What Does the Lord Require? Part 3

I walked in the door today and greeted people. The common reception was, Hello, it's nice to see you. It's today, Part 3. And I'm glad I can say yes. Today is Part 3 in a sermon series we've been walking through, focusing on Micah, Chapter 6, and Verse 8, and seeing God's instruction there and what it is that he requires for his people.

And so you'll recall, as we've gone through the first part here, a few weeks ago, and in Part 2, two weeks ago, we went through the run-up through the Book of Micah. So I'm not necessarily going to repeat that today, but I'll just remind you of, in the way of setting the stage, leading up to the focus verse that we're continuing through, what it is that God was addressing. In fact, it was that his people were not living according to the way and the standard that he had prescribed.

Now, they were offering the sacrifices, and they were doing certain things in the hope that maybe perhaps that would make them right with God, but their actions were completely in the opposite direction. And so God said, I'm not looking for more sacrifice, bigger sacrifice, more blood as you continue, essentially, to have blood on your hands with the way you're living your life. What God wants is the people who are submissive to him, responsive, living according to his nature and that of his son, coupled with the sacrifice.

And that is what God requires. So again, in Part 1, we covered the requirement to do justly. And in the second part, we looked at what it means to love mercy, and to receive not only that mercy from God, but then to turn around as well and be those who love to extend mercy to others in response.

And so today we'll pick up the final element of this verse. Let's turn there one last time. Micah 6 and verse 8. Again, I won't read the verses and run up to this, but in Micah 6, verse 8, focusing on the topic at hand, it says, He has shown you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. And so today we're going to examine what it means in this final element to walk humbly with our God. To walk humbly with our God. The title today is, What Does the Lord Require? Part 3. And the subtitle is, Walk Humbly with Your God.

So I would say, as we begin today, probably the obvious question, and the question we will ask and answer during the message is, what does it mean to walk humbly with God? What does that even look like? What form or fashion can you and I, in this physical life, as physical beings, walk humbly with an almighty and all-powerful spiritual God? We're going to examine that today and see what the Scripture has to say.

Again, what does it mean to walk with God? The Bible uses the term, walk. It's not only used to reference putting one foot in front of the other. It uses the term, walk, referring to a way of life. It's a way of conducting ourselves. It's our actions. It's our thoughts. It's what we do as a result of our heart.

Walking is a way of life. And what we're going to find is that the way we are walking today plays a major role in our ability to walk with God. So I want to begin by looking at a couple of examples of how this word, walk, is used both in the Old Testament Hebrew and the New Testament Greek to portray, again, not just one foot in front of the other, but a way of life and an activity of the heart.

So let's begin the Old Testament, 2 Kings 8. We'll look at an example of this. 2 Kings 8. And again, I'm not going to necessarily pull the context in. That's not really my point today of this particular passage, but I want to see how the term walk is used, an expression of how one is conducting themselves.

2 Kings 8 and verse 26. And it says, Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel. And it says, And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab, for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab. And so verse 27 here uses the term, and it says that, Ahaziah walked in the way of the house of Ahab.

In other words, he conducted himself according to the same manner, according to the same evil behavior and defiance of God, according to the house of Ahab. The way Ahab walked was the way that Ahaziah walked, and it was displeasing to God. Again, walking, in terms of our actions, brought out by our motivations, is critical in terms of our ability to walk with God. Let's look at a New Testament example. It's time in Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2. The point of looking from Scripture translated from the Hebrew and from the Greek isn't necessarily a big issue in terms of the language itself, but I just want to show that walking as a way of life is consistent throughout the Scripture. Ephesians chapter 2, and what we're going to see here in this is we're going to have an overview of two contrasting options, two choices that we have in which to walk. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1, it says, And you, he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. So this is an illustration of how we once lived, how in the carnal flesh mankind walks apart from God. It is a course of action. It's a way of life. It's not just putting one foot in front of the other physically, but it's out of the motivations of the heart. Now we look at the contrasting position here later in the same passage, the same chapter, Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8. It says, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

