1 00:00:02,280 --> 00:00:09,000 This morning before I go into my sermon, I want to give a special 2 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:11,080 announcement. We have a wedding announcement 3 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:14,720 for this coming Saturday. Nick Friesen and Grace 4 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:17,920 Richardson are planning to join their lives and marriage this 5 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:19,960 coming Saturday. There you see them on the slide. 6 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:23,400 We're very excited for them. We wish them God's grace, 7 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:27,000 blessings, and much joy as they enter this new season of life. 8 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,280 And I encourage you to bless them and wish them well this 9 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:34,280 coming week and beyond. It's an exciting thing for a 10 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:36,640 young couple to enter this new life and wish them well. 11 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:43,240 This morning for a sermon, we want to continue with our series 12 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:47,840 in the book of Ephesians. Our title this morning is What 13 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:54,560 we Were, What We Were. When life is going well, it's 14 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:58,120 easy to forget the past. When life was not going well, 15 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,760 there's a tendency when things are going well to quickly adapt, 16 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:07,520 to quickly adjust, and to acclimatize ourselves to the 17 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:08,840 good times. And I'm not speaking in 18 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:13,600 judgement of enjoying good times and taking the light in the good 19 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:15,720 times. But it's important for us to 20 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:18,240 remember the past and to not take for for granted the good 21 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:20,480 times. Sometimes in life it's helpful 22 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:23,920 to take some time and just pause and take a look around where 23 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:26,200 we've traveled in life, in the far we've come, and so on. 24 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:32,360 I think I speak for most people when I say that most people's 25 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:36,600 lives there are stories and experiences that they would 26 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:39,640 never want to repeat and have to go through the second time. 27 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:44,320 Often times the stories we have lived through, we're not right 28 00:01:44,320 --> 00:01:47,880 or wrong, they just were not good or bad. 29 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,080 They just were. Then there are good stories, 30 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:53,800 times of joy and gladness, the good life. 31 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:57,400 And then they're also stories of deep pain, hardship, and grief. 32 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:01,240 As we just mentioned our prayers, there's loss. 33 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:04,880 Then there's sometimes stories where sinful things were done to 34 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:08,240 us by other people, and there's not a thing we can do about 35 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:10,800 these things. But we can learn from those 36 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:14,360 events and we can forgive the ones who did the bad things and 37 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:17,680 we can move on. We can think about how it 38 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:20,720 affected us, how our lives have changed because of what others 39 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:26,240 did, and we continue on. But the most difficult stories 40 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:32,120 in our lives are the times when we send and caused pain to 41 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:34,920 others. The most painful stories in our 42 00:02:34,920 --> 00:02:39,720 lives are when others suffered because of things we did. 43 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:46,040 There's this deep sense of pain, grief, and guilt that we caused 44 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:48,480 others. Even though God Forgives us when 45 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:53,760 we repent, the memory lives on because their lives are forever 46 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:57,240 changed and it will never be the same. 47 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:01,400 And God heals that and it's OK. But the scars remain. 48 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:05,520 Think of the scars of our Lord Jesus, the scars in his hands 49 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:08,160 and his feet. I truly believe when we get to 50 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:12,400 heaven, we'll see them for us as followers of Jesus. 51 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:14,480 At one time we all were without Christ. 52 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:16,920 But at some point in time, those of us who are believers, we 53 00:03:16,920 --> 00:03:23,640 heard the gospel, we repented and received the gift of grace, 54 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:27,520 and we're saved. But as good as that is, and as 55 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:30,320 much as we need to remember and celebrate that and thank God for 56 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:34,240 that thing about this, even though our past is forgiven, it 57 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,080 is not erased. Yes, our sins are thrown into 58 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:39,840 the deepest sea, the Bible says, but the scars are there. 59 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:42,800 The reminders are there. Just like the scars in Jesus 60 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:45,040 hands. The deeds can be and are 61 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:49,760 forgiven, but nothing ever will make it go away or unhappen or 62 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:52,040 erase. It's forgiven, but not undone. 63 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:56,200 I think it's safe to say of the biblical writers that the 64 00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:58,720 apostle Paul understood this better than anyone. 65 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,480 And we know that he remembered well his life before he was a 66 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:06,080 Christian, before he followed Jesus, how he persecuted Christ. 67 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:11,240 Paul always remembered what he was before he met Jesus Christ. 68 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:14,840 He talks about that in some of his letters, how he was living 69 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,160 in ignorance and how he persecuted the Church of Christ. 70 00:04:17,959 --> 00:04:22,320 Last Sunday and Pastor Joel's sermon in Ephesians chapter one, 71 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:27,120 verse 15 to 23, we heard how Paul wrote of his gratitude. 72 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:29,880 Paul thank God for what God had done. 73 00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:33,280 We heard how Paul's words to the Ephesians are an encouragement 74 00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:36,560 for us today to pray for the knowledge we have in Christ, 75 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:38,480 that we have knowledge in Christ and that we are on. 76 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:40,840 To hold on to the hope that we have in Christ. 