From the Pen of Paul. . .

Walking With God (4)

The Christian is to walk worthy of the Lord. Paul, in expressing his desire for the saints at Colosse wrote, "that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness" (Col. 1:9-11). What a great list of the tremendous requirements for living the Christian life! While all of these are important and to be commended, we want to look more closely on the requirement for Christians to walk worthy of the Lord, since this is the trait that fits our subject in these articles. To know and to do His will, and to conform completely to the directions given is to walk worthy of the Lord. Paul had just mentioned that his desire for them included their being "filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." So the principle is brought out very distinctly that before we can walk worthy of the Lord we must know His will and we must have the proper understanding of it and the wisdom to use it and live by it. The obligation for the Christian to study God's word in order that he might grow and mature as a Christian is taught forcefully and frequently in the pages of sacred Scripture. Peter wrote, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby" (I Pet. 2:2). And in his second epistle he urges us to "add" knowledge to our virtue; and, at the close of the epistle he again urges us to "Grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (II Peter 1:5; 3:18). And who can forget Paul's exhortation to Timothy, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (II Tim. 2:15)? Jesus charged the Jews, "Search the Scriptures," and often asked them, "Have you not read?" (John 5:39; Matt. 19:4). I do not believe it is possible for us to overemphasize the need for Christians to study the Bible on a daily basis. After all, we are going to be judged by what it says and our reaction thereto (John 12:48; Rev. 20:12). How about you? Are you a daily and a diligent student of the word of God? Are you "ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear," as Peter exhorts (I Pet. 3:15)?

To walk worthy of the Lord, then, is to walk in a manner corresponding to what the Lord has said and done for us. Paul mentions a number of things Christ has done for us in verses 11-14 of Colossians 1. Another form of this statement is found in Ephesians 4:1, where Paul writes, "I therefore the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love." Other similar statements may also be found: "Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ" (Phil. 1:27 [ASV]); "That you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory" (I Thess. 2:12). In each of these inspired statements, there is the idea of a standard to which our life must be conformed. Doing this is the only way we can walk worthy of the Lord.

The Christian is also to walk in the light. John wrote, "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" (I John 1:7). The verb "walk" here literally means that we are to "keep on walking." It must be a continuous walk. There is no place to "let up." Also note that we are to walk in the light where the Father is. We are walking in the light only when we are in fellowship with the Father; and the only way we can be in fellowship with the Father is by following His will completely. If our daily walk is the same as God's instructions for our walk, then we truly are in fellowship with the Father and all others who are also walking in this light. Being in fellowship with God, who is the source of all light, places us constantly and continually in the cleansing stream of Jesus' blood. Therefore if a man is a worker in the vineyard of the Lord, and his life is ordered by the Truth of God's word, he does not need to worry about the mistakes he might make which he does not realize; for the blood of Christ will take care of it and wash them away. And so we sing, "There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel's veins; And sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains!" Can you see the importance and the necessity for the Christian to be continually walking in the light? Do we dare do anything less?
—Paul M. Wilmoth

From the Preacher's Viewpoint. . .

Jehovah's Love and the Flood

"Please answer the following questions. Was Jehovah's love patient, kind, considerate, merciful, right, or just when he, reputedly, drowned millions of babies, children, mothers, and fathers?"

I do not know how many babies, and as far as that goes, men and women died in the great flood of Noah's day. Mr. McNeil seems to be dissatisfied with what God did on this occasion. What does this prove? It merely proves that Mr. McNeil would not have done what God did. It does not prove that God did wrong. In fact, I know for sure that He did not do wrong.

There are things worse than death itself. It is worse than death for one to live and die in sin and go to hell when life is over. Had these babies and innocent children lived to reach accountability before God, then, He would have had to judge them and their deeds. As it was, those who died before they reached accountability went to heaven to live with God forever and ever. They were much better off to die as they did than to live and die in sin.

When God destroyed the adults of Noah's day, He did so after being longsuffering. God waited patiently for many years for the people to come to repentance. The Bible plainly states this in I Peter 3:20. It is sad that people had to die like this, but the saddest thing of all is for people to become so rotten that they are not worthy of this life and to live. The Bible teaches that a man can so live that he forfeits the right to live. The vile criminals of our day do not deserve to live, but some seem to think they do.
—Malcolm L. Hill

Oh Happy Day

As most of you know, I had a foot to go bad on me a year and four months ago. I had a disease that destroyed the bone and it was necessary that the foot be amputated. So on May 3, 2010, I had the operation and all has gone very well, thanks be to God the Father.

David Hill has preached in my stead and done a wonderful job. I will resume my work in the pulpit at Northeast church August 1, 2010. I am greatly looking for that occasion.

Immediately after the surgery on my foot I went into rehabilitation and met some wonderful people. Some of them asked me to let them know when I would be back in the pulpit. So you have it—August 1, 2010. I intend to let the folks at rehabilitation know of my return to the pulpit. But I ask all my friends and loved ones to come and be with us on this occasion.

And how am I doing with my prosthesis? Better than great. How do I feel? Like a 45-year-old man. Keep on praying for me and I will be much better soon. The prayer of the righteous has saved me. Thank God for His goodness and mercy.
—Malcolm L. Hill