today to the book of Psalms. It is the first Psalm, Psalm number one today. We'll come to the chapter at the conclusion of the message. That sounds a little bit strange, but I trust you'll understand as we make our way through the Word today. I want to begin a new topic, a new subject matter. I'm not going to say how long it's going to take us to get through it. You know me by now, it takes quite a long time. We're beginning a new series of messages. I trust that they'll be beneficial to you, helpful if you're a Christian, and even if you're not a Christian, that God will speak to your heart. through the Word of God. Psalm number one, let's read this Psalm together. The Bible says, the Word of God says, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Amen, and we conclude. obviously at the end of the chapter. Let's unite in prayer together as we do so. Let me just encourage the brethren just to turn down the microphone just a little bit. I appreciate that. Thank you. And let's just unite now in prayer together. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we come now into thy again presence. And we're thankful for now the book, the word, opened before us. We thank thee for the holy scriptures, the scriptures that are able to make us wise onto salvation through faith that is in Christ Jesus. We pray that thou wilt minister to our souls as we now launch out into a new series of messages. We pray for the help of God. We pray that these words and what we'll say today will benefit and profit those who sit under the word. Mix the word with faith, therefore we pray. Oh, grant, Lord, the gift of faith to all of our hearts and grant our hearts and our souls to benefit from being under the word of God today. Come and answer prayer. Take control and possession of this preacher, I pray, filling me now with thy spirit. I offer prayer now in and through. Today I want to begin with a riddle. Now I want you to think about the riddle as we begin this series of messages. The riddle goes something like this. Although it takes practice initially, when we get the hang of it we do it without even thinking about it only to find that whenever we get older that it becomes much more difficult to do again. I wonder what I'm speaking about. I wonder can you think what the answer to the riddle is. Well the activity that I refer to is walking. Think about it. Whenever you begin initially as a little toddler to begin to walk how often those first initial steps of a toddler are celebrated by the parent only for the little toddler to collapse into a heap. gets up again and tries until they're able to walk unaided. And as the years progress, it gets to the stage in life that we don't even think, we don't even think how to walk. We don't even think about walking. We just do it. It comes so naturally to us. However, whenever old age creeps up upon us, we then need some walking aid to try and help us to even take the shortest of strolls, whether that's to a chair, to a table, or even to a bed. Walking is something that the majority of us can do, unless we find ourselves confined to a wheelchair or to a bed of sickness. You know, the Christian life is described in many ways. It is described as growth. There is a growth in the Christian life. It's described as a race. We read that in the book of Hebrews. The Christian life is like a race. and we are to run the race that is set before us. But before we can ever run, we must first walk. What's that saying? You must walk before you run. And maybe you're a new Christian and you're setting out on the Christian life, and you've recently trusted in Jesus Christ. I want you to remember something. I want you to remember that God doesn't expect you to run until you're first able to walk. God doesn't expect you to be running the Christian race until you first get the hang of walking as a Christian. Many times in Scripture we have this thought of walk, a walk with God and a walk before God. But what does it mean? What does it mean when we speak about walking with God? Well, there's a man in 1626, quite a long time ago, a man by the name of Robert Bolton. He gave some general directions for a comfortable walking with God. And this is what Robert Bolton said. He said, by walking with God, I mean a sincere endeavor punctuality and precisely to manage conduct and to dispose all our affairs thoughts words and deeds all our behaviors courses courage and whole conversation in reverence and fear, with humility and singleness of heart, as in the sight of an invisible God, under the perpetual presence of his all-seeing, glorious, pure eye, and by a comfortable consequence to enjoy by the assistance and exercise of faith an unutterable sweet communion and humble familiarity with his holy majesty. In a word, he said, walking with God is to live in heaven upon earth. It is simply to live for God. Walking with God is another way of speaking about living for God. Whenever we enter the Scriptures very early on, we find men walking with God. You need to remember that these men were living in very sinful days. The pristine innocence of the Garden of Eden had now gone because of Adam and Eve's transgression. They're breaking the violation of God's law. They were put out of the garden and as a result society collapsed in upon itself. These are men, yet in the midst of