The Walking Dead Sermon Series (2 of 4)
“Life From the Dead” Eph. 2.1-7
October 13, 2013 Chester FBC Chester, IL Pastor Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction:
A When a person dies there is severing of relationships/experiences in the physical realm.
1 If you stick a corpse with a pin they do not flinch because they are unable to respond to physical stimulus.
a The corpse doesn’t hear the conversations at their casket in the funeral home; doesn’t have an appetite for food or a thirst for water.
b A dead person has no sensitivity to the things occurring in the physical realm. (Incapable, impossible)
2 There is not a thing I can do to stop/reverse the direction of my body physically dying.
a Scientist are at work right now trying to “cure death” by manipulating a mysterious stretch of our DNA called telomeres. (Like the plastic tips on the end of shoelaces, Telomeres prevent our chromosomes from fraying.) -The Week, October 11, 2013, pg. 13
b As our cells divide over the course of our lifetime to renew the body, Telomeres become shorter/frayed until they can divide no more, grow old & die.
aa Scientist are trying to stop Telomeres from fraying in hopes to stop aging . . . cure death.
bb Multimillionaire in Russia spear heading the “2045 Initiative” whose goal is to cure death in next 30 years.
cc Heb. 9.27 tells me that unless the Rapture happens first, I’m going to die . . . I have no choice but physically die (and either does anyone else who hears this message.)
Hebrews 9:27 (NASB) 27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,
c What choice we do have is to receive God’s grace in Christ, turn from death to life.
2 In Eph. 2.1-7, The Apostle Paul writes Gentile believers in the city of Ephesus to describe their state of being before they were believers by describing them as “dead.” READ TEXT
Ephesians 2:1-7 (NASB) 1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
a The spiritually dead have no relationship/experience with God or of spiritual things. (Incapable)
aa They have no feelings, appetite, fellowship with God until He gives them life.
bb Until a person is “quickend” or made alive, they are dead.
b This reflects a teaching of Jesus (John 5.24-25)
John 5:24-25 (NASB) 24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. 25 "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
aa When we die physically it is an event (day, occurrence)
bb Being spiritually dead is a state of being that ALL human beings exist in unless they are given spiritual life.
cc Paul in Eph. 2.1, 2 & 1 Timothy 5:6 tells us that spiritually dead people are THE REAL Walking Dead!
1 Timothy 5:6 (NASB) 6 But she who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead even while she lives.
c According to Jesus, a believer who dies physically will live forever spiritually AND take part in a future resurrection (v.25b); an unbelieving person who dies physically remains in that state with no hope of a future resurrection.
B A spiritually dead person lives in God’s world, sees God’s world, may hear God’s world, may go to God’s house on God’s day & does not know there is a God.
1 He may believe there is a God because he was raised up to believe it, but he isn’t cognizant of God. (Understand, know, perception of who He is.)
a Believing in God doesn’t make you a Christian.
James 2:19 (NASB) 19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
b God has not entered in the spiritually dead person, & the spiritually dead person had not come into contact with God.
3 To the Christian, the surest thing in all the world is that there is a God. (Don’t tell us there is no God. In Him we live & move & have our being!!!)
a Tell the fish in the river there is no water? No God?; Tell the man who is breathing there is no air! No God?
aa I wouldn’t be able to close my eyes at night unless I had a sense that His love covered me by His Holy Spirit.
bb If I didn’t think there wasn’t a God looking over me I couldn’t leave me house without being in paralyzing fear.
b Some say, “I’ve lived 50 years & I’ve never felt God.”
aa It’s probably more accurate to say you’ve been dead 50 years.
bb If you’ve been quickened by the Holy Ghost 50 minutes, the first fact you discover is that there is a God, He is your daddy and you are His child.
cc You feel Him; His presence is photographed to your spirit; your heart trembles in awe of Him and you say with Jacob, “Surely God is in this place.”
I Dead is Dead (Eph. 2.1)
Ephesians 2:1 (NASB) 1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
A Dead is not neutral, nonpartisan, or indifferent . . . dead.
1 Until we chose Christ, we are all spiritually dead (v.3), yet we may not all have looked the same . . . still dead.
Ephesians 2:3 (NASB) 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
a When we see pictures of of soldiers who died on the field of battle—brutality, carnage, horrific sight of their bodies rotting in the hot sun . . . there is no mistaking the absoluteness of their deadness.
b We’ve gone to funeral homes to see departed loved ones (make up, hair done, cloths pressed) look life-like, yet they are just as dead as the mangled bodies in the battlefield. (No more/less dead)
2 Whether you were raised in a godly home, going to church, living a moral life - - - if you are w/o Jesus - - - you are just as dead as the harlot on the street or the thief down in the jailhouse.
a Religious people can be just as dead as raucous people . . . just hid it better.
b They hide it with the make up of religion, the lighting of piety, & apparel of a self-righteous attitude.
aa If you look close . . . they’re not moved when His presence enters the room, no tears shed, no joy in the Lord.
bb Why not? They’re dead.
