From Death

Introduction

Ephesians 2:1–3 ESV

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 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— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Christianity made the most sense for me, because it best explained the human condition. Man is not inherently good. Man is inherently evil.

The biggest problem with the people around you isn’t their political party, their race, or their ideology. It is their SIN.

What is wrong with mankind? Ultimately, sin is what’s wrong with mankind.

Paul increases in each verse the severity of the charge.

Dead in sin.

Ruled by Satan.

Children of Wrath.

Sin is the illness, and Christ is the cure.

All of humanity is dead in their sin, but Christ brings eternal life.

Exposition

Ephesians 2:1 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins”

I want to call attention to this concept of death for a minute. We live in a culture sterilized from death, so death does not really compute for us.

No amount of human effort, medical expertise, or technology can bring a corpse to life.

A corpse can look alive, but it is dead.

A corpse can have all of the attributes that a living body has, except for one - life.

Death at a physical level is irreversible.

All of humanity suffers from a spiritual death.

Lack of spiritual ability.

Lack of relationship with God.

No capacity for spiritual activity and development.

Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot have faith in Christ or know God.

I had someone who heard my preaching (it wasn’t here), and said, “You know, you are really good if you didn’t talk about sin so much.

You couldn’t preach much of the Bible if you didn’t preach about sin.

Sin is the most accurate representation of me.

Leonard Ravenhill // There are two types of people: those who are dead in their sin and dead to their sin.

Luke 7:11-17 “Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.”

There was “to death.” Death was always the final straw. But Christ says that we have life from death.

Spiritual resurrection is more important that physical resurrection.

May we react with new spiritual life the same way that those mourners did in Nain.

Ephesians 2:2 “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—”

While we are dead in our sins, we are also ruled by the powers of darkness.

How do you know if you are dead in your sin? You live in accordance to the world?

Do you more consistently look like Christ?

Do you long for the things of God?

Do you hate your sins?

Do you commune with God.

We have a lot of people who have Christian values, but they do not have saving faith.

You can espouse everything that Jesus says, but unless you have given your life to Him, you are not saved.

We have SO many people who follow the Christian ideals, but they live just as much according to the world as most remote Cannibalistic tribes.

There is a course that everyone in the world takes, and Satan is the guide towards that way of life.

You cannot look and live passively upon Christianity.

You either make a decision to follow Christ, or you look like the world.

Even you lack of a decision is a decision not to follow Christ.

Ephesians 2:3 “among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

We are also “Children of Wrath.”

Everyone, “ALL,” once lived in the passions of their flesh and carried out the desire of their body and mind.

Some of you are hearing this passage in the last tense, because Christ has saved you.

Some of you are hearing it in the present. This is your life.

The most loving thing that I can tell you is that judgement awaits you.

You are dead in your sins. That feeling in your gut is the Holy Spirit.

Today, you can move from death to life.

To children and students, you can come to church every week of your life, but unless you turn from you sin and trust Jesus to save you, you are destined for the wrath of God which is an eternal hell.

Invitation

The adjectives that describe your life based upon this passage are death, trespass, sin, worldly, deceived, impulsive, and wrathful.

Do you see why Ephesians 1 is such a better word.

BUT GOD