The Living Dead

Amen. I enjoyed that Christmas song. It really, really goes with where we are going in Ephesians chapter 2, and I look forward to the Christmas music that we will sing. Christmas is right around the corner. If you're like me, it's sneaking up on you. I don't know if that's a sign of getting older, but it is sneaking up on us. I do call your attention to a song that we just worshiped to earlier, "Man of Sorrows." I'm not sure if that's one that you know. "Man of Sorrows." Now, I want to show you how powerful one of those phrases are that we've just sung.

"Guilty, vile, and helpless we." "Guilty, vile, and helpless we." We're going to see just how guilty and just how vile we are outside of Christ. You see folks, a lot of these songs come straight out of the Scriptures. That's why I really enjoy our worship ministry here, our music worship ministry, because it is very, very, very solid biblically. I appreciate that song, Brother Keith. Well, let's take our Bibles. Let's turn back to Ephesians chapter 2. I did say earlier that we will be in verses 1, 2, and 3, and I think most of you realize that we are making a transition into the second chapter of Ephesians.

We spent quite a bit of time there in chapter 1, and now we're moving on. Now, even though we're getting into a new chapter, and even though we are going to get into some new teaching, we really can't forget what we studied back in chapter 1. Now, what I mean by that is this. The teaching in chapter 1 and the teaching in chapter 2, it's all connected. Everything in chapter 1 and chapter 2 flows together. Chapter 2 really builds on chapter 1. Now, most of you will remember that while we were in chapter 1, I said over and over that Paul was explaining God's master plan for the salvation of man. Remember that phrase, folks.

We have God's master plan for the salvation of man. Chapter 1, we saw that Paul spent a lot of time explaining what God did in eternity past in relation to man's salvation. And he did get into time. Paul did get into human history, and he also got into eternity future there in chapter 1. Well, here in chapter 2, Paul explains more of God's master plan for the salvation of man, and he moves more into time. He explains more of what man's salvation looks like in time, and these are realities that we can more identify with because these are things that are in time and they are experiential, things that we can understand and seek to grasp.

So just remember that chapter 1 and chapter 2 flow together. This gives us a brighter picture of God's salvation plan, that master plan for God's salvation of man. Now, just a pastoral tip here. I hope that you go and study behind. What I mean by that is study what we've already studied, and I hope that you go ahead. Sometimes I'll get a text message from someone and say, "Pastor, where are we going this Sunday?" And as you are studying behind, it would be good for you to study chapter 1 and then go over into chapter 2 and you'll see that picture become brighter and brighter.

Now, there are two details that I want us to see before we get into the verses. These details will help us see as we try to work to understand how God's salvation plan works and how God's salvation plan applies to us. Two words. Write these down. The word power and the word biography. That second word might catch some of you by surprise. Write that word down, power, and write that other word down, that word biography. Now, catch this word power. We need to see that chapter 2, especially verses 1 to 2, really build off on what Paul taught specifically in chapter 1, verse 19.

In verse 19, Paul shows us the immeasurable power of God towards those who believe. Paul goes on to speak of the power of God to raise Christ Jesus from the dead. And that is this same power that raised Christ that is at work in those who believe. This right there in the verse. Well, here in chapter 2, Paul continues to unfold and he continues to explain the power of God in God's plan for the salvation of man. And we will see that power, that power of God to take people who were totally dead and make them alive for the very first time. So in chapter 2, we see the power of God in the salvation of man.

So just make sure you remember that word power. Then second, this word biography. We will see that chapter 2 is biographical. We have already seen Paul give us some biographical information about these Ephesian Christians. He praises them in chapter 1, verse 15, for their love for God and their love for the saints. Paul is offering a short but powerful biographical sketch about these Ephesian Christians. Well here in chapter 2, Paul is giving us more biographical information about these Christians. And this is not just about the Ephesians. Paul puts himself in the mix as well. We're going to see that this morning.

