Ephesians 2:1-4

Verse 3 is explosion of praise to God, (4-14) we discovered 20 ways God has blessed us. This is book is about what God has done for us. Tthe last two words of the sermon today will highlight God once again.

3. (1:4-6) God the Father is to be praised.

4. (1:7-12) God the Son is to be praised.

5. (1:13-14) God the Spirit is to be praised. (Danny)

6. (1:15-23) Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians - Last week, an attempt was made to get inside the Apostle Paul’s mind as he prayed for the Ephesians. He wanted them to know God, and celebrated the hope of their calling and to be fueled by the realness of their glorious inheritance that was secured for them by the blood of Christ and that was awaiting them in the future. And finally…we looked at the awesome POWER of God that is at our disposal because it is in us and among us to change us. This was Paul’s prayer.

Feels pretty good after the last few weeks. And today we hit a brick wall.

Sometimes we go to church to feel better. That won’t be the case today.

Textual Idea: You’re not what you think, you’re worse than you think.

What has stood out to you most in the 6 messages on Ephesians 1?

Ephesians 2:1–2 ESV

Ephesians 2:3 ESV

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

Good Cop / Bad Cop

Illustration: Are you familial with the good cop, bad cop routine?

The "bad cop" takes an aggressive, negative stance towards the subject, making blatant accusations, derogatory comments, threats. This sets the stage for the "good cop" to be sympathetic and supportive. All this done in an attempt to get the subject to admit their guilt. The Good cop is next week - but he will make a brief appearance at the end of the message!

In 2:1-3, Paul is a “bad cop” with a devastating 1-2 punch.

Do you know in boxing or in MMA when a knock out punch is delivered the referee steps in and breaks up the fight. This is for the protection of the fighter that get’s knocked down…no need to kick a man when he is down. The knock out punch has beed delivered, there is not need to administer any more blows to the head or body.

Well, in Ephesians 2:1-3, we are in the ring with Paul and he is going to knock us out. Then he is going to ignoring the referee. He is relentless. And this really isn’t Paul right? This is the Holy Spirit who inspired these words that is the one pummeling us.

The knock out blow wasn’t even a 1-2 combination. It was just one quick unexpected stiff jab to the face that snapped our heads back.

Ephesians 2:1–3 ESV

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

“and you were dead”

We hit the mat…the ref steps in and starts the 10 count…but instead of walking back to the corner in triumph, the Holy Spirit leads Paul to charge past the ref and jump on top of us and bash us with brutal strikes!

You are a trespasser. You are a sinner. You followed the course of this world. You followed after Satan. You were disobedient. You carried out the passions of your flesh. You carried out the desires of the body. You carried out the desires of your minds. You are a child of wrath. There is nothing unique about you, you are just like everyone else.

(OUCH) - dude this is brutal. You are ruined. ASHER

Do you hear this? Are you seeing this? This is excessive use of force. Paul, Holy Spirit give us a break! We can’t stand up under such a beating. If this happened in the ring the fighter would be arrested for battery and possible attempted murder.

This is our God doing this to us.

I can’t tell you how many times I have been in conversations with people who say, “I grew up in a Christian home, I don’t have that powerful of a testimony.”

Have you ever thought that your testimony isn’t that dramatic or powerful? How does Ephesians 2:1-3 beg to differ?

My jaw hits the floor and I think in my mind…has this person even read the bible? Then I try to think about how to respond more pastorally (so I go talk to Pastor Danny), then I come back and say...

Ephesians 2 is your testimony. Ephesians 2 is my testimony. Ephesians 2 is everyone’s testimony. We all have the same testimony people!

Let’s look at how bad you and I were. Let’s just use the the 1st of the 10 Commandments. (“Command”ments people - not suggestions).

THOU SHALT HAVE no other god’s before me.

Is God first and foremost in you life at all times? Have you ever, or do you now love anything more than God? Husband, wife, child or even our own life—more than we love God? Do you set your affection on the gifts of the Giver, rather than the Giver? Do you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? At all times, and in all ways and in all places? If not, you are committing idolatry…which makes you and idolater which makes you 0 for 1.

I will spare you from going through all ten…but if we needed to substantiate how bad we were by just looking at the “ten words” given to Moses, we would find out that we are…

Idolaters, Blasphemers, Sabbath breakers, we are disobedient too and dishonor our moms and dads. We are murders at heart. We desires our neighbors houses and our neighbors spouses…so we are jealous thieves and guilty of adultery. We are lying, blaspheming, adulterous thieves, who think God is holding out on us and prefer the gift over the Giver of the gifts.

Good luck with judgement day! Guilty of one, guilty of all is what James says…and you think you don’t have that powerful of a testimony?

Let’s see how bad we were shall we? Let’s see what we have been saved from…and from what some of you still in this room need to be saved from.

We are/were...