77 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:44,200 And how that hope then leads us to preach the gospel with power 78 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:45,680 and to submit to Christ's authority. 79 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:49,040 And all of that we heard was good and it's true. 80 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:53,000 But you know what really brings out and highlights that truth? 81 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:57,280 What highlights that truth and the God's goodness is when we 82 00:04:57,280 --> 00:05:01,240 take and hold it up against the backdrop from where we have 83 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:06,840 come, the gift of salvation in Jesus, the gift of God's Spirit 84 00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:10,120 in us, that he's raised us to life, that we can have 85 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:13,640 fellowship with him. All of that shines that much 86 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:18,800 brighter when we see and realize what we were before we had 87 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:21,640 Jesus. And so this morning as we 88 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:25,080 continue our series in Ephesians, we come to a part in 89 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:30,280 chapter 2 of the first 3 verses where Paul pauses and he quickly 90 00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:33,440 does a little bit of a detour and he writes about what we were 91 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:35,400 before. Our passage this morning is only 92 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:38,440 three verses for this morning. In some ways, this passage, if 93 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:42,240 we take it just by itself, seems like a dark passage. 94 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:47,200 But really it's like a snapshot of what Paul, There's our title 95 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:53,160 of our type of a snapshot of what we have and what we had. 96 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:56,000 Compare the two. He says look what you were, 97 00:05:56,520 --> 00:06:00,200 where you've come from compared to where you are now. 98 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:04,280 So this morning you want to look at this little passage here. 99 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:08,560 Look where we were in the past. The next thing I want you to 100 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:10,360 come back and listen for that. And then you're going to look at 101 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:12,840 where we are. Where we are today is not where 102 00:06:12,840 --> 00:06:14,120 we were, at least we shouldn't be. 103 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:19,600 And so this morning we will talk about what we were, what we once 104 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:23,880 were. Let's read Ephesians chapter 2, 105 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:27,640 beginning verse one to the end of verse 3. 106 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:33,440 Ephesians 2 one to three. And you he made alive, who were 107 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:38,000 dead, and trespasses and sins in which you once walked, according 108 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,080 to the course of this world, according to the Prince of the 109 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:44,640 power of the air, the Spirit who now works in the sons of 110 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:49,120 disobedience among all, whom among whom also we all once 111 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:52,280 conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the 112 00:06:52,280 --> 00:06:54,120 desires of the flesh and of the mind. 113 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:59,040 And we're by nature children of wrath just as the others. 114 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:01,520 He kind of just plunks this little piece. 115 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:04,400 You're right in the middle of what he says in chapter 1 and 116 00:07:04,840 --> 00:07:07,600 what he says onward from chapter 3 two verse 4. 117 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:10,640 And so next Sunday, as I said, we're going to go into it in 118 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:13,000 more in depth in chapter 2, verse four and on. 119 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:16,160 But it's kind of like he just plumps this just plump, just 120 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:21,080 plunks us right in there. As I've said before when going 121 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:25,480 through Ephesians, this is a very densely packed truth, and 122 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:28,520 we don't have time to unpack all of it, but want to look at some 123 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:33,080 of it this morning. It's a very densely little 124 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:34,520 piece. He just plunks right in there. 125 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:37,400 The whole thing is very dense, but he just takes a different 126 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:40,040 truth and just plunks right in there. 127 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:44,520 It's very interesting. One commentator says that the 128 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:47,080 way Paul writes this in the Greek and the original from 129 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:50,000 chapter 1 and chapter 2, we've divided into chapters and 130 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:52,360 verses. But the ancient scriptures were 131 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:54,520 not like that. And so for convenience or for 132 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:57,560 reference purposes, later writers, they put chapters and 133 00:07:57,560 --> 00:07:59,520 verses in there. So now it's kind of divided. 134 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:01,600 But in Paul's writing it was not so. 135 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:05,320 He's writing what God has done for us in Christ, what we have 136 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:08,880 in Christ, in him repeatedly in chapter 1, his power, and so on. 137 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:12,640 Then suddenly, here's this shift for what is marked off only in 138 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:15,560 three verses. And that is where we want to 139 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:20,960 spend our time this morning. It's as if Paul is leading his 140 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:24,960 audience, his readers, up on a mountain Rd. on the journey of 141 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:28,240 life. And now he unexpectedly pauses, 142 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:31,880 stops the journey, says look back, look there, look, look in 143 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:33,080 the back. I like that. 144 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:35,840 I like riding mountain roads because I sometimes just like to 145 00:08:35,919 --> 00:08:39,200 pull over where there's a pull out and just look around. 146 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:42,480 Look at the road we've traveled it. 147 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:46,000 It brings things into focus. He's been writing to them what 148 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:48,520 they have in Jesus, where we are now. 149 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:50,960 We're saved. We're predestined to be adopted 150 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:53,840 as sons in him, he says repeatedly, meaning in Jesus we 151 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:56,480 have redemption and forgiveness and God's power working in us 152 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:58,800 through Jesus Christ. It's like saying we're on the 153 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:02,720 mountain, but remember, we were in the valley, now we're on the 154 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:05,840 mountain. It is fitting and necessary that 155 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:09,840 we take time in life to look where we've been, what we were 156 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:14,520 like, the things we did, and how it's changed how we've grown. 