ungodliness, were able to walk with God. And that's an encouragement to us whenever we come to read their history, whenever we come to read their accounts, whenever we come to read their biographies, we come to understand that if they were able to walk with God in a corrupting, sinful, degenerate generation, that we as believers can also walk with God. It isn't something that God tells us to do that we are unable to do because God gives us counsel and He gives us examples of men who walk with God. The most familiar one is Enoch. Twice in Genesis chapter 5 we read that Enoch walked with God. Let me read the verses to you. Genesis 5, 22 and 24. And Enoch walked with God. after he beget Methuselah 300 years. Think of that there, a walk with God. He didn't walk with God for three months, for three years, for 30 years. Here's a man who walked with God for 300 years. A consistent, faithful walk with God. It goes on to say, but he begets sons and daughters. And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. Not only did Enoch walk with God, but Noah walked with God. You think of Noah and the generation in which he lived. Brethren and sisters, we haven't reached the state of sin in our land as yet, because we are reminded by the Savior that before Christ returns, that as it was in the days of Noah, So shall the coming of Christ be. And so you think this generation is bad, you take yourself back to the beginning of time, to a few generations after Adam and Eve lived in this world and you'll understand how corrupt and how sinful and how degenerate that society must have been. But we read in Genesis 6 verse 9 that these are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man, he was a justified man. He had been declared righteous before God. He had faith in Jesus Christ. That's what it speaks about, being a just man and perfect in his generations. And it goes on to say in that verse, On his dying bed, Jacob, When he came to bless his sons, Jacob testified that both his father and his grandfather had walked before God. Genesis 48 verse 15 it says, and he, speaking of Jacob, blessed Joseph and said, the God which fed me all my life long on to this day. Here was Jacob's father and grandfather, Isaac and Abraham, who walked before God and walked with God. Now as I've said, whenever you become a Christian, you begin your walk with God. Everybody begins it. This isn't something that the preacher does. This isn't something that the eldership does. This isn't something that Christian leaders do. And every other Christian, they do nothing. But rather, every believer begins a personal walk with God. You begin walking with God. And that walk, brethren and sisters, is a lifelong walk. will continue while we live on this earth and will only come to a conclusion when these feet of ours are found walking on the streets of gold and walking in the glory and before the glory of the Lamb as we're found walking after the Lamb in heaven itself. Now from time to time, it does us no harm to assess where we are in our walk with God. Where are we in our walk with God? If you're a Christian, where are you in your walk with God? Remember, everyone has begun that walk. But where are you in your walk with God? I'm not asking you about your husband's walk with God. I'm asking you about your wife's walk with God. I'm not asking you about your mother, your father, your brother, your sisters' walk with God. I'm asking, where are you in your walk with God? Periodically, we need to be confronted with such uncomfortable questions like, is my walk with God As a Christian, is it what it should be? Am I walking close to the Lord? Or have I adopted a position that is distant from God? Am I walking as far off as Peter was? Could it be said of me by others, there's a Christian and they're walking with God. Could that be said of me? Could that be said? If you have said these questions are uncomfortable for us to be faced with, but they need to be asked nonetheless. And over the next number of weeks, and I don't know how long it'll take, but I want to focus on our walk with God and point you in the direction of how God would have us to walk. I'm not here to tell you how this church would have you to walk, although this church will bring to you the Word of God. That's simply what we're here to do, to preach God's Word, to bring to your attention what God, from His Word, would have to say. And you will find, if you take a concordance, you'll find that this thought of walking with God and our walk with God, you'll find that this thought is repeatedly brought to the attention of the Bible reader. And so we want to think about how we as believers ought to be walking, how we ought to be living in this world. But before we do that, I want to look at this subject matter negatively. I'm not saying that's because I'm a pessimist and that's just my natural makeup, but I want us to look at today, at least in this service, what do you consider with me how we're not to walk? Because the Bible has things to say about that. Yes, the Bible will say much about how we are to walk, but the Bible also sends out warnings, warning signals about how we're not to walk in this world. As a Christian, if you profess Christ, and so today I want to speak to you on the subject matter, how the Christian is not to walk. How the Christian is not to