So there's a walking according to the course of the world. There's a heart and a motivation behind that. It's the carnal nature apart from God. And then there is, well, a walking which has been created through us. It's a way of life by God through Jesus Christ. He set the example. It says, God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So again, it's a contrast. When we talk about this way of life that we live, we'll oftentimes refer to it as this Christian walk, because it's a way in which we conduct our lives spiritually one foot in front of the other, how we live, how the motivations of our heart are projected through the actions of our hands. It's a Christian walk. Now, in the New Testament, early Christians were called followers of the way. And that's ultimately what this is. This is the way of God, and we walk in it. It's the way that Christ walked. And he set the example for us. So we are, I would say by definition, more accurately followers of the way than even necessarily using the term Christian as Christianity is used in our culture today. Jesus Christ led the way. He showed the way, and we walk in it. Now, the Bible also gives examples of those individuals who did walk with God, where it's actually stated this person walked with God. So I want to look at a couple of those briefly in order to begin to grasp here the understanding of walking with God. Let's go to Genesis chapter 5. See the example of the first person, the Bible lists, having walked with God.

Genesis chapter 5, and picking it up in verse 21, here it says, Enoch lived 65 years and begot Methuselah. And after he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had sons and daughters. And so it would seem that Enoch was 65 years old when he began walking with God, and he walked with God the rest of his life. Verse 23, it says, So all the days of Enoch were 365 years, and Enoch walked with God, and he was not for God took him. I'll give you a reference scripture of Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 5. It speaks of Enoch in terms of being a man of faith, and it says, He had this testimony that He pleased God. And so Enoch lived at a unique time in human history. This was in the run-up to the flood. This is the pre-flood world, this world that's largely in opposition to God. Here we have the reference of, at least at this time point, would be a single man who walked with God in this way and in this relationship. So it was this dark backdrop of this world apart from God, and Enoch is the light of this one man walking with God.

To walk with God as the scripture uses the term is is representative of having a relationship with Him. And it's not just a one-time event, it's an ongoing relationship. And it's a relationship that is on an intimate level. In addition to that, walking with God also means that it's not only about the relationship, it's about living the way of life necessary in order to bring us to that relationship with God. It's a certain walk that brings us in closeness with God. It's not like we can just decide one day to walk up and say, hey God, how's it going? Let's take a stroll. The point is it is a relationship, but it is founded on something. And what it is that is founded on is also considered part of the walk. Noah is described as walking with God as well. Genesis chapter 6 and verse 8.

Genesis 6 and verse 8 says, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And this is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. So Noah was a just individual, blameless in that way, in the eyes of God. And in that state of being it says that he walked with God. Rather than in order to walk with God, a person needs to be in agreement with God, living according to his standards, according to the principles that he's laid forth. Doing so leads to being found right in God's eyes, just as Enoch was, just as Noah was, and it allows them to enter into that relationship than where they walk with God. These two men lived God's ways. They walked according to his standards. They were pleasing before him. Now Amos chapter 3 and verse 3, we won't turn there, but it poses a question. It asks, can two walk together unless they are agreed? You know, can they get out and be heading in the same direction doing the same thing, the same footfalls, unless they are agreed? And the resounding answer from Scripture is no, they cannot. Two cannot walk together unless they are agreed. When I was a kid, we would go out. One of my favorite days at school was track and field day. It was usually towards the end of the school year as I was getting ready to let out, and you'd start having some fun activities to, you know, blow off the stress from the school year and the finals. And I always remember track and field day was always enjoyable for me, and one of the activities was the three-legged race. And probably all of you at one time or another participated in the three-legged race. You stand next to a partner, and you take that inside leg, you put it up right next to your partner's leg, and you take a piece of cloth or rope, and you tie the leg together. From that point then, it's a race to get across the finish line, and you need to walk in agreement. One can't be going one way, and the other the other way, you're falling down, you're tripping one another up. If you're going to complete the course, you have to walk in agreement. And so my point isn't necessarily that our leg is tethered together with God in that way, but the point is, two cannot walk in the same direction according to the same pattern and the same principle, unless they're in agreement. Can two walk unless they agree? No, they cannot. The principle applies in marriage.

