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Our scripture reading for today 
is from chapter 2 of the book of

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Ephesians, verses one through 
three. 

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If you've been with us through 
this study of the book of 

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Ephesians, welcome to chapter 2.
And should and should the Lord 

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not return by 2032, relax and 
enjoy the ride. 

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And how wonderful it would be 
that he comes back before and 

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we'll finish the book study with
him. 

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Amen. 
In our verses today, you'll 

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notice that in chapter 3, Paul 
changes the pronoun from you to 

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we. 
And every time I share the word 

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you with you in the next few 
minutes, I want you to know that

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that includes me. 
So when I say you, you need to 

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hear you and me. 
So when we get to verse 3, would

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you please join me in reading 
the Scripture? 

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Ephesians 2, verses one through 
3. 

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And you were dead in the 
trespasses and sins in which you

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once walked, following the 
course of this world, following 

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the Prince of the power of the 
air, the Spirit that is now at 

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work in the sons of disobedience
together, among whom we all once

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lived, in the passions of our 
flesh, carrying out the desires 

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of the body and the mind, and 
were by nature children of 

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wraths, like the rest of 
mankind. 

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This is the word of the Lord. 
Thanks be to God. 

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Please be seated. 
You know, cliches do come in 

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handy sometimes. 
Like for instance, plan the 

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work, work the plan, that's 
helpful, strategy, then 

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execution, that's helpful. 
And actually that helps us 

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understand a little bit about 
the progression of Paul's 

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writings from verse from chapter
1 to chapter 2. 

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In chapter 1, we remember 
studying one of the longest 

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sentences in all of Greek 
literature started in verse 3, 

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and it was a hymn of praise to 
the Trinity. 

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And Paul began extolling and 
praising God the Father who 

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predestined, elected and chose a
people for himself. 

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He planned redemption. 
And he ends that section with 

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this wonderful refrain of 
praise, saying to the praise of 

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his glory. 
And then Paul goes into a second

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section talking about the second
person of the Godhead, Jesus 

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Christ, the Son who atoned and 
redeemed his people. 

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He accomplished the Father's 
plan of redemption. 

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And again, Paul ends that 
section by saying to the praise 

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of his glory. 
And then he goes into a section 

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about the Holy Spirit, and he 
talks about how the Holy Spirit 

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guarantees our inheritance. 
And the Holy Spirit sealed what 

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the Son accomplished, what the 
Father had planned. 

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And he ends again with this 
glorious refrain to the praise 

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of His glory. 
And that's exactly what our 3 

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verses are, reaching back to 
chapter 2, verse one, to the 

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praise of His glory, chapter 2, 
verse 2 to the praise of his 

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glory, chapter 2, verse 3 to the
praise of his glory. 

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And then we get to chapter 2 
verse one. 

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It says and you. 
And there's a pivot from talking

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about the Redeemer to those who 
need to be redeemed, from 

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talking about the Divine Trinity
to those who are made in that 

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image and to be human beings. 
We have 5 dimensions in our 

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existence. 
So one of those is being 

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spiritual. 
We have a spiritual nature. 

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We have a spiritual identity. 
We have a spiritual destiny. 

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And the 1st 10 verses of chapter
2 gives the clearest explanation

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of the gospel and perhaps all of
Paul's writings. 18 personal 

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pieces of correspondence used by
God himself in 30 years to 

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change the rest of the world. 18
letters in 30 years to change 

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the world. 
So let's dive into our text, 

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shall we? 
Let's look at verse one. 

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Look at verse one and you and 
he's talking about the Gentiles 

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and you Gentiles were noticed 
past tense and you Gentiles were

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dead. 
Now the Holy Spirit could have 

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inspired Paul to have written 
the word Thanos. 

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Thanos is like the the Greek 
word for the idea of death, the 

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process of dying. 
But he doesn't inspire him to 

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use that word. 
He inspires him to write the 

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word Necross. 
And Necross is the word for 

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dead, the state of dead. 
So he says in the past you 

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gentiles were spiritually dead. 
How in your trespasses and sins 

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in which you once walked. 
Now trespasses is a word that 

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that means to stumble or to fall
off the path. 

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And by the time we get to the 
1st century, this word means 

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anything that violates the 
covenant with the Lord. 

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A simple, stupid mistake to a 
willful action. 