walk. Now, a very basic, a very fundamental, and yet essential, yet neglected truth must first be stated when we come to speak about the Christians' walk and how they are not to walk. Can I say in the first instance that the child of God is not to walk as they once walked? They're not to walk as they once walked. I'm not speaking about how you actually physically walk. I'm speaking about your conduct in life, your living in this world. The Christian is not to walk as they once walked. You see, the Christian's walk is to be markably different from how they walked before they first trusted in Christ for salvation. Now, how did we walk? Well let's go through the scriptures together. Turn please first of all to Ephesians chapter 2. The book of Ephesians in the chapter 2 and let's read the first two verses. Ephesians chapter 2 and the verse number 1. And you hath he quickened. This is speaking about what happens in salvation. We're quickened by the Spirit of God. We're brought alive. We are born dead in our trespasses and sins, and by the Spirit of God, God brings us to life. Thank God for that. You hath he quickened, who were dead, that was their former state, who were dead in trespasses and sins. And so Paul is setting out distinction here. He's already doing it in the first verse. There is a distinction between death and life. And either today you're dead in your sin or you're alive to God. Just one of two states, you can't be half dead. You can't be half alive. You're either live or dead. And so Paul, he sets out this principle, this thought, this contrast. There are those who are quickened, made alive, and those who are dead. And then he brings us to our attention again. We're in. In time past, this is how he walks. He walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of this Obedience. Before any person is quickened by the Spirit of God and saved by the grace of God, that individual finds themselves walking according, according to Paul, according to the course of this world. What does that mean? What does it mean to walk according to the course of this world? It means that the sinner orders their behavior, they regulate their lives according to the morals, according to the standards, according to the ethics, according to the maxims, according to the customs of this sinful world, all of which are marked by unrighteousness, sinfulness and godlessness. However, whenever a person comes to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, they no longer walk in such a way. God expects them to walk differently. He doesn't expect them now to walk in such a way. He expects that the Christian finds themselves now out of step with the world. If you're a Christian, a professing Christian, and you find yourself in step with the world, there's something wrong. There's something wrong. Because whenever you're changed, you're changed completely. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things are passed away, and behold, all things become new. And whereas you used to walk in sin, you no longer want to be in sin. You no longer want to walk in the paths of unrighteousness, but rather you desire to walk the way of holiness, the way of righteousness. This all comes about by the change that occurs within a man's heart. That's why you need a radical, encounter with God. If you're not a Christian, this is what you need. It's not to reform your life. It's not to stop drinking. It's not to stop smoking. It's not to, as it were, go into some kind of self-reformation process. You need a new nature. You need a new heart. You need new desires. You need new longings. And that all comes about whenever the Spirit of God works supernaturally within that soul of yours. And then you'll want to walk with God. and you'll want to walk in righteousness and you'll want to walk in the paths of holiness it'll just come your natural desire it'll just be your natural desire now the apostle paul he speaks about the walk here in ephesians chapter 2 but turn now to Ephesians chapter 4, because he returns to speaking about this walk of these believers. Ephesians chapter 4, let's read 17 through to 19. Notice that Paul is making sure that these believers know that this isn't his advice. This isn't just Paul's advice to Christians. This isn't, as it were, throwing out his own counsel. This is what I think you should do. This is not what Paul is saying here. Notice what he says. He says, This is as if God is saying this to you. That ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk. in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart, who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to the siviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness." And so Paul is saying, you say you're a Christian, you profess faith in Jesus Christ, He makes it very clear to these Ephesian Christians that they were not to walk as they had walked before, and they were certainly not to walk like the ungodly world around them. They weren't to, as it were, conduct, regulate, govern their lives by the maxims, by the standards of the ungodly world, but rather, They were to walk now as a child of God. In other words, these believers were to be different from the believers who lived with them in the same setting. They were to be marked out as walking differently, as conducting their lives in a different