The Walking Dead

Amen. Go ahead and have a seat this morning. And I’ll just tell you what. That is time well spent. The people of God spending some time declaring, “Worthy is the Lamb who was to be slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” Amen. You needed that this morning. Thanks to the worship team for leading us.

Go ahead and open your Bibles today to Ephesians chapter 2. And we have made it to the second chapter of the book of Ephesians. Now I told you when we started Ephesians, almost every week I’ve said, the most important position you could ever find yourself in is where? Anybody? The most important position you could ever find yourself in is where? In Christ! That’s right. And our series is called “Riches in Christ.” And Paul spent a lot of time in chapter 1 describing to us where our position is as believers, and it is in Christ.

And our text today is perhaps the most concise and important iteration of how the believer gets in such an important position. But not only that, Ephesians 2:1-10 also describes who we are outside of that position, which is where we’ll spend a majority of our time today. But Ephesians chapter 2 helps us see how bad off we are and how good God’s grace is.

Except for the word “bad” doesn’t even come close to scratching the surface when it’s describing you and me outside of Christ. When Paul is describing our situation outside of Christ, some better words would maybe be wicked, unregenerate, disobedient, rebellious, glory-robbers. It’s not really good for us.

Alfalfa’s famous letter to Darla comes to mind. “Dear Darla, I hate your stinking guts. You are scum between my toes. You make me vomit. Love, Alfalfa.” But the reality is we are eternal losers outside of Christ, unable to do anything worthy of His love. And God could rightfully hand us Alfalfa’s letter, but instead He offers grace.

And oh my goodness, the word “good” doesn’t even come close to scratching the surface for all that God’ds grace is. It is a glorious and miraculous and unmerited grace. It’s a restoring grace it’s a sin-conquering grace. It’s a life-giving grace and it’s able to make dead people alive.

Now Ephesians chapter 2 paints this bleak and grim picture of who you are outside of Christ so that grace of God can radiate and shine for all that it is worth inside of Christ. Now the big idea that I want to give to you today is this. Outside of Christ I’m as bad off as I could possibly be, but God offers grace. Outside of Christ I’m as bad off as I could possibly be, but God offers grace.

Why don’t you get your eyes on a copy of God’s Word this morning. We’re going to read the first ten verses so that we get a framework for where we will be for the next two weeks. And largely today we will focus on verses 1-3. Now hear the Word of the Lord.
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 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— 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. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:1-10)
Let’s pray together. Father, we come. And Lord, we are desperate for You to move today. We are desperate and needy. We are poor and needy as Your Word says. And so we come asking that Your Holy Spirit would move in our midst, that Your Holy Spirit would illuminate Your words. Not my words, but Your words that are in Ephesians chapter 2 for us, the hearer, today. And Lord would You show us our desperate need for You apart from Jesus Christ. Would You help us to come to understanding of and to a glimpse of who we are outside of Christ so that we might adore You and worship You all the more for the grace that has been extended to the believer.

And Lord, even as Your Word confronts us today with our reality and our sinfulness outside of Christ, would You cause us by Your Spirit to be attentive? Would You open our hearts? Would you open our minds to examine our own hearts and lives to see whether or not we are in the faith? And would You do what only Your Spirit can do, to lead us toward a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? In Your precious name we pray, amen.
Amen. Now point number one this morning is this. Outside of Christ I am dead. Outside of Christ I am dead. And as we’ve ventured through Ephesians chapter 1, we’ve seen the phrase “in Christ” fourteen times now. You didn’t have it in your brain this morning, but next week you’ll be ready for it, all right? Fourteen times.
The most important position we could ever find ourselves in is in Christ. And Paul painted for us this almost incomprehensible picture for those who are in Christ. We are blessed. We are chosen. We are adopted. We are redeemed and forgiven. We are given wisdom and insight. We are given a purpose. We are given an inheritance. We are sealed and guaranteed eternity. It’s just like a waterfall of wealth crashing down on the head of the believer.
And then he prays at the end of chapter 1 that we would have the eyes of our hearts enlightened to this power that’s available to us. And as Paul moves into chapter 2 of Ephesians, he takes believers back to understand their position before being in Christ. So look at verse 1. He says, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins.”
So let’s just take it at face value. It’s important when you study your Bible, study every word, study who it’s being written to, study the history of it. It says, “and you.” He’s still speaking to those in Ephesus who were faithful in Christ Jesus. And then he says “were.” So he’s referring to their past position in life. If you’re not rich in Christ you are somewhere else. You are in a different position. And he says that they were dead.
So if you’re not rich in Christ you are dead in something else. And if it was true of the believers in Ephesus, then it’s true of those of us here today who are walking in the grace of God. and we see a new position come into play in the book of Ephesians. It says you were dead in the trespasses and sins.
Paul tells them, and God’s Word is telling us today, that we are as good as dead when it comes to our spiritual life apart from Christ. Outside of Christ you are a corpse that has been positioned in the trespasses and sins.
What is a corpse good for? What can a dead person do? That’s a big fat nothing, right? A dead person can’t do anything. A dead person, you can dress a dead person up. You can make a dead person look a little better. You can position a dead person. But a dead person, someone who is physically dead, cannot react or respond to anything.
Now Paul in Ephesians 2, he’s speaking of those who are spiritually dead. But a person who is spiritually dead will not live a spiritual life. And a person who is spiritually dead cannot respond to spiritual things because they are positioned in their trespasses and sins. Ephesians keeps highlighting these positions. And the second one that comes into play is very important for us. It’s important to understand the position in your trespasses and sins.
You are not in this spiritually dead state because you committed trespasses and sins. You have committed trespasses and sins, but you’re not in this spiritually dead state because you have committed trespassess and sins. You are in this spiritually dead state because you came into this world positioned in the trespasses and sins.
So the word trespasses in the Greek translates to “to slip, to fall, to stumble or to go the wrong direction.” So that’s your trespasses. The sins that you are positioned in translates like this. It’s missing the mark. It’s like an archery term. You’re aiming for the bullseye; you miss the target altogether. It’s missing or falling short of any goal, any standard, any purpose. That is your sins that you are positioned in.
So you’re not dead because you’ve slipped, because you’ve missed the mark, because you’ve fallen short of a goal. You are dead because you came into this world living in a perpetual state of missing the mark and going the wrong direction. And those are your options when you are in the trespasses and sins. And you desperately need transferred to another kingdom. You desperately need to be transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, to the kingdom of His beloved Son.
And all of this is of massive importance because it levels the playing field for all of humanity. It levels the playing field for everyone. Here’s a helpful thing that I’ll put on the screen for you. You can write this down maybe. But mankind’s position in the trespasses and sins is not that I’m as bad as I could be, but that I’m as bad off as I possibly could be. This position puts every human being on the same level with God and every human being, no matter what you’ve done in this life, has to come to terms with these types of statements.
You are offensive to God. You in the trespasses and sins are unworthy of God. You are guilty of breaking the law of God. And you are rebellious toward Him. You live and dwell in a position that only confirms and affirms your spiritual deadness, your deadness toward spiritual things. And this is where, you know, we rise up. You would know this very much if you went outside of the church. You would see that people don’t care about spiritual things.
And yet if you asked them, “Hey, do you have a right standing with God? Do you have a relationship with God?” you would hear things like this: “But I’m a good person. I’m a generous person. I serve the homeless and I serve the poor. I go to church every single week. I’m not offensive to God. I don’t party. I don’t hold grudges. I don’t gossip. I’m not as bad as that person. And I’ve definitely never done what they’ve done.”
And yet the Bible says you’re dead in the trespasses and sins. Let me show you a minute. Have any of you ever met my friend Jerry? Some of you all down here have met my friend Jerry. I’m sorry about that. Jerry has been coming to church here for a while. And let me introduce you to Jerry. So this is my friend Jerry.
What’s up Jerry? It’s a great sermon, isn’t it? I mean I’m preaching and you’ve been coming here for a while. I love that one song, “He called my name.” Come on, let’s stand up. “And I ran out…” Oh my gosh. Jerry, hold it together dude. You should try raising a hand during worship.
So Jerry has been coming to church at Gospel City for a while. Have you met Jerry? Matt, you been hanging with Jerry? Keeping him straight? So Jerry even serves at our church I see. But Jerry is as dead as a doornail. He’s got nothing going on up here and nothing going on in here. And yet Jerry comes in every week and he serves and he looks the part (doesn’t really look the part), he dresses the part. He shows up to church and he comes and worships.
Now here’s the thing about Jerry. I’m losing my microphone. Here’s the thing about Jerry. Jerry stands out like a sore thumb among all of us, doesn’t he? I mean he’s just sitting here on the row. He stands out like a sore thumb. It’s pretty obvious that Jerry is as good as dead. Sorry you have to sit by him Allie.
And here’s the truth. So many of us come into the house of God week after week after week. Wouldn’t it be fortunate if we could see who has been made alive and who is still dead in their trespasses and sins? That would make it a whole lot easier to share the gospel. That would make it a whole lot easier to call people to repentance. And yet only God can see the dead estate in which you and I live in. really it’s between you and God to know whether or not you’ve been made alive in Christ or whether you are still outside of Christ, dead in your trespasses and sins.
You can come to church week after week. You can play the part. You can serve the role. You can say the right words. But only the grace of God can make someone who is dead in their trespasses and sins alive in Christ Jesus. Outside of Christ, I’m as good as dead.
And here’s the thing about this doctrine. Why are we talking about this doctrine? Because it’s so important. I think this is one of the most attacked doctrines in the church, the doctrine of man. We want to do away with the fact that we are dead in our trespasses and sins because it’s offensive. Because nobody wants to hear how dead they are or what they can or can’t do when it regards their spiritual life.
And yet Christianity is not about what you can do; it’s about what Jesus has done. It’s dying to yourself that you might live unto Christ. So the importance of this doctrine of humanity, the reason that Paul is reminding the Ephesians why they were dead in their trespasses and sins but have now been made alive is because it levels the playing field for all of humanity. This is the truth that the murderer who was on skid row is in the same position in life as someone like Mother Theresa apart from the grace of Jesus Christ.
Nothing you can do can satisfy or appease the God of glory who changes our lives. No act of good charity can make you alive in Christ. No amount of kindness or morality can make Jerry come to life there in his seat. It is only by the grace of God.
Now in Ephesians chapter 1 I told you, you want more good news? I have more good news for you. Today I’m going to give you more bad news. So not only are you dead outside of Christ, but point number two is this. Outside of Christ, I am disobedient. Outside of Christ I am disobedient. You are absolutely spiritually dead, but you’re not this lifeless corpse of a being. You are free to live and to move around the world that we’re born into. And everyone that’s born into this world is born in their trespasses and sins. You are essentially the walking dead.
Now look at verses 2-3 of Ephesians, 2-3. You were dead in the trespasses and sins 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. So you’re a part of that thing, that whole deal. So the sons of disobedience, you’re in that.
Verse 3, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind.
So outside of Christ we are not only dead, but we are disobedient. And Paul gives us several places where it seems to be that we are adding and confirming the rebellion that we have on God. So here are four things that happen in the life of those outside of Christ. Outside of Christ, number one, we walk in rebellion. Outside of Christ we walk in rebellion.
By the grace of God I was born into a Christian family. And I’m pretty sure that the first words that my father ever speak to me, because it’s been affirmed as I look at my siblings’ videos when they were born, my dad held me cute and swaddled, probably the cutest baby ever. And he held me in his arms and he looked down and he said, “You’re a cute little bugger, but you are a dirty, rotten sinner.” He would say those things right when he would hold us in the hospital. You’re a dirty, rotten sinner.
But he would say, “There’s hope for you because I know an even greater Savior.” But how could you say such a thing to a cute little baby, just born into the world, never done anything wrong, hasn’t even had time to play out whether or not he’s going to go the right way or the wrong way, be a good person or a bad person?
And the truth is every person born on this planet is born in their trespasses and sins and it is offensive to the God of glory. Your being born in the world is only proof that you are in desperate need of a second birth. And so you’re born into this life walking dead in the trespasses and sins. And If you have a baby, you know that it doesn’t take very long to find out that that baby wants to be God in your home. Right?
Like you’re like, “I’m going to get this baby on a schedule. I’m going to feed him at the right time or her. I’m going to put her to bed at the right time.” And she screams and cries when she wants to wake up. She screams and cries when she wants to eat. She screams and cries and wants to go to bed when she wants to go to bed. And you just start to go a little crazy. Because you’re like, “I’m trying to help you. I’m trying to put you on a good schedule. I’m trying to nourish you.” But she just wants it her own way. That is humanity in a nutshell.
We come into this world wanting things our own way. We get all angry just like the little baby gets all angry when you’re trying to feed her because we want to be the gods of our lives. It’s stamped into the life of every person born into this world. But hear this. You’re not blazing your own trail in your rebellion. You’re not blazing your own trail as you walk in your trespasses and sins.
Number two, outside of Christ we go in the flow of rebellion. Outside of Christ we go in the flow of rebellion. You walked in it but then you’re just following the course of this world. In our day we’re trying to be individualistic. You do you man. Blaze your own trail. Follow your inner self. Be who you want to be. Surely it’s from God.
But you’re like a dead branch floating down the Saint Joe River with everyone else when you are dead in the trespasses and sins. You’re not blazing your own trail. You’re just going with the flow of the world that is around you. You desperately need a life source. Only a life source can plant you and have roots deep in the ground so that you can withstand the current that’s coming against you. Only a lifesource can take a dead branch and make it a fruitful tree that produces fruit and goodness and righteousness. And that life source has to be Jesus Christ. Because only Jesus Christ can make dead things alive.
Now the course of this world, as Paul is talking about that in Ephesians 2:2, it isn’t talking about planet Earth. It’s talking about the system or the age that we live in. the system of the age or the period of time, the worldview that’s working its way through our society. So in the city of Ephesus it was the occult. It’s demons. It was devils. It was witches. It was all kinds of supernatural power outside of the power of God. and they would do superstitious things to the goddess of Diana. And it led to all sorts of idolatry.
We don’t have so much blatant idolatry in the town square, although there’s plenty of idolatry in our day. But in our day the system that we live in is one of materialism. Do I have enough stuff? Do I have the right stuff? Can I get my hand on more stuff?
Another thing in our system of society is moral relativism, that there is no more standard of morality. There is no moral code. The Bible is old news. You should just renew your mind because that’s what God calls us to do. And as culture shifts and changes, we should go along with it. That could not be further from the truth.
There has always been a standard of truth. There’s always been a standard of morality. It’s just as we step further and further away from what God has said in His Word, it only confirms and affirms that many are spiritually dead. And trying to get the things of heaven that can only come from the grace of God that makes dead people alive.
Also in our culture today is personal autonomy or expressive individualism. Carl Truman, who is an author, he says, “The age that we are living in is the rise and triumph of the modern self.” That’s a great way of putting it. We’re no longer exalting God. we’re not trying to put God in His rightful place. We are exalting ourselves in God’s rightful place. We are lifting ourselves up. We are lifting our own feelings up. And those who are outside of Christ have been immersed in a sea of rebellion amongst the rest of humanity with no ability, no desire, to do anything but what everyone else is doing, which is rebelling against God.
And so not only outside of Christ are people just going with the flow of the course of this world. They are buying what Satan is selling. And that’s number three. They follow the leader of the rebellion. Outside of Christ you walk in rebellion, you go in the flow of rebellion, and you follow the leader of rebellion.
This flow of rebellion that every person outside of Christ finds themselves in is not chaos. It’s not everybody doing what they want to do. It’s not people being individualistic. The course of this world is an organized rebellion on God, and Satan is its leader. And Satan’s aim is to deceive as many people as he can, that their good efforts or that their moral relativism or that their personal autonomy is somehow pleasing to God.
And the reality is he is leading the majority of the world toward an eternity away from God. That’s what it says. You’re following the prince of the power of the air. That’s Satan. The spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. His spirit is at work in us and in this world when we are born into the world outside of Christ.
And if you get caught in his lure, you will stay dead in his flow, and you might just think that you are living for God while you do it.

SPLIT HERE

Now number four, outside of Christ we carry out the desires of rebellion. Outside of Christ, we carry out the desires of rebellion. Look at verse 3. “Among whom we all once lived.” When it says “all” it’s talking about all of us, not some. You weren’t born a Christian. You were born in desperate need of being made alive. “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.”
You were born in rebellion, going with the flow of rebellion, following the leader of rebellion. And as you’re in the flow, you who were knit together in your mother’s womb and fearfully and wonderfully made come into this broken world. And very early for some of us, you experienced hurt. You experienced shame. You experienced abuse or injustice. And all of it can cause us to ball up our fists toward God and blame Him because we assume that He’s responsible for it.
And then it really throws us off because we start living for the wicked desires brought on by the pain and the hurt and the things that have been done to us. And so we just go our own path, add to our own rebellion. Or you live your life in shame and guilt because of what has happened to you or what you’ve found yourself in in this life. And you spend your life trying to earn God’s love through your morality, through your actions, through your doing the right thing. And the longer we live outside of Christ, the more heartache and hopelessness we experience because the desires of rebellion just keep ruling our lives.
2 Corinthians 3:17 says, Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Where God’s spirit is, there is freedom. And in the New Testament the spirit of God indwells the believer. And so your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit if you have the Spirit of God. There is freedom for you. There is freedom from the desires of the body and the mind with the spirit.
And how do you receive the spirit? You are made alive in Christ. You don’t need to be made good because you are bad. You need to be made alive because you are dead.
And that leads to the third point this morning, and it’s this. Outside of Christ, I am doomed. Outside of Christ I am dead. Outside of Christ I’m disobedient. And outside of Christ I am doomed. Why am I doomed? Because outside of Christ I am a child of wrath.
Look at verse 3. “Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. We were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.” My spiritual deadness, which is my conjoint, and my earthly disobedience, which is my actions, make me a child destined for wrath. Every person should come to grips with the fact that I deserve the wrath of God toward unholiness. I deserve the rejection of God because of my own rebellion on God.
I deserve the penalty for sin, which is eternal death. And I deserve the destination of the dead, which is hell.
It’s easy I think when you’ve grown up in church your whole life or maybe you’ve been around this for a long time. It’s easy to accept like Jesus died for the sins of the world. But do you understand that Jesus died on a cross in your place for your sins? There is enough sin in my pinkie finger to condemn me to hell for a lifetime, and the same is true for you.
Hell is the default destination of the walking dead. And even a brief moment of discontentment or ungratefulness or self-righteousness is enough evidence to prove that I am guilty before God. and it’s important to understand what did Jesus have to say about all of this? Jesus spoke about hell far more than He spoke about heaven.
And I just have to say a lot of churches, a lot of churches that claim to be churches, are trying to do away with the destination of hell in our day and age. They’re trying to do away with the destination of hell so that people can have a better life here and now, so that you can get what you want here and now, so that you can feel really comfortable here and now and so that your feelings match up here and now.
And what we’re truly doing in our society is making people way more comfortable on their way to hell, on their way to an eternity apart from the grace of God. That is not helpful. That is not what Christ has called His church to. Jesus talked about hell far more than He talked about heaven because He knew that the majority of the world was heading there, going with the flow of the course of this world.
Here’s what Jesus said about in Luke 16. He said it’s a place of eternal torment. In Mark chapter 9 He said it’s a place of unquenchable fire. In Mark chapter 9 it’s a place where the worm does not die. Hell is a place where people gnash their teeth in anguish and regret.
There’s no return or hope of warning loved ones, as it says in Luke chapter 16. It’s a place of outer darkness, Matthew 25. Matthew 10, it’s compared to Gehenna where trash is burned, the garbage dump outside of Jerusalem where they would take their trash and they would burn their trash and maggots would abound. These are the things that Jesus said about the destination that is hell.
And hell is not a place that God sends bad people. Hell is the default destination of the walking dead. And verse 3 of Ephesians chapter 2 says among whom we all once lived.
So why is Paul reminding them who they were before Christ? And why is Ephesians chapter 2 reminding us today? Why are we taking time to understand that we are dead apart from Christ? Because too many assume that they were born a Christian. Too many people assume that they’re in a right relationship with God because of their morality. And they don’t give a proper exaltation to the God of glory because they’re still exalting themselves, even pridefully when it comes to their own salvation.
