Walk Worthy of the Calling Part 2

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. God calls His people to live a life with a radically different purpose than the one we would live in our own flesh. In His goodness, He also equips us with everything we need to live out that calling vibrantly. We're delving into Ephesians 4-1 in this message titled, Walk Worthy of the Calling, preached on September 10th, 2017.

Let's listen in on the second part of this message. So all the truths of Ephesians 1-3, they're not just nice religious platitudes that we need to keep in our minds. They have a practical relevance in the day to day, because God has disclosed Himself to us, not just for our information, but for our transformation.

And so all of the truths of 1-3 have a practical relevance for us in the day to day, and it looks like chapters 4-6. Now, before we go on and understand what He's talking about, I need to say two things about what He is not saying. What does Paul not mean by walk worthy of the calling with which you've been called?

Because some of us, maybe some of the backgrounds we've come out of, we might read it in a way that Paul did not intend. Here's the first thing he did not mean. He did not mean, earn this. He did not mean, do your best to live up to it.

As if He's presenting to us in 1-3, now this is the standard, now it's up to you to measure up. And you're just supposed to try hard to do what you're supposed to do. Listen, a thousand times, no. That's not what He is saying. Because if that's how you see this, then what you've done is you have relegated Christianity to every other religious system, which is nothing more than just a moral checklist. And that's not the grace of Jesus Christ. And that's not what the apostle is calling us to here. So He's not saying, now this is what you have, now earn it. That's not what He's saying. The second thing He's not saying is that this is payback.

He's not saying this is payback. Well, you know, God did this for me, now I just really ought to give back to Him because He did this for me. Listen, God does not operate in a quid pro quo universe.

That's not how He works. That's not grace. Yes, we are to live a life of gratitude, but it's so beyond this. Because this is not because this is not about you being in debt to God. Don't go there. You are not in debt to God.

You could never repay Him. It's not about debt. So that's not what the apostle Paul is calling us to here. It's not about earning it.

It's not about paying it back. So what is it about? When he says, walk worthy of the calling with which you've been called, it's about outflow. It's about outflow. What he's saying is, function according to your design. You have been designed, called and equipped, now function accordingly. Function according to the calling and the equipping that you have been given. You have been created in Christ Jesus. That's chapters 1 to 3.

Since you've been created in Christ Jesus, 1 to 3, here's what it looks like, 4 to 6. So a good translation of what this might look like is this, conduct yourself suitable to your calling. Conduct yourself suitable to your calling.

Now let me illustrate that. We have a powerful military in America and every soldier is highly trained and highly equipped. And so he goes through the boot camp and all the specialized training and he's got all the equipment. We've got smart weapons, all the information available to him that he needs, right? So here you are, this soldier, you've got all the equipment and all the information available to you, all the smart weapons, right?

So why would you go out into battle with shorts and flip-flops wielding a machete? You're not operating according to design, the calling and equipping, right? And you just go out, ah, that's not what a soldier does.

Christians can do that if we forget our calling and our equipping. Here's an illustration that I like better actually, an airline pilot. Did you know that airline pilots cannot see where they're going? Now you may never fly again after hearing that, I understand, but they can't see where they're going.

But they have something that's called an instrument rating, which means what? They are actually flying by faith. It doesn't mean they have their eyes closed. They can't see where they're going, but they have instruments that give them all the necessary information they need to fly the plane. It tells them where they are with respect to what's ahead of them, what's below them, their altitude, all of that. And they're in communication with the ground.

They have all of that. So this highly trained pilot to understand and utilize all of these instruments can fly this massive airplane at 600 miles an hour, 35,000 feet in the air. And that fascinates me every time I think of that, right?

Meanwhile, people are complaining about airline food. So what would happen if all of a sudden the pilot's thinking, oh man, we're in a cloud and I can't see where I'm going. And so what does he do? He forgets all the instruments. He just turns them off. He says, I can't pay attention to that.

It's too much. He turns off all the instruments and he's just like, I got to see where I'm going. I don't know what you call it, a steering wheel, whatever, you know, but it's not really a wheel.

