Walking According To The Course Of This World

Prelude

Have you ever wondered why the church is not growing today?

Why there seems to be more churches closing, than new ones opening?

Why there are so many Christians that don’t faithfully attend church?

Why those that attend church regularly seem to be melancholy?

Could it be that the body of Christ is under attack and we are defeated and don’t even know it?

Let’s read our scriptures this morning and see if we can answer these questions.

Please honor the Word of God by standing as we read from Ephesians 2: 1-3.

Scripture

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,

2in 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,

3among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. Ephesians 2:1-3

Prayer

Introduction

Satan is at work in the body of Christ and we seem to be ignorant of His devices.

It’s time the Church arise and face the enemy head on.

Let’s look closer at our scripture passage for this morning and see what our condition we where like before we knew Christ.

How we acted and how we reacted.

We claimed to be walking with Christ that’s what the world says, I’m a Christian, I live in America, I’m a Baptist, but none of these make us a Christian.

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,

You see a lost person’s trespasses take them down another path.

Calling yourself a Christian does not make you a Christian. You see our sins make us dead in Christ.

2In which you once walked according to the course of this world,

Down the path of this world.

A path that is filled with heartaches, disappointments, failures, and illness that will eventually lead to destruction.

According to the prince of the power of the air,

So many claim to be walking down the path with Christ, but reality they are walking with a false Christ, who is the prince of this world.

The spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

A lost person’s thoughts and actions are the same as the world.

They act like the sons of disobedience, because they are.

3Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. Ephesians 2:1-3

This is the nature of a lost person, one who is without Christ.

However when we as Christians distance ourselves from Christ we become just as the world living in the lust of our flesh and fulfilling the desires of the flesh and mind.

In all appearance we look like the children of wrath.

The Devices of the enemy have us under control.

Lets take a look at Luke 4:40-41 and see how the Lord addressed the devices of the enemy.

When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.

41And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of God!" And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.

Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior knows that when the Holy Spirit is moving, that the enemy is also on the move.

We live in the midst of a spiritual battlefield.

The enemy is camped all around us.

They pay no attention to us until we begin to communicate to the Lord.

When this happens all Hell breaks loose.

Satan cast his devices upon us and we become defeated.

Watch out for the Enemy’s Tricks

11. His Tricks, 4097

Lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. 2 Corinthians 2:11

But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:11

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,

2 Thessalonians 2:9

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Revelation 12:9