me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him
cultivate His society now, we may be sure that He will not take us to be in His society forever.
III. How to Enter into a Walk with God
These eight immeasurably precious results come from walking with God: abounding joy, abiding peace, spiritual enlightenment, purity of heart and life, beauty of character, eminent usefulness, pleasing God, God's eternal companionship. Do we not all then long to walk with Him? To come then face to face with the great practical question, what must we do that we ourselves may enter into this joyous, blessed walk with Him? The question can be plainly and simply answered.
1. First of all, we must trust in the atoning blood of Christ. "By faith," the record reads, "Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death" (Hebrews 11:5). Comparing this with what is said immediately before about Abel, we see that the faith by which he pleased God and was translated was faith in what God said about the blood. God is holy and we are sinners. Sin separates, as a deep and impassable gorge between us and Him. There can be no walk with Him until sin is put away and the gorge thus bridged, and it is the blood, and the blood alone, that puts away sin (Hebrews 9:22). It is vain for us to attempt to cultivate the presence of God until we have accepted the provision that God Himself has made for putting away sin from between us and Himself. Indeed, if we have any real thought of God's holiness and our sinfulness there could be no joy, but only agony, in fellowship with Him, unless our sin was covered up, washed away, blotted out by the blood. There are many today who are spurning the blood and still attempting to walk with God. Vain attempt! It is utterly impossible.
2. If we would walk with God, we must obey God. Jesus said, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him" (John 14:23). Obedience to God, absolute surrender to His will, is necessary if we are to walk with Him. We cannot walk with God unless we go His way. Two cannot walk together unless they be agreed (Amos 3:3). There are many who once knew the presence of God every day and every hour. They know it no longer. The old and heavenly joy has faded from their lives. They wonder why it is. Ah! there is no mystery--disobedience. Come back, get right with God, surrender again and absolutely to His will.
There is but one thing more to say. If we would walk with God, we must cultivate the thought of His presence. As Nicholas Hermann, or Brother Lawrence, put it, we must "practice the presence of God" constantly. Call to
mind the fact that God is with you when you are about your work. Often say to yourself, "God is with me." When you lie down at night say, "God is with me." If you wake at night, remember "God is here with me." So in all the relations and experiences of life.
There are four great aids to this:
(1) First, the study of God's Word. When we open this Book we realize, or ought to realize, that God Himself is speaking to us.
(2) Second, prayer. In prayer we come face to face with God.
(3) Third, thanksgiving. In intelligent and specific thanksgiving to God He is more real to us than even in petition.
(4) Fourth, worship. In worship we bow before God and contemplate Him. Oh, how near He gets at such a time.
It is the Holy Spirit who will make our walk with God true and real. It is in connection with the coming of the Spirit that Christ speaks of His own manifestation of Himself to us and of the coming of the Father and of Himself to be with us (John 14:16, 17, 18, 21, 23). Look, then, to God Himself by His Spirit to make His presence known and felt.
Brethren, shall we walk with God? God is saying to each of us today, "Come, take a walk with me." If we accept the wondrous invitation He will lead us on as long as we will let Him, and some day it will be true of us, as some one has quaintly said of Enoch, we will walk so far with God that we will not come back, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
R. A. Torrey Archive