Address—Jim Hyland
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Like to begin the meeting this afternoon with 278?
Savior, we long to follow thee daily, thy cross to bear and count. All else, whate'er it, be unworthy of our care. 278 I'm gonna suggest that we stand up to sing this might be helpful for those who can and if someone would please start it.
Savior way long.
Holiday.
My God.
Ecclesiastes, Chapter 11.
Ecclesiastes, Chapter 11 and verse 9.
Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth.
And walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes.
But know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment, and then go over to the book of Romans, Romans chapter 6.
Romans chapter 6 and we'll begin reading at verse one. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid? How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?
Know ye not that so many of us as we're baptized into Christ Jesus Christ, we're baptized into his death?
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism and to death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father.
Even so, we also should walk in newness of life. I have before me this afternoon a very, very practical subject, brethren, something that I trust will be of a help to each one of us, no matter where we are in our Christian life. I realize that there are many here in this room who are far farther along in the path of faith and service than I am. There are many here who are raising families.
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There are many young people, there are many boys and girls, and God has something to say to each one of us from his living word.
And what I have before me this afternoon is this little expression walk in. And it's a very practical expression. And we're going to see as we turn to a number of scriptures that God has given us, that which would encourage us to walk for his glory, for the glory of the Lord Jesus, and as a testimony to others while we're still here in this, in this world.
God has said, as we've had before us already in these meetings, a path of faith and service before us.
And God has given us everything we need for that path of faith and service.
And so I remember our brother Bob Brimlow, when he used to bring practical things before us in meetings like this.
He would say to us now this is where the rubber meets the road and what we have before us this afternoon, I trust, will be where the rubber meets the road.
Because I realize there are many of us here who are facing real difficulties and problems.
Twists and turns in our Christian life, facing things that we have to say like those of old.
We've not passed this way heretofore. But God, I say, encourages us, and it gives us many instructions in His word as to our spirit and attitude, and as to those things that he would have us to be occupied with and take up in the path of faith. But before we touch on some of those things, I read in the book of Ecclesiastes, because here he speaks of walking in the ways of all thine heart.
And when you read the verse, at first you might think he's telling us to just live it up.
To just live and follow the appetites and desires of our natural heart and to make this, this world, a playground in which to indulge ourselves. But then he qualifies it, doesn't he? He says if you walk in the ways of all your heart, if you just live for yourself, there's a day of judgment coming. God is going to bring you into judgment. Now, for the unbeliever, how solemn it is. And if there's someone here who doesn't know the Lord Jesus as their Savior, it's a very solemn thing to realize.
That if you go on and walk in the ways of all that the natural man desires and would have you do all, there's a day of judgment coming. There's a day when you will be taken and banished from the presence of the Lord Jesus in a lost eternity. But even for those of us who know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, well, we'll never be judged for our sins. In that way, Heaven is secure. Thank God, because of the mighty work of Calvary. Yet you know we are going to stand as believers at the judgment seat of Christ.
And we are going to have to give an account of those things done in the body.
Whether they were for God's glory, whether they were for the blessing of others.
Or whether we just lived for ourselves. Oh, I want to encourage each one of us. You know, this is the selfish, selfish age. We talk about taking selfies. Everybody's taking selfies as I travel. I see in the airports, the train stations, wherever you are, everybody's taking a selfie. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. Don't misunderstand me. I I've done it myself with my wife and I. But I'm just saying, isn't that the spirit of the age when it comes right down to it?
It's a selfish age. It's the me first stage, It's everything rotating around myself. But that's not the way it's to be in the Christian life. And that's why I read in the book of Romans. Because here we're exhorted to walk in newness of life. If we were to back up in these chapters, we would find not only what we are and we're naturally speaking and God sentence on the 1St man, but we would find what God has brought in by grace.