157 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:18,560 It's easy to just want to keep going and we need to keep going. 158 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,160 But if we never take time to look back at what God saved us 159 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:25,880 from, and we don't take time to stop and look where we're at, we 160 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:28,680 may lose sight, we may lose perspective. 161 00:09:28,680 --> 00:09:32,080 And we find repeatedly in the Old Testament how God told the 162 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:33,840 Israel's remember where you came from. 163 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:36,080 Remember what you were. You were slaves in Egypt. 164 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:38,360 Remember how I redeemed you, what I did to Pharaoh, what I 165 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:41,840 did to the Egyptians, the Red Sea, the desert journeys, and on 166 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:43,960 and on. Remember how you were delivered, 167 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:46,880 delivered. It is totally appropriate and 168 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:49,840 fitting to remember the milestones in our lives, the 169 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:51,760 journeys, the experiences and so on. 170 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:55,720 I'm not saying there's merit, salvation merit, and remembering 171 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:57,840 the days of our conversion and baptism in those histories, 172 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:01,520 there's no salvation merit, but it's a very good sign of what 173 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:06,040 has happened, a reminder. So in today's passage we find 174 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:11,840 Paul stops, looks around at the journey, verse one, and you he 175 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:17,320 made alive who were dead and trespasses and sin. 176 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:19,600 Why does he have to talk about that? 177 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:22,520 We've been brought from death to life. 178 00:10:22,560 --> 00:10:25,760 It's our first point. Let's let that just sink in for 179 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:29,600 a little bit. We were dead. 180 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:34,640 I don't think we fully can grasp this. 181 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:38,640 To be made alive indicates the previous state of not being 182 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:41,640 alive. Before we were made alive, we 183 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:42,600 were dead. Think of it this way. 184 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:45,080 If someone walked up to you and said, oh wow, you're alive. 185 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:49,840 What do you think I was dead. Paul is saying here to the 186 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:52,640 Ephesians, you were dead, but you he made alive. 187 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:57,000 He's saying that then we're then we won't read it today before 188 00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:59,400 verse 4 and onward. He goes into a lot of detail 189 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:02,360 what God did in making us alive, but here he's just kind of 190 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:06,840 stopped. He takes a look into the past. 191 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:10,640 He describes his audience spiritual state before they were 192 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:15,800 made alive before they got to where they are now and next time 193 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:17,720 this sermon as a sermon. As I've mentioned, we want to 194 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,520 continue on this chapter what being made alive is like. 195 00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:24,160 But today we're spending our time on looking into the past, 196 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:28,000 what we were and this looking at the past at our record, at our 197 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:30,760 journey is something a lot of people are not interested in. 198 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:34,720 And the reason is exactly that because it takes us to our past. 199 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:38,160 The audience. Paul is writing to their current 200 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:40,360 state. Weird now was there were 201 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:44,800 spiritual living people. He says you were made alive. 202 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:48,080 I don't need to mention it, but I think we all know there's a 203 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:50,640 big difference between dead and alive. 204 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:55,160 I don't know for sure how to describe the difference between 205 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:58,160 dead and alive. I think there's no greater 206 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:01,880 difference than that and all of maybe the universe. 207 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:05,200 If the difference between dead and alive could be measured in 208 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:06,680 distance, I think it would be infinite. 209 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:11,560 Paul is talking to the Ephesians about a time when they were dead 210 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:18,840 and and what he's talking about is not dead as in corpses as not 211 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:22,920 breathing, hearts not beating. The word dead here does not mean 212 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:26,320 physically dead. He's referring to a human state 213 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:29,680 of existence where there was no desire for God. 214 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:34,480 There was. There was darkness, not the 215 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:37,480 heart had stopped beating. Not corpses, but human beings, 216 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:40,640 very much alive, possibly even healthy, totally healthy. 217 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:44,080 The best of shape may be even. But spiritually there was 218 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:49,120 nothing there, just darkness. He's describing living human 219 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:53,080 beings who are very much alive but dead in relationship to God. 220 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:56,480 This spiritually dead state, as Paul describes it here, is a 221 00:12:56,480 --> 00:13:00,400 person who has no connection to God, no desire for God. 222 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:02,120 They are their own person, so to speak. 223 00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:08,880 A spiritually dead person can be very smart, very knowledgeable, 224 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:13,160 very educated, very brilliant, and all those good things. 225 00:13:14,680 --> 00:13:16,440 They may even be going church going people. 226 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:18,920 They may even believe God exists. 227 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:21,280 Some do. The apostle James writes that 228 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:23,160 even the demons believe in God and they tremble. 