This message applies to us all in the room in one way or another. I do not want to assume that because you are in here…that you are in Christ. If you are not a born again believer because of your faith in the sacrifice of Christ, your church attendance is provoking God to anger. So everything that is said today is either describing you or it described you. So let’s see what we are or were...

Dead in the trespasses and sins (2:1).

Ephesians 2:1 ESV

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

We are born bent to love that which God hates…(sin…)

This text says we “were dead.” Dead to all things God related and quite alive to the things that God hates.

Because of one sin, Adam and Eve were banished from the garden. Okay…so how many of us have committed at least 1 sin? Hmmm…let me think for a moment. Admit it. You deserve banishment from the presence of God.

That is the necessary retributive action for one wrongdoing…but look at the comprehensive nature with which the Holy Spirit makes plain through Paul’s use of the language.

Paul uses two terms to describe our wretched deficiency…and on top of that he used the plural forms of those words. This should lead us to realize that we are much worse than we think.

First, Paul uses the word, trespasses and he uses it in the plural form, meaning not just one trespass, but many trespasses. A trespass is what a person has done in transgressing the will and law of God by a false step or failure. This is crossing a known boundary or a deviation from the right path. Look we know what we ought not do, but the problem is we do it anyway. This is seeing a no trespassing sign and walking past it. And we do this not just once, but over and over again. You don’t have to teach kids to disobey…it comes naturally.

Not only does Paul use the word trespasses, but next he uses the word sins. It is a missing of the mark. This is falling short of a standard. And once again we didn’t just do this once…but we have done this over and over and over. It is like the energizer bunny…(it keeps going and going and going). This is us, we are “hell bent on destroying ourselves.” That is why Paul says we are “Dead in the trespasses and sins.”

So here we go verse 1 says, we have actively stepped over the line over and over again and have actively done what God has not wanted us to do…we have trespassed.

We have also…actively failed to do all that God required of us. We have missed the mark over and over again. And we have been passive in doing all that God has required of us. We have sinned.

So…in summary we have all misstepped and missed the mark. And not only have we misstepped and missed the mark, but we have done both many times. So before God we are rebels and failures.

We were dead…you can put the proverbial nail in the coffin.

And now to pile on…not only are we “born dead,” but Paul says we were...

Paul uses two terms “trespasses” and “sin” as evidence to our deadness toward God. How are those terms distinct?

Enslaved to the devil (2:1-2).

Ephesians 2:1–2 ESV

What we were doing in our “deadness?” We were walking around following the devil. Ouch.

Paul describe us in our unregenerate state the way you describe a zombie. A walking dead thing. It goes to show you nothing new under the sun. The zombie phase was originated by the Apostle Paul.

Do you like watching shows with zombies?

Paul says we were dead, but we were also active in our deadness…we were walking. The walking dead.

Walking - to live or behave in a customary manner, with a focus upon continuity of action—‘to live, to behave, to go about doing.’

We were acting and behaving in a way that was acceptable…not to God, but too God’s adversary…the devil. This can’t be good ya’ll.

Okay…let’s pile on more.

Two additional phrases beginning with greek word (KATA)…it “means according to the standard.”

What standard were we living in accordance with?

“the course of this world” and “the prince of the power of the air.”

ILLUSTRATE: Have you ever been out on a sunny warm day (do they have those here?), anyway, on a sunny warm day and you have a picnic and you are eating your food and then you decide to get up and play frisbee or catch or just go for a walk…you come back and discover that you have like a thousand guests that showed up uninvited to your picnic? You look down at your plate and a like a thousand ants are devouring a crumb from your oreo cookie and there is a trail of a thousand more ants carrying in triumph, bits and pieces of crumbs from your lunch that were on your blanket (the ants go marching one by one…). They just keep their head down and follow the one in front of them.

Paul says, you are that ant. That’s you. Just a deplorable, dead man walking following everyone else and the devil himself down the road of destruction to your demise.

What do these two phrases mean?

“Following the course of the world” and “following the prince of the power of the air.”

Ephesians 2:1–2 ESV

Following the course of this world. Basically means any activity that we do apart from an acknowledgment of God.

This isn’t talking about the physical world, this is in reference to “a mentality of living life without God.”

It’s probably best pictured in the story of the Tower of Babel. Remember that one? “Let’s make a name for ourselves by building a really big tower.” Look how impressive we are…we don’t need God. We can rely on each other and our technological advances…(let’s make bricks and invent mortar and build a tower)…we don’t need God. The best thing about that story is verse 5, where the text indicates that God had to “come down” to see the city and the tower they build.

Here is man…trying to make a name for themselves apart from God by building a tall tower and in order for God to even see it he has to come down. Comical. So anyway, “following the course of the world” is best summed up by the Psalmist when he says,

Psalm 10:4 ESV

4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

Living in such a way as if God doesn’t exist. Do we see that in our culture? Do we see that in our policy making? Do we see that in our technological advances and development of science and medicine?