So this is biographical, meaning that it is about the Ephesians. And this is autobiographical because this is about Paul as well. So in these verses, we see Paul giving us great biography of these Ephesians. So make sure you remember that word biography as well. Now I want to give you a basic breakdown of the chapter. I think I mentioned this in our scripture reading. You can really cut the chapter in half, verses 1 to 10 go together and then verses 11 to 22 together. If you look at your copy of God's word, you might see a division there, even a heading above those verses. And that's good.

That helps us understand what we have before us in God's word. But I want us to see the basic breakdown of verses 1 to 10. Paul covers three topics that are easy to see if you study, if you read, if you glance at the verses. In verses 1 to 3, Paul explains their pitiful spiritual condition before they were converted. And then in verses 4 to 6 and then verses 8 to 9, Paul explains this powerful change that God made in them. And then in verses 7 to 10, Paul explains the purpose for which they were converted to Christ. And you might want to write that down. I'll kind of abbreviate that for you. We have this pitiful spiritual condition.

They were in a pitiful spiritual condition. Then we have a powerful change that is wrought in their life by God. And then we have the purpose for which they were converted to Christ, all in verses 1 to 10. Now this morning we will spend our time in verses 1 to 3. We will see what these Ephesians were before they came to Christ. And this is an important word here. This word were. Look at your copy of God's word. And you were. English Standard, the New American Standard, even the old King James uses the same word. And you were. Now it is very important to see that Paul is explaining who and what they were past tense in verses 1 to 3.

Paul is showing us that they were the living dead. Paul is showing us and we will see this as we wade through the verses. He is showing us that they were zombies. They were the walking dead people. Zombies is a good way to describe them. You might want to write that word down and that word might surprise you. One of Webster's definitions of the word zombie reads like this and I'm quoting Webster. A person held to resemble the so-called walking dead. Another definition from Webster reads and I'm quoting the supernatural power that according to voodoo belief may enter into and reanimate a dead body.

Well these Ephesians were not so-called walking dead. They were actually walking living dead people and they were not reanimated by some supernatural power or influenced by some belief voodoo belief or curse. They were actually animated by the curse of sin, a sin nature that they inherited from their father Adam and they were born into that sin nature all in life. And they were in every way living dead people. They were zombies. I think John MacArthur calls them death walkers. Death walkers. Well that's the title of the message. The living dead. You could add to that title.

You might even come up and say pastor you know you could call them the zombie walkers. You can alter it however you see fit. But what we have here this morning is the living dead. Now listen folks I want us to see two things before we get into the verses. You really need to get this. First of all verses one to three are some of the clearest teaching on the utter sinfulness of man. All men who are outside of Christ we use the term lost who are not Christian. We must see that. Verses one to three are some of the clearest teaching on the utter sinfulness of humanity outside of Christ. Some theologians use the word depravity.

These verses speak to human depravity and we're going to talk about that more. But then second the second thing I want us to see so many today are horribly ignorant of what Paul teaches here. So many are horribly ignorant of what God's word says here. And if we do not understand verses one to three we can never preach the biblical gospel. You need to get that folks. If we don't understand verses one to three and we do not grasp verses one to three you lose the gospel. You lose it. And if you lose the gospel you lose souls. So let's examine what Paul says about these verses. We'll read the verses as we progress through the message.

Paul shows us that they were number one dead in sin. It's right out of verse one. They were actually dead in sin. Look back at verse one. He says and you were dead in the trespasses and sins. Now it's important for us to see that before Paul explains the power of God at work in their salvation he explains how God saw them before their salvation. Paul is reminding them of their condition and their position pre-salvation and pre-conversion to Christ. And Paul is very personal here. Look at the verses. Look at the words. These two words and you. That is very important. Paul is emphasizing that what he is saying pertains to them to you.

You know when you use a personal pronoun sometimes we can offend somebody. You're talking to me. Yes I'm talking to you. That's what Paul was saying. I'm talking to you. Now I want us to see that Paul personalizes two things. First their condition. First he personalizes their condition. Look at it. Paul says you were dead. Here Paul is talking about their actual spiritual condition before they were converted to Christ. He is talking about their spiritual state before they were born of the spirit of God. Now we must see that this has nothing to do with physical death and this also has nothing to do with life after physical death.

