Sermon Tone Analysis
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*Dead Men Walking*
*Ephesians 2:1-3*
A failed diagnosis will always lead to the wrong treatment plan.
I read this week about a Florida man who went to the doctor with a fever and headaches.
A month later, he was dead.
His physicians failed to diagnose a form of tuberculosis and were treating him for something far less severe.
The results were fatal.
When assessing our spiritual condition, a failed diagnosis also leads to grave consequences.
That is why what we believe about man’s condition is so important.
There is an undeniable connection between our doctrine of sin and our doctrine of salvation.
It is the same connection between diagnosis and treatment.
We live in times when preachers and churches have altered the biblical diagnosis of man’s condition.
Let me give you two prominent examples.
Back in the 1980’s, Robert Schuller, then pastor of the Crystal Cathedral, published a book called /Self Esteem: The New Reformation.
/
In this book he stated that man’s problem is a lack of self-esteem.
"... the core of sin is a lack of self-esteem.
... Sin is psychological self-abuse.
... the most serious sin is one that causes me to say, 'I am unworthy.
I may have no claim to divine sonship if you examine me at my worst.'
For once a person believes he is an 'unworthy sinner,' it is doubtful if he can really honestly accept the saving grace God offers in Jesus Christ" (pp.
98-99 from /Self-Esteem:The New Reformation)/
Schuller is also consistent in his treatment plan for this problem.
"To be born again means that we must be changed from a negative to a positive self-image -- from inferiority to self-esteem, from fear to love, from doubt to trust" (p.
68).
This is a radical redefinition of sin and salvation from a highly visible and influential pastor.
Another prominent example is Joel Osteen.
Osteen has become a celebrity in the evangelical world (I use that term evangelical in its broadest sense).
With his best-selling book, /Your Best Life Now/, and his mega-church in Houston, he is probably one of the best known and most widely heard pastors in America.
Osteen appeared on Larry King Live back in June of 2005.
Here is part of the transcript from that interview.
KING: You don't call them sinners?
\\ OSTEEN: I don't.
\\ KING: Is that a word you don't use?
\\ OSTEEN: I don't use it.
I never thought about it.
But I probably don't.
But most people already know what they're doing wrong.
When I get them to church I want to tell them that you can change.
There can be a difference in your life.
So I don't go down the road of condemning.
(Exchange from Larry King Live, June 20, 2005)
I give these examples only to indicate what a radical shift we have seen among popular evangelicalism toward redefining the diagnosis of the human condition.
Is it really true that people who see themselves as sinners probably won’t accept the grace of God?
Is it an admirable practice for preachers to edit the term “sinner” out of their vocabulary?
Someone recently told me about a church advertising a current sermon series.
The sign listed the seven deadly sins from Proverbs 6:16-19.
But in big letters the sign referred to the sermon series as the “7 Deadly Distractions.”
What used to be called sin is now called a distraction.
I think these examples represent a huge departure from the biblical picture of the human condition.
As we come to Ephesians 2:1-3, we are going to get a clear diagnosis from God about man apart from Christ.
In this text, Paul is describing himself, the Ephesians, and all of us as we are without Jesus Christ.
This is man in his natural state.
I.
Without Christ, people exist in a condition of spiritual death.
A.
People are dead in trespasses and sins.
1. The word dead in Greek means…dead!
It is
used of those who have no life, corpses.
2. Obviously, this term is being used to speak of
the spiritual condition.
Unbelievers may have a
vigorous physical life, but they have no spiritual
life.
They are dead.
3. They are dead in trespasses and sins.
Their spiritual
death is a result of the fact that they are sinners.
a.
Trespasses refers to a false step of crossing
a boundary or deviating from a path.
b.
Sins is the word which means to miss a mark
or fall short of a standard.
c.
So, man has deviated from God’s path and
failed to reach his established standard.
Thus,
he is spiritually dead.
B.
The implications of spiritual death.
1. /Dead people have no ability/.
They cannot perform or
accomplish anything.
In spiritual terms, w~/o Christ,
we are incapable of doing anything spiritually good.
2. /Dead people have no sensitivity/.
There are no vital
signs of life.
They are unresponsive.
Thus it is with
the spiritually dead.
They are blind to God, deaf to
His voice, and unresponsive.
ILLUSTRATION: Dr. Erwin Lutzer teaches preaching courses at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
Every year, he takes his students on a field trip to the local cemetery—/so they can preach/.
He says:
I take them to a little cemetery in Deerfield, Illinois, and I have them all gather around a certain gravesite.
I point out the name, and then I tell one of the students, "Preach the gospel to Mr. Smith here."
They look at me like I'm nuts.
So I preach to Mr. Smith with enthusiasm: "Sir, Jesus died for your sins, and you must put your faith in him."
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