This is the manuscript of the sermon delivered at Christ Church on February 14, 2021. This is the first sermon in a series "The Answer To Eternity's Most Important Questions"
Sometimes we read in the newspaper or see on television that someone has been trapped by floodwaters, or trapped in a building after an earthquake or in an avalanche. We can feel something of the despair of their families as they cry out in desperation, “They are lost! Lost!” “But,” we know exactly where they are. They're in their home or car or building, or wherever we know exactly where they are. We feel that they are lost because we can’t get to them. It’s like they are hundreds of miles away or in outer space. We can’t get to them. We know where they are but, as far as we’re concerned they are as lost.
This expresses the condition of those who are spiritually lost, without Christ and without salvation. We know where they are, they're our family, our friends, and our neighbors. We know where to find time but they are still lost without Christ.
For an audio recording of the sermon click the YouTube link at the end of this manuscript.
To see a video of the entire service click this link https://youtu.be/_0sMzKMblQA
Valentine’s Day is observed in memory of the Saint Valentine who is said to have been executed on February 14th in A.D 470 for performing weddings for Roman soldiers (It was a violation of the Roman Law). Maybe that’s why he is called the Parton Saint of beloveds and people around the world celebrate romantic love on the day of his execution. However, today the holiday is much less about honoring martyrs of the faith and more about lavishing our loved ones with gifts and words of affirmation. Let us be careful to not miss the hidden gem for all of us on this special day - that God is the author of love and loves us greater than any single person could.
Text
Ephesians 2:1-3 NIV As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
Introduction
Sometimes we read in the newspaper or see on television that someone has been trapped by floodwaters, or trapped in a building after an earthquake or in an avalanche. We can feel something of the despair of their families as they cry out in desperation, “They are lost! Lost!” “But,” we know exactly where they are. They're in their home or car or building,or wherever we know exactly where they are. We feel that they are lost because we can’t get to them. It’s like they are hundreds of miles away or in outer space. We can’t get to them. We know where they are but, as far as we’re concerned they are as lost.
This expresses the condition of those who are spiritually lost, without Christ and without salvation. We know where they are, they're our family, our friends, and our neighbors. We know where to find time but they are still lost without Christ.
Ephesians 2 gives us a good description of what it means to be lost.
Let's read verses 1 and 2 of our text again.
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient” (Eph. 2:1–2 NIV).
I. To be lost is to be spiritually dead.
Apart from physical death, Scripture speaks of a second type of death. This is known as spiritual death. Spiritual death is when a person is alive physically, but dead spiritually.
The lost person is cut off from the spiritual life and power that we find in Christ. Thus the condition of the lost person is death.
Spiritual death is brought about by sin.
Adam and Eve died spiritually at the time that they sinned.
Genesis 2:17 NIV but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
They also began to die physically. Because of Adam and Eve all of us are born spiritually dead, separated from God. We are born lost.
Paul wrote about sin causing spiritual death;
Romans 7:9 NIV Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.
Romans 6:23 NIV For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The prodigal son, in Jesus' parable, was said to have been spiritually dead, or lost.
The prodigal's father said.
Luke 15:32 NIV But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”
We know that the Father in this parable represents God and the prodigal represents a sinner who has rejected Christ.
Specific acts of sin are the result of the general habit of sin in someone’s life. These habitual sins can kill all spiritual sensitivity.
In a sermon “Pay Day—Some Day,” a Pastor by the name of R. G. Lee, who lived and ministered in New Orleans told of a man who called him one day, identifying himself as “the chief of the kangaroo court.” This chief of the kangaroo court told Dr. Lee that all of that stuff he was preaching was nonsense, that God did not exist, and that what he described as sin was just good living.
One day Lee received a call from the New Orleans Charity Hospital. The hospital official said a man at the hospital was about to die. He was out of his mind and raving, but he had asked for Dr. Lee. He had said something about being the chief of the kangaroo court. After he was introduced to Dr. Lee, he said, “The devil pays off all right—but he pays in counterfeit money . . . he pays in counterfeit money.” Then he died. This is an example of Paul's declaration that “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23 NIV).
II. To be lost is to be spiritually dead and hopelessly enslaved.
A. Hopelessly enslaved by the spirit of the age.
Ephesians 2:1-2 NIV As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
Think of things that characterize the spirit of our age or the ways of this world—greed, lust, pride, selfishness, unrestrained and undisciplined action. Then you can understand how people can become slaves to sin without realizing it.