And at the end of the previous chapter, the 5th chapter, he has said where sin abounded, Grace did much more abound. And then he raises the question, what shall we say then? In other words, in light of this, are we just going to go on now and live for ourselves? Are we just going to go on and do everything for self? You know, we often quote the verse later on in the 12Th chapter where it says not to be conformed to this world.
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But to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, I believe that really in the context, to be conformed to this world is just what we've been saying to draw a circle, as the natural man does, to put himself in the center of that circle and do to do everything for himself. But that's not the way it's to be in Christianity. And so are we going to continue on in this way? And there's much we could say. And he speaks of baptism. Baptism is really.
Figure of death. It's the recognition that we have died with Christ. It's the end of the old man.
And as to the end of the old man and the recognition of it, we are to walk in newness of life. There's to be a new center in our life now. That new center in our life is to be Christ and his interests. And how much is it true in your life and mine? I can only point the finger at myself. But what exercises my own soul, perhaps exercises your soul? Are we really living for Christ and for others?
Are we walking in a way that is exhibiting the new life? Because you and I, who know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we are now the possessors of divine life. We've been given a new life. It's the very life of Christ. It's a life that delights. It's a life that can do nothing but please God and please the Lord Jesus. But are we walking in newness of life?
Because this is really, as he says, in another place, what really life is. It's what life is really all about. It's faith, as we were saying earlier, that gives substance that gives reality to our life. To live for the moment, to live for self, is not reality.
It's not reality. Oh, it may seem so, but it is really. It is not what life really is. It's to live for Christ.
And his interests. And I want to encourage you. You know, I've appreciated about Caleb in the Old Testament. It says he wholly followed the Lord from the time he was a young man for his whole life. Wouldn't you like that commendation after your name? Wouldn't you like that commendation in the coming day that you wholly followed the Lord? I say this is what life is really all about. And just talk to those.
Who've walked with the Lord for years. In fact, suppose we were able to talk to.
Enoch this afternoon who walked with God for 300 years and say.
Enoch wasn't really worth it. 300 years. That's a long time. Oh, I'd say it was worth it and more. And you talked to an elderly St. of God here who's followed the Lord, who's walked for the Lord, who's walked in newness of life and asked them has it really been worth it? Or they'll tell you if they're honest that there's been all kinds of problems and difficulties, ups and downs in the believers life, but they'll tell you too.
It's really worth it. This is what really what life really is. And so we're to walk not in the lusts of the flesh and so on, not following the appetites and desires of the flesh, but to walk in newness of of life. Oh, I say again to my own soul, is this really true in your life and mine? And so were to walk first of all in newness of life. But now I want to go on to the book of Galatians.
To take this just a step further, Galatians chapter 5.
Galatians chapter 5 and verse 16.
This I say, Then walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
And then notice the 25th verse. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit, only spoken of walking in newness of life. But now we're exhorted to walk in the Spirit, because the Spirit of God is the power for the divine life. It's often been pointed out, and rightly so, that the divine life that you and I have in Christ.
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Is again a perfect life, but it is a life that must have power.
And the power for the divine life is the spirit of God. I'm going to repeat an illustration that I know we've often used, but I think it's helpful in understanding this. We'll suppose that out in the parking lot this afternoon you have a vehicle with the best engine that money can buy, the best engine that will say Mercedes can put in a in a vehicle and you go out and you turn the key.
And there's no power, you say. But they told me this is the best engine that money can buy. Well, it may be, but you're not going to have power to drive down the road with that engine in your vehicle unless you put gasoline in that engine. There has to be something inside that engine, as, if I can put it this way, an unseen commodity that gives power to that engine. And so we fill it with gasoline.
And you go out and you turn the key and now there's a spark and the engine roars the power.
You put it in gear and you press on the gas pedal. Now you've got all the power you need.
To drive down the road. And so we are the possessors of divine life, but the power for that life.
Is the spirit of God because there's no excuse in your life and mine.