He is talking about their spiritual condition that sinners know and live as they live life on earth without Christ. Paul is speaking of a condition of spiritual death while they are living. They were actually living dead people. And he says that is what you were. You were dead while you were living. Now I want to explain this a little more by giving you some verses. You might want to write these verses down. Don't turn there. Just follow me. In the scriptures the word life is often used to describe the condition of a man who has union with God. They know God. They have been born of God.

Life is often seen as the condition and the position of the one who is in Christ. They have a personal relationship with Christ. In Colossians 2 13 Paul says that those who are with Christ are made alive because Christ has made them alive. See that? They are alive. See the life? In Romans 8 10 Paul says that if Christ is in you although the physical body is dead in sin and dying you possess life because you possess the spirit of God who is life. You see that? They have life. Then John 6 verses 51 to 53. Jesus says that he is the living bread that has come down from heaven to give life and that anyone who eats this bread shall live.

See there is life in Christ. It's an Old Testament reference that you need to see and this might surprise you. An Old Testament reference to the new birth that shows us that life comes from knowing God in and through the new birth. Ezekiel 37 14 God says that he will put his spirit in man and they shall live. The spirit of God brings life. Even the Old Testament tells us that truth. Well this spiritual death here in Ephesians 2 1 is the opposite. Spiritual death is the condition of life that one lives when that one does not have God. They are alienated from God. They are estranged from God. They do not have the spirit of God within them.

Therefore they are spiritually dead all while living. This is their condition. They were the living dead. They were zombies. They were the death walkers. So Paul was saying to these Ephesian Christians remember he's saying you. This was your spiritual condition before you met Christ. You were dead spiritually. You were alive physically but in a state of being spiritually dead. This was all past tense for them. You know I don't know if you have ever seen anyone dead. A physical body dead but that is a very sobering sight. In all of my ministry experiences I've had a few.

There was one particular time where I was called to go to the hospital locally here in Brookhaven. There was a family that we ministered to and a young man that we ministered to was involved in an automobile accident. The family sent word and Christi and I went. You know when I walked into the emergency room things were obviously quiet. I didn't realize why at the time but it really caught my attention. And I went to one side of the emergency room and there was the family that we ministered to. There was the young man who was driving the automobile and he was okay. We ministered to them for a while. I talked with him for a while.

And some people in the hospital there worked there in the emergency room knew me and knew that I was a minister and a pastor and they asked me to come over to the other side of the ER. And I went over there and that's when I realized why it was so quiet. Because the young man who was in the passenger seat was dead. He was laid there on the table right in the middle of the room there. And there in the room was the grandfather that raised him and the mother who didn't raise him. Wasn't the best of situations. And there was our local coroner and I saw the dead body. My wife's pretty tough. She couldn't take it. She walked out.

And it didn't bother me. No it bothered me. It was very sobering. But I was okay to be in that situation and try to be a representative of Christ. And I looked at that dead body and I looked at that circumstance and I watched that mother lay over that body and wail and wail and wail. Tears unimaginable words groans such grief. And I saw the grandfather off to the side. He raised him. He was a lot different but still gripped with grief. You know as I've studied these verses and I thought about that circumstance I thought about all of the things in that room that wanted to bring life back to that corpse. The love of a mother.

The love of a grandfather. And I thought about all of the doctors and the nurses. The medical technology that was at their fingertips. Even a flight helicopter. Nothing could bring life to that corpse. Nothing. Well it's the same with a spiritually dead person. They have no spiritual life. That person is dead to God. They are dead to the Holy Spirit of God. They are dead to the truth of God. They are dead to the righteousness of God and everything and anything that pertains to God. And just like a dead body cannot respond to any life. The spiritually dead person can't respond to any spiritual life.

