IT is interesting and instructive to note the three distinct ways in which the Apostle Paul presses upon Christians that they should " walk worthy " of their Christian. position.
In Eph. 4:1 They are to " walk worthy of the vocation with which ye are called."
In 1 Thessalonians H. 12 They are to " walk worthy 'of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.
On the surface it is plain that the object put before the mind, with reference to which the walk is to be worthy, is different in each case, and it is of great moment to mark this difference.
In the first case it is the " habitation of God through the Spirit " that is in view. This is plainly seen if the fact that chapter 3. is a parenthesis be noted, and thus, that the exhortation, with which chapter iv. commences, is connected with the last verse of chapter 2. In this verse Paul tells the Ephesian saints that they, with other believers, " are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit"-or "God in Spirit." Sovereign grace had called them into this blessed, yet solemn, position, they were to walk worthy of it and all it involved. Now while, doubtless, other things enter into this "calling," yet the great fact, that is here put prominently before the mind, is that all Christians form together the house of God on earth-that aspect of the church, of which Paul, in writing to his son Timothy, says, " That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." (1 Tim. 3:1515But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:15).)
What we have then specially to notice here is, that it is as worthy of God's house, which in. fact they form, Christians are exhorted to walk; and thus, while all the range of blessing and responsibility in which saints stand in this present dispensation are in question, the eye is directed inwards to God Himself; and seeing that it is the Holy Ghost who actually dwells in the house, He gets special prominence before our minds in this first " walk worthy," and in two ways. On the one side we are in relation with Him as God dwelling in the midst of believers; on the other, as the One who forms and maintains the unity into which they have been introduced. In order then to walk worthy of the calling with which we have been called, we have primarily to walk in what is suited to God Himself, in His nature and ways, and hence it is that " all lowliness and meekness " are the first things requisite; just how Jesus walked-" meek and lowly in heart," as we read in Matt. 11 The foot that falls worthy of God in His own house must be a meek and lowly one; and, whatever we may think, we are not walking worthy of our vocation, and really maintaining the truth of the church, unless the lowliness and meekness that characterized Jesus before God is characterizing us.
This is the first grand essential in our walk at all times, and without it we are walking unworthily; God Himself is not before the mind, for if truly before Him we must be meek and lowly, and to talk of walking worthily with others while the first essentials of all godly walk are wanting is folly and worse, for it is the evidence of hardness of heart and want of conscience. Moreover, the second part of this walk-" with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavor- ing to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace "-is impossible if " lowliness and meekness " before God be not there, for unless we are walking right with God, we cannot walk rightly with one another. But if in " lowliness and meekness " we are walking with God, what God is in His nature and ways towards ourselves. will be found in us towards others. God's character, in long-suffering and forbearing love, will be expressed through us; and, with this, there will be the true endeavor " to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." The blessed and holy ways of God must be found in our own hearts before Him in secret before they can flow out of us in our walk with others; and, especially for those who would lead others, it is well to remember that of Him, who " made known his ways unto Moses, and his acts unto the children of Israel," it is said, " the meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach
his ways. 5)
C. w.
(To be continued, the Lord willing.)