Walk Worthy of The Calling

God has blessed us with many blessings. Jesus Christ's own life and sacrifice for us is a blessing. The ministry that we have is a blessing, but also God's only Spirit that God has made available to all of us as a helper is a great blessing, because through God's only Spirit we are helped to change from the old man to the new man, or from the old woman to the new woman, from the old person to the new person. God's only Spirit, as we read in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 14, is a guarantee, a guarantee or a down payment of our inheritance.

In other words, when you and I reach a point that we have repented, we believe in Christ, we trust in God, and belief, by the way, is not just in the sense that the world understands or thinks just believing, but belief means you do what God tells us to do, because if you believe somebody, you're going to do what they tell you to do.

So God's only Spirit, which is given to us upon baptism, which basically is when you and I make the commitment that we're going to live God's way, and we're going to stick to that. God's Spirit is a guarantee, as it says here in verse 14, of our inheritance. It's a guarantee that from God's side, He's guaranteeing to us that we will be in the kingdom, because that's what it says here. Until the redemption, here it was until our bodies, which are the purchased possession, that when our bodies are changed to Spirit being, then we'll become indeed fully children of God in the kingdom of God.

So it's a guarantee provided, obviously, you and I don't walk away. The ball is in our court. And so, as we are approaching Pentecost, which is when God's only Spirit was made available to God's people, to the church, and ultimately, after Christ's coming return, will be available to all mankind. Today, it's only available to a few, to those that God calls today, and those that respond to that calling.

But we are supposed to, and I say supposed to because that's what we should be doing. We're supposed to be walking in a way that is worthy of this great calling. Because our great calling is to be kings and priests in the kingdom of God, is to be ruling with Christ forever. That's a great calling.

Our great calling is to be, let's put it this way, which might make more sense to you and I. Our great calling today is to be the ruling, governing cabinet of Jesus Christ when He comes to rule on earth. You know, as you look today, in the society today, you've got a president and he's got a cabinet.

Yes, there's a Congress and all the other things, but there is a cabinet. You and I are being called to be part of that cabinet, that special group of people that will be ruling with Christ. Okay, it's just an analogy, but it's just to help you understand it is a very high calling. And so we are not to walk according to the ways of this world. If you look in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 1 and 2, we see, and God has made us alive. In other words, He's given us this hope of life as who we're dead. We were basically living a life towards death in our trespasses and sins.

And then it says, in which you once walked according to the course of this world. We walked. A key word that I want to emphasize today is walking. We walked that way in the past, according to the way the world is, according to the prince of the power of the air, which is Satan. That's how we were walking. Now, Christ has opened up our understanding. We trust Him and we believe Him. We're going to be obeying Him.

We made that commitment, that baptism. And now, we are to walk in a different way. Look at verse 10. In verse 10 of chapter 2, still Ephesians, chapter 2 verse 10. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus. So God is working with us, making us people to serve Him in His kingdom, preparing us, training us for good works. It was to serve Him in the millennium and eternally thereafter. But also, we are being trained to serve today. For good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Again, we are to walk that way. Another way of saying walk is live.

We are to live that way, God's way. A little bit later, in chapter 4 of Ephesians, in verse 1, Paul is saying to the brethren in Ephesians, is saying, therefore the prisoner, I, therefore the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you. I plead with you, please, to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. And so we're not to walk, to walk the ways of the world. We are to walk the way God is teaching us, as we saw in Ephesians 2, verse 10.

And now Paul is saying, I plead with you to walk worthy of the calling. Now, you and I have an enormous calling. It is a calling to glory, to serve at the highest echelons under Christ, obviously under the Father, to serve humanity. And you and I are being trained for the world tomorrow and beyond. And you and I today are to walk worthy of that calling. You think of scriptures like Luke 21, where it says, you know, watch and pray that you may be counted worthy to escape and to stand before the Son of Man. Are we walking worthy of this calling?

And the next verse is very important because it says, Walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love. We are to walk with all lowliness, in other words, all humility. We are to walk with all humility, with all lowliness and gentleness, which could also be translated as meekness, with long suffering, which means persevering under trials and sticking to it. And bearing one another in love, because none of us is perfect. And we are to bear with one another, but knowing that we, one another, are trying. And we bear with one another in Godly love. And so, brethren, today I want to talk a little bit more about how to walk worthy of this calling to ultimately achieve unity of the Spirit. Because we read this end goal in verse 3, still of chapter 4, where it says, Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. In other words, we are striving to have unity today, and the ultimate goal is to always be one.