Yes…the inhabitants of the world…apart from God…conduct their lives as if God does not exist.

Do we see that in the lives of people that walk through these doors?

Describe what it means to follow, “the course of the world.”

“Following the prince of the power of the air”.

Ephesians 2:1–2 ESV

We will talk much more about this when we approach Chapter 6 and notice what Paul has to say about the battle that we are in against the devil.

We are so well advanced in our day of age that almost everything is screaming to us that the spiritual isn’t real. Everything is about the here and now. It is our biology and we are simply matter that exists…there is no soul or spirit…you are simply a collection of biological matter. Trillions and trillions of cells somehow joined together.

And even if we would concede to the idea that there is a spiritual side to us…we certainly we don’t believe in a being who is an adversary to us. Look we have seen the cartoons growing up…the little devil with the pitchfork on the one shoulder and the angel with the halo over it’s head on the other. How, childish. How made up. Sounds like a fairy tale to me.

C.S. Lewis pick up on this in his book, “The Screwtape Letters.” In the preface he writes,

There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves (the devils) are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.

And again in letter seven he writes,

My dear Wormwood...

I wonder you should ask me whether it is essential to keep the patient in ignorance about your own existence...

I do not think you will have much difficulty in keeping your patient in the dark. The fact that ‘devils’ are predominantly comic figures in the modern imagination will help you.

If any faint suspicion of your existence begins to arise in his mind, suggest to him a picture of something in red tights, and persuade him that since he cannot believe in that (it is an old textbook method of confusing them) he therefore cannot believe in you.

One of the most important things I can say to you as your pastor who is responsible before God to oversee the well begin of your soul is this…

“the devil is real and he masquerades as and angel of light and he HATES YOU and is seeking to DESTROY YOU.”

Do you realize what this text says? We followed after the one who was seeking to destroy us. We were ants marching in the footsteps of a mighty angel of God who has fallen and now positions himself as our enemy (the one opposed to God Almighty and those made in His image).

We followed him instead of walking in a manner worthy of our calling as image bearers of God. We followed him while holding up, in triumph, our accomplishments as trophies not knowing that they were filthy rags!

Do your realize the implications of what Paul is saying here?

All of us in this room used to be and some still are followers of Satan. Satan worshippers. Crazy…whoa…I wasn’t that bad. Yes you were…you just might not of realized it even though you have read the bible all your life.

Following in the bible is really equated with worshipping in the bible.

1 Kings 9:6 ESV

6 But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,

You see we are all worshippers, but what are you worshipping? Two options…God or anything that isn’t God.

Do you think it is an overstatement to say that before we became a “follower of Christ,” that you were a “Satan worshipper?”

Do you want to see debased debauchery at its finest? Look back at pictures of you in your BC days…

Do you want to see wicked depravity....some of you just need to go in a mirror. (That shot was below the belt…chill out...)

Just wait…the bad cop isn’t done yet…Paul keeps piling on. Paul is carried along by the Holy Spirit to keep piling on. This is relentless. Now this is turning into a full on assault…a character assassination with no hope for recovery.

I hope these body blows do the damage they are meant to do. At the end of these verses you should be raising a white flag. This is when you hope your manager throws in the towel. Consider verse three…part one...

Enslaved to ourselves (2:3a).

Ephesians 2:3 ESV

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

First of all…please don’t see this as me being a bully in the pulpit.

First of all, I am not the author. These aren’t my words…I am just the messenger. I am an ambassador of heaven speaking on behalf of the Almighty. And if you want to take it up with Him, you are more than welcome to do that, but please know that when you do so you will eventually come to the same conclusion the Psalmist did in Psalm 73:21-21.

Psalm 73:21–22 ESV

21 When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, 22 I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.

When you think you know better than the Almighty Creator who made you and you have beef with Him, you are acting less than human. You have in sense lost your humanity and are acting like a beast.

But anyway…I am not a pulpit bully. The reason I am not a pulpit bully is because of two words.

Ephesians 2:3 ESV

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

“among whom WE ALL”

I am not above you. I am under this same condemnation. When I point one finger at any one of you…I am pointing 4 back at me.

When I was considering transitioning into a senior pastoral role and I was looking for opportunities, I came across one that seemed intriguing. There was a church in Colorado that was literally named, “The Scum of the Earth Church.” I thought to myself…well, “At least I know I will fit in there.”

Even though I am the messenger to you all this morning…when I step into this pulpit it is after I have been worked over the by Holy Spirit all week with this content. This was me before Christ.