229 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:26,280 What does spiritually dead look like? 230 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:29,000 There are stories in the Bible that illustrate that. 231 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:32,680 There's a story in the Gospel of Luke, Luke chapter 10, verse 25. 232 00:13:32,680 --> 00:13:36,480 I'll read that, have it on the PowerPoint here It says, and 233 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:39,640 behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, 234 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:42,040 Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 235 00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:44,760 He said to him, what is written in the law? 236 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:48,040 What is your reading of it? So he answered, meaning the 237 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:51,120 lawyer said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your 238 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:55,280 heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your 239 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:57,560 mind, and your neighbor as yourself. 240 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:00,280 And he said to him, meaning Jesus, you have answered 241 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:03,240 rightly. Do this and you will live. 242 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:07,400 Note the ending of Jesus response to this lawyer. 243 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:09,480 We'll go into the beginning, but first let's look at the ending. 244 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:12,480 He says do this and you will live. 245 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:15,320 Was the lawyer not alive? Now? 246 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:17,840 Of course he was alive, physically alive. 247 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:21,640 Obviously this was no doubt an occasion where Jesus was 248 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:24,520 teaching and people were sitting around and listening to Jesus. 249 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:26,520 It says one man, a lawyer, stood up. 250 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:33,400 That says a lot. And a crowd, a man stands up and 251 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:36,720 it says to test Jesus, to test him. 252 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:40,040 It tells us a lot about what's going on. 253 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:43,520 We know that often times when Jesus would teach, people would 254 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:46,400 come to listen, not to learn, but to listen. 255 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:48,800 And this guy had come to find fault. 256 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:52,480 He's a lawyer, making him one of the upper class in his day and 257 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:55,960 age, the upper class of society. He's obviously sitting and 258 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:57,360 listening. He has this idea he's going to 259 00:14:57,360 --> 00:14:59,560 test Jesus, and he doesn't ask the question about eternal life 260 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:01,240 to gain understanding or seek guidance. 261 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:02,720 He wants to see what Jesus will say. 262 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:06,120 So he stands up, gets attention, and he asks him this question. 263 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:09,160 Now he's not a dead person physically, but spiritually has 264 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:11,800 no connection to God. The lawyer was dead toward God. 265 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:14,040 His attitude toward Jesus was one of opposition. 266 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:16,880 He wants to test him. He did know right from wrong. 267 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:20,920 He expresses it, but he was not in relationship with God. 268 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:23,000 He still knew right from wrong. He knew the Scriptures. 269 00:15:23,640 --> 00:15:26,960 You see what makes a person alive in Jesus is when a person 270 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:31,080 hears the gospel, receives the gospel, repents of his sin, puts 271 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:33,680 his faith and trust in Jesus. That's the gospel in the in the 272 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:36,360 all the four gospels and the letters of Paul that makes a 273 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:39,600 person alive in Jesus. Knowing the scriptures did not 274 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:43,680 make this lawyer alive toward God, Jesus says to him, do this 275 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:46,880 and you will live. Did Jesus encourage him now to 276 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:51,200 earn his life by works of love? No, if one would read just that 277 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:54,840 portion in Luke, that's it, one might get that impression. 278 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:58,840 But that's not the whole story. We have many other passages that 279 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:01,720 teach us that what counts as a relationship with God through 280 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:03,960 faith is people have a relationship with God through 281 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:07,120 faith when they repent of their sin, walk with Jesus, and in so 282 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:10,160 doing express their loving and loving neighbors as well. 283 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:13,440 Knowing what to do is a good thing, as the lawyer knew. 284 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:16,760 Just knowledge, whoever doesn't save, just knowing what to do 285 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:19,440 does not give a person life. Life comes from God when there 286 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:21,760 is a relationship through faith. And again, next Sunday we'll go 287 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:23,520 further into that. But for today we're looking at 288 00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:26,400 our human state outside of a relationship with Jesus. 289 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:28,640 So we were dead. We know that now. 290 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:32,880 But in what were we dead and what were we dead? 291 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:36,200 Well, that Paul tells us, he says we were dead in trespasses 292 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:41,440 and sins. Wouldn't it have been enough if 293 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:43,080 Paul had just said you were dead in sins? 294 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:47,200 Would that not have been enough 'cause that's the truth? 295 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:51,600 But Paul clarifies dead. He says you were dead in 296 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:54,600 trespasses and sins. We know sin is sin. 297 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:56,160 We know that. But what are trespasses? 298 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:59,960 Aren't trespasses sins? Yes, trespasses are sins too, 299 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:02,720 but they are a kind of or a type of sin. 300 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:07,839 You see, trespasses are sins that we commit by willfully 301 00:17:07,839 --> 00:17:11,520 doing things we know are wrong, and we still do them anyway. 302 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:16,200 That's the trespass, he says. We're trespass dead, and 303 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:18,440 trespasses and sins. So let's look at trespasses for 304 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:21,000 a bit. Things people do wrong 305 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:24,200 intentionally. Spiritually dead people live 306 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,319 lives separate from God. They may still have Bible 307 00:17:27,319 --> 00:17:30,320 knowledge, maybe all the knowledge possible, even as this 308 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:33,520 lawyer did. They may even have training. 