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Anything that indicates that we 
are outside of God's favor and 

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need restoration. 
And you combine that with the 

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typical understanding of the 
word sin, which is missing the 

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mark. 
The Holy Spirit is inspiring 

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Paul to say that when we are 
dead in Christ, we stumbled off 

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the road, we fell into the 
ditch, and we never made it to 

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where we were supposed to go. 
Now, in addition to this 

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internal reality, which by the 
way is for those in Christ, our 

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spiritual DNA, because we're the
progeny of our first parent, 

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Adam, the federal head of all 
humanity. 

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So his OG sin affected all of 
us, but there's also external 

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forces that are pressing down on
us. 

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Look at verse 2. 
Verse 2 says picking up from 

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trespasses and sins in which you
once walked past tense, right? 

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And walked. 
He's going to use the word 

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walked. 
How we conduct ourselves, how we

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live our lives, what we do 
throughout the day, our 

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thoughts, our feelings, our 
actions, our emotions. 

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That's walking. 
And he's going to talk about 

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that later in this letter. 
But right now, he says you were 

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walking in sins and trespasses, 
following, first, the course of 

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this world. 
Those are the visible 

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influences. 
Let's go on following second, 

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the Prince of the power of the 
air, these invisible influences,

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which is the spirit that is now 
at work in the sons of 

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disobedience. 
And did you pick up on that? 

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Again, sons of disobedience, 
this idea of being born with a 

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DNA. 
So what was in the air at 

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Ephesus? 
Well, if you know anything about

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Ephesus, it was the New York 
City of the western shore of 

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what is now Turkey. 
And Western literature has 

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attested to the fact that 
forever since Ephesus was 

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founded, it is the center of the
occult. 

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If you wanted to become a master
in the dark spiritual powers of 

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the world, you would apply for a
scholarship to Ephesus. 

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In fact, the power of the gospel
was so efficacious in Ephesus 

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that the occult masters repented
and they came to Jesus and they 

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burned their books and they 
followed Christ. 

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They burned the books from which
they learned all of their 

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mastery of dark magic. 
And don't be naive, brothers and

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sisters. 
You can still get modern 

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editions of those very books by 
which they were tutored. 

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There is also a big House of 
worship was called the Temple of

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Artemis was beautiful. 
Artemis is the fertility God of 

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the Greeks. 
Rome called her Diana. 

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Her temple and her thriving 
congregation of worship 

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worshippers was remarkable. 
The temple was considered one of

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the Seven Wonders of the World. 
It was twice the size of the 

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Parthenon. 
It was larger than a football 

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field. 
It had 127 marble columns 60 

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foot high. 
There were thriving economies 

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around the worship of Artemis 
silversmiths and wood carvers 

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that would make miniature images
of the gigantic temple presence 

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of Artemis that you could take 
home with you. 

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In fact, some of you know that 
if you visit Artemis today, you 

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can still buy your souvenir 
bobbleheads and Artemis action 

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figures and take them home with 
you if you want to. 

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The more things change, the more
they stay the same. 

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When Paul got to Ephesus, he 
began teaching in the synagogues

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and for a few months. 
Then he started a tent making 

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business so that he could be 
financially independent. 

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And then he rented A lecture 
hall for two years. 

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He spent about three years, we 
think, in Ephesus, and two of 

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those years he rented A lecture 
hall where he taught about 

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Messiah, where he taught to the 
Gentiles about Jesus, where he 

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taught about the way, Moses, 
David, Abraham. 

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For two years. 
And through the windows of the 

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lecture hall you could hear the 
citizens of Ephesus shouting in 

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worship, praise to Artemis of 
the Ephesians, praise to Artemis

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of the Ephesians. 
Do you see why in chapter 2 he 

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was clear to say no, The Holy 
Trinity, God the Father to the 

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glory of his praise, God the Son
to the glory of his praise, God 

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the Holy Spirit to the glory of 
his praise. 

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Do you see it, those Artemis 
rishouts flowing through his 

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mind as he's sitting in house 
arrest in Rome years later, 

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writing this letter to these 
dear church planters that he 

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worked with, that he said 
goodbye to with tears because 

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they knew he would. 
They would never see him again. 