Left to themselves they can't in no way respond to God. They can't respond to the Holy Spirit of God. They can't respond to Christ and the cross. They can't respond to the truth of God and they cannot respond to the righteousness of God. Left to themselves the spiritually dead person can in no way respond to anything that pertains to life. Why? They are dead. Isn't that what the text says? They are dead. They are dead. And the question, how dead is a dead body? Listen folks, it's dead. It's dead. And it's the same spiritually. Anyone without Christ is spiritually dead. And here's the question we must answer and we must answer correctly.

Can a spiritually dead person, that zombie, the death walker, can they come to Christ for spiritual life all alone? Can they come in and of themselves to Christ to be converted to Christ? Well another question. How can the zombie, the death walker, how can they attain life? How can they get Christ Jesus for life? We see that in verses 4 to 11. We'll get there. But see an application. I think there are two words that we need to look at. If you're taking notes you need to write these down. The word were and the word are. They're real simple words. Real simple words. And see it's like this. You're either in the were category or the are category.

Folks listen, there's no in between. There's no in between. Nothing that you can do in life will put you in the in between state. Get that. Please get that. You either were dead or you are. You either were dead or you are. Folks listen, write that down. Were, are. There's no in between. And I hope that you were. And if you are, your only hope is in Christ. Let's continue. I want us to see we're still dealing with the first major truth. They were dead in sin. Second, Paul gives us their position. Their position. We're just continuing with verse 1.

Not only does Paul explain to them their spiritual condition before they came to Christ, he describes their spiritual position before they came to Christ. And he says that they were in trespasses and sin. Now question here. What are these trespasses? What are these sins? And what's the difference? Both of these words have really slightly different meanings, but they are really communicating the same thing. Paul is trying to communicate the same thing here. This word trespass means to fall or to go in the wrong direction. And the word here sins. It means to miss the mark like a marksman with miss his mark, miss his target.

Paul is saying that man has fallen short. Paul is saying that man has fallen short. Therefore he is going in the wrong direction in life. Paul is saying that man has missed the mark. He has missed the mark of God's perfect standard. Man has fallen short of God's perfect standard and he is going the wrong direction. Romans 3.23 says that all men, all mankind have sinned. They have fallen short. They have missed the mark of God's perfect standard. That is his glory. See all of Romans chapter 3 tells us just how fallen man is, how far he has missed the mark of God. Now every now and then I give you homework, read Romans chapter 3.

You desperately need to read Romans chapter 3. But there is something else we need to see here. In the original language that Paul wrote in, this phrase in trespasses and sin speaks of the realm or the arena or the sphere in which someone or something exists. With the construction of the language, Paul is saying that before these Ephesians were converted to Christ, they were in, that word in is key, they were in trespasses and sin. That is the arena in which they existed. They lived in the sphere, the arena of trespasses and sin. Now let me put all this together. He is saying that they lived in the realm or the arena of their sinfulness.

He was saying that they lived in the sphere of their sin and their sinfulness. Not just their individual sins, but their ultimate sinfulness. That was their condition. He is saying that they lived in their spiritual condition. That was their position in life. I'll give you a little phrase that might help you here. Liars, thieves and cutthroats. You might say, pastor, you just talked about some of my family. We've all got them folks. Liars, thieves and cutthroats. See folks, liars do not live in their lives. Their position in life is that they are liars, therefore they lie. They live as liars, therefore they lie.

Thieves, they do not live in their stealing. They are thieves. That is their condition. That is their position, therefore they steal. And the same thing with murders and adulterers and everything else, you see. So just in that one verse, look at what Paul is saying. He was very personal, very personal. He said, you, before you were converted to Christ, you were dead in your sin and sinfulness. The condition in which you lived was spiritual death and the position in which you lived was in your ultimate utter sinfulness. See folks, you, you, if you're not in Christ, you are dead, not necessarily in your particular sins.

You are dead in your condition and position and that you are a sinner. That is who you are, therefore that's why you do what you do. And you need to see that. Who you are by nature is that you are a sinner. That is your position and condition in life and that is why you do what you do. And you really need to see that reality. It seems subtle, but it's really big. Because if you don't understand that, you won't realize who you are. Question number two, I want us to see Paul shows us that they were walking in rebellion. We see this in verse two, they are walking in rebellion. Let's read verse one and two again.