way. Now, beloved, whether we want to do it or not, and there is often that internal resistance within our hearts, Whether we want to do it or not, we are not to walk or to conduct our lives, or we are, sorry, to conduct our lives in a way that is different from the ungodly world around us. Because while we're in the world, we can't get away from that, while we're in the world, we're not to be off the world. While unsaved family members and friends and neighbors, where they fetch their morals, from the world's celebrities. They live their lives according to the flawed standards of a corrupt and sinful world. The Christian is to walk high as Christ walked, as Christ walked. We are to walk in the ways of righteousness. We are to walk in the path of holiness, to walk continually, to live perpetually As we once walked or lived as an unregenerate person is to reveal one of two things. It is to reveal either that no genuine saving work of God has been done in your soul, or that you have fallen into a badly backslidden state. to be continually walking and conducting your way as the ungodly, either evidence is that you've never been converted or you are in a badly backslidden state. You cannot claim to be a Christian if you're your conduct is no different from what it was before you supposedly trusted in Christ for salvation. Whereas before we walked in paths of unrighteousness, we ought now to find ourselves walking in the paths of righteousness. If not, we then need to ask ourselves the question, did I ever begin walking with God? Did I ever begin this walk with God? Honestly, did I ever begin walking with God? Was I ever a Christian? The American evangelist D.L. Murray, he said, if I walk with the world, I cannot walk with God. And I would have to agree. He said, if I walk with the world, I cannot walk with God. And can I say, if you're a Christian today and you're desiring to walk with God, do what you're going to find. More and more, as a great falling away has started to happen, you're going to find yourself out of step with the world. Now, that's understandable. But child of God, if you're going to be, as it were, resolved to walk with God, If you're resolved to follow through and walk as closely with God as you desire to walk closely with God, you're going to find yourself not only out of step with the world, but you're going to find yourself out of step with professing Christians. And that's sad. God needs His people to walk closely with Him. And too often we find ourselves walking too closely with the world instead of walking closely with the Savior. And so the first initial basic tenet truth is that you're not to walk as you once walked. You can't walk as you once walked. If you're a Christian, you know, Your feet shouldn't take you to the places where your feet used to take you, to sin, to righteousness. Your feet should be found in the house of God. And you shouldn't be raising the idols that you pulled down in the past. The idols that you pulled down in the past, believer, sadly I've noticed that some of the idols are starting to be raised up again. raised up again. Your feet should be found in God's house in place of prayer and Bible study among the saints of God. You shouldn't be worried much about who's playing football on a Wednesday night. What other things are on, your feet should be in God's house. Pull the idol down again, brother. Pull it down, pull it down. Don't walk as you once walked, unsaved or watching on. Where's the reality of this new life and this new walk with God? Where is it? They're looking on. To walk with God. Secondly, the child of God is not to walk after the flesh. Let me read there in Romans chapter 8. You can turn with me to these passages. We'll just take them one by one. Romans chapter 8, verses 1 and 4. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. What a blessing that is. All condemnation, my sin, dealt with under the blood, blotted out. All the condemning of the devil, Nothing, no condemnation to the child of God, to them who are in Christ Jesus. Then notice these words, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Look at verse 4, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Twice we read about walking after the flesh, who walk not after the flesh. This is the Christian, this is how you're not to walk. You're not to walk after the flesh. What does that mean? Well, the flesh simply refers to our sinful nature. And to walk according to the flesh suggests that the flesh is going before. To walk after someone. Obviously, they're before you. They're taking the lead. They're going before. They're the ones that are the guide. This is the example that we're following. And to follow after the flesh suggests that the flesh is going on before as our leader, as our guide, as our example. And we are blindly following after the leading of the flesh in our lives. Walking according to the flesh means behaving as the flesh dictates to us, so that the sinful nature entirely governs the person's life. J.C. Philpott, he said about walking after the flesh, he says, to walk after the flesh is to move step by step in implicit obedience to the commands of the flesh. the lusts of the flesh, the inclinations of the flesh, the desires of the flesh, whatever sheep they assume, whatever garb they wear, whatever name they may bear. To put it simply, he said, to walk after the flesh is to be ever pursuing, desiring, and doing the things that please the flesh. Brethren and sisters, to be a Christian requires us daily to crucify the flesh. to reject the desires of the flesh, to resist the pampering of the flesh and all that appeals to the flesh, to accommodate the desires of the flesh. Paul, one of God's choices saints, servants, he struggled with the flesh. A matter he came to write about there in Romans chapter 7, in the verses 18 and 19. You can turn there, he says there, Romans chapter 7, verses 18 and 19. