffering you are. How thankful, as I've said, that the God I serve is a long-suffering God. How patient He was. How patient He was when He found me in my sin. How long He bore with me. Before grace triumphed in my life, sinner, I tell you how thankful you should be that God is so long suffering towards you despite your Christ rejection, and despite your neglect of God in the gospel, and the neglect of God's salvation, only for His patience. You would have been cast already into hell. The God of the Bible is a long-suffering God. Fourthly, a worthy walk is regarded with forbearance. Forbearance is another archaic word. We would simply use the words putting up with one another. That's what it is to be forbearing, to put up with one another. The Bible commentator Clark, he said the following, though the love of God or through the love of God working in our hearts, we should bear with each other's infirmities, ignorance, knowing how much others have been or are still obliged to bear with us. Tolerance and forbearance marks the walk of the one who walks worthy. of their calling in Jesus Christ. I wonder, does it mark our walk? Forbearing, long-suffering, lowly, meek. Very quickly, we need to move where we are to walk worthily, having exhorted these believers to walk worthily of the calling or the vocation with which they are called, and explain a little bit about what that walk is going to look like. Paul now uses the rest of his epistle to present to them the places where this worthy walk is to happen. In the first instance, the worthy walk is to happen within the church of Jesus Christ. Those who walk worthy of their calling are those who ought to seek the unity of Christ's church, a unity obviously based on biblical truth. I am not speaking about ecumenical unity. Before you throw me out and erect some kind of pyre out there at the front and burn me at the stake, I'm speaking about unity based on truth. And it ought to be the desire of the child of God to be those who seek for the unity of Christ's church. Verses 3 down to 6, I don't have time to read it for you. But he speaks about one Lord, one baptism, one God, Father of all, who's through all and in you all. And then later on in the chapter four, he speaks how the Christian is to walk worthily before their fellow members of Christ's church. verses 25 through to 32. You can read that part this afternoon. It's a section that really touches on issues. It deals with the issues of lying versus truthfulness. It deals with the issues of righteous anger versus sinful anger. It deals with the issue of stealing, of how we are to labor our employment. And then Paul, he wraps it all up with these words, the verses 31 and 32. And all that Paul speaks of in these verses are essential if we are to walk worthily. I wonder, are you walking worthily within the church of Jesus Christ? Do you love the brethren? Are you submissive to the governing and the disciplining of the spiritual oversight of Christ's church? Are you a member of the church? Are you an active participants in the sacraments of the church? Do you prayerfully, financially support the work of God? These are some of the marks, I believe, of a person who's walking in a worthy manner within the church of Jesus Christ. But Paul then broadens out the scope. He broadens out where the field of view, and he not only speaks about this worthy walk happening within the church, because, brethren and sisters, if that's the only place you're walking worthily, then you have sham. It's sham. It's not reality. You haven't got the real McCoy. Your profession of faith is not genuine. I must be frank with you. If your Christianity stops at the threshold of the door of this church, then you're not a Christian. Because this walk goes out into society. And Paul explains that this worthy walk is to happen in the home. the home. Because in chapter 5, the verses 22 to verse 33, Paul deals with the marital relationship between husband and wife in the home. He writes that the husband is to love his wife. Now, husband, are you doing that? If you don't love your wife, As Christ loved the church, you are not walking in a worthy way. You see, you mustn't isolate this phrase in chapter 4, verse 1, and think, well, we've talked about that now, and anything that Paul has to say has nothing to do with this worthy walk. No, everything that Paul has to say in the concluding part of this book deals with how we are to walk worthily, because it goes into the home, and it goes into the marriage. And the husband is to love his wife, and the wife is to be submissive to her husband. And not to be submissive to the husband is not to walk worthily, is not to walk worthily of this high calling. Christ Jesus. And then in chapter number six, he moves from the marital relationship and he then deals with the parental relationship between child and parent within the home. The child is to obey their parents in the Lord. And if you're not obeying your parent, you're not walking worthily. You're