Sermon Tone Analysis
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*/ /*Ephesians 2:1-10
Stephen Caswell © 1999
Charlie Brown and Linus
In a Charlie Brown comic strip there is an interesting discussion between Charlie Brown and Linus.
Charlie Brown went hiking with Linus.
At the end of the first day he got out a deck chair and went to the top of a nearby hill.
Linus also went along to see what he was up to.
Firstly, Charlie Brown set up the deck chair and looked out from the hill in the direction that they had just traveled.
After a while he pointed the chair in the direction of their campsite.
Then a little bit later he pointed it in another direction.
Curious about all of this, Linus asked what he was doing.
Charlie Brown told him that he was reviewing their progress!
The first things he looked he took in was the track they had hiked along that day from home base.
Then he looked over the camp where they would spend the night.
After this he looked at where they were going to tomorrow to complete their journey.
Introduction
Over the last 4 weeks we have seen God's great work of salvation.
We saw how Paul prayed that God would help the Ephesians to comprehend the riches they had in Christ.
In today's passage Paul reflects on their /spiritual journey/.
He looks at their past, present and future.
However Paul reminds all believers of their spiritual journey in /Ephesians 2:1-10/.
Because the world seeks to change us at every turn, it is easy for us to lose focus of the purpose God has for us.
So it is good for us to review our spiritual journey.
It is good to refocus our attention on Christ.
*Firstly we see *How God Found Us * - Our Former Position in Sin - *(2:1-3)
*Secondly we will see *What God Did For Us -* Our Present Position in Christ - *(2:5-6)
*Thirdly we will discover *Why God Saved Us - *Our Future Position in Christ* - (2:4,7-9)
*And lastly/ /*What God Requires of Us - *Our Present Walk with Christ* /- /(2:10)
I.
How God Found Us - /Our Former Position in Sin - (2:1-3) /
*/a.
Dead/ Ephesians 2:1* /And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, /
Paul begins by giving us the bad news first.
He lays it all out on the table.
He describes the life of unsaved people before God.
The first attribute is */death/*.
People are */dead/* because of their sin.
Paul repeats this again in verse 5.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden they died immediately.
They no longer had God's life in them and therefore were dead.
This is how every person enters the world, they are born */spiritually dead/*.
This was once our position.
Illustration of a Brain Dead Person.
If someone is starved of oxygen to their brain for more than 5 minutes they may become brain dead.
The person can be revived physically but their brain does not function.
They are warm and breathing and alive in a physical sense.
But you can't talk to them or reach them.
They are unable to communicate with you or have any sort of relationship.
They are just like a vegetable and it is very sad when this happens to people.
*/In the same way people who are spiritually dead cannot have a relationship with God./* God is Spirit and they that worship Him must worship in Spirit and in truth.
Unsaved people are */spiritually dead/*.
They are like living corpses or brain dead people.
They have no real life.
They cannot communicate with God and are ignorant of their spiritual need.
*/b.
Disobedient /2:2* /in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, /
Following on from this it is no surprise that Paul says we were */disobedient/*.
Without God's life people are unable to live in obedience to Him.
Disobedience describes people walking, [literally living] in rebellion to God's revealed standard.
This is how society conducts itself in every generation.
This is the normal way of life for unsaved people.
They continuously live in sin.
Before we were saved this was our position.
The Prince of the power of the air rules over the lives of the unsaved.
They are lead by Satan's wicked spirits into continual sin.
Illustration of the Arrow and the Path
Paul used two words to describe disobedience in verse 1.
The word /trespasses/ has the idea of a false step.
To step outside the right path.
This may not be premeditated but is still contrary to God's law.
Whilst the word /sin /has the idea of an arrow veering off and missing the target.
Although this doesn't mean that the arrow was ever aimed at the target.
Even though sin often affects other people it is always against God.
*/c.
Depraved/ Ephesians 2:3 a* /among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, /
Paul shows the progressive nature of sin here.
What starts out as disobedience to God 's law, leads to rejection of God and the knowledge of Him.
This ends up in total depravity.
When people reject God they start on an ever descending spiral into moral perversion and wickedness.
One look at the newspaper soon confirms the depravity of society.
This is described very vividly in *Romans 1:18-32*.
Their corrupt nature leads them into corrupt lifestyles.
Of course this does not mean that every unsaved person becomes as corrupt as they might.
The total depravity of lost people means that of themselves they cannot please God.
Even their good works are unacceptable to Him.
The sinful nature we inherited from Adam leads us to sin.
Illustration of a Pig in the Mud
You don't have to live on a pig farm to know that pigs love to wallow in the mud.
You may wash them and put them in a clean pen with no mud for months.
You could even take the pig inside like in Babe.
But once you put the pig back in a normal pig pen where mud is available your clean pig will become dirty in no time.
It's in their nature and no amount of training or washing will change that.
Pigs wallow in the mud because they are pigs.
*/People sin because they are sinners.
That is their nature./*
Regardless of the motives or the amount of sin people commit, the fact remains that /all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory/.
The only way for sinners to change is for them to receive a new nature.
*/d.
Doomed/ Ephesians 2:3 b/ /*/and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others./
The apostle Paul now gives the verdict for those who live sinfully.
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