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And they sobbed and they wept 
and they hung and they hugged 

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one another. 
You know, we have temples today 

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like entertainment venues or 
temples that you can hold in 

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your hand or paper temples like 
financial accounts or offices 

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that enshrine our position, our 
power, our prestige. 

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Not saying anything's wrong 
inherently with these things. 

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It's just saying I struggle with
the enticements that they create

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in my heart when I want to go to
that temple and worship. 

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Let's look at verse 3, verse 
three, among whom we now he 

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switches to Jews. 
And remember in Paul's day, 

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there were only two kinds of 
people in the world, Gentiles 

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and Jews. 
So when he switches now, he's 

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saying everyone among whom we 
the Jews all once lived past 

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tense in the passions of our 
flesh, carrying out the desires 

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of the flesh and the mind, and 
we're by nature children of 

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wrath like the rest of mankind. 
And there it is again, that 

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spiritual DNA. 
This then is somewhat beckoning 

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the doctrine of original sin. 
Now, popular history would lead 

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us to believe that John Calvin 
came up with this doctrine, but 

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that's not necessarily true. 
Actually, the Trinity, the 

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Apostle Paul, and the church 
Fathers Tertullian and Agustin 

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had much more to say about this 
than Calvin. 

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And it wasn't until the last 
century that the concept of 

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Tulip was pinned on Calvin. 
But we'll leave that for the 

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classroom if I were to explain 
the doctrine of original sin to 

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younger disciples in the room. 
So younger disciples here with 

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us today, let me explain to you 
the doctrine of original sin. 

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At the very beginning the first 
people listen to the accusers 

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tricks to do something God told 
them not to do. 

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God allowed them to for this to 
happen because they had a choice

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and he had a wise plan and would
use it for good in the end. 

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Now because of that choice, they
lost their close relationship 

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with God. 
And since sin is disobeying this

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first sin changed them, making 
their hearts and lives broken 

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and far from what God made them 
to be. 

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And since all people come from 
them, their brokenness was 

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passed down to everyone like a 
family trait or like a drop of 

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ink in a glass of water. 
We are all born with hearts that

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lean the wrong way and struggle 
to do what is right. 

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Because of this, we often choose
to do wrong things and on our 

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own we don't naturally want to 
obey God. 

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And the rest of the Word tells 
us that even when someone 

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follows Jesus, this struggle 
with sin doesn't fully go away 

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in this life. 
And this is called personal sin.

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But God Forgives our personal 
sins when we tell Him about 

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them, and He helps us grow and 
we still need His help everyday.

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Even the wrong things we do goes
against God's rules. 

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And sin brings sadness and sin 
brings trouble, and it separates

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from us from God, and it leads 
to pain. 

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And in this life, if it's not 
dealt with often to even greater

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loss. 
Now Paul spoke again about this 

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struggle with personal sin and 
the residue of original sin in 

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Galatians 5, where he says for 
the desires of the flesh are 

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against the Spirit and the 
desires of the Spirit are 

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against the flesh. 
John picks this up. 

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And 1st John do not love the 
world, the desires of the flesh 

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and the desires of the eyes. 
And pride of life is not from 

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the Father, but is from the 
world. 

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And Peter adds the accuser to 
these other two at first Peter, 

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when he says be sober minded, be
watchful, your adversary, the 

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devil prowls around like a 
roaring lion, seeking someone to

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devour. 
For those of us who are in 

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Christ, isn't it interesting how
shocked we are by other people's

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brokenness? 
If this brutal description of 

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the level playing field of 
original sin is true, and it is,

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and the Holy Spirit in dwells 
within God's people who blanket 

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the earth by billions 
restraining the world, the flesh

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and the devil, and yet there are
still billions who are 

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spiritually dead because they 
are not in Christ. 

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If all of these things are true,
why are we so shocked by other 

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people's brokenness? 
Doesn't it seem like this would 

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be like a well, yeah, Jesus 
understood that we would judge, 

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recoil and run from other 
people's brokenness. 

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So he was broken on the cross 
for us, and he showed us how to 

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move into people who are broken.
He was not shocked by sex 

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workers. 
He was not shocked by the 

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incarcerated. 
He was not shocked by adulterers

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and thieves and the homeless and
those with mental illness he 

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knew well long before we 
attached our diagnostic labels 

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to them. 
He even understood the mental 

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illnesses that may occasionally 
or can lead to addiction or to 

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someone to complete suicide and 
all sorts of spiritual and 

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emotional complexities. 
In fact, if you look at the 

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record, he appears to express 
public disdain more for the 

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greedy and the religious 
hypocrites. 

