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[0:00] Ephesians 2, 1-10 According to the Prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

[0:52] But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love, wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in our sins, hath quickened us together with Christ.

[1:05] By grace he are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus.

[1:24] For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

[1:44] Have you seen anybody raised from the dead lately? You know, there's claims of that, isn't there, in many circles. I'd like to see some people raised from the dead in Adelaide, wouldn't you?

[1:57] People raised from the dead in Elizabeth. Just one. Well, we'd like to see lots and lots of them. But I'm believing God for it to happen. I'm believing God to see people raised from the dead.

[2:11] I'm talking about spiritual death. All right, now I've got this, what do you call it? It's born to help to spell out what I'm talking about today.

[2:23] It's quite simple stuff, really, but important, nevertheless. You know, the profound things can be simple too, can't they? And we see some of the aspects of these verses that we just read.

[2:38] So I'm going to spell them out for you, and you might even be able to guess ahead what some of them stand for. So, call details man's malady, man's greatest malady of sin.

[2:51] All right, he says that you hath he quickened who are dead in trespasses and sins. So, firstly, the people being talked about here are those who are sinners.

[3:08] Sinners, dead in trespasses and sins. There's a lot of dead people in Elizabeth. There's a lot of dead people.

[3:20] You might even be sat next to a dead person right now. You don't even realise it. They may not even realise they're dead today. They may not even realise they're dead. What a tragic thing it would be to be dead and not even to know it.

[3:35] Dead in trespasses and sins. Sin is a dreadful curse. The wages of sin is death.

[3:48] Death. Paul describes our condition here. It's death. Sin. Brings death. And he describes us as children of disobedience, as marked by death.

[4:04] And the Christless man is a dead man walking. The man outside of Christ is a dead man walking. You know, you probably drove past some dead people today on the way to church.

[4:15] There was probably some dead people down at the footy field this morning. There was probably some dead people going about their everyday lives. And walking down the street, but dead.

[4:27] The living dead. But the Bible says that you have been quickened, made alive, who are dead in trespasses and sins.

[4:38] Our condition was death. Our condition was death. We formerly walked in our deadness. Our condition was marked by the course of this world. The lost walk in a world without hope.

[4:51] They walk in a world without God. Their life is held swayed by the world's ways. The ways of death. It says in the word, There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

[5:08] Proverbs 14.12 Dead people. Sin brings death. And our condition too, as sinners, is marked by someone who loves to see us dead.

[5:23] The devil. The devil is the one that we're in the control of when we're dead in sin. We walk according to the prince of the power of the air.

[5:34] Who's that? The devil. Satan. The slave master of souls. Satan is a tyrant. The devil is a tyrant. His reign is far-reaching and oppressive.

[5:48] His rule is hurtful and hellish. He plots our ruin and dominates us with evil control. And those who are dead in sin walk according to the course of the world.

[6:04] According to the prince of the power of the air. He steals. He spoils everything that is good. What God has made good, he pollutes and perverts even that.

[6:17] That which is really his design. You can imagine. Everything he's ever given us, the devil wants to corrupt and destroy and hurt. He corrupts and he makes people captive.

[6:30] He takes many captive. As we read in 2 Timothy 2 verse 6. Our condition as sinners is marked by death. It's marked by the devil. It's marked by disobedience.

[6:41] Disobedience. Disobedience. The spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Disobedience is one of the hallmarks of the dead. Of the sinners outside of Christ.

[6:55] Got to think how to spell it here. Disobedience. It marks the lost. It's the spirit of Antichrist. They disobey Christ.

[7:05] They disobey God. Disobedience closes the ears to his voice. Disobedience closes the heart. Of some we read of their response to the Lord in 2 Kings 17 verse 14 for example.

[7:19] It says, Notwithstanding when God spoke, they would not hear. They would not hear, but hardened their necks. Like to the neck of their fathers that did not believe in the Lord their God.

[7:31] They closed their ears. They hardened their necks. Maybe just have a feel there this morning. How's your neck this morning? How's your neck today?

[7:42] Hope it's not hard. You know? Hope your neck's not hard, but it's nice and soft. And I hope those ears, I hope you've got the cotton buds out this morning. That you can hear God.

[7:53] Amen? Our ears can be spiritually deaf. Our neck can be spiritually hardened. We turn our neck away from him.

[8:04] The disobedient have ears that will not hear. The Lord Jesus says, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. There's people with ears that cannot hear. The disobedient have ears that will not hear.

[8:18] They defy God and his ways. How are your ears today? Are they open or closed to the voice of God? Sin ensnares the sinner.

[8:30] Marks you by death. The devil disobedience. Joshua 24, 24. The people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve.

[8:45] And his voice will we obey. We will obey his voice. This is his voice. This is the voice of God. It's not some Latter-day prophet or make-believe.