Sadly, although I have trusted in Christ as my Savior to save me from that which I am now ashamed of, I still have current evidence in my life that showcases who I used to be. I am still at war with “the passions of my flesh, but now it isn’t a blood bath…now I can fight back because the grace of God has appeared in my life, bringing me salvation and it has taught me to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and it is teaching me to live a self-controlled, upright and godly life in this present age (Titus 2:11-12).

So I am not a bully this morning. If you feel bullied, it isn’t coming from me. Maybe someone is trying to break your heart of stone.

But look at these phrases...

We all…lived in the passions of our flesh. This is not a reference to our skin…this is a reference to our fallen, self-centered human nature. We look out for number one.

This is typified by C.S. Lewis - The Last Battle - Lucy pleads with Aslan to help out the dwarves, but they refuse to allow Him to take them in .

“Well, at any rate there’s no Humbug here. We haven’t let anyone take us in. The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs”

We all…carried out the desires of the body

We all have natural desires that are not bad in and of themselves. There are certain necessary natural desires of our body and mind that are God given. We need food. We need sleep. We need to obey God’s command to be fruitful and multiply…and that process is pleasurable and profitable.

These desires originate from God Himself and in their natural state are good gifts…but we have twisted and bent them to please ourselves instead of bringing glory to God with how we steward them.

Instead of driving our desires…we allow them to drive us. Our desires are meant to be subordinate to us and are to be kept in order…but we have allowed them the keys of our kingdom.

So we eat, but then over eat for comfort sake or tastes sake and we become gluttoness.

We procrastinate and put off responsibilities and become lazy and abuse our desire for rest.

We are blatant and, high handedly make our sexual desires ALL about us and this self worship that is an abomination.

There is a billion dollar industry that is destroying marriages, and families and children. It is dark and is deceptive and enticing and tragically some of you in this room are dabbling in it and some of you are engulfed by it. And your soul is longing and yearning and pleading to be SET FREE. The best time to turn back is NOW. Step into the light of Christ and expose your darkness and find freedom for your soul.

This was something that used to rule me.

Being enslaved to the desires of the body is a wretched condition. Us serving out desires instead of them serving us and our exerted wills is horrible. It is addictive. It promises freedom, but they binds you in shackles.

And some of you…most of you in this room, at some point of your lives have experienced this…if you haven’t experienced this in your life…then maybe you are experiencing it right now and don’t even know it.

and to you and your heart I quote Ephesians 5:14

Ephesians 5:14 ESV

14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

The text isn’t done with us yet.

The text says,

Ephesians 2:3 ESV

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

Carrying out the desires of the body AND the mind...

You mean there’s more? Yes…your mind is messed up.

Mind in Scripture includes a lot of aspects of who we are as humans. It is our intellect, our emotions and our wills. We have a body problem and we have a mind problem.

Mental health…it is a REAL THING. We have seen the stats explode within the last 12 months right? Listen…if you need help…seek it. To you I quote Paul in Ephesians 4:17

Ephesians 4:17 ESV

17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.

Come get help.

And if you weren’t on life support already…here is the death blow.

You and I, used to be and some of you hearing this right now are...

Are there passions of the flesh that need to be mortified in your life? Are there ways of thinking that need to be mortified in your life? Of course so, if so, what so?

Children of wrath (2:3)

Ephesians 2:3 ESV

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

You have just expired. You have been vanquished. Checkmate.

“were by nature children of wrath.”

This is intended to make you squirm. This is Paul playing bad cop at its finest.

God’s wrath is not arbitrary…it is personal…He is personally, rightfully offended by us.

I’m not that bad…I’m just doing what humans do. Yup… you are right...

A lot of bad counsel is out there… “We are all God’s children.” No! The Scriptures say you must be born again to be His Child.

Listen to Jonathan Edwards on the wrath of God...

The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood…

The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire…

You have offended him…and there is no reason why you have not gone to hell even this morning, since you have sat here in the house of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship.

Yes, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you do not this very moment drop down into hell.

Bad Cop summary: What is Paul being lead by the Holy Spirit to do here in these 3 verses. What is the intended outcome? We must see that we, you and I are totally depraved.

Isaiah 1:5 says,

Isaiah 1:5 ESV

5 Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

You and I, apart from Christ are an awful, tragic mess and the primary problem facing us isn’t anything outside of us...the problem is us. We are the problem.

Jesus said, evil comes from within us...

Mark 7:23 ESV

23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

The problem isn’t your job, your boss, the economy, your political leaders, your brother, your sister, your kids, your health, or your lack of funds, your spouse, or the size of your house.

You are stubborn and stiffnecked and following God’s adversary. You are ruined and rotten at the core. God’s image in you is marred.

Your biggest problem is not thinking you are the biggest problem.

If you are the problem...what’s is the solution?

The solution is in the first two words of Ephesians 2:4

BUT GOD...

How thankful are you for the first two words of Ephesians 2:4? Express your thankfulness to God with you words and actions!!!

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