Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
11/15/98 am
Walking And Talking With God
Reading — 1 John 1.3-2.6
“My God and I go in the field together,
We walk and talk as good friends should and do;
We clasp our hands, our voices ring with laughter,
My God and I walk thru the meadow’s hue.
This earth will pass, and with it common trifles,
But God and I will go unendingly.”
This is what we all want out of life isn’t it?
- To walk and talk with God.
- To know this kind of intimate fellowship and companionship with Him.
- And to know that it will last forever.
This must have been the kind of fellowship Adam and Eve had with their creator. Genesis 3 tells us that God would come walk with them in the cool of the evening.
Enoch had this kind of fellowship didn’t He? Genesis 5.24 tells us that, Enoch walked with God; and was not for God took him. I mean, it was like one day Enoch and God were walking, talking, their voices begin to ring with laughter and God said, Enoch its closer to My house than yours; why don’t you just come home with Me... And he did, and he did. This is what I want, to have such an intimate fellowship with Him, that one day He’s say, Randall, come go home with me.
Now we must know this morning that for us to have such an uninterrupted fellowship with God we must learn to walk with Him. First John 1.7 says, If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have (What?) Fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, continues to cleanse, to purify us from all our sin. This is one of my favorite verses in the New Testament. I use this verse often, from this pulpit, to teach us that as we walk in the light our sins are continuously cleansed by the blood of Jesus. That the security of the believer is guaranteed for as long as we’ll willing to walk in the light. But this morning we want to focus on another truth from this great verse. That is this... When we walk in the light, we have fellowship with God, with His Son Jesus, with the Holy Spirit and with one another. Well, what does it mean to walk in the light? I believe John tells us in the very next chapter... Verse 6, Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus walked. You see, Jesus had this relationship with God that we want and need so desperately. And the good news this morning is that we too can have this intimate fellowship, if ...IF we are willing to walk in the light.
Well, can we learn to walk with God? Of course the answer is YES... Well how?
FIRST, WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT WE NEED SOME DIRECTION.
- Jeremiah says, It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.
- Twice, Solomon declares, There is a way the seems right to man, but the end thereof is death.
Church, it’s not easy for us to acknowledge that we need assistance. Our pride says, I can do it by myself. But the truth is, there cannot be any meaningful walk with God until we have:
- A broken contrite heart,
- A willingness to say:.. God direct my walk... Take control of life.
Amos said, that two cannot walk together unless they agree. Our companionship with God is based upon our following His directions. Are we willing?
SECONDLY, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHERE WE CAN GET THIS DIRECTION.
What is this light that we are to walk in? I believe it is nothing more or less that the truth from God’s word. Scripture is replete with passages which tell us that truth and light are synonymous.
- David says, Your WORD is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.
- In Psalms 43.3 he says, Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me.
- Solomon wrote, For your commands are a lamp, your teaching is a light.
- Isaiah invites, Come, let us walk in the light of the LORD.
- In John 1, Jesus is said to be the WORD.
Then in verse 6-9 Jesus is said to be the light.
Verse 14 tells us the Word, the light, became flesh and was filled with grace and truth.
- In John 14.6 Jesus declared, I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father, NO MAN WALKS WITH GOD, except by Me, through Me
- Paul speaks of the light of the Gospel.
- Paul repeatedly admonishes us to walk as children of light.
- Out text in verse 6 says, If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by (What?) The truth.
- In Revelation 21.24, the saved are pictured as those who walk in the light of God’s glory.
You see church, there can be no meaningful relationship with God unless we walk in the light of truth.
THIRDLY, WE MUST UNDERSTAND WHAT DETERMINES TRUTH IN OUR WALK WITH GOD.
Where can we find: this light, this truth, this direction we need for our walk with Him? What determines truth and light in matters of religion?
Today, our religious world sees truth coming from one of five sources or maybe a combination of the five:
- From the Bible.
- From the church.
- From tradition.
- From the preacher, priest or rabbi.
- And from within self, our feeling, our conscience.
The question then becomes, were do we get our truth, our light for our walk with God?
TRUTH, FOR OUR WALK, DOES NOT ORIGINATE IN THE CHURCH.
To some the authority for their faith and practice is from the hierocracy of the church. To them truth is defined by church doctrine. Something is true because the CHURCH says it is true.
Augustine once said, I would not believe the Scriptures, unless the authority of the church confirmed it. He was saying that truth is true because the church says it is. Audience, this position is of the devil. This is circular reasoning. This kind of reasoning has given us such outlandish, non-Biblical doctrines as:
- The doctrine of purgatory.
- The infallibility of the Pope.
- And the teaching that sins can be forgiven through a monetary gift or some other act of penitence.
Some have decided that the church can supercede Scripture by a vote of its membership, by a counsel, conference or synod. Truth is not a result of the democratic process. Truth is not defined by a church vote. Truth is not what the church decides it to be. Truth does not originate within the will of the church, but within the mind of God.
- The church that Jesus promised to build,
- The church He purchased with His blood.
- The true church of Christ, is the result of truth, not the father of it. The church is not the source of truth, but the pillar and ground of it... That means the church is to support truth, not define it. Our walk with God, our relationship with Him, is not determined by the church, but by the Holy inerrant Word of God... By Scripture.