The goal is to always be one. If you remember, Christ's, let's call it, lost will in testament. Let's just call it that. His lost will at His last prayer in front of the disciples in John 17. And you may want to keep a tab on Ephesians, because we're going to come back to Ephesians a few times. But in John 17, starting in verse 20, John 17, as you know, was after the changing of the cymbals and the foot washing, and after He gave the disciples some encouragement instructions about God's Holy Spirit, and how we need to use God's Holy Spirit, as He concluded that in John 17, He prayed and asked that God would give Him the glory that He had before. And then towards the end of that prayer in verse 20, He said, I'm not praying just for these men, there are Yah, these disciples, He says, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word. In other words, He was praying for you and I, that I believed the word of the apostles, because we have it here in the Bible. And so He says He's praying, and His prayer, or as I stated, that His will, His desire, and in a sense, it's His lost will and statement, quote unquote, of a man just before he died, is saying that they, you and I, may be one, that there would be unity between us.

As Mr. Eliot mentioned recently in his sermon, that we are going towards oneness. We've got to work on this. It is very, very critical. And as we approach Pentecost, and as the days are evil ahead of us, we need to really focus on being one, because the enemy wants to destroy you and I. And so He says, that they may be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you.

That they may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. The end result is that we believe that Christ was sent by the Father to be King of kings and Lord of lords, to bring, to redeem us, to then, later, after His resurrection, to give us God's only Spirit to help us, so that you and I can be in resurrection as the first fruits. That's the goal. And the glory which you gave me, I've given them, that they may be one just as we are one. Does not mean that the Father and the Son are just one person, because we are to be one with them.

And you and I are not just going to be one person, but it's unity. It's oneness. Verse 23, I and I knew you and me, that they may be made perfect in one. That is the ultimate end goal. There is the ultimate end goal. And as we turn back to Ephesians in chapter 1 verse 5, Ephesians chapter 1 verse 5, you know, this is why God has predetermined this plan for us to be His sons through the Begettle of God's only Spirit.

And this is according to God's good pleasure of His will. That is God's will. That is His great pleasure for you and I to be in the kingdom and to be His children and to be one. And so, brethren, as we walk in this way, we are to encourage and build one another up. We are to edify. And we have been blessed, as we read in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11, with ministers and servants, so that we may be equipped, as it says in verse 12, or Ephesians chapter 4, that we may be equipped for the work of serving.

It says the work of the ministry, but the Greek word is the Akoneia, which means of serving, for the building up or edifying of the body of Christ, which is the Church of God. And so, we are all to be together, to be one, with what purpose again? With what end result? The end result is in verse 13, still of Ephesians chapter 4, till we all come to the unity. To we all become one, the unity of two things, the unity of the faith and the unity of the knowledge of the Son of God.

You see, that we are one in what we believe, and we are one in understanding who the Son of God is, who Christ is, and that we therefore learn what it is, so that you and I can emulate Him. Which in the end means we're emulating God, because He is the image of the Father. In other words, He is the perfect example of how God would react and do.

And that's what it says, so that we ultimately become perfect, to a perfect man, perfect in unity, a perfect man, to the standard, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Brethren, there is not a small task. That is an amazing task. And so, that is the goal. That is the goal. How are we doing? Because if we come to that unity, and if we come to that understanding what Christ is, and we are striving to be like Him, we are not going to be tossed around by false doctrine. And that's what it says here in verse 14.

We're not going to be tossed around by every wind of teaching. We're going to remain solid in the truth, because we're anchored in oneness of faith, and we're anchored in understanding who Christ is. In other words, the character of Christ, and we're striving to be like Him, and therefore we're not going to be pushed around by ideas, as it says, of men. Trickery. Trickery. Some men, we've seen it in the past, have acted as part of us, but for whatever reason, maybe to be in power or to be in charge, they played little tricks, very subtly initially, that's what it says, in the cunning craftiness, cunning craftiness, of deceitful plotting.

But a little bit here, a little bit there, a little bit there, next thing you, in a different planet. And that is what Satan wants to create division. You and I have to be united, brethren. We have to be one. One in the faith, and one in understanding who Christ is. So we're not tossed around by these ideas, but instead of being that, we are truthful. We speak the truth. We are truthful in Godly love. You see, if we are coming to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, we're not going to be tossed around by these ideas and winds of doctrine, but we are going to stick to the truth.