It applies in relationships in the church, and it applies in our personal relationship with God. Now, if we continue through Scripture, what we find is that Abraham walked with God. And it doesn't necessarily put it in those exact terms, but the point was Abraham walked with God because his steps were in agreement with him, and even beyond that, Abraham was called a friend of God. So it was a very personal and a direct and intimate relationship that took place because of the way that Abraham walked. He walked in agreement with God. The other patriarchs as well of Scripture walked with God. Isaac, Jacob walked with God, Moses walked with God, David walked with God. Pretty much those who we would look at and understand that they had God's Spirit with them and guiding them and directing their walk, those individuals walked in relationship with God. And, brethren, you and I are expected to walk with God today as well. And more than just a recommendation, it is a requirement. Micah chapter 6 verse 8. What does the Lord require? To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. It's a requirement of our relationship with Him.

I think sometimes we might think of walking with God as we're just kind of doing our thing and God comes alongside and walks with us. He keeps us company along the way. But that's not what the Scripture would indicate and it certainly doesn't seem to be the lesson that we would learn from this relationship. The Scripture said that Enoch walked with God. Noah walked with God. Abraham was a friend of God. It doesn't say that God came and walked with them. It says they walked with God. And there is a difference because you see it is God who sets the standard. He sets the pace in that way in terms of how we would walk. And we come into conformity and that allows us to walk in agreement with God. Again, two cannot walk together unless they be in agreement. God is perfect and He gives us the opportunity through His Son to walk in agreement with Him. And that's how this process works. Let's look at John, 1 John, chapter 1, because we understand that when you walk with somebody, again, it's a relationship, and it leads to fellowship. If you're walking down the street with your friend, you're going to talk. You're going to discuss things. You're going to have a relationship and fellowship in that way. 1 John, chapter 1, and verse 5, says, This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. So God is pure light. He is pure truth. He is pure good. There's no evil. There's no shadow of turning with God. He is pure light. Verse 6, it says, If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. It says, But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. So again, the point is, walking with God is having fellowship with Him, and it requires conformity according to a certain standard. Two cannot walk together unless they are agreed, and it is you and I, brethren, that come into the standard that allows us to walk with God. It's not God coming to walk with us where we are doing our own thing. That was the point for Israel and Judah. They could not continue in their sins and doing their own thing in rebellion to God, offering sacrifices, thinking, Everything's okay. God's with us. We have His temple. We offered to sacrifice. He's walking with us. God said, That's not how it's going to work. You're going to do justly. You're going to love mercy. You're going to walk with Me. And that's how this process takes place.

Now, in addition, and we've touched on it kind of around the edges, this process requires reconciliation. Reconciliation is a very important term and a concept in the Scripture that we really need to focus on, brethren, as we come up to the Passover. Passover is just a little over a month, about six weeks away, around the corner, and it's time where our thoughts begin to turn to those things. Reconciliation is an important concept, and it's central to the observance of the Passover. And it's central to what it is that God is doing. God is reconciling the world to Himself. There's a plan, there's a process, there's timing in those things. He's doing it in a small way through the firstfruits at this time, but God's plan, He's provided the sacrifice to reconcile this entire world to Himself, those who would be willing to walk with God in that way.

When we think of reconciliation, and we think of becoming reconciled to God, I think we understand the same principle applies as walking with God. Reconciliation takes place where we come together in agreement and a relationship, but it's not like God has to come our way. Here we are on this end, our carnal nature. This is where we start, apart from God.

And here's God, perfect, righteous, just, true, fully light. If these were two men who had a division between them, they had to come together in reconciliation with man. There's generally fault on both sides. One needs to come this way and one needs to come this way, till they find agreement and reconciliation.

When there's a breach between man and God, God is perfect. God does not need to come our way. It is mankind that needs to be reconciled to God. And there's no way to bridge that gap, apart from the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, that was offered for us. And God is perfect. To walk with Him, He does not come to us here. We meet Him according to the standard that He's provided. And two can walk together in agreement. So, as we considered reconciliation and coming up to the Passover, it's important we recognize that our relationship with God isn't that we continue in our ways and He comes to us. He's provided the sacrifice by means if we accept it and have the heart to serve Him in a right nature, we can be reconciled and come to Him.