It's a stick, something like that, right? You see, why would a pilot do that? Because he's got the equipping and he's got the calling.

He's got the training and all of that. So why would he set all of that aside to try to control things on his own when he has all the necessary information he needs? Paul gives us an example even in this text.

Look what he says in 4.1, I therefore, what is the next two words? A prisoner. Paul was in jail when he wrote this. He was under arrest.

He was in prison when he wrote this. Listen to this. Are you listening? Context does not change your calling. Context does not change your calling. Circumstances not withstanding for the apostle Paul, I therefore, a prisoner. I beseech you, I implore you that you walk worthy of the calling with which you are called. And Paul includes himself in that. And look at the example that he gives us. Here he is in prison for his faith, but he understands himself to be bound to Christ. And he also understands himself to be alive in Christ. And therefore, because those things are true, he is more than a conqueror and that makes him an influencer even in prison for his faith. He was living his calling. He was living his equipping. Context does not change our calling.

And that's what we need to understand. You, Christian, have been called. You have been called and you have been equipped.

And that is what the apostle Paul has been covering the first three chapters. And that's why he says, conduct yourself suitable to your calling. Engage all that training, that calling, that equipping that you have received.

Live suitably to the ability that you've been given. That's what he means, walk worthy of the calling. And this is in great contrast to those who are not in Christ.

And he draws out that contrast in this book. And I want to refer to them because it's so important that we don't fall back into the same rut as before we were in Christ. Because if we are conducting ourselves suitably to the calling that we've received and the equipping that we have, that is in contrast to the unregenerate person. And how is it that an unbelieving, unregenerate person walks? He says in 417, they operate in the futility of their minds. An unbelieving person operates in the futility of their minds. Because they don't acknowledge the information that God has given. Therefore, they don't conduct life with God's perspective. Listen, in Christ you have a whole new perspective on life and it's God's perspective. It's the big picture. So if you have been granted eagle's wings, why are you still strutting like a grounded chicken?

You shouldn't be there. Here's another, a second way. This is a second contrast between the believer and the unbeliever, the regenerate person and the unregenerate person. And that is that the unregenerate operate in the passions of the flesh. The passions of the flesh.

That's all they can live for. Because they don't understand the higher purpose of God's calling. They don't understand that their lives are for God's pleasure and we receive our greatest pleasure in God. We see the Christian can understand that. The Christian knows that and we glean that from Ephesians 1 to 3.

Now, having made this contrast, Christians listen very carefully to me, having made this contrast with that also comes a warning, a caution. Because you have an adversary who does not want you to grasp the truths of Ephesians 1 to 3. He does not want you.

You know what would make him really happy? Is if you just skip 1 to 3 and you go to 4 to 6 and you just try, you hunker down, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and say, I'm going to do this. That's what he wants you to do.

He would love for you to ignore 1 to 3. And the tactic of the adversary is to wield upon you ignorance. Ignorance. Ignorance of the truths of chapters 1 to 3.

Next. A stunted growth, a stunted understanding of the truths of the Word of God or to ignore the truths of the Word of God or to forget them. To forget chapters 1 to 3. He wants you to forget them.

He wants you to try to operate without those truths because he knows you'll get frustrated doing it. Do you know how many Christians I know that are frustrated in their faith? They're not sure it's worth trying. Do you know why they're there?

Because they're doing it in their own strength. They have forgotten Ephesians 1 to 3. Folks, that list of 16 things from Ephesians 1 to 3, you need to know that.

You need to know that. You need to contemplate, meditate on those truths. The second tactic of the adversary, the first one is ignorance. He would love for you to maintain ignorance so that you too, even as a Christian, would walk in the futility of your mind.

But his second tactic is individualism. You see, we are called to be a radical new community of a new people, of a one new people, bringing glory to God. You've been listening to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Visit our church website to see upcoming events or to listen to more messages at www.gbcwinston.com. To discover how to live by grace, tune in on weekdays at 10 a.m.