not walking worthily. If you're a Christian and you're walking in a manner in which you are forever at loggerheads with your parents, you are not walking worthily. And then, Father, you're not to provoke your children to wrath. You're not to be unreasonable in your commands. And you're not to be so severe in your discipline that you provoke your children to wrath, because if you do so, you're not walking worthily of the Lord. And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath. And fathers, listen to this, but bring your children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And if you have no desire as a father to bring your children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, you are not walking worthily of the Lord. And then he goes further, the church, the home, the workplace. Because in Ephesians 6 verses 5 through to 9, Paul addresses those who are employees, and he instructs them to be obedient unto them that are your masters. And then he turns their attention to those who are employers, and he gives them counsel as to how they are to conduct themselves as master. And really, brethren and sisters, the thought that you need to take away is this, that God expects me to walk worthily regardless of where I am. He expects me to walk worthily of Him, of my calling. Whether it's in church, whether it's at home, whether it's in the place of employment, He expects me to walk in a manner that is befitting the gospel. A worthy walk does not stop at the doors of the church. It takes place wherever we go. Wherever we are in the world, whatever station we occupy, we are to walk worthy of the Lord. One brief concluding thought because we're coming back to it. How are we to walk worthily? You say, preacher, you have set the bar very high. Well, can I say to you, brethren and sisters, that bar has not been set by me. It is a bar that I need to attain to, that I need to reach. This is God's bar. This is God's standard. And you say, preacher, the bar's very high. You're expecting us to go out and live this way. No, I'm not expecting you. Your God is expecting you. How am I going to do that? But though the bar is extremely high, thank God, God provides the child of God with assistance to help them not only reach the bar, but actually get over the bar. And what is that help? What is that assistance? Look there at Ephesians 5, verse 18. And this is my final thought. Be not drunk with wine. We're in His access. be filled with the Spirit. That's the only way that you'll ever walk worthily of the Lord, by being filled with the Spirit of God. Any other way, you'll feel. But this way, thank God, when the Christian is filled dearly with his Spirit, then we are able to walk worthily of the calling or the vocation wherewith we have been called. Maybe you've been struggling to walk in a worthy manner. And you find yourself in defeat after hearing all that you've heard. I don't want that to be the case. I want to encourage you to seek the infilling of God's Spirit and then walk in the Spirit and you'll find that your ways will please the Lord and that you'll walk in a worthy manner. As I said, we're coming back to this thought. Because the Bible says that we are to walk in the Spirit. What does that mean? What does that mean? Well, we'll be thinking about it, but this is the way that we'll be able to walk worthily. What do I do? Then, before you go out into the world, before you meet your children in the morning, before you go out to your school, ask God to fill you with His Spirit. and ask Him to help you to walk in a manner that is balanced, that what you know is what you do, and that you walk in a way that is fitting of the God you love and serve. May God help us to walk in a worthy way, worthy of Him who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Our loving and gracious Father in heaven, we thank thee for thy word. We rejoice, O God, that thou dost tell us how to live. Because we believe, O God, that having created man, thou dost know the best for man. And thou dost know how we are to walk in this world. O to walk worthily of thee. in a worthy manner, not in an unworthy manner. And Lord, if our walk has been like that, how thankful we are that the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin. We thank thee that thou dost come. Lord, as the great shepherd, you bring us back into the way. You bring us out of bypass meadows, that we're able to walk again with God. Bless our people. Every saint of God, may they walk with thee. May they walk in this way. May I walk in this way. Among this people and in this community, may it not be said about us that they walk in a way that is not befitting a Christian. Oh, help us, we pray. May we live out the gospel. May we live out the truth of thy word. And so now, prayer, impart us with the blessing of the triune Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And bring us again this evening to hear the gospel. We pray these our prayers in and through Jesus' precious name. Amen.