There's another key element to conformity in this walk, to reconciliation with God, and it's covered in Micah chapter 6 verse 8, and that is humility. The verse says we are to walk humbly with our God. Humility is a key ingredient to walking with God, to even beginning that relationship, to even accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ through baptism takes humility. We cannot enter into a walk with God apart from it, and we cannot maintain that walk apart from humility and yielding ourselves to God in that way. Notice 1st Peter chapter 5. We'll see God's response, how He looks at pride and humility.

1st Peter chapter 5 and verse 5 says, Likewise, you younger people submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility. It's like you take humility and you wrap yourself in it like a garment and you walk with it every day. It says, Be clothed with humility. You're naked without it. For God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him for He cares for you. So it says God resists the proud. He stands in opposition to it. It's not like He just doesn't like it. It's not His preference. No, He opposes pride. Satan was proud. He was lifted up in opposition to God. That's not what God is looking for in those whom He has created. He resists pride. Other scriptures go on to state that God hates pride. But humility, on the other hand, is what endears us to God. We have the right heart. We have the right actions according to His word, and we are of humble spirit. It draws us in relationship to God. Now, unfortunately, humility in this world today is not a valued commodity. In fact, humility is considered to be weak. Considered to be something that's pointless, but not so in God's eyes. When humility is correctly exercised in our relationship with God and one another, it is not a form of weakness. It is a point of strength. Humble ourselves in the sight of God, and He will raise you up. Humble yourselves before one another, and it will be a strength to your relationship as well. But humility is not weakness. Moses, as the Bible says, the reference for that is Numbers 12, verse 3. Moses was more humble than all men on the face of the earth. Moses did not write that verse. It's an inset verse, okay? Moses did not say, I'm the most humble man. That'd be a quick disqualifier. But again, the Scripture records he was more humble than all the men on the face of the earth. Yet, Moses was not a weak man, was he?

Certainly not while he was submitted to God and yielding to Him, and God was using him to bring his people out of Egypt, to bring them through the wilderness. In his humility, Moses was strong. He was useful in service to God, and he walked with God. And it was a point of strength, not weakness. Pride, which lifts us up in opposition to God, is weakness. And again, it is what God opposes. Humility is not an attribute that means to be beaten down. You know, humility is not low self-esteem. It's not low self-worth, like sort of the eeyore mentality of, woe is me, thanks for noticing me.

Humility, God has given us His Spirit, brethren. So humility is recognizing who and what we are, okay, and then what God has added to us. He's given us His Spirit, which gives us great value. God's created us for a purpose. So let's not confuse confidence and understanding in what God is doing, and low self-worth, that sometimes people attribute to humility. What humility does for us, though, is signifies a proper lowliness and submissiveness to God. It's not thinking too highly of oneself. Ultimately, being humble is recognizing who and what we are and who and what God is, and it's making the comparison. We're not to compare ourselves to one another, and look around the room, you know, you walk in the room and say, well, who's here? Who can I compare myself to? That's not the point. The point is, we compare ourselves to the standard, which was God the Father. God the Father is the standard. His son, Jesus Christ, exemplified that standard as He lived life in the flesh. And that's where the comparison is. And when we compare ourselves to God, the natural consequence should be humility of heart. If we ever think that it's anything beyond that, we're putting ourselves into a position that God opposes. Humility of heart. Who is God? Who are we? And what is He doing? Again, what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? And this is a requirement, again, from God, not a recommendation. And humility is absolutely the key, because God is seeking a relationship with those who are humble. That's who He wants to be in relationship with. Isaiah chapter 57, verse 15. Let's see how God views those who are of a humble and contrite spirit. Isaiah chapter 57 and verse 15. Thus says, The high and lofty one, the one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy, I dwell in the high and holy place with him who is contrite and a humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. This world does not value humility, but God does. God says, that's who I want a relationship with. That's who I ultimately want to lift up and exalt one who is humble, who trusts in me, who is submissive to me. He says, From on high, that is on the person on who I look. One with a humble heart. Isaiah 66 and verse 1.

