Ephesians 4:1-6
"A Worthy Walk Or A Wimpy Walk"

Gospelcome BibleGateway

^"1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, ²with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, ³endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. ⁷ But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. ⁸Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high,He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men." ⁹(Now this, "He ascended"--what does it mean but that He also first^[3] descended into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) ¹¹And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹²for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; "

INTRODUCTION:

A. Today we will be looking at the walk of the believer.

B. Discuss some of the imagery that Bible uses about walking (Col 2, Gal 5, 1 John 1)

C. Chapter 4 marks the second section of Ephesians. Remember the outline - The wealth of the believer, The walk of a believer, The warfare of a believer.

D. What does walk mean exactly?

E. If you know what you have and are in Christ, therefore do them.......(the walk)

I. A Worthy Walk

A. Defined by Consistency

1.What does a worthy walk look like?

2. What does worthy mean? To weigh as much

3. What is the "counterbalance" to walking worthy?

4. Notice how Paul sees himself. Do you see yourself the same way? Where was Paul writing from?

5. Do you exhibit the same consistent behavior as Paul does when you are under trial? Why not?

6. Read 1 John 1:5ff

7. Does what you say and how you walk exhibit consistency or hypocrisy?

8. Review the areas of your life that are not consistent, spending time in prayer, asking God

B. Demonstrated by Humility

1.Four qualities

a. Lowliness

1. What did lowliness mean?

2. Read Phillipians 2:5-11

b. Gentleness or meekness

1. Meekness is not weakness

2. What does meekness/gentleness mean ?

3. Power, strength under control

c. Longsuffering - patient with aggravating people (1 Corinthians 13)

1. macro thumeia - waiting a long time before burning up

2. God is slow to anger...

d. Bearing with one another in love

2. Discuss how Jesus perfectly demonstrated this for us.

3. Discuss how you do or don't?

C. Dignified by Unity

1. How many times to Paul use the word "one"?

2. How many times do they refer to God?

3. What does this show us about unity in the Christian Community? What is it based upon?

4. What do the other instances show about unity? To whom is it directed? How is it related to the trinity? How is it directed to one another?

5. What is our role in keeping unity? Why is that?

6. "In essentials unity non-essentials liberty and in all things charity" - Augustine

D. Displayed by Diversity

1. Notice the difference between verse 6 and 7 "all" to "each"

2. Unity with diversity!

3. Church can never become a spectator sport! ("To each one is given grace....")

4. In a healthy church everyone is a minister. One of a pastor-teacher's role is to help others do the work of the ministry.

APPLICATION:

A. What does your walk look like?

B. Is it balanced? Do you reflect the balance?

C. What needs to change?

D. Are you a minister in the church or a "dead weight?

E. What do you intend to do about it?

F. Don't forget that this is not "all about you" but is "what about us?" (How you are to walk within the community of believers)