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will to present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. For the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. The things that I want to do, I can't. And the things that I don't want to do, that's what I do. And what's the answer? What's the answer to the question? Verse 28, how does a man then gain the victory? Verse 25, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, through Christ, thank God we can overcome the flesh. I'm sure that you can all think of Bible characters who succumbed to their fleshly appetites. Individuals who allowed the fleshly appetite to cause them to walk in a way that was not honoring to the Lord. Think about Samson, who succumbed to the flesh, falling in love with a harlot, Delilah. Think of David, whose flesh caused him to steal another man's wife. And think of Achan, the love of money. led him to steal from God after he greedily looked at Jericho's treasures. All of us, brethren and sisters, are prone at times to walk after our fleshly desires. I'm prone as much as you are. What's the remedy? Well, the remedy is always the cross. Paul, he said, Galatians 2 verse 20, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I. Christ liveth in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh. I was still in the flesh, his fleshly body, yet he said I lived by the faith. His was a life of faith, his wasn't a life of flesh. His was the life of faith by the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. The flesh must be crucified or it'll overpower us. And so every day get to the cross and say to God, God, crucify my flesh. My old flesh will succumb to temptation and sin today. but crucify it, and fill me with your spirit and with your power, and help me to live the Christian life, a life of overcoming, a life of praise. We must die daily to the appeals of the flesh, and instead of following the leading and the promptings of the flesh, we are to follow the leading and the prompting of the Spirit of God, which always will always find itself, or who always will find himself aligned with the teaching of Holy Scripture. And that's why Paul says, Do not walk after the flesh, but after the Spirit. We'll think about that. For that's how you are to walk. Aren't we glad that the inspired pen men, they don't just tell us what not to do, but they tell us what to do. What's the answer? Not to live in the flesh, not to walk after the flesh. It's to walk after the Spirit. Walk after the Spirit. Where would the Spirit have you to be tonight? I know where your flesh would have you to be. sitting at home somewhere else. But where will the Spirit have you tonight? And where will he have you on a Wednesday night? Where would the Spirit of God have you on a Wednesday night? I know where your flesh would have you, in front of a fire. Of course it would, because there's times that I, at times, have to, as it were, say, God, get me out to the prayer meeting. You say a preacher has to say that? I say a preacher has to say that. Because I'm just a man of flesh like you are. The third instance, the Christian, and more specifically the Christian minister, is not to walk in craftiness. I preach to myself here, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness. nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. A true minister is one who does not walk in craftiness." You would think that's impossible, that a man of God would walk in craftiness? Never, you would say, never would a man of God, a minister walk in craftiness, but they can. Ministers, preachers, church leaders, evangelists, can put on a performance, put on a performance that is not reflected of their true character, not reflective of their true conduct in their lives, and they have ministries that are marked by craftiness. Such are only pretenders. actors, professional performers. That's what they are. You might ask, well, what would motivate a minister to walk in craftiness? I'll tell you what would motivate them. They walk in craftiness to please their fellow man. They walk in craftiness to gain the applause of others. They walk in craftiness to make merchandise of men. Charlatans, that's what they are. Charlatans. And they need to be hounded out of pulpits, and they need to be hounded out of churches. Men who are walking in craftiness. Ministry demands integrity. Ever remember that? You think this could never happen? I give you a case example from the Savior's own band of disciples, Judas Iscariot. Judas preached. Judas conducted miracles. Judas went out in evangelistic campaigns, but Judas Iscariot went to his own place. He fooled everybody. Even within the church, he fooled them. But the Bible says he was a thief and robber. He had no