He says, and you were dead in the trespasses of your sins and your sins in which you once walked following the course of this world, following the Prince, the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. Now we need to see that before Paul explains the power of God at work in their salvation, he also describes how these Ephesian Christians lived, how they used to live. He shows them how they lived in that spiritual death, in that spiritual sinfulness. This all comes out of their condition of spiritual death, out of their position of living in that utter sinfulness.

Look how Paul uses this word, "walk" in verse two. All of the translations, English Standard Version, New American, the King James used the word "walk." And you know, if we study Paul's writing, we will see that he uses this analogy of walking quite often. He uses this analogy to describe how someone lives, how they progress in life. Now at times Paul uses the analogy to speak of someone living and progressing in the Christian life. We see that in Ephesians 4, 1. But at other times he uses this analogy to describe how someone living, they're living and progressing in a sinful life.

Well, right here, Paul is using this word "walk" to speak of how these Ephesians walked or lived life in the wrong way. This is how they lived before they were converted to Christ. And here, Paul, he just describes how they lived and he shows us several ways that they were in rebellion against God. First he says that they walked the way of the world. It's right there out of the verse. He says that they walked the way of the world. This course of the world speaks of the sinful world's customs, the world's morals, the world's standards and the world's values in their day.

This word "world" can be translated "age." Paul is talking of their times. He's talking of their times which represented their world's values, morals, cares and temptations. And Paul is saying that they conform to, they indulge in, they walked, they lived in the world or the times of their day. They walked in the customs of the day, the morals of the day, the standards of the day, the values of the day, the temptations of the day, the sins of the day, they walked in the world. You know, I thought about it like this. They just went with the flow. Second, he says that they walked following the prince of the world. It's right there in the verse.

Now this prince of the power of the air is none other than Satan. He is the ruler of this world until Jesus throws him out. One day he will be kicked out, folks. And they walked after Satan and his evil spirits that empowered that world and the evil world system in their day. They walked after Satan and his evil spirits that infused their world with sin. They followed after Satan's morals, after Satan's values and customs that they walked in in that day in that world. And Paul is saying, look, look, Ephesians, you willingly followed Satan and his evil spirits and his evil ways. He says, you did this willingly.

And then third, he says that they walked following the people of the world. It's right there in the verse. These sons of disobedience for all of the people, all of the peoples who were, who were not truly Christian, all, all who were outside of a saving relationship with Christ. They are seen by God as sons of disobedience and all that are outside of a saving relationship with Christ are characterized as sons of disobedience with their father being who? The prince, the power of the air. Paul is saying, he's saying, look, you, you walked and you lived with these people and you were one of them.

So notice that Paul shows these Ephesians how they walked, how they live before they were converted to Christ. They were living out their death. They were living out this sinfulness and they walked in rebellion. They lived in the world in every way. They followed the God of this age, the leader of this sinful world. They lived with and followed after the people of the world. They followed the sons of disobedience because they were sons of disobedience. I thought about it like this, birds of a feather fought together.

And look, we must see that those who live according to the ways of the world are actually following after the prince and the power of the air. And they are following the one who along with his demons, they energize this world with sin and rebellion against God. And we must see that those who live according to the ways of the world are following after they are living along with the sons of disobedience. They themselves are sons of disobedience and living in this disobedience is proof that they're the living dead. They are the death walkers. So an application, I just have one question. Is this describing you?

See, it's unbelievable what the spirit of God does is his word is just explain folks as it is taught and is explained the spirit of God takes this and shows you, he begins to convict you and show you the spirit of God says, yes, that's you. And so my question is this, is this describing you? Is this rebellion proving that you are one of the death walkers? And then third, I want us to see Paul's just showing us, he's telling them that they were living in lust. It's just right here in verse three, they were living in their lust. Let's read verse one on down to verse three.