We mentioned earlier in the Reading meeting that we have far more resources at our disposal to live for the Lord today than all those who were listed in the 11Th chapter of Hebrews. We have the full light of God's Word. We have the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ in coming into this world. We rest on the finished work of Calvary.
We have a hope, sure and steadfast. And I know they had hope in the Old Testament, but it wasn't in the same way that you and I have it in Christianity. And So what resources we have, we have divine life, We have the Spirit of God, and all these things are ours now to utilize. And so we can, we are to walk in the power of the spirit of God. I've enjoyed it in connection with the blessing of Asher. You can look it up, but in the 33rd chapter.
The book of Deuteronomy. It speaks of Asher. There it says, Let Usher be blessed with children. That's fruit. You want to bear fruit for God. I suggest that every believer here deep down wants to bear fruit for God's glory. It says to let him be acceptable to his brethren. And then it says and let him dip his foot in oil. Oil, invariably in the word of God, is a figure of the Spirit of God.
The foot would of course speak of our walk. And how are we going to have a meaningful powerful walk with for God through this world? We've got to dip our foot in oil. It's a walk in the power of the spirit of God. And then it says thy shoes shall be as iron. That's power. And then it says and as brass that's endurance, because it tells us let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. And then it says the part of the verse we often quote.
And that I often see on the walls of the homes of the brethren that I have the privilege of visiting.
And as thy days, so shall thy strength be. You want strength for the day. You want power and endurance in your Christian pathway. It's a walk in the power of the spirit, and it's going to be one or the other. As he says here in Galatians, we're either walking in the spirit or we're going to fulfill the lust of the flesh. We're going to go back to those things that once characterized us. And in Ephesians chapter 2, if you read carefully the 1St 3 verses of that chapter, it tells us what we once were. We were walking according to the course of this world.
The Prince of the power of the air. We were the children of disobedience, the children of wrath we were fulfilling.
The lusts of the flesh and of the mind. But to walk in the power of the Spirit is to be under the full control.
Of the Spirit of God. Again, how much is that true in your life and mine? We're told in Ephesians not to be drunk with wine, but to be filled with the Spirit. Because again, to be drunk is to be out of control. But to be filled with the Spirit is to be under the control of the Spirit of God. And it's the Spirit of God then to be led by the Spirit, to walk in the spirit we're going to be.
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We're going to be LED in those things that again are for his glory and that path that he has for us. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. You know, when we got saved, the Spirit of God came to indwell us, and that's why we're told we're not our own. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Who are we letting have control over our bodies? The world says this is a a playground. Use your body as you like.
Fulfill the lust of the flesh. That's not the way it is to be with the child of God.
Or to be under the full control of the Spirit of God. We're to glorify God in our body.
And in our spirit, which are gods. So we're to walk in newness of life, and we're to walk in the power of the spirit of God. Now let's go to the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 2.
Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 10.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
Which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them now if we were to back up in the previous verses. The Apostle Paul, writing by divine inspiration, has made it very, very clear to the Ephesian brethren and to us that good works never saved us from our sins. I stand here this afternoon, by the grace of God, to tell you that I am on my way to heaven.
I have beyond the shadow of a doubt, salvation, the salvation of my soul.
My sins are gone. Why? Because of any good in me, Because of any little spark of divinity that was placed in the proper environment.
And flamed up into something wonderful. Not a chance. No scripture is very clear in these verses are very clear that it's not by works of righteousness, but that we have done. But according to His mercy He saved us by grace. Are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves? It is the gift of God. Works never saved a soul. We are justified by faith, however.
Good works are part an intricate part of the Christian life. Now you'll notice here that it's not doesn't say, doing good works. That's true. We ought to do good works. But you know, even the man of the world can do good works. And I am thankful for those who have a charitable spirit and do many good things. I've been thankful for many of our neighbors back in the town of Smiths Falls who are very helpful and if there's a problem.
In our community, there's those who are there willing and ready to help and to do many good works. But that's not what this is talking about here. Here he's talking about good works and working and walking in them. That is. Good works are to be what characterized the believer every day of our lives. It's not just that when things are.