The word speaking the truth is actually one word in Greek. It's just one word, and then one word is alethouo, which means professing the truth or being truthful. And so it's not just speaking, but it's just being truthful, just being the truth, the way we act, the way we live.

But when we are truthful the way we live, we've got to do it in love, because you and I can be truth, but you can also be brash or unkind in how you bring it across.

And so that's something that I have to work on, you have to work on, we have to work on, being truth, but in love, speaking the truth, but in love. And so getting back to the point here is Paul is saying to the Ephesians, we've got to aim to have the unity of the faith, understanding who Christ is, so that we don't bust around by ideas, but we are solid in the truth, but in love. And that way we grow up, as it says in verse 15, in all things unto Him who is the head, Christ. That way we grow up to being like Christ. Now, we must not forget, we must not forget the context that he is saying this, because the context that he's saying is that we need to walk, not like the way of the world, but we need to walk worthy of this calling, as we read in verse 1 of chapter 4. With all meekness, humility, and patience, that means perseverance, long suffering, and bearing one another in love, so that we achieve that unity and that peace. In a sense, it means harmony. When we have peace, we are harmonious, like a beautiful choir singing harmoniously. It's got that feeling of peace, of harmony. But the point is, it's got to be based in humility and meekness, long suffering, and for bearing one another. And that requires a change of you and I. You and I need to change, to walk worthy of this calling. With all humility and meekness and long suffering and for bearing one another, we have to change. That's why then, it says in verses 22 through 24, we've got to put off the old man, and we've got to put on the new man. But in the middle of that, sandwiched in the middle, is that we've got to change our minds, our thinking. Because it says we need to be renewed in the spirit of our minds.

And that's what God's early spirit is. That's what Christ is giving us, symbolized by the day of Pentecost, which is what we received upon baptism, upon the laying on of hands.

We've got to renew our minds. We've got to use God's early spirit. We've got to therefore put that old man and describe different things about what we need to put off in verse 22, according to deceitful lusts. And verse 24, we've got to put on the new man.

As it says, according to God, to be like God, to imitate God. In other words, to come to the full stature of Jesus Christ, because He is in the image of God.

But the pirmicolia, the center part of this, the key driving element, is God's early spirit. You and I need God's early spirit. And you and I need, as we approach Pentecost, and I believe this fast is just such a wonderful timing, for us to ask God to show our minds how we need to use His spirit to renew ourselves, so that you and I can become better servants of God, to change from the old man to the new man. Paul then proceeds with seven examples of moving from the old man to the new man. In verse 25, he says, the old man is lying, the new man is speaking the truth, with his neighbor. By the way, in love. So that's one example. Another example is in verse 26, Be angry, which is the new man, but without sinning. You know what's being disappointing, being disenchanted with things that are happening around us? But don't allow it to become wrathful, a wrath, an extreme hatred. Yes, you and I are disappointed and saddened to see certain things happening, but we must not sin, but we must not allow it to get to that degree of wrath, which is that old man. We need to change in our minds. In verse 28, he gives a third example of going from the old man to the new one. And the old man is done steal, but works so you can give.

We work so we are able to give. It's a way of giving rather than just a way of getting. In verse 29, he gives another example of going from the old man to the new man. Be careful of those words that don't destroy people. They don't hurt people. Words that are negative. And so work on that, that you don't have words that are destructive. But work on words that are constructive, that bold, so that edify.

So that's what we've got to be working on, words that edify. A third example is, use God's early spirit. In other words, the old man is, we have God's early spirit, but we might just feel well in this situation. I might just...it's okay, I'll just do that, or I'll think that. Don't sudden God's mind, God's power that is given you through his spirit. Don't grieve God's early spirit. Change from that old man to a new man, which is, use this wonderful heavenly gift, which is God's early spirit. And in verse 31, still in chapter 4, says, In other words, little bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, which is more like loud, quarreling, evil speaking, being hard with people, being hard with people. Put that away. That's the old man. But the new man is, be kind to one another. Verse 32, Be tender-hearted, forgiving one another.