Paul says, and you were dead and the trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of this world, following the prince, 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. The new American says lusts, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and whereby nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. Again, before Paul tells us of the power of God at work in their salvation, he continues to describe the condition of these Ephesian Christians before they came to Christ. He continues to show us how they live.

Remember they're living out of this death. They're living out of this sinfulness. They are living out of their condition and their position. But notice a change with Paul. He has been really personal by saying you, verse one and two, you, I could really offend some folks. You now he switches his personal pronouns. He says we look at the verse among whom we all once lived. He uses the personal pronoun we know what's going on here. Paul is describing how these Ephesians live before they were converted by the power of God, both Jew and Gentile. And he was describing how he lived before he was converted to Christ. This real simple.

He's being all inclusive. He's saying this pertains to all of us. And he's saying that they all lived in the lust of their flesh or the passions of their flesh. And he uses this word lust. The English standard uses this word passions. He says they lived in the desires of their body, the desires of their mind, sinfully. Now what are these lusts and desires? Now both words have a slightly different meaning, but Paul is really aiming at one thought. The word lust here speaks of strong desires and appetites of all kinds, not just sexual lusts and appetites. He is speaking of all sorts of strong passions.

And this word desires speaks of desiring something with a great desire, a great persistence. Now what's Paul's point? Paul is making this all inclusive statement. He is saying that before we, we, you, me, before we came to Christ, we all were completely consumed with living in the lust of our sinful desires and appetites. He's saying we, we lived out our strong desires to gratify not just the desires of our bodies, but the desires, the sinful desires of our minds as well. So notice that Paul is simply continuing to show how these once living dead people lived.

He is showing how they lived, how they walked in their spiritual, sinful condition and position. That is living out the sinful lust and desires of their minds and bodies. And look, we must see that those who live to gratify the lust of their sinful desires and appetites, those who live life consumed with living out the passion for their sinful desires and appetites, those appetites of the body and mind, listen, they are simply proving that they are what? The living dead. They are actually those death walkers. See the question, is this describing you? See, I can't convince you if you are the were or if you are the are, that's not my job.

Does this describe you? The Spirit of God will take this and begin to prosecute you and convict you and show you and see for those of us who are converted to Christ, all this does is move us to worship because we see this is what we were. This is what we were. And then let's move on. Paul shows us that they were children of wrath. This is right out of the second part of verse three. Look back at verse three, among whom we all inclusive, all once lived and the passions are lusts of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by nature, children of wrath.

Again, we must see that before Paul explains the power of God who worked for their salvation, he continues to describe their condition before their salvation. This all comes out of what? Their condition of being spiritually dead, their position of living in their ultimate sinfulness. Just like before, this last description of their life before their salvation is all inclusive. And here Paul explains two vital truths concerning those who are not converted to Christ. First, he describes their nature. He describes their nature. And this is simple.

Paul is saying that when they were outside of a saving relationship to Christ, they were by nature objects of God's wrath. This word nature is very important. This speaks of mankind's birth. This speaks of the fact that all men are born in Adam or in the sin of Adam. Paul is really echoing what he said in Romans 5 12 that through Adam sinned sin and death entered all men, all mankind. Adam literally passed down to all men, this inherent sin nature. All men proved this reality by living according to that nature by sinning. That is what Paul was saying of these Ephesian Christians and himself. He's saying they were born objects of wrath.

He is saying I was born an object of God's wrath. And listen folks, that's vital. Then second, he describes God's wrath. He describes God's wrath. Go back to the verse. And were by nature children of wrath. This is simple as well. Paul is saying that when they were outside of their saving relationship to Christ, they were by nature objects of God's wrath. They were all objects of God's wrath. God's wrath. Let that sink in. And Paul is saying that they were not only objects of God's wrath, that is to come in death, but they are also object of God's wrath in life.

He was saying that they were literally under the judgment and the wrath of God in their life. We know John 3 16, but I doubt many of you know John 17 and John 18. In John 3 18, it tells us that those who do not believe savingly in Christ have been judged already. Paul was saying of these Ephesian Christians and himself that they were born objects of God's wrath and they lived as objects of God's wrath before they were converted to Christ. So notice that Paul is continuing to show how they all lived. He's describing how they lived as the death walkers, living dead people.