[9:00] It's the word of God in our hands. The voice of God. Pay attention to that. Be obedient to that. God's voice. Obedience to God's voice marks God's people. And the lost, in contrast, they have a way of behaving that is without life.

[9:15] It's full of death. It's really not a lifestyle. It's a death style. The dead are living, dead people. They're elsewhere called children of the devil.

[9:28] The Lord Jesus calls them children of the devil. We read here, they're called children of disobedience. And likewise we read here, children of wrath.

[9:40] Children of wrath. God's wrath, God's anger, God's hatred is vented against our sin.

[9:53] Every sinner outside of Christ faces his wrath. It's interesting when you look at the word wrath and disobedience, they go together.

[10:05] The lives of the lost are marked by disobedience. We see that in verse 3. Some of the things they're subject to. They're subject to fleshliness. Disobedience.

[10:17] Subject to fleshliness. Subject to a mind. The desires of the mind.

[10:29] The desires of the flesh. We've got to ask ourselves, people today, what am I planting? What kind of crop am I planting?

[10:41] In Galatians 6, 7 to 8 it says, Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth that also shall he reap. For he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting.

[10:59] Are you sowing to the flesh or to the spirit? Galatians 5, 24 it says, And they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. The desires of the lost, the desires of the sinner, they're controlled by the flesh, the desires of the mind.

[11:17] Their minds are darkened, the Bible says. In Titus 1, 15 it says, Of their minds, of the defiled and unbelieving. Even their mind and conscience is defiled.

[11:28] Even their mind is filled with dirt and corruption. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4 it says, The God of this world have blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them.

[11:44] The God of this world has even blinded the minds of the lost, of the dead. Only the Lord who is the light can penetrate that darkness, that defilement. Only He can set the free, the mind, by obedience to the truth as we have humility, as we read in Colossians 3, verse 12, humbleness of mind.

[12:07] So, the children of disobedience are subject to God's wrath. By nature, the children of wrath, it's in the nature of the sinner that God's wrath will be the result of the sin.

[12:22] Our disobedience brings God's wrath, His punishment. It's inevitable, it's inescapable for the sinner outside of Christ. You cannot outrun God. You cannot outrun Him.

[12:33] He'll track you down wherever you go. You know, there's some people in Australia who owe me some money. I can't track them down at the moment. But God knows their address. You know, God knows your address if you're a sinner outside of Christ.

[12:47] He knows where you live and He'll track you down. You cannot outrun Him. God's wrath is linked with man's disobedience. God's wrath is kindled, is provoked by man's sin.

[13:01] And we're utterly deserving of it, of His judgment, of His condemnation. But the question for us today, how can a dead man be resurrected? How can a dead man be resurrected, brought back to life, made alive?

[13:14] The answer is, but God. But God. That's the answer. That's the, that's what makes the difference between a sinner and a son.

[13:29] A sinner and a son. But God. But God, who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us, that's the answer.

[13:45] His great love. Thank God that He can change our nature from a sinner to a son. He can change our nature. He can transform us from the inside out.

[13:57] Transform our nature when we are reborn. We're renewed. Our whole mind, our flesh, our person, our lifestyle is renewed, made alive again.

[14:09] As we read in 2 Peter 1 verse 4, it says, that we made partakers of the divine nature. as a whole new nature happens. We read in these verses, we've read of the richness of His mercy in verse 4.

[14:26] We read of the richness of His grace in verse 7. The richness of His mercy is expressed in love. The richness of His mercy is expressed in love.

[14:38] I've got it wrong. Sorry, you get a lie. He brings life by His love.

[14:51] By His love. He's rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us. Verse 4, the richness of His mercy is expressed in love.

[15:03] Verse 7, the richness of His grace is expressed in kindness. Why did He do it? How could He fathom or consider to save you if you're a saved man or woman today?

[15:18] It's only the richness of His mercy, isn't it? It's only the richness of His grace. It's only His love, His kindness to us. Even when we were dead in sins, while we were still enemies to Him, He loved us and He grants us life today.

[15:33] If you're outside of Christ, life is possible because of Him. We can be quickened together with Christ, made alive together with Christ.

[15:44] By grace you are saved. God's grace is for living. God's grace brings life, new life. He gives us life, He creates life out of deadness.

[15:56] He makes us alive, He resurrects people. He raises us up together by God's grace. He lifts us, He helps us, He raises us up. You know, in the Word it talks about sin as being like a quagmire, like muck and mud and mire and Christ is rock, a solid rock and He lifts us up out of that muck, out of that filth of our sin and He sets our feet on the rock.

[16:22] We read in 1 Samuel 2 verse 8 of the Lord that He raiseth up the poor out of the dust and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill. He sets them among princes.

[16:33] You know, that's a real contrast, isn't it? To go from the dunghill to the throne. That's what God does for us in 1 Samuel 2 verse 8. There's a real telling scripture there.