A necessity calls for it. We jump in and we give some money to some.
Charity, or to even the work of the Lord or whatever it may be. It's not that we're just available in an emergency to do some good work and to help someone.
But it ought to be the very breath of the Christian life every day. We ought to be characterized by good works. So he says we're his workmanship created in Christ Jesus. But now he has ordained that the Christian walk in good works again. He has a path for us, and we ought to get up every day. I'm speaking very practically.
We ought to get up every day and not so much say to the Lord what good work can I do today but to pray that that might be what characterizes our life? So does others look on, whether it's the world or whether it's other believers that they see us walking in those those good works, You know, it's perhaps a little bit different, but we think of the Lord Jesus and his love and going to the cross and giving him self for us.
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When we think of that, what it ought to be, the motivation, the springboard for us, giving ourselves in service to him and to one another, and we ought to present our bodies a living sacrifice. Not an interesting statement. A living sacrifice. You know, we spoke about Abel today, and you know Abel laid down his life. He he offered a sacrifice, a blood sacrifice.
And he laid down his life because of it. His brother rose up in anger and hatred and slew him. At the end of Hebrews 11, we're going to notice others who gave their lives in one way or another because of their faith and their testimony.
For God and for the Lord. And many of our brethren today are dying because of their faith.
But you and I, though we may never be called to lay down our lives as a physical sacrifice.
We are called to lay down our lives as a living sacrifice, to give ourselves in service to him and to one another. We ought to lay down our lives for the Brethren, it tells us. And so we're we're to walk in these good works that he has before ordained. We're looking at these verses, Brethren, very quickly this afternoon, in just a few minutes that are allotted to us.
But perhaps before I go on, I would just say I trust that you will go back over these verses.
You know, the really the purpose of oral ministry is to whet the appetites.
Of the believer that we would go and search these things out further. This is just a little parenthesis in our talk, but I've often thought of it in connection with the Bereans. You know, the Bereans, like the Thessalonians, they had the privilege of listening to the oral ministry of the Apostle Paul. But the Bereans were more noble than those of Thessalonica. Now the Thessalonians were noble too, because they listened to the ministry of the Apostle Paul.
But there were those who were more noble because they took what they heard and went home. And whatever parts of the word of God they might have had available at that time, they searched the scriptures to see if those things were so. What things? The things that they heard from the lips of the Apostle Paul. So we come to meetings like this. We hear many things. Perhaps we get just a little outline of something like we're seeking by the with the Lord's help to do this afternoon. But I trust you'll go back over these things and search them out for yourself.
Now let's go to Ephesians chapter 5.
Ephesians chapter 5 and verse two And walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour. Well here we're to walk in love again when we think of the Lord Jesus you know, it says having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end when we think of that great love of the Lord Jesus.
And where it took him, Oh, I say again, that ought to be the motivation. It ought to be the springboard for you and for me. Because the Lord Jesus said if a man loved me, he will keep my commandments.
And he also in speaking to the disciples in the upper room. I believe it's in the 15th chapter of John.
He told them that they were to love one another with the same love.
That they were loved by himself isn't that interesting. They were to walk in love. And he said to them, by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples. He didn't say, if you keep my words and walk in truth and so on, and we'll speak of those things in a moment. But he said, if you have love one to another, their love one to another was going to be a tremendous testimony after the Lord Jesus was gone. But I say again, the love that you and I are to walk in.
And the love that we are to practically exhibit in our interactions one with another.
And in our love for souls in the gospel too, is to be no less love.
Then the love of God the Father and the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I find that very searching for my own soul, I find that very humbling. You know, it's easy on an occasion like this to come together and to exhibit practical love. And I look around and I see brethren giving each other a Big Bear hug. And that's wonderful. And I love to give my brethren a hug and those I haven't seen for some time and so on. But what about when we go home to the little assembly that we come from?