Sin can manifest itself in attitudes, actions, or ambitions.
Romans 6:16 NLT Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.
Sin not only enslaves; it also separates people from God, and other people. Jesus is the only one who can deliver a person from slavery to sin. All of us need pardon from past guilt and deliverance from the power and practice of evil.
Romans 6:6 NLT We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.
Romans 6:17-18 NLT Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.
Jesus is the only one who can pay the price of our sin and deliver us from spiritual death and eternal torment.
Romans 6:22-23 NLT But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Those who have not made Jesus Christ the Master of their lives remain servants or slaves of sin. They are lost.
B. To be lost is to be enslaved by the power of Satan.
Back to our text
Ephesians 2:1-2 NIV As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
The people of Paul’s day believed that the air was filled with evil spirits. These spirits were ruled by the prince of the power of the air—Satan himself.
In our day we have relegated the devil to cartoons and caricatures. But if we look closely at the world, and what is going on around us, we can see that he is still still loose.
Satan is directing the spirit of this age and the spirit of the world.
The Apostle Peter cautions us;
1 Peter 5:8-9 NIV Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Paul tells us;
Ephesians 6:12 NIV For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
So to be lost is to be enslaved to Satan and that causes you to be enslaved to sin.
C. To be lost is to be enslaved by a spirit of rebellion.
Back to our text again
When Paul said “in those who are disobedient” he is referring to those whose lives are characterized by disobedience, which is the very essence of sin. From the time Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the garden of Eden until now, disobedience has been the catalyst for sin.
Ephesians 5:3-6 NIV But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.
1 John 3:4 NIV Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
At the core of all sin is the doubt that God is good. In a certain sense, every time we sin, we are doubting the goodness of God, that His promises are for our good, that His commands are meant to be protective, not restrictive. A right understanding of these things enables us to realize that love for Him is most perfectly expressed through obedience
Jesus said;
John 14:15-21 NIV “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
D. To be lost is to be enslaved by our own desires, the desires of the flesh
The desires of the flesh and of the mind can control our lives if we are not careful.
Flesh in the Bible and fleshly sins are not just sexual sins.
Galatians 5:19-21 NIV The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
The flesh is that part of our nature that gives sin a point of attack a place where we can be tempted.
James 1:13-15 NIV When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
III. To be lost is to be an object of wrath, God’s wrath
Ephesians 2:3 NIV All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
This makes abundantly clear the fact that those who are lost and without Christ await the wrath of God and are objects of his wrath.
God’s wrath is no joke. In the New Testament the wrath of God refers to his settled opposition to sin.
Romans 1:18-20 NIV The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Romans 2:5-8 NIV But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
Part of God’s wrath is revealed in the life of the lost person. Take a look at those people you know whose lives have been lived in sin. They have become callous, hardened, and insensitive. God’s wrath as a result of their sin has caused them to lose much of the joy of life.
It's as if there consciences have become seared
1 Timothy 4:1-2 NIV The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
Paul was talking about false teachers here but the point is the same, for those that are lost.
Some of us were those people.
But God’s wrath also has a future aspect. The apostle Paul warned us about stubbornness and unrepentant hearts that come from being lost;
Romans 2:5-8 NIV But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
Conclusion
Today we have seen what it means to be lost, and thank God no one has to remain lost. Everyone can be saved. Yes, Ephesians 2:1–3 describes the condition of the lost.
Ephesians 2:1-3 NIV As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
But now look at verses 4-9;
Ephesians 2:4-9 NIV But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
Today, focus your thoughts on Jesus, the Saviour of the world, and meditate on how he saved you. You are no longer lost but because now that we know the future of the lost and the fact that they are enslaved by sin and its consequences,it is now on us to go out into the world and find them. Here’s the last thing the Jesus said to His disciples while on earth;
Matthew 28:18-20 NIV Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Let's pray,
Lord, thank you for your unconditional love. It is because of this great love that we live in the freedom that Jesus has given us. Thank you for opening our eyes to the truth that is found in your word. Mighty Savior, thank you for rescuing us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of your Son, Jesus. But Father, we are so heartbroken because some of our family and friends have not accepted your Son, Jesus, as their Lord and savior. Use us as your vessel to go and preach to them the gospel so that they can become part of your family. In Jesus’ name, I believe and pray, Amen.
Sermon Audio
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