Isaiah chapter 66 and verse 1. And again, we're talking about a relationship. It's not just that God looks down and says, Oh, that person is humble. That's nice. No, he says, This is who I will relate with, who will walk with me, and who ultimately will be in my family forever. Isaiah chapter 66 and verse 1. Thus says the Lord, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. Where's the house you will build me? And where's the place of my rest? I mean, there's... Do you get it? The Most High God, who's created all things above all things, says, What can you do for me, really? And if that isn't humbling to consider, and take some more time and consider it again. He says, Okay, so where's the place of my rest? For all these things my hand is made, and all these things exist, says the Lord. But on this one, will I look, on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word.

So again, our God, who is all-powerful, almighty, no darkness, pure light, when he was just and true, says, I'm going to put my focus on him who is humble, who is contrite, and has a right and proper focus and regard for my word. So what's so special to God about humility?

You know, does he need our humility? What's so special about humility? Well, we come back again to the point of Micah, what has been walking through in that book, which is God is not seeking more and more sacrifice, you know, more and more blood as you continue with your heart in the opposite direction. God is seeking those who are teachable. God's seeking those who are teachable, who will yield to him, yield to a relationship that God wants to enter in with us. Again, God has regard for the humble because the heart of the humble is a teachable heart.

It's a heart that's willing to listen and to consider. It's a heart that is willing to change when it sees that change is indeed needed. Ultimately, from the humble heart comes repentance, it comes submission to God, and it leads to reconciliation. Takes humility to repent, takes humility to recognize when you're wrong and be willing to change. And that's the problem with pride. Pride stands in opposition to God. A proud person and someone who's proud of heart doesn't see their need to change. Me? I have a problem? What do you mean I have a problem? The proud person looks around the room and says, well, there's a problem. There's a speck. You got a speck in your eye or something in your eye there. And there's a speck, and there's a speck, and there's a speck.

That's what happens when a proud person walks into the room as opposed to seeing the beam in their own eye. And that's an incredibly dangerous position to be in, brethren. I can't over-emphasize that enough. Pride stands in opposition to God, and God resists it. Pride stands in opposition to repentance and submission. Proverbs 13, verse 10, says, by pride comes nothing but strife.

So pride in relationships, what does it bring? What does pride add to a marriage? It brings arguments. It brings contention. Pride in friendships brings disputes. Pride in the church brings division, disunity. Again, we've seen it through the history, going all the way back to the beginning of the New Testament church. Anywhere that pride has entered in, there is a problem.

Pride is absolutely destructive to our walk with God because it blinds us of our own need to repent and change. Again, I don't have a problem. It's everybody else that has a problem.

Coming up to the Passover, brethren, and we recognize that Jesus Christ died for us as the sacrifice, as the forgiveness for sin. And the only way we're going to get from here, over here where God is, is through humility, through self-examination, and through repentance. And there's no room for that to have pride in the mix.

If we want to examine ourselves and have an honest self-examination, it has to be based in humility.

The book of James says that it equates God's word to a mirror. So we need to look in the mirror. We need to evaluate ourselves. You look at your appearance when you look into a mirror. What's out of place? What needs straighten? Is my hair need fixed? Does it miss a spot shaving? We look into the mirror as an element of self-evaluation and correction and guided by God's Spirit and humility. We seek to see the things that need changed in our life, and we work to grow. I'd recommend if it's been a while since we fasted.

If the Day of Atonement was the last time that we fasted and the next time we were planning to fast, I would say we're missing out on a great spiritual tool that God has given us to humble ourselves and to draw close to Him and to walk with Him. I'd recommend coming up to the Passover if you're physically able is an excellent time to fast, to draw close to God, to submit to Him, and to seek what it is that we need to change in our own lives to come up in humility and repentance to the Passover. Again, it's one of the greatest tools fasting that God has given us to humble ourselves, to draw close to Him, and that's absolutely the requirement in order to walk with God.

Let's go to 2 Chronicles, chapter 7.

2 Chronicles 7.

See the mindset and the attitude that God desires from His people.

2 Chronicles, chapter 7, picking it up in verse 11.

The context here is the house, the temple of God has been built and dedicated, and Solomon's house has been finished. In verse 11, thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord in the king's house, and Solomon successfully accomplished all that came into his heart to make the house of the Lord and in his own house. It says, So this here is talking about the physical temple of God, and His presence was going to dwell among His people, but I want to use, going forward, these verses a little differently. I want to read them from the perspective of the spiritual temple of God, which Paul says the Church is. You are the temple of God, and His Spirit dwells in you. So just think of these following scriptures as pertaining to the Church. Verse 13.