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Perhaps it's a lot more lot different there. Those that we know best, those that we rub shoulders with from week to week, those that we sit in the meetings with, and maybe there's just a handful. But is there that same love shown one to another? You know the Lord Jesus? When he gathered those disciples in the upper room, it was just a small company of them, just a few of them. But he exhorted them on Southeast in several ways.
In the upper room, to have that love one for another, it's a very practical thing. We can talk about divine love.
We can talk about loving one another, but again, it's that expression I heard from the brother some years ago. This is where the rubber meets the road. Do we really show that love in a practical way from day-to-day and week to week, amongst those we interact with on a regular basis? Now let's go to the Book of Colossians.
Colossians Chapter 4.
Colossians Chapter 4.
And verse five, walk in wisdom toward them that are without redeeming the time. Well, here we're to walk in wisdom.
You know, it's one thing to have knowledge, and knowledge is good. You know Peter at the end of his ministry, he said grow in grace and the knowledge.
Because we need knowledge, there has to be a basis. It's often been said that sound principles are sound. Doctrine lead to sound behavior, and so we've got to have the knowledge. And I want to encourage everyone of us to read our Bibles every day to seek to learn more from the word of God. But knowledge is has often been pointed out is not enough. And often in Scripture, like in the first chapter of Colossians, we have three things brought together.
Knowledge, wisdom and understanding if we were to go back to the book of Daniel.
We would find that Daniel particularly, but I believe also in connection with his three friends.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they not only had knowledge, but they had wisdom and understanding, and that's really what preserved them in the court of the king. And all those years you think of Daniel and all those years that he lived under those various kings with knowledge, wisdom and understanding. Because knowledge is is information, it's the basis, and we need that. We need the knowledge. But then wisdom is the ability to take that knowledge and to use it in a proper way.
I won't go into detail because some of you have heard me say this before, but you know, I never was very good with my hands and to get out of junior high I had to take a shop and it's the only year I had to take a shop and I opted for woodworking. I think the teacher gave me an A on the little project I struggled with all year and said don't ever send this guy back to a woodworking shop. But you know, I was able to open a textbook.
And to learn the theory of woodworking, but to take that theory and put it into practice.
I found was quite another thing. And so there's one thing to have knowledge, but then God can give the wisdom to take the knowledge of the word of God and to utilize it in a proper way.
And I believe it's the men of Issachar in the Old Testament. Then we read they had understanding of the times because we'll never really have understanding as to how to act and react in the day in which we live without knowledge and wisdom. We need those three things. And so again, we've often put it into a neat little formula, a little algebraic formula K + W = U.
Knowledge and wisdom is going to lead. It's going to equal understanding in our Christian life.
And so he speaks here of walking, not simply in knowledge, but he speaks of walking in wisdom. You know, I have known, sad to say, some of my own generation that I grew up with. And they had a lot of knowledge. They had a lot of scriptural knowledge. But sad to say, they didn't take it and apply it in a proper way. And sometimes it has led to very sad things in their pathway.
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And so we need to walk in wisdom. Now let's go to 1St John.
First John chapter one.
In verse 7. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.
And the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
And then I want to read a verse back in Ephesians again in the 5th chapter.
Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 8.
For ye were sometimes darkness, but now ye are light in the Lord walk as children of light. Well, I want to be careful in commenting on this portion in First John, because what first what John is bringing before us in his epistle is that which is true of us, whether we recognize it or not, whether we walk in the good or enjoyment of it or not. And it's really the thought is, since we walk in in the light.
As He is in the light that is you and I, who know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we have been brought into the light. We've been brought from darkness into His marvelous light, as it tells us in another place. That is where we are positionally. And because we are there positionally, we are brought into fellowship with the Father, with His Son Jesus Christ, and as a result we have been brought into fellowship with one another.
We have been brought into fellowship with the family of God. Nothing changes that.