309 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:36,720 They may go to church. They may even be members of a 310 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:38,640 church. They may be serving in the 311 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:41,240 church, but that doesn't make them alive. 312 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:44,640 Alive because the Pharisees were temple people and they did 313 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:47,200 everything in the temple and they were spiritually dead. 314 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:50,760 Another story that comes to mind is the story of Adam and Eve in 315 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:53,120 the garden. God had given them the Garden of 316 00:17:53,120 --> 00:17:56,560 Eden to take care of and to enjoy, but He gave them free 317 00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:59,200 will. There's only one command that 318 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,200 they had to choose to follow. Do not eat from the tree of 319 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:04,400 knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat of it, you 320 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:06,840 shall surely die. They were spiritually alive. 321 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:08,280 They were in relationship with God. 322 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:12,520 They were not dead toward God in the garden before they fell, but 323 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:16,520 they were tempted, and they chose to disobey, and then so 324 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:18,800 doing, they died in the relationship with God. 325 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:23,000 That was a trespass. Adam and Eve had all the 326 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:26,400 knowledge they needed, but that did not stop them from 327 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:29,120 trespassing God's law and taking from the forbidden fruit. 328 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:34,960 They had to choose to obey. There's a lot more than we can 329 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:37,680 unpack here in one morning sermon, but let me just say that 330 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:41,480 today, under God's covenant in Christ, when we're in Christ, 331 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:44,200 God's Spirit lives inside of us to guide us and keep us. 332 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:48,000 And nothing can take us out of God's hands, but we can choose 333 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:49,440 to disobey and walk away from him. 334 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:52,480 There's no outside force in the universe that can remove us from 335 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:55,840 God, but we can reject him or disobey him and trespass. 336 00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:59,320 And Adam and Eve did so. They trespassed God's command 337 00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:01,760 and the consequences were catastrophic. 338 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:04,640 They lost their relationship with God and opened the door to 339 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:08,640 a world of sin and brokenness. Their relationship with God died 340 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:11,600 when they sinned. Their sinful state of death 341 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:13,600 toward God did not erase the dead of sin. 342 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:17,040 Their sinful state did not now somehow make them dead as a not 343 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:18,640 being responsible for anything anymore. 344 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:22,080 They were still very responsible and now after they had eaten, 345 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:24,280 they were. They were responsible for what 346 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:28,080 they had done and so on. The word dead in Ephesians means 347 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:32,000 separation from God. Paul says here in the same verse 348 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:34,160 They were dead in trespasses and sins. 349 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:36,400 Well, let's also look at the word sins. 350 00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:40,840 All trespasses are sin, but not all sins are trespasses. 351 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:45,400 All trespasses are sins, but not all sins are trespasses. 352 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:47,800 Sins come in different ways and different forms. 353 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:51,640 There are people who do things that are not trespasses, things 354 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:55,720 they shouldn't do, but do things they should should do but don't 355 00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:57,240 do. Rather sins of omission. 356 00:19:57,240 --> 00:19:59,880 For instance, remember the story of the Good Samaritan. 357 00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:04,800 Those of you here were Friday night at this event where Daniel 358 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:06,640 Pollard was. He told the story of the Good 359 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:09,880 Samaritan. He fell among thieves, was 360 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:14,920 beaten up and left for dead. A priest comes by and knows the 361 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:16,400 good he ought to do, but doesn't do it. 362 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:20,080 Sin of omission I leave It walks by and doesn't do the good thing 363 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:21,960 he ought to do in another sin of omission. 364 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:24,680 The good, the Samaritan, he was a good neighbor. 365 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:26,480 Maybe the Samaritan didn't even know any scripture. 366 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,360 We don't know, but he did the right thing. 367 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:34,520 So there are sins are sins of omission and there's also other 368 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:38,560 sins simply sins of ignorance. A person may not have done 369 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:42,920 anything wrong intentionally, not even willfully ignored any 370 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:46,720 good deed. Let's say they sometimes just 371 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:50,760 didn't know, just didn't know. As parents, those of us were 372 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:52,720 parents. When our children grow up, we 373 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:55,000 know what that's about because we look back. 374 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:58,680 Oh my goodness, what did we do? We did not raise our children 375 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:00,440 right. Or we've made mistakes here and 376 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:03,760 we've made mistakes there. We committed sins by not doing 377 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:05,720 things right because now they're suffering for it. 378 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:09,280 And later, in hindsight, we realized what did we do? 379 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:11,840 We didn't know better, but still is wrong. 