Ephesians 2:1-9

Ephesians 2:1–9 “1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Paul reminds us of our life before Christ.

We walked according to the world,

The prince of the power of the air (satan),

We were spiritually dead because of our nature,

Walked according to humanity’s values,

Walked according to our fleshly desires and thinking,

Children of wrath.

This is who we used to be before you were a Christian.

And we didn’t even know it.

You were this way because you once had the nature of Adam.

God does not like sinful behavior.

Remember Sodom and Gomorrah?

Divine judgment was meted out.

Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt.

Folks Judgment is coming.

We are not any better than Sodom and Gomorrah.

Look at our world today!

The Porn industry.

The 6th most popular internet site for porn in the world boast of having over 5.6 billions views.

A survey of thousands of pornographic videos found that 45% had at least one act of physical aggression.

Then there is the AI-generated porn, which is a whole new type of sickness that we will have to endure.

61% of the general population watch this stuff.

78% are men.

44% are women.

How many Christians watch pornography?

54% watch.

75% Christian men.

40% of Christian women.

Besides all of this we have overwhelming alcohol and drug use.

That feeds into criminal conduct.

Then we have divorces.

Children being tossed around from one parent to the other.

Last year there were an average of 98,800 abortion each month in the U.S.

Close to 50,000 suicides each year in the U.S.

Corruption among elected officials who have no ethics or morals.

People trying to assassinate the President.

We have TDS or Trump Derangement Syndrome.

We have people who now say Capitalism is bad and they push for communism and socialism.

There’s not one example where either one of these ideologies has succeeded.

In fact both have killed millions of people.

Then there is the LGBTQXYZ stuff.

The trans surgeries

DEI - diversity, equity and Inclusion.

Then there is racism, sexism, ageism, ableism,

Communism, Marxism Nazism, narcissism.

Folks I haven’t even touched on many others.

Everything I just mentioned is sinful and disgusting and you are in the middle of it.

Sounds like Sodom and Gomorrah!

Your children and grandchildren are in the middle of it.

I think this is why there is so much emphasis on prophecy.

There are a lot of people who believe the end is really getting close.

So, what can we do.

First lets see what Christ has done for us.

Read verses 4-6.

We have been made alive with Christ.

Isn’t that a wonderful message after hearing how our world is?

Are you alive in Christ.

Does your life ...daily walk reflect that you’re alive in Christ?

Are you using your gifts?

Has the Holy Spirit prompted you to do something?

You know our gifts sometimes comes about because of the struggles we have been through.

Through our pain in life we can help others.

Alcohol, marriage issues, anger issues.

Sometimes your talents can be directed into a gift.

Use your gifts.

Look at verse 8-9.

There it is. The greatest gift.

If you haven’t received this gift... you should accept it.