A Closer Walk

Introduction

Ephesians 5:1-21

Funerals in New Orleans, Louisiana, have a curious tradition almost lost on this generation, namely, the funeral procession. Even to this day you might hear a jazz band playing and see pall bearers carrying a casket with mourners singing, “Just a closer walk with Thee, grant it, Jesus, is my plea. Daily walking close to Thee, let it be, dear Lord, let it be.”

Solomon wisely writes in Ecclesiastes 7:1-4, “A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of one’s birth; better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; and the living will take it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by a sad countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.”

Allow me to share three stanzas of the traditional folk song previously mentioned titled “Just a Closer Walk with Thee”:

“I am weak, but Thou art strong; Jesus, keep me from all wrong; I’ll be satisfied as long

As I walk, let me walk close to Thee. Through this world of toil and snares, If I falter, Lord, who cares?

Who with me my burden shares?

None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee. When my feeble life is o’er,

Time for me will be no more; Guide me gently, safely o’er

To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.”1

From our text in Ephesians 5:1-21 we find how to have just a closer walk.

I. Walk in Love (1-7)

Paul the apostle writes in Ephesians 5:1-7, “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among      you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.”

Dr. R. G. Lee (1886-1978), shares the following in a message titled "Is Hell a Myth?” "I know some people call the preacher who stands squarely upon the teaching of Christ and His apostles 'narrow,' 'harsh,' 'cruel.' As to being narrow, I have no desire to be any broader than was Jesus. As to being cruel, is it cruel to tell men the truth?

Is a man to be called cruel who declares the whole counsel of God and points out to men their danger? Is it cruel to warn people on an excursion ship that the ship has sprung a leak and they must get to the lifeboats? Is it cruel to tell Miami that a hurricane is heading for the city? Is it cruel to arouse sleeping people to the fact that the house is on fire? Is it cruel to jerk a blind man way from the rattlesnake in the coil?

Is it cruel to declare to people the deadliness of disease and tell them which medicine to take? Is it cruel to label poison with the crossbones and skull? I would rather be called cruel for being kind than called kind for being cruel."2

On the phrase “Be imitators of God”, Dr. James Montgomery Boice (1938-2000) shares it “reminds us of Thomas à Kempis' classic, Of the Imitation of Christ. Thomas was born in 1380 at a time when Europe was in turmoil. The church was split by rival popes, one of whom still sat on the throne of St. Peter in Rome while the other exercised a rival rule in Avignon. The Hundred Years War was in progress. The Black Death had ravished city after city. Thomas grew up in the midst of corruption, unrest and disillusion, entered a monastery and, presumably in the 1420s, wrote what has since been called ‘the most influential book in Christian literature.’ To be honest, Of the Imitation of Christ has never moved me as other books have, but it has been influential, and for more than five hundred years Christians have apparently found no difficulty with the concept of imitating

the Jesus of history.”3  Dr. James Montgomery Boice also explains in his commentary on the epistle of 1 John, “Do we say we are Christians? Then ‘whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.’ The call is to emulate Jesus in our conduct. ‘Earlier,’ as Calvin said, ‘he had set the light of God before us as an example. Now he calls us also to Christ, to imitate him. Yet he does not simply exhort us to the imitation of Christ, but, from the union we have with him, proves we should be like him.’"4 Dr. Boice explains, “The word that our text translates ‘imitate’ or ‘imitator’ is mim?tai, from which we get our English word ‘mimic.’ Mimic means to copy closely, to repeat another person's speech, actions, or behavior. That is what we are to do with God. We are to repeat his actions, echo his speech, duplicate his behavior. How can we do that if we do not spend time with him? We cannot, because we will not even know what his behavior is. Spend time with God! Spend time with God in prayer. Spend time with God in Bible study. Spend time with God in worship. It is only by spending time with God that we become like God. We need men and women who are like God today.”5