part with Christ. He knew nothing of the saving work of God. And the mask had eventually slipped. And Judas was shown to be the fake for who he is. And maybe that's going to be you. Maybe you're a fake. Maybe you're an actor. Maybe you're a pretender. Maybe you're walking in craftiness. putting on a show that you're a Christian while all the time no saving work has been done in your soul. As said, ministry demands integrity. To be a man who walks in craftiness disqualifies them from taking up such an office and remaining in such an office. One preacher put it like this, integrity is a non-negotiable characteristic of a true shepherd of the flock of God. If he is going to lead biblically, he must do so without dishonesty, deception, or duplicity. His character must be consistent, his motives pure, and his conscience clear. And that's what Paul gets to when he deals here with the man of God. He's dealing with the personal character and integrity of the man of God. But why is the focus here in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 is primarily on the minister in this passage of God's Word, can it not be applied to all those who profess faith in Jesus Christ? As I've said, could there be someone here today walking in craftiness? Could there be an individual in the house of God and all you are is a spiritual pretender, an actor or performer? Ask yourself the question. Ask yourself this question. Do I bear to any degree The marks of grace. What are the marks of grace? Do you love Christ? Do you love Jesus Christ? That's a key mark of grace. Do you love him? Do you love him? Ask yourself the question, do I love the brethren? I'm not talking about the gospel hall. We'll love the brethren. We'll love the hall. But I'm speaking about the brethren, the household of faith. Do I love the Word of God? There's another mark of grace. Do I love prayer? Do I love the place where God's honor dwelleth? The house of God? Do I love the Word of God? Do I love holiness? If not, and you would still adamantly profess that you know Christ, I want to be very frank with you and say that you're walking in craftiness. Paul reminds his Corinthian saints that you can tell whether a man's ministry is genuine or not by the manner in which he walks. If he walks in craftiness, then flee from him and no longer sit under his ministry. Run from him! Run! If he deals in craftiness. Fourthly, the Word of God says that as Christians we are not to walk disorderly. We're turning to 2 Thessalonians. We have just a couple of points. These two last points will go quickly. 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 11. 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 11. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busy bodies. Paul, writing to the Thessalonian believers, he is very clear. He states here that there are those who are walking disorderly. And it kind of is no surprise to you that that word disorderly has a military connotation to it. It means out of rank. Out of line, out of order. Now I'm sure all were impressed at what happened at the Queen's funeral. I'm sure you watched those men, those men who carried the coffin. Think of those men who pulled the ropes there, the navy, and how they all walked in rank, step after step, all in order. That's what it is to walk orderly, in step, in rank, in order. But these people were out of rank. These people were out of line. These people were out of order. And the way that their disorderly walk manifested itself was in the fact that they were lazy. They didn't work. Now they could work. I'm not speaking about people who can't work. Making that clear. Physically, mentally, there are individuals, and sadly, they are unable to work. But these people were able-bodied men, these people were able-bodied individuals, and they were able to go out to work, but these people refused to work. And to refuse to work as an able-bodied individual is to deny and is to live contrary to the creation ordinance Because God put Adam to work in the garden before the fall, and also the fourth commandment. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, six days shalt thou labour. And so it's a command of God that we are to labour. But these people were lazy. And not only were they, and I'll use a term that we'll use, we use today, not only were they layabouts, But because they had so much time in their hands, they became gossipers. They meddled in other people's business. They meddled in other people's business. Notice, working not at all, verse 11, but are busybodies. That's what happens whenever a person has too much time in their hands. They become embroiled in other people's business that they have no business to be involved in. That's just the way. You see, to walk disorderly simply means to walk in a way that contradicts the commands of Holy Scripture. God tells you to do something. You willfully and knowingly, you refuse to do what God has commanded you to do. You are walking disorderly. I am walking disorderly. God says it, I refuse to do it, I am walking in a disorderly way. And so these people were walking disorderly. Now these people were walking disorderly, it manifested itself in idleness, but your disorderly walk may manifest itself in other ways. It might be manifested in your unwillingness to do the will of God. Now the will of God