He is showing them that they were all born as by their nature, children of God's wrath. They were in Adam. Before they were born by nature dead in sin. They were born children of wrath, children of God's wrath. Look, we must see that those who are outside of a saving relationship to Christ or the living dead, but more. They are the living dead who are children of God's wrath. Look folks, don't dismiss this. Don't step back and say, pastor, that's not the God that I know. This is the God of the Bible. They were living under that wrath. And listen folks, this brings new meaning to what? The living dead. They were the death walkers.

And I have one question. Is this describing you? Remember are, were, you either were in your trespasses and sin. You either were dead or you are. And look folks, if you are in your sin, if you are living as a death walker, you are under the wrath of God. That should scare you. It should sober you. It should frighten you. This is the truth of God's word. Now if you've paid much attention and I hope that you have, I think by now you realize that there is a lot here in verses one to three. I've covered a lot. And really to be honest with you, there's so much more that I can share here in this teaching.

But I think that I've given you a good grasp of what? Of the living dead. I think I've helped you see and helped you understand the spiritual zombies, the death walkers. And look folks, let's be honest. We have to have God to open up our eyes. They are everywhere. They are everywhere. We need to see that the death walkers are everywhere in our everyday life. You go to the ball game. Go to the ball game, sit in the corner and just watch. And think about it. They are either in Christ or they are not in Christ. And if they are not in Christ, they are the death walkers. Oh, they've got plenty of life. Oh, they are living life but they are dead.

You go to Walmart. You push the buggy around. You look around. Those who are not in Christ, they are the death walkers walking down the aisles at Walmart, in the shopping mall, in your family. If your mom and your dad are not in Christ, if your son and your daughter, if they are not in Christ, they are the death walkers. They are zombies. Spiritually dead while alive. You know, I think about what Brother Keith was singing earlier. Hallelujah, he has saved me. Hallelujah, he has saved me. He saved me from this. He saved me from this. I don't have some religions passed down from family.

I don't have some religion that is just passed down from denomination. I don't have that. He saved me from this. Hallelujah, he has saved me. Has he saved you? We must see and accept that. Those who are not in a saving relationship with Christ, they are the living dead. They live out. They live it all out right here, what Paul shows us. Now, remember those two words that I ask you to remember. Power in biography. I want to quickly close with these two words. Listen, folks. If you have not experienced the power of God in salvation through Jesus the Son, then you are living in the power of death.

You see, folks, if you have not experienced the power of God in salvation, you are living in the power of death. That is all you have. You are a death walker. And listen, folks, if you have not been born again by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, your biography is verses 1 and 3. You are dead in your trespasses and sins. You walk following the course and the pattern of this world. You are following the prince of the power of the air. And you are a son or a daughter of disobedience. Living life with more sons of disobedience. You are living out life and the passions of your flesh. You are living out the desires of your sinful mind and body.

You are by very nature a child of God's wrath, just like the rest of mankind. We didn't cover that part of verse 3, did we? Go back to verse 3. Among whom we all once lived and the passions of our flesh carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, who were by nature children of wrath, notice like the rest of mankind. Like the rest of mankind. Listen, folks, if you are outside of a saving relationship with Christ, you are just like the rest of mankind. You are like the murders and the rapists and the child abusers and the liars and the adulterers and the idolaters and the thieves and the prostitutes and all others.

You might say, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, pastor. Whoa, whoa, whoa. That's not me." That's not what the verse says. You are like the rest of mankind. But you know, I came in there. I am thankful for verse 4. You notice those two words, "But God." Those are the two most precious words, "But God." So what have we looked at in verses 1-3? Paul is giving us the living dead, zombies, the death walkers. Let's pray. And we'll commit this to the Lord. Let's pray that the Lord would take what we've studied and apply it to our lives by the power and the work of the Spirit according to our needs.

So let's pray and then we'll sing one song of worship and we'll close.