Dr. Walter L. Liefield writes, “Christians sometimes speak of the ‘imitation of Christ,’ especially with reference to the classic work of that name by Thomas à Kempis. In contemporary usage the word ‘imitation’ conjures up pictures of false products, mere second-rate copies of an original, if not counterfeits. In the Greco-Roman world, however, imitation (mimesis) was a commendable enterprise, an attempt to follow the best examples. So Paul wrote, ‘Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ’ (1 Cor 11:1). More recently, one of the most widely published and influential books of the early twentieth century was In His Steps by Charles Sheldon. In any situation, Sheldon maintained, one may ask, ‘What would Jesus have done in this circumstance?’ In the present passage both God and Christ are presented as the worthy objects of imitation. We should behave just as God did in his forgiveness and just as Christ did in his sacrifice on the cross. Ephesians 2:4 describes the love and mercy of God to those who deserved wrath, and Ephesians 2:7 points to eternity ahead, when God will further reveal his grace ‘expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.’"6

The phrases “imitators of God” and “as Christ” remind us of a phrase in 1 Peter 2:21, namely, “in His steps”. At least two books have that title, one by Dr. Charles Monroe Sheldon (1857-1946), and another lesser known, written earlier by Dr. J. R. Miller (1840-1912). Sheldon was a propagator of the “social gospel”, while Miller was a propagator of the saving gospel.

Dr. J. R. Miller also wrote an excellent daily devotional based on the life of Jesus Christ titled, Come Ye Apart (London, Edinburgh, New York, Toronto and Paris: Thomas Nelson and Sons, Ltd., 1890), available online at the following URL: http://come-ye-apart.jr-miller.com/ .

II. Walk in Light (8-14)

Paul explains and exhorts in Ephesians 5:8-14, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: ‘Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.’”

Dr. Johnny Hunt, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, states, "There's something wrong with those who talk so flippantly about being a Christian, yet who live so unlike Christ."

Dr. James MacDonald warns, "How seriously we take our sin defines who we become".

Dr. Lehman Strauss (1911-1997) writes about Pergamos, the compromising church found in Revelation 2:12-17, "Though not guilty themselves, they failed to censure those who were guilty. They tolerated them when they should have tried them."

There is a contrast in Scripture between “the children of light” and “the children of darkness”. While we are to be in the world we are not to be of the world.

Rev. William Ashley “Billy” Sunday (1862-1935) quipped, "If you talk about a worldly Christian, you might as well talk about a heavenly devil."

III. Walk in Lawfulness (15-21)

Paul writes to those in Ephesus, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.”

Dr. John MacArthur explains the following about the fool (Psalm 14:1; Rom. 1:22), “He lives apart from God and against God’s Law (Prov. 1:7, 22; 14:9), and can’t comprehend truth (1 Cor. 2:14) or his true condition (Rom. 1:21- 22). Certainly, believers are to avoid behaving like fools (see Luke 24:25; Gal. 3:1-3).”7

Please allow me to highlight the terms with emphasis, “law”, “laws”, “lawless” and “lawlessness” in the following passages of Scripture.

David the psalmist writes in Psalm 1:1-6, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

David also writes in Psalm 119:1-8, “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD! Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart! They also do no iniquity; They walk in His ways. You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently. Oh, that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes! Then I would not be ashamed, when I look into all Your commandments. I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments. I will keep Your statutes; oh, do not forsake me utterly!”

In Romans 3:27-31 we read, “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.”

From Romans 6:15-23 we read, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6:14-17, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.’ ‘I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty.’”

We read in 1 John 3:2-8, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ warns in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

Peter writes about the doom of false teachers, “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord” (2 Peter 2:4-11).

Dr. J. Vernon McGee (1904-1988) shares, “It is said that when Savonarola [1452-1498] in the city of Florence went before the great populace and said, ‘Be free,’ they applauded him. But when he said to them, ‘Be pure,’ they ran him out of town. They refused his teaching when it did not appeal to them. The Lord Jesus said to men, ‘You have to turn from sin. You cannot live in sin. I have come to make you free, but I will have to give My life for you and you will have to come as sinners to Me.’ And sinners came -- when men were desperate, they would come to Him. I believe that is the only way men will come to Him even today.”8

The writer to the Hebrews explains, “‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,’ then He adds, ‘Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more’” (Hebrews 10:16-17) [Emphasis mine].

Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) explains in his classic, My Utmost For His Highest: “No one experiences complete sanctification without going through a ‘white funeral,’ the burial of the old life. If there has never been this crucial moment of change through death, sanctification will never be more than an elusive dream. There must be a ‘white funeral,’ a death with only one resurrection – a resurrection into the life of Jesus Christ. Nothing can defeat a life like this. It has oneness with God for only one purpose – to be a witness for Him.”9

Later in his devotional, Chambers asks, “Have you really come to your last days? You have often come to them in your mind, but have you really experienced them? …It will not happen by striving, but by yielding to death. It is dying – being ‘baptized into His death.’” (Romans 6:3)10  He defines this as a moment, “a white funeral,” marking our last day.

Someone shares the following, “George Muller [1805-1898] was an English evangelist and philanthropist who established several orphanages in Bristol, England.

[Dr.] A. T. Pierson [1837-1911] marvels that this ‘one poor man’ in Bristol, England, ‘dependent on the help of God only in answer to prayer’ had in his lifetime cared for over 10,000 orphans, building five spacious homes to house them. He had established day-schools and Sunday schools all over the world in which perhaps 150,000 children had been taught; he had put into circulation 2 million Bibles and Scripture portions; he had published more than 3 million books and tracts; and in addition he had liberally supported missionaries in many countries.

So in his sixty years of remarkable ministry he had been entrusted by God with the stewardship of gifts which Dr. Pierson, writing in 1899, estimated must have amounted to 7.5 million dollars. Imagine how much that would be today!

What was the secret of Muller’s phenomenally fruitful service for God and the human family Christ died to redeem? Asked that very question by a grateful admirer, he replied, bending lower and lower until almost touching the floor,

“‘There was a day when I died, utterly died, died to George Muller, his opinions, preferences, tastes, and will–died to the world, its approval or censure; died to the approval or blame even of my brethren and friends-and since then I have studied only to show myself approved to God.’”

A lot of people think “a white funeral” is just for missionaries and ministers.

However, when you stand before our Lord at the Judgment Seat of Christ (Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10), you will discover it is for you as a believer. In fact, all believers are to be missionaries and ministers. Therefore, our prayer in 2011 should be for just a closer walk.

_________________________________________________

1 “Just a Closer Walk with Thee”, Words: Unknown author, Music: Closer Walk, traditional folk song

2 R. G. Lee, “Is Hell a Myth?”

3 James Montgomery Boice, Boice Expositional Commentary - An Expositional Commentary – Ephesians., p. 172 © 1988, 1997 Database © 2008 WORDsearch Corp.

4 James Montgomery Boice Boice Expositional Commentary - An Expositional Commentary – The Epistles of John. p. 49, Database © 2008 WORDsearch Corp

5 James Montgomery Boice, Boice Expositional Commentary - An Expositional Commentary – Ephesians., p. 172 © 1988, 1997 Database © 2008 WORDsearch Corp.

6 Walter L. Liefiled, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Ephesians, 1997, Database © 2006 WORDsearch Corp.

7 John MacArthur, The MacArthur Bible Commentary (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2005), p. 1699

8 J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, Hebrews 13:8, WORDsearch Corp.

9 Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, January 15 Reading, Available from: http://www.myutmost.org/01/0115.html Accessed: 12/23/10

10 Ibid.

_______________________________________________

By Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey

Author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice Available on Amazon.com and WORDsearchbible.com

http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Biblical-Preaching-Giving-Bible/dp/1594577684 http://www.wordsearchbible.com/products/Sound_Biblical_Preaching_1476.html e-mail: fkirksey@bellsouth.net / (251) 626-6210 © January 2, 2011 All Rights Reserved