has been shown to you what you need to do. God has spoken to you. You know about it, but you have refused to do the will of God. You have not followed through on what God desires you to do, what God has entrusted you to do. You are walking disorderly. The company that you keep when you're away from Christian company that you associate whenever you're at church, you're disorderly, it may manifest in that way. You decide your company is with the ungodly. Maybe your disorderly walk manifests itself in fraudulent practices at work. Maybe in sinful viewing habits in the privacy of your own home. Maybe your refusal to submit to the measured discipline of a church session means that you're walking disorderly. Now the advice that God's servant gives to those who are walking in a disorderly way is very simple and blunt. Notice there in the verse 6 of chapter 3, 2 Thessalonians. Now we command you, brethren, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, here it is again, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, this isn't Paul's advice, this is in the name of Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly. And not after the tradition which he received of us. In other words, not after the teaching that he received of us. You are simply to remove yourself from their company, to withdraw yourself from their company. You are not to keep company with such people. You're to pray for them. You're to pray that God will open their understanding and bring them into a state where they begin to walk orderly. But you are not to keep company with them. Why? Because you will start to walk as they walk. Peter learned it. Whenever he was at the fire, Peter learned it. You know, brethren and sisters, whenever there's someone in the family begin to walk, and I'm talking about our physical families, whenever a member of the family begins to walk in a disorderly way, you know what dishonors the whole family? You find that, you know, their parents, and they're here today, I know you're here today, and you know the lifestyle of your children, and you're ashamed of it, but they have made the decision. They have made the decision. And they'll answer for their decisions. But it's brought terrible shame on the family. And brethren and sisters, it's no different in the family of God. Whenever there are Christians and they're living and walking in a disorderly way, it brings dishonor to the whole family. And so if you're walking disorderly, in a disorderly way, Begin walking with God today. Repent. Ask God to forgive you. And ask Him to help you to live the Christian life. Finally, we are not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly. And with this we're finished, well over time. And that's what it says there, blessed in Psalm 1 verse 1, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. All I'll simply say is this, do not walk Do not walk in a way that aligns itself with the advice of ungodly individuals. Do not live in such a way. Do not live in their counsel. So whose counsel do I live in? Whose counsel do I walk in? You walk in God's counsel, the counsel of God. And so be careful where you draw your advice from. Make sure it is not from some ungodly source. Make sure you seek counsel at the mouth of God. And what is the mouth of God? It's the Bible, the Word of God. There it is. Draw your counsel from that, brother or sister. Don't walk in the counsel, the advice of only ungodly, for their advice will always take you far from God. Time has beaten us, we're far away. And I'm not going to speak to on too many points every week. But having considered the thought negatively, as I've said, over the next few weeks, we want to consider this walk with God positively and see how we are to walk. And I've said the Bible has much to say about that. I trust that you'll come with a prepared heart and that you'll say, Lord, I want to walk with you. I want to walk with God. This is my duty. This is my requirement. What does the Lord require of thee but to do justly, to love mercy? And here's the first one. We'll take it as the first one, to walk humbly with thy God. There's a way to walk. We're to walk humbly. You study it out and may it be a rich blessing as we think about our walk with God. May it be a close walk, a walk like the master, walking in his footsteps, the Savior's footsteps, for none as humble, none as good as our God. He is the greatest and only example that we should follow in our walk with God. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Let's pray. Father, in heaven, we thank thee for thy word. We thank thee for what the word of God has to say to us about our walk. And we thank thee, Lord, that you tell us how not to walk. Just like a parent will tell a child, no, no, that's not how it's done. But we believe, Lord, that not only do we not need to know how not to walk, we need to know how to walk. Oh, help us to walk humbly. Help us to walk circumspectly. Help us to walk in love. through all of these ways in which we are to walk as Christians, we say in the words of the hymn writer, oh, for a closer walk with God, a calm and heavenly frame, a light to shine upon the road that leads me to the Lamb. Lord, lead us to the Lamb, and may we walk after the Lamb, for we pray these, our prayers, in and through Jesus, precious and worthy name. Amen and amen.