Can we do that? Can we do that? But I mentioned there's seven points, because the seventh is actually in the next chapter, verse 1. And the seventh is, to walk worthy of this way, we need to imitate God to achieve oneness, and not imitate peers or those in the world that we deal with. And so, yeah, it's just some examples that Paul is saying. We need to walk a new way. We need to walk God's way. Not the way of the world, not the way of Satan.

We need to build unity. We have received, we have God's ministry to help us. We need to build that unity of faith and of who Christ is, so that we don't pass around by different ideas, but that we speak the truth in love.

And that means we got to change from the old man to the new man. That's not easy. And he gave some examples. But now he moves into the point of being imitators of God.

And he describes being imitators of God by walking in three specific ways. The first one is walking in love, from verse 2 to verse 7. The second one is walking as children of light, in verse 8 through verse 14. And the third one is to walk in wisdom, in verses 15 through 20.

You see, brethren, we need to imitate God. And the first way to imitate God as we change from the old to the new, is that we ought to walk in love.

Now, this is very important to understand what walking in love is, because this wall is a wrong, weird, corrupt idea of love.

And then he says here in chapter 5, verse 1, As Christ also has loved us.

We are to walk in love as Christ loves us. How did Christ love us?

Well, we know, for instance, just after the foot washing, he said, I'm giving you a new commandment, which is, love others as I have loved you. Which basically raised the bar from love others as you love yourself, to love others as Christ has loved us. So how does he love us?

He loved us by giving his life and sacrificing for us. That's what we read there. He's given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice. Note there is two things. It's an offering and a sacrifice. An offering is a gift. He gave his life for us. But a sacrifice means he suffered and he went through pain and he died for us. He gave his blood for us. A sacrifice.

And that required humility.

To be in the form of God, to be like God, and it was not an insult to be like God as you read in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 6.

He was not doing any identity theft or robbery of saying that he was equal with God.

But he emptied himself of that power and glory and became flesh. And even further, he humbled himself as you continue reading in Philippians chapter 2 verse 7 and 8. He humbled himself even further to die for you and I in the cross, which is probably one of the most painful forms of death. And he didn't deserve it. And he didn't because he loves us. He didn't because of love, of outgoing concern for you and I. That is not the filthy, dirty love of this world. The love of this world, which is described in verse 3 of Ephesians chapter 5, it's all related to fornication and uncleanliness or even covetousness. In other words, sexual immorality or any physical or moral impurity or any greediness, be it for money or avarice or any such desires. That's got nothing to do with godly love. True godly love is, as it says, an offering and a sacrifice, as we read in verse 2.

And again, remember, that's a matter of the heart. And out of the abundance of the heart, mouth speaks, right? And so they are, if your heart is not right, they are sins of the tongue that go together with it, which are described in verse 4, such as filthiness, which is obscene speech, degrading speech, or foolish talking, or coarse jesting, dirty, suggestive jokes or human that are degrading.

That comes out of the mind, out of the heart, out of the wicked heart. And those who do those things will not inherit the kingdom of God, as we read in verse 5. Those will not have any inerrantance in the kingdom of God, which is the kingdom of Christ and God, which is their kingdom. And so, if we have any of that, then we need to change from the old man to the new man. We must repent. We must not be partakers of such actions as we read in verse 7. So, to imitate God, we've got to imitate first in love. Secondly, we need to imitate by walking in light. It says here, as children of God, as children of light. It says here, in verse 8, You were once darkness, but now you are light in the world. Walk as children of light. In other words, we're going to live as people that have godly values, truth.

That word is truth, and that word gives us light.

You see, we've got to walk in a new way of life. As we read in verse 9, it says, For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. We've got to walk according to God's Holy Spirit. We've got to use God's Holy Spirit to change our minds, to change our thinking, which is a new way of life.

You know Galatians 5, 22 and 23, right? That it says we've got to have love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That is the fruit of God's Holy Spirit.

And that is what is acceptable to God. As you read in verse 10, we've got to find out what is acceptable to the Lord. Oh, I've come across people say, oh well, all we need to do is keep the Ten Commandments.

No, it's more than that. It's more than that. In 1 John 3 verse 22 says that we've got to do His commandments and what's pleasing in His sight. And what's pleasing in His sight. It's more than the commandments. And the commandments are more than the Ten. Sure, the Ten is, let's call it the basic, the Constitution, but it's more than that. We've got to prove what is acceptable to God, which goes beyond just the Ten Commandments. Oh, just because you keep the Sabbath does not guarantee that you will be in God's Kingdom.