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Jesus shows us how to embrace 
brokenness, not to judge, not to

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be repelled, but to shower 
abundant grace and rich mercy on

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broken people, just like He did 
for you and for me in Pastor 

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Dane Ortland's book Gentle and 
Lowly. 

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And, And if you haven't read it 
at least once, I highly 

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recommend you read Dane's book, 
Gentle and Lowly. 

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Dane writes when we sin, the 
very heart of Christ is drawn 

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out to us. 
His heart is inflamed with pity 

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and compassion for his people. 
He simply cannot give them up. 

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Now, does that mean that where 
grace abounds, sin abounds more?

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Absolutely not. 
That is a complete 

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misunderstanding of the gospel. 
It's saying that we should not 

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be surprised if we all start an 
original sin and even though we 

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walk in Christ, we still 
struggle. 

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And yet He meets us with every 
spiritual resource we need to 

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glorify Him according to His 
purpose in our lives. 

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Pastor Dane goes on to say 
holiness and sinlessness are 

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mutually exclusive, but Christ, 
being perfectly holy, knows and 

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feels the horror and weight of 
sin more deeply than any of us 

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sinful ones could. 
And he goes on to say this, the 

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purer the heart of a man, the 
more he is naturally drawn out 

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to help and relieve and protect 
and comfort, whereas the colder 

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heart sits still. 
Indifferent. 

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So what do we say to this? 
Having been spiritually revived 

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by grace, brought back to 
spiritual life through faith, 

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and justified before our Father,
we thank the Holy Spirit for 

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indwelling in US and giving us 
help when we still work at love,

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for giving us assistance when we
still work at Joy, for helping 

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us with our patience, kindness, 
goodness, faithfulness, 

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gentleness, and self-control. 
This is what the Word means when

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it says, work out your 
salvation. 

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Because we still need to work on
all of those things. 

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And praise be to God that He 
helps us in these things. 

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And the fruit of the Spirit are 
not feminine qualities. 

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Kindness and gentleness are 
Christ qualities. 

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Real men possess these traits. 
When Paul said goodbye to his 

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best friends in Ephesus, they 
cried and wept and hugged one 

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another because they knew they 
wouldn't see him again. 

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You see these kinds of things, 
the fruit of the Spirit, That's 

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the manosphere of the new 
covenant. 

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So if we put this all together 
so far in Ephesians, we have 

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this stunning theological 
sequence that is not just a 

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bunch of ideas, but all coming 
to and you. 

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Here's where we've been. 
He chose us in Him before the 

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foundation of the world. 
He predestined us for adoption. 

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In Himself. 
He has blessed us in the 

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00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:13,320
Beloved. 
We have redemption through His 

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blood, the forgiveness of our 
trespasses according to the 

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riches of His grace which He 
lavished upon us. 

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And in Him we have obtained an 
inheritance and we are sealed 

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with the promised Holy Spirit 
who guarantees our inheritance 

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to the praise of His glorious 
grace. 

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And if that's not enough, he has
authority over everything in 

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heaven and in earth, and he is 
the head of his church. 

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And after all of this, it says, 
and you, you know what next week

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starts with? 
You got to come back. 

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Today was and you but next week,
next week are those two life 

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changing words by which we live 
and by which we survive not and 

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you the words are but God. 
It's the best news you will ever

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00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:18,440
hear. 
My friends, you've got to come 

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back next week. 
We this is right now is the half

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time of a cosmic Super Bowl and 
our first parents massively 

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00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:30,200
fumble and next week you are 
about to hear the greatest 

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00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:37,800
comeback story in the universe. 
Literally you got to come back. 

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Father, to you all praise and 
glory for planning our 

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redemption, Lord Jesus for 
accomplishment, Holy Spirit for 

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sealing the guarantee of our 
inheritance and all of these 

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things that we might be lifted 
out of these 3 verses and dwell 

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forever and forever with you in 
the Cathedral of heaven to the 

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praise and glorious of your holy
name in which we pray. 

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Lord Jesus and we all said 
together, Amen. 

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Let's stand and sing.