380 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:16,240 And even though there was no wrong intent, nevertheless we 381 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:18,000 are responsible. And if you don't agree with 382 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:21,360 this, just read Leviticus 1234 and five. 383 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:24,760 There's a whole list of sacrifices they're supposed to 384 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:27,640 do for certain types of sins, sins of categories by the way, 385 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:30,520 and Leviticus 1234 and five. I suggest you read it sometime. 386 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:36,400 There's this particular sin called the sin and and sin by a 387 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:38,080 mistake. They would call because if 388 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:41,480 somebody sins unintentionally, then he has to sacrifice for 389 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:43,560 forgiveness. That's really there. 390 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,840 It's in Ephesians chapter, I mean Leviticus chapter 4 called 391 00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:49,600 the sins of the when unintentional sin happens, 392 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:51,880 they're supposed to sacrifice for that. 393 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:56,920 Basically the definition of sin. Sins are things in our lives 394 00:21:57,120 --> 00:21:59,360 where we missed the mark, whether it's intentionally 395 00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:02,000 trespassing or it's something that we miss. 396 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:04,800 We don't understand it or we thought we did right and we did 397 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:10,720 wrong or we we just ignored something and it and it's and 398 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:12,680 then maybe even more yet, but this is what I've come up with. 399 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:17,440 What is important for us to know is that before we were in 400 00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:22,600 Christ, we were in all of that. But then Paul expands his 401 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:24,520 thought. Notice verse 2. 402 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:30,280 He says in which you once walked according to the course of this 403 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:34,720 world, according to the Prince of the power of the air, the 404 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:37,200 Spirit who now works in the sons of obedience. 405 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:39,440 That's what you were like, he says to the Ephesians. 406 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:41,880 So first we're dead in trespasses and sins. 407 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:44,080 Now we read we once walked that way. 408 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:51,280 We once lived in sin. Nobody who's of age of 409 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:54,480 accountability can say, Oh, I I'm the exception. 410 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:58,080 I didn't sin. I remember hearing a story many 411 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:00,960 years ago of a man who was presented with the gospel and 412 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:04,800 Jesus came to die for the sins of the world and it meant all of 413 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:06,680 us. He he said, he literally said, 414 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:08,840 well, on my account he wouldn't have needed to come. 415 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:12,240 He thought of himself that highly. 416 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:17,880 I think most people who claim to follow Jesus would not want to 417 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:21,080 view themselves as living in accordance to the course of this 418 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:23,640 world. There are many people who want 419 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:26,760 to be viewed as living for Jesus, but the lives don't 420 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:32,240 reflect that. So what values do we live by? 421 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:38,840 Are we following the Spirit who now works in the sons of 422 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:41,960 disobedience, meaning separateness from God? 423 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:48,440 And these people may be doing a lot of good things, but not 424 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:54,280 according to God's teachings. We're choosing our own path. 425 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:58,680 Jesus says the fruits of our lives show what's in our hearts. 426 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:01,560 We can always evaluate our lives by Scripture. 427 00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:05,480 Is my life producing the fruit that Scripture talks about? 428 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:09,840 In the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 7, Jesus reminded his audience 429 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:12,760 of false prophets. There were spiritual leaders who 430 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:15,880 said one thing and did another. Let's read Matthew Chapter 7, 431 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:19,040 verse 15 to 20. I have it on the slide here. 432 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:23,720 Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, 433 00:24:24,360 --> 00:24:26,280 but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 434 00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:28,200 You will know them by their fruits. 435 00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:31,920 Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? 436 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:37,440 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears 437 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:40,040 bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear a bad 438 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:42,760 fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 439 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:46,560 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and 440 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:50,720 thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you 441 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:53,760 will know them. Verse 19 is kind of a downer. 442 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:57,320 Every tree that does not bear good fruits cut down and thrown 443 00:24:57,320 --> 00:24:59,160 into the fire. It's not based on the label, 444 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:05,080 it's based on the fruit. The teaching of Jesus here is 445 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:10,360 that what a person is will be revealed in how they live. 446 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:15,360 It's easy to say one thing of what a person does is the true 447 00:25:15,360 --> 00:25:17,000 evaluation of what's in the heart. 448 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:20,960 These false prophets may have had good speeches, they said 449 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:24,560 right things, but their behavior revealed they were living in 450 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:26,640 accordance with the spirit of the age. 451 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:31,080 Paul goes on to say in verse three that we all at one time 452 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:34,600 live this way and he said how we conducted ourselves. 453 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:38,080 Let's read further. Among whom also we all once 454 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:41,800 conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the 455 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:45,440 desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature 456 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:49,480 children of wrath, just as the others. 