6.20.09
Walking Helps Us Stand
You know, the Bible is full of paradoxes. What’s a paradox? Well, Webster says that a paradox is a
seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true. In other words, something that seems to be
backwards!
You are probably familiar with some of these in the Bible. When we’re we’re actually strong, because of
our need and our willingness for the Lord to move. Then there is the idea that the one who
wishes to be the greatest must become a servant of the human race, in order to
achieve true greatness.
Paradoxes are powerful and true.
Good guidelines for us. Now, as
young people living in the 21st century, you will face lots of
challenges to your faith and to your belief system. You will have to be on your guard, because we
live in a fallen world that for the most part does not agree with the Bible, or
with God’s take on things.
And so the paradox I want to briefly discuss with you is the idea
that walking helps us stand. After all,
your theme as Pathfinders and Adventurers is Courage to Stand. It’s going to take lots of courage to be able
to stand up for what you believe in these last days of earth’s history.
But if you are going to be able to stand up for Jesus, and to be
courageous and brave, no matter what people are telling you, you are going to
have to learn to walk. In the Bible,
walking comes before standing.
Jesus tried to express this basic idea when He talked about the
Vine and the branches:
Abide in Me,
and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in
the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in
5 “I am the vine, you are the
branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me
you can do nothing. John 15:4, 5
Walking has to do with a daily relationship with Jesus. Jesus is the Vine, and we are the
branches. When we talk with Him, and
when we read His Word, we are connecting ourselves to Him, like a little branch
that is connected to the bigger Vine.
This is really supposed to be a regular thing—a daily thing. Jesus says that we are only able to bear
fruit if we are connected to the Vine.
Fruit means being able to stand, to make good decisions, to stay out of
trouble, to have a good attitude. That’s
fruit.
Galatians tells us about that spiritual fruit: But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Galatians 5:22
Fruit is something that takes time to develop, but it does develop,
if we are paying attention to our connection to the Vine, Jesus. Now think about these pieces of fruit. They are really good fruit! And so many people do not have them! In fact, if you have these fruit in your
life, you will definitely stand out in this world.
The only way we can have self control is by spending time with God
in prayer and reading, and sharing our faith.
The only way we can have true joy and peace is by spending regular time
with God. And if you need more patience,
spend more time with God. Read more, pray
more, and the patience and kindness will follow. You will be able to stand.
As you
therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and
established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it[a] with thanksgiving. Colossians 2:6, 7
- Genesis 5:22
After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters.
- Genesis 5:24
And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
- Genesis 6:9
[ Noah Pleases God ] This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. - Psalm 81:12
So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart,To walk in their own counsels.
- Psalm 81:13
“Oh, that My people would listen to Me,That Israel would walk in My ways! - 2 John 1:6
This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.
- 3 John 1:3
For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth.
- 3 John 1:4
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
Surely every father here wants his
children to walk in the truth, and to please God, and to be able to stand up
for what’s right in the end times. You
know, young people, the greatest gift you can give your father this weekend is
not a tie, or a gift certificate, or whatever.
No, the greatest gift you can give your father is to walk with the Lord,
in such a way that everyone who knows you knows that you are tight with your
God.
What a gift to give your father! Nothing will make him more pleased than to
know that your are a branch that is connected to the Vine, Jesus, and you are
daily growing in His love and truth.
That is something that makes a father proud and glad.
Colossians 1:10
that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful
in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Galatians 5:16
[ Walking in the Spirit ] I say then: Walk in the
Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.