TRUTH, FOR OUR WALK, IS NOT DETERMINED BY TRADITION.
Many today base their authority for their walk with God upon the truths of tradition... The Faith of our fathers. I simply mean by this that they are what they are religiously, because mom and dad, grandmother and grandfather were. Does family tradition really determine truth? NO!
We have those in the church calling for a return to the old paths, a return to tradition. The old paths is a noble and high calling It is an emotionally charged plea, but the old paths are good and proper ONLY... ONLY to the extent that:
- That tradition,
- That faith,
- That practice are within the text and context of truth... of Scripture.
Listen to me church, promoting religious change... or resisting change to the point:
- That we make tradition,
- The old paths.
- The faith of our fathers authoritative over the Bible is wrong. Here it is, traditions are true and authoritative only, ONLY, to the extent that they agree with New Testament tradition, Apostolic tradition. Agreed? I hope so!
TRUTH, FOR OUR WALK, IS NOT DETERMINED BY THE PREACHER.
I talk to people who tell me, well I’ll have to ask my preacher to see what we believe on this subject. To them truth is determined by their preacher, pastor, priest or rabbi. This is a prime mistake. Priest, preachers, pastors and popes are mere men. And regardless of their: sincerity, education, and honesty; they can be wrong. Mere men are fallible
Some today are false teachers and know it. Still others are false teachers and don’t know it. The terrible thing is that the results are always the same. People who trust their faith and practice, their walk with God, to them are lead astray. Let me tell you, don’t rely on this preacher for truth. I’ve been wrong too many times. Men are failble, only God is truth... Only God cannot lie or be mistaken.
TRUTH, FOR OUR WALK, CANNOT BE DETERMINED BY FEELINGS.
Today, our religious world today is divided over subjective and objective truth. Subjectivism says, truth is truth because we feel it’s true. NO! NO! Truth is true, because it is truth. 2+2=4, not because we feel it is, but because it is. Subjective truth has given birth to relativism, existentialism, which says, truth is whatever you decide it to be. The existentialist says, you can have your truth and I can have mine, and not only that this truth can change depending on the situation... So today we live by situation ethics rather than by TRUTH. Now, we can and should feel right because we are right, but just because we feel right is no assurance that we are right. Feeling can be deceptive... We see this evidenced many times in Scripture, for instance:
- Jacob lived for years in a foreign country, separated from his family because he FELT that his brother Esau was out to kill him. Not so — not so at all... When they finally met at the river Jabbok, Jacob got a big burly hug from his brother, not a knife in the heart. His feelings were wrong.
- Later Jacob lived 20 plus years thinking, feeling, that his son Joseph was dead, killed by wild animals... While, all along, he was alive and doing quite well down in Egypt.
- Saul of Tarsus felt good about stoning Christians. He conscience was totally clear in this action... But he was wrong.
You see, our feelings, our conscience, is a proper guide only to the extent that it is educated, trained by TRUTH. Those in the Oklahoma City bombing may have felt safe as they went to work. The people on TWA flight 800 felt that they would arrive safely in Paris, but that was not the truth. Our walk with God is not determined by how we feel, but by our walking in the light of TRUTH.
Let me suggest that truth, our authority for our religious faith and practice, must come from THE WORD... THE BOOK... SCRIPTURE... THE INERRANT HOLY TEXT.
Jesus says:
- You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.
- Sanctify them through Thy truth, (WHAT IS TRUTH?) Thy word is truth.
In our text John says, this truth will cleanse us, purify us from all our sins. When we stand on this truth, we have all the authority we need for what we believe and practice in the church and in our individual walk with God.
Listen to David in Psalms 1, BLESSED, HAPPY, is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
FINALLY WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT GOD’S TRUTH THROUGH THE WORD IS COMPLETE.
Scripture is all we need for our walk with God. Paul writes to Timothy saying, All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Did you notice it? Scripture is useful for the following things:
- For teaching,
- For rebuking,
- For correcting,
- For instructing in righteousness.
So that the mans of God may be thoroughly, completely equipped to every good work.
Church, everything we need in order to walk with God is found in Scripture. God is our designer... Our creator... And he knows just what we need to walk with Him. Want to know how to walk with God? Become familiar with God’s Word, walk in the light of TRUTH, His TRUTH.
WELL, HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND TO THIS WORD IN ORDER TO WALK WITH HIM?
WE MUST READ IT.
Isaiah says, seek you out the book of the Lord and read it.
WE MUST BELIEVE IT.
The Hebrews writer says, Without faith it is impossible to be pleasing to God.
We must obey it, walk within its precepts.
Would you like to walk with God? You can, by faith, repentance and New Testament baptism. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is patient with us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. For we are children of God by faith, for as many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ, have been clothed with Christ?
Most of us here this morning are children of God, what we need now is to:
- Walk in the light, as he is in the light,
- Where we can have Fellowship with HIM and with one another,
- And to have the blood of Jesus, his Son, continue to cleanse us from all our sin.
The invitation is for you and your speaker to do whatever is necessary to be found walking with God.
