Ephesians 4:1 Walk the Chosen Path

Walk the Chosen Path

Ephesians 4:1

In the original we have a transition at Chapter 4. The word "Therefore" starts out our chapter.- because of what has just been said. Paul is moving from a theological focus to a practical living focus. God has chosen us to live a life of greatness. Before we can live a life of greatness we have to be transformed by a great God.

Here is Paul, he is in prison and he says we are to walk worthy of your calling. Can you imagine if God called us to go to a place where we could be put into prison, tortured or even killed. Fox's Book of Martyrs is a collection of documents which tells us about hundreds of Christian believers who were tortured and killed for their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
We may think that living in Canada that this is only for past generations. The World would like us to think that man is evolving and getting better and better. In fact they believe that we are so good that we have to get rid of God. Maybe even people who believe in God. Thus there are countries around the world that are persecuting and killing Christians. In Indonesia, this past week there were Christians being attacked. In Pakistan a couple weeks ago a Christian school was attacked by Islamic Extremists.
On the website http://www.persecution.org is a list of various countries in the world where there are Christians persecuted, tortured or in prison. Various governments are trying to stamp out Christians by attacking leaders, pastors and trying to get rid of Christian literature
In Laos, you all know that there are some but when I when through the website there were many people who have been imprisoned in Laos.

There were some suggested actions you might take:
1. Pray for the Christians of Laos that they may continue to be protected from harm and that the Christian message may be heard and received by all.

2. Write a respectful letter to one or more of the government officials. Express your continuing concern for the safety and well being of the Christian community in Laos. Request information about what steps the government is taking to ensure their protection and freedom to practice their faith as laid out in the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights documents.

3. Contact the elected national officials for your area as well as the U.S. State Department and leaders in our country and express concern for the well being of the Christians in Laos asking them to make an inquiry into their status.

If we were put into prison for our faith would there be enough evidence to try you and put you to death? What will happen when a persecution breaks out against Christians? Will you be one that could be put into jail for telling others about Jesus Christ? If the officials wanted to try you for being a Christian, would you be able to stand up faithfully and be willing to be tortured and even killed for your faith?

The early church believers were attacked by Paul and were being put into prison by him and other Jewish leaders. It was on one of those trips to get more Christians in Damascus that God stopped Paul and in three days he became a Christian himself and faced death threats and imprisonment. Paul was writing this letter to the Christians in Ephesus from a prison cell. He had be captured and put in prison for his faith in Christ. He tells us in Galatians about the persecution and hardship that he had to endure because he was a faithful evangelist. Would we be willing to go to jail and even die for our faith? What would you tell officials if they were questioning you about your faith? Would you remain faithful and true to Jesus Christ or would you cave in and denounce your Saviour.

When the Catholics attempted to spread their message in Japan, the government thought Christianity would be a threat to the loyalty to the Emperor. They banned Christianity and persecuted the Christians. They hunted down both missionaries and believers and tortured them in an effort to force them to deny their faith. Their methods were so excruciatingly painful that many outwardly denied their inner beliefs and rejected God's peace. These people then lived in torment of soul the rest of their lives. Some remained faithful unto death and died as martyrs to receive their heavenly reward forever. They were able to endure hardship for a little while so that they could reap an eternal reward.

We need to prepare for such an event in our life because we never know what might happen, where God might lead us or what kind of Government might be set up in these last days. What would you say to defend your faith if put on trial? Would you be able to prove from scripture that your faith is true and worth dying for?
The bible says that if we are brought before the judge that the Holy Spirit will give us spiritual power and the words we are to say to give glory to God. We should be memorizing scripture and learning all we can about our faith so that we can give an effective witness and stand in the day of trial.

Perhaps you are in a kind of prison even today. Satan may have bound you and tied you up. Some of you are struggling with sin and you are not free this morning. You are being attacked by Satan to deny God and live for your self. Forget about God and enjoy yourself? Is there anyone who has faced that kind of attack from the evil one? If you have were you able to resist temptation, rebuke Satan and gain the victory over the temptation? You were then walking worthy of the calling which God has placed on your life.

Babies do not start walking when they are born. The bones and muscles need strengthening and the mom needs time to recuperate before the next stage. If a baby does not start crawling or walking at a year old we start wondering if it has a problem of some kind. So we as Christians are encouraged to grow spiritually and not just remain babies that require just milk but we are to grow up spiritually. Develop our spiritual muscles and explore new spiritual experiences. We are to develop our spiritual gifts and use them for God's glory. We will get into how we are to walk in the next few verses.

We need to walk - not just talk. Some people talk a lot but never get going. It is not just good enough to know the truth but we should live the truth, for the truth will set us free.

Let us look a little more at how we are to be walking
We are to walk according to God's decrees and commands. Leviticus 26 lists a number of blessings that will come to us when we obey God. This passage also lists the curses that will come upon us for a neglect of God's ways.

In the book of Ephesians we see six references to how we should walk. Eph 5:2, 8, 15 say we should walk in love, walk as children of the light and walk as the wise people would. I John 1:7 says that "if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us from all sin".

Are you walking according to God's path or your own. We are promised many blessings when we walk according to God's way but when we go our own way we will only experience difficulty and troubles.

II Peter 1:10,11 ties the need to follow God's call and our walk. "Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

Do you know what God has called you to do? We need to be sensitive to the voice of God and our spiritual gifts so that we will use God's blessings to bless our families, our community and the world.

God's calling is not often like he called Samuel. You may know about Samuel, who as a young boy went to the temple to serve. God called him in his sleep. Being a young child he did not at first recognize the call. We too may not at first recognize God's call on our life not know what all it will entail but we need to be listening for God to speak to us. God speaks to our spirit, though the Holy Spirit. God speaks to us through the bible. If we are not in tune to the Holy Spirit or not reading God's Word, we may miss God's call and miss out on the great blessings he has for us.

As we have seen in the previous chapter in Ephesians, we have a great and wonderful God who is able to go exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or imagine. If we ever stumble and fall it is not the end of our relationship with God. We should confess our shortcomings and work to be worthy disciples of Jesus Christ. The Bible is our guide and we need to learn it's truths so that we can live a life that is worthy of God's blessings. What is in your way from walking in holiness and purity this morning? That is something each one has to answer for himself/ herself. God wants to bless you, that is why He has called you and given you ways in which you can achieve great things for his name sake.

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