457 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:56,000 Our lifestyle outside of Christ puts us in opposition to God. 458 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:00,320 Let's pay attention here. We can all say right things, 459 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:03,880 even do good things, but if the motive, the goal is still 460 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:08,080 selfish, is still self focused, it's still not good, it's still 461 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:11,000 wrong. And we may not be trespassing, 462 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:13,920 committing murder, stealing, adultery and those kinds of 463 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:17,800 things, but that does not exempt us from the category of 464 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:19,400 separateness from God's spiritual death. 465 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:25,000 When we live outside of a relationship with Christ and our 466 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:29,000 motivation is self focused as we as and we're all for ourselves, 467 00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:32,680 then we're spiritually dead. The Pharisees were spiritual 468 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:34,320 people who needed to be made alive. 469 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:37,600 But I also want to be careful. I'm not saying that every time a 470 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:40,760 person has made a mistake or now you're lost or now you're now 471 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:43,440 you need to be made alive again. God knows the heart. 472 00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:48,680 But there's a level here to which Paul drops the the 473 00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:52,280 conversation that's very serious, and it's seldom 474 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:54,200 mentioned. Let's look at how Paul reminds 475 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:57,160 his readers that what they were This is our last point. 476 00:26:57,680 --> 00:27:04,080 We were children of wrath. What is a child of wrath? 477 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:10,160 Children of wrath are people who intentionally reject God and 478 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:13,240 live in rebellion and defiance of his commandments. 479 00:27:15,360 --> 00:27:16,680 These are people who are spiritually dead. 480 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:18,120 They have no relationship with God. 481 00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:20,960 We don't have time to go into full detail what this all 482 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:25,240 entails, but a child of wrath is a person who rejects God. 483 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:28,920 The desire of a child of wrath is to use this life for self 484 00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:32,320 gratification, self benefit at the cost of the one who they 485 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:36,720 give, who gave them, who gave them their life of Jesus, and 486 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:40,800 they have no regard for God. Paul's letter to the Ephesians 487 00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:44,160 is a serious reminder for us in this category. 488 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:49,360 While we should not dwell on and marinate ourselves in our past, 489 00:27:49,360 --> 00:27:51,800 we need to remember what God has saved us from. 490 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:54,960 And we should remember that God has forgiven us our past on the 491 00:27:54,960 --> 00:28:01,280 cross when Jesus died for us. We will only see God's grace as 492 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:05,760 very good to us when we see our sinful state as God sees our 493 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:08,560 sinful state. I've sometimes said, if sin is 494 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:12,080 not very bad, then grace is not very good. 495 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:15,640 Our sins are paid for by Jesus on the cross. 496 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:19,080 Jesus died so we could live. That's a truth that we must 497 00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:23,040 always remember. We were not just nothing outside 498 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:24,360 of Christ. We were enemies. 499 00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:27,800 Paul writes in Romans and Paul writes in Romans 58. 500 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:31,240 While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 501 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:35,960 It is often tempting to pretend that we're walking with God when 502 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:39,800 really we're not. Again, a people group that came 503 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:43,600 to my mind as I was studying this passage was the Pharisees 504 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:45,680 of Jesus state. They knew the commandments of 505 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:49,840 Moses, and Pharisees would generally memorize the first 506 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:52,280 five books of Moses by heart and their young age. 507 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:55,600 They were very keen on doing good as far as the law was 508 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:59,040 concerned, but really they were enemies of God the way they 509 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:00,720 responded to Jesus. And I want to read a little 510 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:04,000 passage of Matthew of some people who would fall into that 511 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:06,080 category of being children of wrath. 512 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:12,160 Let's read Matthew 2315. Jesus says woe to you scribes 513 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:17,280 and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you travel land and sea to win. 514 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:21,600 One proselyte mean 1 follower, and when he is 1 you make him 515 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:24,760 twice as much a sun of hell as yourselves. 516 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:29,320 These are the words of Jesus. They're very hard hitting. 517 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:33,600 This he said to the best of the best of his time. 518 00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:36,200 In that culture, the Pharisees were looked at as the cream of 519 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:39,160 the crop. They were very religious men. 520 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:42,120 They had mission programs, mission projects. 521 00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:45,720 They went out to win people to their 'cause they knew their 522 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:48,600 scriptures, they would have been able to recite it all from 523 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:50,800 memory. Very focused on keeping God's 524 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:53,040 commandments. In reality, there was all 525 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:55,120 hollow. There was nothing there. 526 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:58,800 Again, let's read verse 3, Ephesians 2, verse 3. 527 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:01,560 Amen. Among whom also we all once 528 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:05,000 conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the 529 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:06,920 desires of the flesh and of the mind. 530 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:10,960 And we're by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 531 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:13,880 Paul is including himself, and rightly so. 532 00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:18,600 And so should we all. Paul was a Jewish Pharisee at 533 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:22,000 one time. He was one of the very group to 534 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,520 whom Jesus said such hard, harsh words. 