In other words, when there's difficulties and trials and struggles among my people, verse 14 says, It says, This is talking, brethren, about an ongoing relationship with God. Through prayer, through humility, again, coming under the sacrifice which God requires for us here today is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But this is a relationship of drawing close to God.

He says, So the point is, we want to walk with God. There's no other option apart from humility, apart from seeking to live His way with a humble heart. To neglect that perspective or to step outside the role of humility, we're going to find ourselves in opposition to God. And that's not somewhere anyone wants to be, to where God says, I oppose you. I oppose you. By humility, we walk with God. Pride takes us out of step and out of relationship in that most intimate way.

Humility is required, brethren, for walking in unity with God. And it's also required for walking with one another as well. Again, can two walk together unless they are agreed? We need to be doing the same thing, and we need to be expressing these things from the same heart and the same spirit as well. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 1, here are the words of the Apostle Paul. Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 1. Paul says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy at the calling with which you were called. And so he starts out with, you need to walk worthy of this calling. And he tells us steps of how we do these things and what brings us into the ability to do so. He says, with all lowliness, which is humility, with all lowliness, gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. There is one body, one Spirit, just as you were called, into one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. So this is a powerful section of passage because Paul starts with the conclusion of the matter, which is, do you want to walk worthy of the calling with which you've been called?

Do you want to take that Spirit and that imitation of a relationship extended to you by God and use it rightly? And he walks through these steps that will allow us to help accomplish these things, these steps of recognition. So what I'd actually like to do at this point, which is a little different, but I'd like to flip this over, and I would like to take these six verses and read them backwards. I think it's a powerful message as well, again, as opposed to starting at the point of walk worthy of your calling and here's things we need to do. Let's take it from here's things we do so that we can walk together and worthy of our calling and unity in this way. So Ephesians chapter 4 verse 6, let's start there. One God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all. So we have our heavenly Father in heaven. We come before His throne in prayer. We have a relationship with Him. We are seeking to walk humbly with our God.

One God and Father in heaven, okay, who is above all and in all and and He is in us through His Spirit by the power of His Spirit. Verse 5, one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

One Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. One sacrifice that was laid down for us.

One faith that was given. One set of instructions of how we live this life that brings us into this relationship with God our Father. Verse 4, there is one body, one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling. So there's not 10 bodies. There's not 10 spirits. There's not 10 Lord Jesus Christ. There's not 10 God the Father's. There is one. It says in one body, just as we were called, verse 3, as a result of these things of this relationship, God the Father through Jesus Christ and bound together at this time in this body, as a result of that relationship, what should we be doing? Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. It's an effort. To endeavor is something that you go after, that you put work and effort and blood, sweat and tears into because you are of the one body bound by the one Spirit through the one sacrifice, the one faith, the one God the Father in heaven. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. And how do you do it? Verse 2. With all humility, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love.

That's not always easy. That takes challenge. Sometimes it's a challenge. It takes time.

It takes long suffering. It takes patience. And it takes work. But it says humility and in love.

And if we do these things, verse 1, Paul says, you will walk worthy of the calling with which you are called. So, brethren, again, God has called us into a body to recognize Him, to worship Him, to come under the sacrifice of His Son, to be bound by the same Spirit, and in unity and in love, endeavor to walk according to the calling with which we've been called.

Let's use the time between now and the Passover well. Let's use it for an opportunity of self-evaluation. Let's examine ourselves for pride. And if we find that it does exist, let's root it out of our lives.

Let's seek to humble ourselves before God. And the instruction that Paul gives us from scripture is to examine yourself. And that's where it stops. Okay? It doesn't say, examine your spouse.

Let me tell you, darling, what you could work on this year before the Passover.

That wouldn't go over well. Actually, she would listen, but that's not the point. The point is we're to examine self. Me, myself. I'm to examine myself and my relationship with God through Jesus Christ as we come up to the Passover. Let's walk into the Passover humbled.