You see, it's more. It's more than that. We've got to prove what is acceptable to God.

Verse 11, we have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.

Unfruitful works of darkness. You see, when you and I follow God's Holy Spirit, we'll produce fruit.

Galatians 5, 22 and 23, it's the fruit. But if you look at Galatians 5, 19, 20 and 21, it's not fruit. It's the works of the flesh. It's not fruit.

You see, that's why it says we have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.

Because the works of the flesh are not fruit. They're just works of evil, of darkness. But we are to expose them. We are to expose them. That does not mean we are to condemn people, but we are to shine the light on those works of darkness. And so, it gets to the point, brethren, that some of those works of darkness are so bad, are so filthy, that we should not even speak of them. That's what it says in verse 12. For it is shameful even to speak of those things, which are done by them in secret.

Brethren, if you watch TV and a lot of the programs today, even in the so-called news, they say words which are blasphemy, which are dirty, which we shouldn't even speak. But they do it openly today.

You see, God's Word clearly shows that this is wrong. God's Word shows in verse 13, but all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, which is God's Word, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore, verse 14, if you and I have some of these old things of the old man, repent.

And if you are asleep, or wake up, Isaiah 58 says, cry aloud! Oh yeah, people say, cry aloud! But you know, Isaiah 58 says, cry aloud to your people, to the church!

We've got to wake up in the church. That's what we've got to become. And then the third way of walking is walking with wisdom, from verses 15 through 20. See that you walk circumspectly. That's with wisdom. Not as fools, but wise.

Because the days are evil. And don't waste time. Don't waste time. How much time have you and I wasted in flicking through social media?

And you look back and it says, man, half an hour has gone by. I could have done something a lot better with my time. I'm not saying don't use social media, but be circumspect and redeem the time. Use it wisely. We need to be alert and intentional. Don't waste time. Use it properly.

Verse 17, therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. We need to understand what God wants us to do. And so, as we are being wise, we need to understand that you and I need to use this time to be closer to God and to be filled with God's Holy Spirit. Not partying and drinking, over-drinking wine, it says, do not be drunk. It does not say you cannot drink, but it says don't misuse it or abuse it.

Be balanced.

Because then there is dissipation. In other words, there is waste. Waste of time, waste of resources, waste of money. But be filled with God's Holy Spirit. Use your time to be filled with God's Holy Spirit to do maybe praying and meditating about what you've learned. If you've got free time, why not just read a little bit more on the Bible? Are you following carefully, reading, trying to strive to read a little bit of the Bible every day?

You see, we need to maintain a positive outlook. That's what it says in verse 19. Speaking to another in Psalms and hymns, have a positive outlook so that inside your heart there's joy, there's happiness, because that's part of the fruit of God's Holy Spirit. And always being grateful for everything as we read in verse 20. Being thankful. In other words, let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer people, because you are being careful and using your time properly. And so, as we've seen, we're going to move from the old man to the new man, and Paul's given some examples, but he's focused in a few extra examples about imitating God by walking in truth, in the light. A part of walking in love, in the truth, in light, and walking wisely.

And now in verse 21, he brings it back to the point that we gotta do it. We gotta walk worthy of this calling with all humility and mikmis. And that's why he says in verse 21, therefore submitting to one another in the fear of God.

And then he goes on with more examples of how to be practical about this in your own personal life. And what I'm gonna ask you to do is to do a little homework, because the next examples are starting in verse 22 through chapter 6 verse 9, or how you can put this to practice in your own life, starting in your home, in your own family, with your children, and in your job. In other words, how do we imitate God? And the first is with love. And understand that love is much more than just submission. It's sacrificial offering and giving of your life. And so when people say, oh well, to the man, you don't have to submit. That is wrong. Because Christ gave his life and humbled himself.

The true love of God is more than just submission and as leaders, as man. And so we have some very beautiful practical examples how to put these principles of walking worthy of your calling, always remembering to submit to one another in the fear of God with humility, meekness, long suffering, and bearing one another in love, so that we achieve oneness the unity of the Spirit. And so, please brethren, study this carefully, meditate on this, take this as some homework for you to do between now and Pentecost. Because walking worthy of your calling with all humility and meekness and patience and bearing one another to achieve unity starts at home.