535 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:28,120 And we don't know, but it's entirely possible that as a 536 00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:31,320 Pharisee, he would have been told, yeah, that rabbi, that 537 00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:34,360 Jewish rabbi, Jesus, he told, he said this about us, called the 538 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:36,960 sons of hell. He would have probably known 539 00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:40,040 that. But when Paul came to know 540 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:44,080 Jesus, he experienced God's grace, and he realized he had 541 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:46,960 nothing to hold up to as works of salvation. 542 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:48,840 And he realized it's a free gift. 543 00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:51,280 He couldn't earn it. He got something he had never 544 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:54,200 understood. But now in writing Ephesians, he 545 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:56,760 understood it. And while a letter like 546 00:30:56,760 --> 00:31:01,880 Ephesians is a great letter, to read a passage like we have 547 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:03,840 today before us can be a bit depressing. 548 00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:07,440 But the reason is because in and of ourselves, that's where we 549 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:10,240 are. Without Christ, we are that we 550 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:12,800 missed the mark. But on the other hand, it should 551 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:15,320 not depress us. It should excite us that our 552 00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:18,560 performances and accomplishments are already completed in Christ 553 00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:20,080 when He died on the cross for us. 554 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:24,600 His standard for us is now accepting His work, His blood, 555 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:26,760 what He shed for us, not our performances. 556 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:29,160 Oh yes, we work and we serve, but that's not this. 557 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:31,160 That's not what we do to earn it. 558 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:35,760 All who repent of their sins, all who put their trust in 559 00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:38,960 Christ, all of them are rescued and do not have to face the 560 00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:41,440 wrath of God. There's no human effort or works 561 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:44,600 that can make it happen. It's God's work in us that makes 562 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:48,160 it possible. And what God requires of us is 563 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:50,440 to put our faith and trust in him. 564 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:54,000 And just to be clear, this is not a work, as some writers 565 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:56,200 would call it. Some say, well, if your faith 566 00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:58,760 saves, if you, if that's the basis, then your faith is work. 567 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:01,200 It's not work. Faith is the channel through 568 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:05,680 which salvation comes. Jesus came, He died for the sins 569 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:08,880 of the world, all sins, trespasses and sins, not in 570 00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:11,680 general, every sin. And it's fitting for us to take 571 00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:17,440 time and reflect what we are, what we were, where we've come 572 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:21,480 from, and what we were. So we were spiritually dead. 573 00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:27,840 We once lived in sin and we were children of wrath. 574 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:32,560 But today, as Paul writes, God's people are children of light, 575 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:37,440 children of life. We're not dead, we're alive. 576 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:40,840 I want to encourage us this morning to remember this and 577 00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:43,480 live by this. What we were was not something 578 00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:45,680 that gives God's people open grace. 579 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:49,040 What we were, no, we were sinners, trespassers, we were 580 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:51,720 dead. But when we have Jesus, we have 581 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:54,280 everything. So what difference does this 582 00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:56,920 make for you and I today? There may be some people here 583 00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:00,000 this morning who find themselves in this category of spiritual 584 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:02,480 death. It doesn't mean not knowing. 585 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:07,240 It means rebelling against God or ignoring God, walking away 586 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:08,440 from him. But there's hope. 587 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:11,760 The Bible says as long as it is day in Hebrews writes, we can 588 00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:15,240 come to him, we can repent, we can receive the gift of eternal 589 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:17,840 life in Jesus. We who have been made alive, who 590 00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:21,000 were once dead and trespasses and sin by nature, children of 591 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:22,400 wrath have become children of light. 592 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:27,840 So I'm trusting that most of us, for us, this is the reality. 593 00:33:27,840 --> 00:33:31,280 We're alive in Christ. Next Sunday we want to continue 594 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:35,040 this sermon, but the second part and they want to look at what's 595 00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:37,320 the result of what Jesus has done. 596 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:42,160 What are we today, what we were and next Sunday what are we? 597 00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:45,760 Let us pray Lord, you know each heart in this building this 598 00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:51,480 morning, Lord, You know where our internal struggles are, what 599 00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:53,320 our fears are, what our hopes are. 600 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:56,080 I pray Lord, that we would all have an experience with you. 601 00:33:56,960 --> 00:33:59,560 Not some human self-made just emotional experience, but the 602 00:33:59,560 --> 00:34:03,000 sweet assurance and the confidence that in you we've 603 00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:06,120 been saved. We've received eternal life. 604 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:09,679 We were once dead in trespasses and sin, but you saved us. 605 00:34:09,679 --> 00:34:13,320 You redeemed us. Today we can pause, look back 606 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:16,400 where we've come from, the road we've travelled and look where 607 00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:19,800 we're going together with you. I pray Lord, for all of us here, 608 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:22,960 everyone to get to know you, to experience your power in their 609 00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:26,040 lives and help us to live in peace and love and goodwill 610 00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:28,800 together. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.