Again, that's not beaten down with low self-esteem, but it is humbled. And it's humbled by the recognition that Jesus Christ died for us, that God sent his only begotten Son to die in our stead so that we could be reconciled with Him. And that leads us to the final tool I want to cover for walking humbly with our God. I'd like to recommend that we study the life and the example of Jesus Christ. If you want to learn how to more effectively walk with God, study the life of Christ. When Jesus Christ walked the earth in the flesh, he stated that He and His Father were one. He says, if you've seen Me, you've seen the Father. As in, you want to know what God looks like in terms of living this life, setting the example, walking perfectly. That example was said in Jesus Christ. And He says, My Father and I are one, which meant they walked together in the same relationship, brethren, that you and I are need to be seeking, which is walking with God in the Spirit. So study His life and see how He lived. 1 John 2, verse 6 says, We ought to walk just as He walked. So our footsteps need to be patterned according to the manner of Jesus Christ. Study how He dealt with sinners. Study how He related with His Father in Heaven. Study how He learned obedience through the things that He suffered. Again, it's a very good study as we come up to the Passover season.

Study how He walked according to humility. Because that's the question, how did Jesus Christ walk if we're to walk as He walked? He walked according to the ways of God, and He walked in humility. Final passage for today, Philippians chapter 2. Again, just a glimpse into the example of Jesus Christ there are many you can pursue. Philippians chapter 2 and verse 1 says, Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, He says, Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord and of one mind, similar to what we read back in Ephesians. And believe me, it takes work. God's called us from all separate walks of life and brought us into this room and has bound us by His Spirit, but it doesn't mean that automatically our own preferences and thoughts and ideas disappear. It means we need to work out how to walk together in unity of spirit, that spirit which is God's.

Verse 3, it says, Let each of you look out not only for his own interest, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. The mind of Jesus Christ is what were to be developing. Again, humility, service, laying in the air, down as a sacrifice for others. That was the walk of Jesus Christ. Scripture says that he was Emmanuel, God with us, God in the flesh. And he said the example. This was the mind of God on display. Verse 6, Who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be a lie, but to be a lie, verse 6, Who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, John 1, 1, In the beginning was the word, the word was with God, the word was God, Christ and the Father from the beginning. And it said he didn't consider his position something to be grasped onto. In the Greek here it says robbery, but it means they didn't consider that form to be something too clung to, to be grasped to something that he was not willing to give up. Verse 7, But he made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant, coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. So this is the mind of Jesus Christ. This was the walk that he walked.

It was a humility demonstrated by going from equality with the Father, as the scripture says, being God being with the Father from the beginning, to stepping away, divesting himself of that glory to come in the flesh, serve as a servant in humility and die for us. He is the sacrifice. Brethren, as we come up to the Passover, don't miss that point. Don't gloss over it. Don't minimize it. Jesus Christ, our sacrifice, died for us so that we could be reconciled in relationship to God. It says the word humbled himself, and it is a sacrificial servant mindset that you and I are to take on each and every day if we so desire to walk with God. Again, humility should not be considered a weakness. Jesus Christ was called the Lamb, and in terms of animals, the Lamb is a very lowly, a very meek creature, but Jesus Christ was not weak. He was strong, and it's in the same humility of being submitted to God, brethren, that we are raised up or made strong as well. Walking with God means that we'll be maintaining an intimate relationship with Him, exercising all of our spiritual disciplines. Prayer?

If you're walking with your friend, you're going to talk to your friend. We pray to God. He responds to us through His Spirit, through His Word. So there's Bible study. There's the interaction back and forth as we walk. There is fasting for humility, and there's meditating on God's Word. How does it apply? How do I live it? How do I grow by it? Again, these are the spiritual disciplines that we need to exercise as we walk with God, as we maintain this intimate relationship. Again, ultimately, walking with God means we live our daily lives in fellowship with Him. We come into conformity and go from being here, separated from God, to reconciled with God. We walk together in fellowship. Let's make that relationship a priority each and every day. Take your time for study, for prayer, fast as you're able, meditate on God's Word.

Brethren, what does the Lord require of us?

You know, we could take a whole sermon series on just each and every point that I've walked through in three sermons, so I encourage you to take personal time to walk through these things. But what does God require, ultimately, of His people? It is to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Him.