[16:44] He quickens us, He lifts us, He sets us together with Christ in heavenly places and what does that mean? When it says He sets us together in heavenly places with Christ it means we're alongside the Son of God.

[17:02] We're seated, with Him. And where is He seated? On the throne of His glory. We made kings and priests, we made sons and daughters of the living God.

[17:12] What a contrast. A sinner to a son. He lifts us up together with Him. We're sat together in heavenly places. He adopts us into His family as His sons and daughters into sonship of the Father.

[17:27] He grants us a position of favour as we're seated together with Him. He calls us blessed. We're seated together with Christ. It's the Lord's doing. It's the Lord's doing.

[17:39] It's the work of the Lord. It's the doing of the Lord not of our own.

[17:50] He makes us alive. He raises us up. He makes us sit together with Him. It's His great love wherewith He loved us. It's His gift. It's His grace.

[18:01] It's His kindness. Our faith. Verse 7 we read that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus.

[18:14] Saving grace. Saving grace. It's for by grace that He saved through faith. That not of yourselves it is the gift of God. Not of works lest any man should boast.

[18:26] But it doesn't stop there. It doesn't stop there. Taken from being a sinner. Condemned to death.

[18:37] The devil's control. Under disobedience. Subject to His wrath. But God saves us by the cross. By the bloodshed. By His saving act on our behalf.

[18:51] Makes us a son. Raises us to sit together with Him. Gives us life everlasting. By His love. His kindness. His mercy. His grace. Unmerited.

[19:01] He becomes our Lord. What's the purpose of all that? What's the purpose of that? Verse 10.

[19:11] For we are His workmanship. We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Workmanship.

[19:23] It's not the works that save us but the works are prompted by His love. We're prompted to be His workmanship. To have good works. Not that the good works merit any favour with Him but He has before ordained that you should walk in there.

[19:40] I was thinking on the way to church this morning we've got a sticker on our car. Julie's brother is a car detailer. If you haven't heard your car detail. But his sticker is there.

[19:52] It marks our car as something that this worker has put his workmanship into. Now it's looking pretty bad at the moment.

[20:06] So if anyone feels led to help the pastor bring his car but the car that I'm driving at the moment is this muck on the carpet on the seats the windows are grubbing it's looking pretty shoddy.

[20:19] so it's not a good advert for the worker. What about your life? Are you reflecting that you are his workmanship? Are you looking like you belong to him?

[20:33] Or when people look at you they look at my car and they say I won't have that car detailer touch my car because they can see it's not been worked on for a while.

[20:43] Is God working on your life? You are his workmanship you're meant to be so that when people see you walking and living and going about your everyday you are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good work.

[20:58] So let's live like him. Let's live like we're a son. He's given us life. He's loved us. Unlovely as we are. He's our Lord.

[21:09] We claim him to be. Are we living like we're his workmanship? Would he be pleased with you in how you're conducting your lives?

[21:21] God has ordained a different kind of walking for the safe. Different from the dead people. I work with dead people every day. You might rub shoulders with dead people all the time in your daily work and life as you go about every day.

[21:39] Maybe you can be a witness to the sinners that you rub shoulders with. There's something different about you. A different kind of walk. A different kind of control.

[21:51] Not the devil's control but according to his power. Just to close an important question for you today. Are you dead?

[22:05] Are you dead? Some people might be dead here today. It's possible. You might have come to church every day of your life and still be dead. You could belong to a Christian family and be dead because you never personally trusted Christ for yourself for his work on your part.

[22:26] The Bible says that we should take stock. All of us were dead. Every single one. But thank God by his mercy he grants life.

[22:38] all we can do is cry out for that today. If you're outside of Christ, please don't rest. Don't rest because wrath awaits you.

[22:52] And that's serious stuff. And friends, it's only his grace that you can cry out to today. Check the vital signs.

[23:03] Christian, we've got some doctors here this morning. So if you're dead, we've got someone who can help you physically. There is a point when it gets too late though, when you're dead.

[23:14] But if you're a Christian today and you're not living the life that you're meant to live, check those vital signs. Ask God to help you to renew that walk with him.

[23:27] And when you see some dead people in your day by day ahead, point them to Christ. Be his workmanship. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word and that we can know life, life eternal, not by any working of our own doing, but by everything that you have done.

[23:47] Lord, we thank you that you died on the cross, taking the penalty, the wages of our sin, which was death, that we can have the gift of God, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

[24:02] We pray that each person present would consider their state and standing, whether they're dead or alive today, that you might stir those who are in death and face your wrath, that they might plead your mercy, that they might find your grace.

[24:23] Lord, help us each one to be your workmanship, that you won't be ashamed of us, because we haven't lived up to your holy standards.

[24:35]  Help us, Lord, to be mindful of eternity every day that we live. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen.