Ye who are Dead
Ephesians 2:1-9
My message has a lot of scripture references in. If would like get out a pen and paper you can write them down and study them at your leisure.
1 ¶ And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4 ¶ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
The truth I want to clarify today is the fact that we are all spiritually dead without Jesus. If you have been attempting to satisfy the requirements of God for salvation by any other means you are wasting your time. I hope to help you understand this. Let us look at three people in the scriptures who can attest to this fact.
Luke 8:49-56
49 While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him,Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master.
50 But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.
51 And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden.
52 And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.
53 And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.
54 And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.
55 And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.
56 And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done.
Here is a twelve-year-old girl who has been dead less than an hour. All her dreams and ambitions have been stolen away. We see a lot of this today. Teenage sex is seen by this society as acceptable. Young girls in their early teens have their dreams stolen by the unwanted birth of child at a time she should be enjoying her youth. I watched in horror Wed. morning as the news was telling about the thousands of young teenage girls that are being kidnapped and forced into prostitution in truck stops. They are driven all over the country to one truck stop after another and forced to have sex with all who are willing to pay.
She was dead one hour
The second person I want to study is found in:
Luke 7:12-15
12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.
13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.
14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.
15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.
This young man was dead for twenty-four hours. This young man whose life could be so meaningful to his widowed mother is now adding to her burden with the cost of the funeral. We see this so much of this in today’s society. Young men who continuously drain their parents resources because they are dead in their trespasses and sins, living for self, not caring how their actions might be hurting those who care for them. But the touch of Jesus brings him to life and his mother receives the son she can depend on in life, not only for love, but all her needs.
He was dead one day
John 1:46
17 ¶ Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.
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25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
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40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
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43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
Last we see the greatest of these miracles. A man dead for four days, (long period of time) raised to life by the call of Jesus. And it is still a great miracle today. Someone who has lived their entire life without Jesus have become complacent in their thought life. Their theology becomes more in line with the good will outweigh the bad. I remember a neighbor we had who was in his late 60’s. We took a ride together one day and I said something about God’s will. He responded with, “you don’t really believe all that do you?” See he had worked out his own theology. Years earlier he had been a member of the Nazarene church.
The truth I want to help you see is “We are spiritually dead without the grace of Jesus”, and “Until we come to realize this, and turn to Jesus for life, we are lost.
For those who still aren’t sure let me add this. Let’s say that just for today, we accept the fact that dead people’s spirits can stay here (ghost). And these people refused to believe they are dead. The young man gets up in the morning and goes to his place of employment and spends the entire day there. Did it accomplish anything toward his goal? No. No one accepted that he was there, not in this realm. Though he refuses to accept his position it still remains the same. Nothing he does or accomplishes helps him or his mother, because no one sees what he is doing and nothing is accomplished by his doing it.
This is how it is in the spiritual world. We can work to be good citizens, good neighbors, and good employees. We can be honest upright people, never doing anything to cheat or discredit our fellow man. We can be honor students in school and achieve many wonderful blessings in this life as the result of our labors. But none of these wonderful attributes will make us worthy of heaven. Why? God only sees the good we do when he sees us through the work of his son. When we stand before Him the first place he looks is in the Lamb’s Book of Life to see if our name is in there. If it is, then He looks into what rewards we are to receive.
He was dead four days
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Three truths to get from this
• All three of these people were dead. The only difference is the amount of decay.
• Life only comes through Jesus
• When you are dead you don’t know it, when you are alive you do.
• This morning do you remember when you were given spiritual life? Are you spiritually alive this morning? If not, don’t you think it is something you need to do.
• When I preach at a mission and everyone has all the signs of spiritual death it is easy for them to see their need. But if we are good citizens and upright people it is hard to accept this truth. But it is still true, there is none righteous no not one. It is only when we confess our sins to Jesus and accept him as our lord and savior that we are given this new life that will last for all of eternity.