You were born dead in your trespasses and sins. And outside of Christ you will be sent to hell in your deadness that can only come alive through a sovereign miracle. And Paul in chapter 1 already exclaimed what that miracle is. Dead people can be made alive by an adoption through a good and gracious God, through the redemption and the forgiveness of sins that only comes through the blood of Jesus Christ. It comes through a sealing of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer, the triune God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, has made a way for dead people to be brought to life.
And I want you to look at Ephesians chapter 2 just as it starts in verse 4. Paul in those three verses paints what seems to be hopeless for humanity but then in verse 4 he says, “But God.” But God. Two incredible words. Two words that ring out throughout all of history.
Two words that have the course of changing your eternity. Two words ring out throughout all of history from the time that sin came into the world. But God. He didn’t leave us on our own. He didn’t leave us dead in our spiritual estate. But God sent forth His Son into the world to love sinners, to die for sinners, when we were His enemies.
Look at it in the lens of Ephesians chapter 2. You were dead in the trespasses and sins, but God (c’mon you can say it with me) you walked following the course of this world. But God. You followed the prince of the power of the air. But God. You were a son or daughter of disobedience. But God. You carried out the desires of the body and the mind. But God. You were a child of wealth destined for hell. But God.
God gives a sovereign miracle that is able to make dead people alive. And that miracle was given in chapter 1 verse 20. Paul prayed, “Father, would you open the eyes of their heart that they might know the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe?”
In verse 20, He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at the right hand of God the Father. Christ’s death and Jesus Christ’s resurrection and Jesus Christ’s new position in the heavenly places is the hope for humanity who were once dead in their trespasses and sins, to be made alive and to be transferred to the kingdom of His beloved Son.
Everyone is in need of a resurrection. Why did Paul pray that they would live in resurrection power? Because you need it! You’re dead. You need to be made alive. You don’t need behavior modification. That will never satisfy. That will never make you appeasable to God. You need to be made alive, and you are only made alive through the precious blood of Jesus and you are crucified with Christ so that it’s no longer you who lives but it is Christ who lives through you. That is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And if you’ll go back to Ephesians chapter 1, in verse 11 he says, “In him,” in Christ, “we had obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ,” those who were dead in the trespasses and sins at one point, but their hope in Jesus Christ.
Verse 13, “In Christ you also when you heard the truth.” You’ve got to hear the truth of the gospel. And the truth of the gospel this morning is that you don’t have what it takes to save yourself. The truth of the gospel this morning is that you are sinful and that you are offensive to God and that you do fall short of His glory. That’s part of this message. You have to realize how bad off you are before you get God’s grace.
And they heard the gospel of their salvation and they believed in Him. They believed in their heart and they confessed with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and God raised them up. And God breathed life into their dead souls. And dead people are made alive, and all of it is to the praise of His glory and grace.
Let’s stand to our feet. I’m going to pray and we’re going to go out just worshiping Christ, lifting our voice to the only God who can change our position, to the most important position that you could ever find yourself in.
God, we give You glory here today. And Holy Spirit, I just pray for those who are convicted this morning. I pray over anyone in this room who sits in that seat feeling like my friend Jerry. They may be clothed. They may be here. But inside they know that they are dead in their trespasses and sins. Lord, would You make them alive? Holy Spirit, would You open the eyes of their hearts to see that they don’t have to keep trying to earn your love. They don’t have to keep trying to be good because they think they’re so bad. Lord, they need to put their faith in the cross of Jesus Christ where it’s already been done. It’s already been paid. And only when we give up control, only when we let go of the things of this world, only when you become the King and the Lord of our life do dead people become alive in Christ, who is our only hope of salvation.
So Lord, I pray for my friends in this room. Many are brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. We have been made alive. Thank you for the reminder today that Your Word gives us of where we were outside of Christ. May it cause us to stand in awe of you. May it cause us to worship You all the more because of the grace that radically has called us and redeemed us and changed us. In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.