B Dead people are controlled by three things (2.2-3)
Ephesians 2:2-3 (NASB) 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
1 v.2, the world (world system, worlds attitude, values)
a Jesus was not of this world and either are his followers.
John 8:23 (NASB) 23 And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.
John 17:14 (NASB) 14 "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
b An unsaved person/spiritually dead person (consciously/unconsciously) is controlled by the whims of this world.
2 v.2, “the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.” The Devil
a The devil is an unholy spirit that works in opposition to the power of the Holy Spirit.
aa He is not omnipresent but rather has legions of demonic associates that work for him (Eph. 6.11-12.)
Ephesians 6:11-12 (NASB) 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
bb He influences the spiritually dead & tries to do the same to the believer.
b He was disobedient to God & wants others to be disobedient to God as well.
3 v.3, “Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh.” The Flesh
(Some wrongly believe that if something is of the flesh is must be sinful. Not so fast, Paul writes in Rom 6.13 that the flesh is capable of being unrighteous or righteous.)
a “Flesh” here means our sinful nature, the source of evil in each of us, that expresses/manifests in our physical body/flesh. We’re all born with this nature!
aa Ps. 51.5;58.3 (By nature, passed on through our Adamic bloodline, we’re all born with a sinful nature.)
Psalm 51:5 (NASB) 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
Psalm 58:3 (NASB) 3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth.
bb A dog/cat act like a dog/cat because it is in their nature. (If you put the nature of a cat inside a dog the behavior of the dog would be radically different.)
cc Lost people act like lost people because it’s in their nature.
b v.3b, “and were by nature children of wrath, . . .”
aa By nature we deserve to be spiritually dead, controlled by the world, the devil, the flesh, deserve HELL!!!
bb v. 4, “BUT GOD!!!!”
Ephesians 2:4 (NASB) 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
cc By nature (v.3) I deserve to die forever, but (v.5,8) BY GRACE I’m not getting what I deserve!
Ephesians 2:5,8 (NASB) 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
c God’s grace is His best for my worst.
d By His grace we are taken out of the graveyard of sin & placed in the throne room of Glory.
II He Bring Life from the Dead (v.5-7)
Ephesians 2:5-7 (NASB) 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
A We were born into sin but none of us chose to be born, God created us.
1 He didn’t create so we would spend our lives nor & for eternity away from Him as the Walking Dead.
a (v.4) He made a way for us to know eternal life, life from death.
aa When someone gets saved it’s not because God loves them. (God loves lost people too, they’re still lost.)
bb We’re saved by His mercy & grace.
b he doesn’t give us what we deserve (mercy); He gives what we do not deserve (grace.)
c This mercy & grace is made possible, accessed through the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
2 He has made us alive together with Christ (v.5)
a New life! This is the result of Jesus’ resurrection . . . because He lives, so do I.
b We have been raised by the power of the Holy Spirit, that power that raised Christ from the grave is in each & every believer.
3 He has raised us up with Him (v.6)
a When Jesus was resurrected He didn’t stay in the cemetery! (He was seen by His disciples & 500 witnesses)
b When we are raised with Him, we can’t live where we use to be dead at.
aa If you rose from the dead from Paradise/Evergreen cemetary, you wouln’t go back there tonight to sleep.
bb If you’re saved, you quit hanging out with the dead.
cc The old company doesn’t suit you anymore.
c If you were raised from the dead, your grave cloths won’t suit you any longer. (Lazaurs)
aa Why is it when people of God get saved they like to put on the grave clothes they use to wear?
bb If God has made you live, come away from dead. (Their habits, talk, manners, customs.)
cc 2 Corinthians 6:17 (NASB) 17 "Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you.
B He made us alive, raised us up, and finally . . . “seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus.” (V.6)
1 “seated us” is the aorist tense, emphasizes the absoluteness of this promises . . . as if it has already happened..
a Physically we are here, spiritually we’re there.
b Even though we have yet to receive our full inheritance of all God has for us in Christ, to be in the “heavenly places” is to be in God’s domain instead of satan’s.
aa The world, satan, the flesh no longer has the last word in our lives, Believer.
bb We are no longer in the sphere of spiritual death, but spiritual life.
2 It is this spiritual realm we find our blessings, fellowship with the Father, Son, Holy Ghost.
a It is where all our commands come from, prayer, petitions, praise go to.
b 1 Peter 1:4 (NASB) 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
C If I were dead I wouldn’t feel pain, sorrow, hurt.
1 The worst pain as a Christian is better than the highest high of lost person.
a When a believer is at their absolute worst they are still better than a lost person at their best.
b A Christian’s joy, peace, happiness is not anchored in this world, but in the one to come!
c your happiness isn’t based on circumstances, situations . . . it is based on Christ the Savior!
2 The reason this world can get you down is because this world is not your home.
a V.7, caps off this text with an incredible promise.
b God is rich and the way He shows off His wealth, glory is by blessing us throughout the ages of eternity.
c Don’t throw in the towel, don’t give up . . . you’re blessing is secured.
Conclusion:
A A dead person doesn’t need resuscitation, they need resurrection!
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Respectfully,
Mike Fogerson
