Sermon Tone Analysis

Get out of your graveclothes!

(insert slide/picture, already saved: graveclothes)

Who we are is not who we were, but sometimes we have to look at who we were so we can know who we are today.

We, like Lazarus, need to get out of our graveclothes (Jn11:43-44)

Paul has already been showing us what we have in Christ.

Sufficiency of Christ has been proclaimed

Paul had previously preached the gospel, the Ephesians believed the gospel and were transformed by the gospel by obedient faith and they were baptized into the possession of Christ.

In Christ we have all things!

Riches of God’s grace through Christ has been shown (Eph1:4-14)

How rich we are because of God’s grace through Christ Jesus.

He has given us all things (spiritually speaking) in the heavenly places.

- - - remember that the book of Ephesians is written to believers, to remind them who they are in Christ so they can be all they are meant to be as the Church.

Riches of His glory has been displayed (Eph1:15-23)

One thing Paul keeps reminding them is who they are in Christ.

It goes well beyond salvation, that is only the starting place.

We, like, Lazarus are told to “come forth” to be loosed of our graveclothes in baptism and live a resurrected life.

The glory of God displayed in Christ Jesus and in turn through the Christian who has shed his graveclothes.

Graveclothes, Lazarus needed help to get them off.

To get rid of the old ways and people were there to help him.

We need to help each other and help others to remove their graveclothes too.

From spiritual possessions to our spiritual position in Christ!

We are the Lords possession when we obeyed the gospel.

Transferred out of the darkness into the kingdom of the beloved Son.

In our passage today Paul goes from explaining being a possession in the Lord to our position in the Lord.

We are familiar with the song “Low in the grave He lays” and it is a song of victory for He was raised up so we too could be, were raised up in Him to be His possession and have our position with Him in the heavenlies!

I don’t think Paul gets accused of being, nonchalant, but rather direct and to the point.

Our passage is best described as works, let me show you, then we will develop it.

Sins work against us (Eph2:1-3)

God’s work for us (Eph2:4-9)

God’s work in us (Eph2:10a)

God’s work through us (Eph2:10b)

(Read slow, read emphatically)

I. Sin’s work against us!

(insert picture- Zoom lens)

In a society that wants to zoom in to look at the littlest details of something it’s all well.

But sometimes we need to step back, zoom out so as to get the fuller picture.

The fuller picture here in these verses is the depravity, the grievousness of sin.

The condition of the one who is unsaved, the horrible spiritual position of that person and some of the characteristics of that person.

The person is spiritually dead (Eph2:1; 1Cor2:14-15; Isa59:2; 1Tim5:6)

Dead, and not able to understand spiritual things

Dead people are unable to respond to spiritual things.

A corpse cannot hear or understand what is going on around it.

It’s dead! - a dead person needs Christ to give the breath of life so they can life and be set free from their graveclothes.

The obituary of a spiritually dead person would read

“Cause of death, sin and trespasses”

We know the wages of sin is death (Rom6:23) and we also know that our sins separated us from God.

This world is full of a bunch of dead people.

It makes me think of the line from movie Six Sence “I see dead people” holds true, look around in the world and you see many who are spiritually dead, even though they are physically alive.

(transition) - someone who gives themselves over to wanton pleasure leads us to the next point.

The person is disobedient (Eph2:2-3a; Rom12:2; Jn8:23; Jn17:14; Eph6:11-12; Jn12:31; Jn8:44 and Psm51:5)

notice a couple of things in these verses

You formerly walked (this is not who you are now)

You formerly lived (this is not your place of residence now)

these are reminders of who we were prior to hearing believing, obeying the gospel and taking off our graveclothes.

Disobedient to the will of God; whose desires is that all ment might be saved (1Tim2:4) - this disobedience started back in the garden with Eve and her husband.

They believed the lie and traded the truth for it.

There are three forces that work together to try to get man to be disobedient to the will of God.

The world

The devil

The flesh

The world wants to conform us but God wants to transform us

JEsus is not of this world but has overcome this world so that we too can overcome, but it started with Him

Jesus in His prayer for the apostles said

See the Apostles, just like us, when we are in the possession of Christ are not of this world!

WE need to remember this and be transformed, but not conformed to the ways of this world, but transform the world by the ways, the will of God

God have given us what we need to face the spiritual battles that are waged by Satan and his little pinions.

Though they may have some power in this world, they do not have victory!

Satan is a liar, a deceiver and has been since the beginning

When Satan speaks, it is a lie, he speaks from his own nature for he is the father of lies.

when a person believes and practices, dwells, in the lie, he is a child of disobedience.

(expand of this; different gospel, is no gospel at all, offers no salvation they they claim they do)

Next want to touch on the flesh against us:

(illustration/story) - there was an evangelist who titled a message “Why your dog does what he does” - people were curious what that could be about, so many came to hear the message.

Well the message was about the nature of a dog, is the nature of the dog, it is what it is, it is not the nature of a cat, so a dog does what a dog does because of it’s nature.

A man who is fallen by nature due to sin, does what a sinful man does, sin’s, it is in his nature and he cannot change his nature.

We need God to step in and change our nature for only He can do that.

David said it like this

Paul speaks of this nature more in Romans chapter 7, you can read that on your own.

We cannot change our fleshly nature, we cannot overcome the world or the devil, we need God to do it, we need His help, it can only come from Him.

Person is depraved (Eph2:3b; Lk11:23)

The sinner who is conformed to the world has his mind and flesh depraved.

his actions are sinful because his appetite is sinful.

Now, don’t read too deep into this, there are people who are not necessarily evil, who do things that have the appearance of good, but when we look at things with the right standard (measure) they fall short (as we all do) and cannot save themselves.

Jesus illustrates this point.

Good works cannot save you, without God and His help through the blood of Christ you are doomed.

(remember again, this is a reminder only to the one who has already obeyed the gospel).

The person is doomed (Eph2:3c; Jn3:18; 2Pt3:8-10

By nature children of wrath, by deed children of disobedience, they are condemned already

Judgment given, sentenced passed “condemned” but God, rich in mercy stayed the execution of the sentence.

Because of His desire.

But know the day is coming!

But God in His infinite mercy, abounding, abundant grace changed everything He did.

For He did the work for us!

II.

God’s work in us

Understanding the severity of sin helps us to appreciate the work that God has done for us.

It it is His work.

For He loved us (Eph2:4)

Rich in mercy, why?

Because of His great love for us.