A Walk thatMatches the Talk

Colossians 2:6-7

Adapted from a Jeffery Anselmi sermonhttp://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp?ContributorID=&SermonID=92381

Expectations

Life is full of them.

As we live our lives, we come to church and when we come to

church we hear a lot about walking the walk, or making sure that our walk matches our talk.

What do we mean when we say this? We are saying that since we

who have been immersed into Christ have made a commitment to Jesus that we should take care to make sure that the way we live our lives reflects the commitment

we made to Jesus when we voluntarily gave our lives to Him.

To walk in Him means we live our lives in such a way that we

regulate our conduct in accordance with what Jesus

wants us to do.

It is about daily conduct and attitudes.

It is living in harmony with Jesus!

That sounds really reasonable does it?

OK, let us all go out and do that right now!

Why do we have so much trouble as we try to live for Jesus?

Do you find it a struggle to live up to the commitment you made to Jesus when you gave your life to

Him?

Today I hope I can help you to understand what we must do in

order to be able to have a

“Walk That Matches The Talk.”

One of the things I believe we fail to recognize when it comes to

living for Jesus is the fact that it involves a process.

There is a process by which we learn to live for Jesus as we grow in Him.If we try to skip parts of the process,

we will have a very difficult time living the kind of life that we want

and that God wants for us to enjoy.Today we are going to be in

Colossians 2:6-7 as we look at how we can have a

“Walk That Matches The Talk.”

Colossians 2:6 ESV Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the

Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught,

abounding in thanksgiving.

Being Rooted In Christ

A walk that matches the talk begins with:

Paul uses several metaphors in these two short verses to try to

convey what God wants from us. We have spoken about the word

“walk” already. The second metaphor that is used is that of

being rooted like a plant.

The word “rooted” is an agricultural term.

It is also used in such a way as to tell us that the “rooting” is a present

state from a past action.This rooting takes place when we

give our lives to Christ.

When a Christian receives Jesus, it is as if he is planted in Him. To properly

grow, one must take root. (Hampton)

We are to be rooted in Christ.

Just as plants draw nourishment from the soil through their roots, so the believers should draw life-

giving strength from Christ.

This plant will die unless it has something in which its roots can dig into and draw nourishment

and stability from.

Too many are trying to live like we are not rooted, or we are rooted but we refuse the nourishment

Christ offers us.

In the parable of the sower Jesus talks about spreading the seeds of the gospel to people and He said

that some of them would fall away from the word when times got

tough because they had no root.

Matthew 13:5 ESV Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did

not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since

they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were

scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.

Being rooted in Jesus means that we are allowing our root system to

grow deep into Christ.We are connected to Jesus and we are drawing constant nourishment

from Him.Our life is derived from inward

contact with Jesus.The foundation of our character is

build from our relationship with Him.

One of the reasons we struggle so much with living for Jesus is the

fact that we do not allow ourselves to be rooted in Him.

How long do you think this plant will live without being rooted into

the ground?

If you want to successfully live for Jesus, then make sure you are

feeding on the Word of God and you are surrounding yourself with His Word though books, and other

media.What you fill you mind with guides

you life.

A walk that matches the talk progresses to:

Colossians 2:6 ESV Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the

Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught,

abounding in thanksgiving.

Being Built Up In Christ

Once we are rooted in Christ we then move to being built up.

The word translated “built up” is an architectural term that speaks

of the process of putting up a building. The building up is a

continual process, we are to never stop being built up in Christ.

We have to resist the temptation of thinking that once we are rooted in Christ when we are immersed into Him that we will just grow because

of time.

Being built up is what the Christian life is about.

When we come to Christ, we are like a building that needed to be

demolished.

Once the old building is demolished, it is time to be built

up in Him and by Him.

One of the reasons we struggle with living for Him is the fact that we are once again not being built

up in Him.

How many of us are empty lots of rubble?

Some of us try to take the rubble of our old life and try to build

ourselves up with the old material by doing the same things, going to

the same places, feeding our minds with the same material, and

spending time with the same people.

Get rid of the old because you are a new creation in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new

creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

As we walk in Christ, we are in the process of being built up to be like

Christ.

Ephesians 2:20 ESV built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself

being the cornerstone,

Once again, the way we are built up is by spending time in God’s

Word, by spending time in prayer.

Sometimes I feel like a broken record, but I cannot overstate the importance that God’s Word plays

in your life.

Acts 20:32 ESV And now I commend you to God and to the

word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who

are sanctified.

We are being built up for a purpose.

1 Peter 2:5 ESV you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a

holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God

through Jesus Christ.

A walk that matches the talk progresses to:

Colossians 2:6 ESV Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the

Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught,

abounding in thanksgiving.

Having An EstablishedFaith In Christ

We move from an agricultural term (rooted) to an architectural term

(built up) to a legal term (established). The term

“established” is a legal term that deals with the guarantee of a

contract. If you have a contract, you can be sure that you will receive what is stated in the

contract.

Gayla & I reserved a motel room on the Internet when she had her

pacemaker taken out. We printed out a receipt & confirmation

information. We had essentially a contract with the motel stating our

agreement.When we arrived at the motel in

Kansas City the receptionist tapped a few keys & found we had an

agreement guaranteeing us a room & the motel money.

As we are being built up in Christ, we start to realize that God

actually delivers on His promises, both positive and negative.

If our faith is weak, we will never be able to withstand the

difficulties in life because we will not trust God.

John 14:21 ESV Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who

loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and

manifest myself to him." 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the

world?"

23 Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and

we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does

not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear

is not mine but the Father's who sent me.

James 1:5 ESV If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach,

and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the

wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything

from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

2 Corinthians 1:21 ESV And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us

his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. Being established is a process.

We must continually strengthen our faith so we can have FULL trust in God.God promises eternal life with Him for

those who are His and faithful until death!

A walk that matches the talkends up:

Colossians 2:6 ESV Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the

Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught,

abounding in thanksgiving.

Living With An Attitude Of Gratitude Toward Christ

Abounding in thanksgiving is the appropriate response to being

rooted, built, and established in Christ.

When we are truly grateful to someone, being with them,

working for them and with them is not a burden.

I get such a charge out of seeing people who love Jesus so much, who appreciate their salvation so much that you when you see them serve God, you can see their joy in

getting to serve.

Gratitude is a continual active response to what God has done

for us.

Hebrews 13:15 ESV Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge

his name.

Concerning gratitude, John MacArthur Jr. states:

Praise completes the circle in which the blessings that flow to us from God return to Him in the form

of our praise and adoration.

By taking in the truth of the Word, believers get a strong mind.

By living out those truths, they receive full assurance that Christ is

who He claimed to be.Assured of that, they can appropriate

the riches that are His legacy to believers, and walk in Him.

As they walk in Him, they will grow in Him and become established in their

faith.As a result, they will give praise to

God.

Conclusion

You can have the life that God wants you to have.

You can have the life in Christ you desire to have also.

You will not grow and mature by accident; it takes time, prayer and allowing God to work in your life.

Many times we struggle in part because we do not do our part and

we do not allow God to do His part.

Do not cheat yourself out of a wonderfully rewarding life in

Christ.Make sure you are rooted in Him, built up in Him. Let that establish your faith and live for Jesus with

gratefulness!