I wanted to put a sermon on the resurrection today, but this text jumped out at me this morning in my Bible reading. It will be a skimpy offering, because it is a work in progress and you can take it and make it your work in progress.
In the text Paul mentions that we should "walk worthy of the vocation to which we were called. That is that we should live a worthy Christian life. In the ensuing verses, he tells us how to walk worthy, why we should and who can help us do it. I. How are we to walk? Verse 2 A. "In all lowliness' - not arrogant and conceited. Humility B. "Meekness" - This is not spelled weakness. It means to be under God's control and to be so secure in Him that we can put others first - like Jesus. C. "With longsuffering" - There are two words for patience in the Greek. (I'll let you look them up, which I will later.) One means to be able to wait and not get impatient. The other is to be able for keep serving, witnessing, praying, etc. without giving up no matter how much suffering you are undergoing. This is "longsuffering." D. "Forbearing one another in love" - This means to bear with each other and keep serving no matter how tough the relationships are. It also means to give others the benefit of the doubt. II. Why are we to walk worthy? Verse 3 "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace..." A. We are to live in unity with our fellow Christians. This does not mean that we will always agree, but will learn to disagree in love and follow the Lord's leadership. B. We are to live in the "unity of the Spirit." This means that we are to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit. If we do, He will not lead us to disunity. C. We are to live "in the bond of peace." The Holy Spirit will lead us to peace within ourselves and to peace with fellow Christians. We create this "bond of peace" by thinking about others and not just ourselves. III. Who can help us in this worthy walk? Verses 4-6 A. Vs. 4 - We cannot do this by ourselves. We are held to oneness by the Spirit. "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling." B. Vs. 5 - We are to remember that we have "one Lord," "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." He called us to "one faith" - faith in Jesus Christ. We enter the worthy walk and we walk worthily by faith in Jesus. Without faith we could not walk the worthy walk. He called us to "one baptism" - Baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirt. C. Vs. 6 - We need to remember the dynamic nature of the God we serve. He is "One God and Father of all," There is no other God. He is "above all." There is no one greater than our God, as we know Him in Jesus. He works within us: "and through all and in you all." We live and serve under His mighty power. When we forget this we weaken our service. We have no excuse for not walking worthy of our Christian calling. The Bible tells us how we can walk worthily, why we should and who to call on in order to do it.
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It is still true that we need to "make the most of our time" because the "days are (still) evil." We need to get in the will of God and live in His timetable. It is time that our days be given to Him. Let's share some things that it is time for in our lives if we are to make the best use of our time.
I. It is time to take Jesus seriously. A. Because He is our Savior, Lord and Master - our hope. B. Because Jesus is our leader and guide in life through the Holy Spirit. C. Because Jesus is our sustainer in all of life. II. It is time to take Christian living seriously. A. Because "the days are evil." People are looking for genuine Christian living..... B. Because it is a life of love and love is what the world needs. C. Because it is a life characterized by joy. People need to see Christ's joy being lived out in our lives. III. It is time to take church seriously. A. Because it is Christ's church. B. Because it is our means of partnership and fellowship in these evil days. C. Because it is our vehicle for service. IV. It is time to take heaven seriously. A. Because heaven in our real home. B. Because heaven is waiting. C. Because heaven is forever. Friends, we really need to take all of these matters more seriously if we are to make the most of our time as witnesses for Jesus. IT IS TIME! |
All of these materials are free of charge. There is no copyright on them and you are free to use them as you see fit. I am happy to be of assitance to you in your preaching/teaching minstry.
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