We are in the light, we walk in the light, but again, I want to make it very practical.
And that's why I read the verse in Ephesians chapter 5, because that's the practical side of it.
You know another has said we walk in the light, we are in the light, but we can choose to walk on the Sunnyside of the street or the shady side of the street. We can choose if if we're not careful to walk in a way that we walk in the shadow. You know Jacob did that in the Old Testament. You know he wrestled with the Angel at Peniel and or he walked in the shadow for this it tells us the sunset and he walked in the shadow for 20 years. It doesn't tell us that the sun rose until he wrestled with the Angel at Peniel and then it says the sun rose. Isn't that solemn to think about.
He walked in the shadow for 20 years because.
He walked into a great degree in his by his own devices, by his own strength. He chose what he thought was best, tried to get the blessing by scheming, and so on. And so I suggest that you and I, while we have been brought positionally into the light, we can walk in the shadows if we're not careful. And so we are the children of light, and we need to be exercised that we walk in the good and enjoyment of that light.
You know, it's interesting to me that Ephesians is such a practical book.
You know, we we think of Ephesians as this wonderful truth that is brought out in the first three chapters, and certainly it is. It's tremendous truth as to our position on our heavenly calling in Christ and so on. But it's also a very practical book, just a little homework. Go through the book of Ephesians and see how seven times he mentions our walk. Very interesting, very practical.
Because there is a walk that is in keeping with those who have been brought into the light.
Of Christianity Now just one more thought and we'll go to 3rd John.
3rd John.
Chapter third, John, and just for the sake of time.
Let's read verse three and four, for I rejoice greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. I do want to read a verse in Psalm 86 as well.
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Psalm 86.
And verse 11. Teach me thy way, O Lord, I will walk in thy truth. Unite my heart to fear thy name. Well, here we are exhorted to walk in truth. John was writing to this brother Gaius. And John, it thrilled John's soul to hear that there was one who was walking in truth.
That is, one who had not only heard the word of God, not only had had the truth of God set before him.
But one who was seeking by grace, and of course it's only by grace, but with seeking by grace to walk in the good of what had been brought before him. And John said, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth, and it is a thrill. You know, some of us are a little further along in the path of faith, and we look back and we see some of you who are younger and you're coming along in the truth. We see a real desire.
And a real exercise to walk in the truth of God that thrills our souls, to see that that exercise in your in your life. And it's interesting with David in connection with this little prayer of his in the 86 Psalm, because you notice the title of the Psalm is a prayer of David. And he prays not only that he would know the truth, but that he would walk in it. Teach me thy way, O Lord, I will walk in thy truth.
Is that the desire of your heart and mind?
Because it's one thing to know the truth of God. It's quite another thing to put it into our footsteps.
To walk in obedience to the word of God. To walk in the truth of God every day.
And you notice too, David mentions the heart here, because I just want to say, at the end of the meeting, it is a question of the heart. We've spoken of our walk and all these things, but it comes down, doesn't it, in the end to a question of the heart? Because where the heart is, then the feet will follow. Where the heart is, the feet will follow. And we can talk about walking for the Lord and walking in these various ways that we've had before us, but if our hearts are not affected.
Then it's not going to have the proper effect that it ought to have. It's not going to get down again.
Where the rubber meets the road, we've taken up these verses. So very quickly I believe you'll notice there were seven things that we noticed in the New Testament that we are to walk in. It's that which qualifies our walk, that which has to do with our spirit and attitude. As to our walk for God and for the Lord, I trust that in some measure at least, they will exercise your soul and mind and that we will seek grace to walk in that way.
That He has for us until we take that last footstep, and it can't be long, Just another footstep or two. Just another few moments and we're going to hear the shout and we're going to sit down in His presence. And won't it be worth it all when we sit down in His presence and He comes forth to service and minister to our every happiness and joy for all eternity. To think back and to realize that by His grace and in the power of those resources given to us, we walked in the way.
That he had forest down here.