The sermon by James Lundquist, titled 'No Longer Walk as Spiritually Dead People,' focuses on Ephesians 4:17-19, urging believers to live in accordance with their new life in Christ. The speaker contrasts the characteristics of spiritually dead people with those who have embraced spiritual life through Christ, emphasizing a transformation from the 'old man' to the 'new man.' The sermon outlines seven characteristics of the spiritually dead: futility of mind, darkened understanding, alienation from God, ignorance, hardness of heart, lewdness, and uncleanness with greediness. These traits are contrasted with the new life Christians have, marked by renewal of the mind and spirit, leading to righteousness and holiness. The sermon encourages believers to recognize their complete redemption and live out their faith, no longer conforming to the ways of spiritual deadness.

Today's sermon text is in Ephesians 4 verses 17 through 19. For context, I will begin in verse 7 and continue on through verse 24. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore, he says, when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. Now this, he ascended, what does it mean?

But that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth. He who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to a measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. But speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effective working by which every part does its share causes growth of the body for the edifying of love in it in for the edifying of itself in love this I say therefore and testify in the lord that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart, who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning your former conduct the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. Let's pray. Oh Lord God, we thank you. Lord, that for those of us who are your people, Lord, we gather as new creations, Lord, in you by your spirit because of the work of Christ. Lord, now as we see this, as we see the nature of the old man and the new, Lord, for your people here today, may we be, Lord, not simply convicted, though also convicted, Lord, of the sin that still lies within us, but also encouraged that we have such hope, Lord, that we have been set free of that, or that that power no longer has power and dominion over us.

God be with your servant James as he comes to preach to us. May it be your words that flow through him, building up and edifying your people. And for those who are not yours today, God, may you use your words today to set them free. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

The title of this message is, No Longer Walk as Spiritually Dead People. That's the heart of what God is teaching us here in this section, verse 17 through 19, is about spiritually dead people. That's the heart of this. So far in Ephesians 4, we've talked about unity. We've been taught on unity, being equipped, maturity.

And today shifts to practices, how we are expected to walk, how we're expected to live worthy of the calling. This is a shift for the rest of Ephesians. And I want to start us actually in verse 20 today. As a preface to this, read verses 20 and 21. But you have not so learned Christ if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus.

It's going to be a couple weeks before we get there. Next week Jason is going to preach one of his conference messages. It's going to be a couple weeks before we get there. So briefly I want to look at this. Verse 17-19 is about what we aren't any longer.

What we aren't. We have spiritual life now. And these characteristics of those that are spiritually dead. You've heard Jason and I quote Hohner, a Greek scholar. And for this verse, for these verses 20 and 21, and other translations really help us here, it says, but that is not the way you learned Christ.

Do not walk as the Gentiles walk, no longer walk, because that is not the way you learned Christ, heard of Christ, taught of Christ, as is the truth in Christ. In other words, as Christians that believe in Christ as the way, the truth, and the life, we walk and live in His way. No longer that way because we've been taught by Him this way. We've been taught by Him the Word of Truth. That's the basis, not the point ourselves up.

The basis is that you no longer walk because that's not how we learned Christ. That's not why we became Christians. We became Christians because of Christ. Not the characteristics we're going to see today. What we're going to see today is what we were without Christ.

We were without Christ. This is not just about just knowing about Him. This is knowing Christ. Knowing Christ, which you have learned and heard and taught in the way of the Gentiles or in the context here. We're not talking about a type of race of people.

We're talking about non-Christians, spiritually dead people. That way, the way each one of us, if you're a Christian, the way each one of you were, that was not the way of Christ. That is not the way Christ has taught us. That's not the way we became Christians by believing what's here and living as a former self. We repented and believed the gospel.

That's the basis. That's the basis. Not just don't act this way, but the why. And more of that in two weeks. So before we get to these verses, let's go ahead and pray.

Our God, we want these verses to be sweet verses to us. Make them sweet to us through the power of Your Word as we read other portions, as we look at what we were and what we are now in you, make it so sweet that we would see just how dead we were and what it took for you to make us alive. Thank you for this time. Holy Spirit help all of us, enable all of us to love and to feed on your truth. Amen.

Let's look at verse 17a and b, the first two thirds of verse 17. First point. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk. I've titled this point, You are no longer spiritually dead, don't live like it. You are no longer spiritually dead, don't live like that.

Paul starts out with, I say and I testify in the Lord. What Paul is doing, he does this regularly in his letters and his writings, saying, I'm saying this, but this is so important, I want to make sure you know this is from the authority of God that I'm saying this. Not my words, this is God, this is the authority of God. It's important you get that and hear that. He'll do that once in a while and that's what he has here.

The weight of God's authority behind this. So I say therefore in testifying the Lord. Therefore. We've heard the word therefore before of time about what's the therefore and we talk about we explain it well it's because of what came before and therefore this is what happens and and I was reading the guy this week, forget who it was actually, and reading a guy this week, and he really helped me think about this a little bit different on the therefore. When you see this in the Bible, especially in the Bible, What the therefore is doing is connecting doctrine and practice.

Doctrine and practice. Doctrine and work. Because of this, therefore this. Because of this doctrine, because of this of God, because of this of Christ, because of this of the truth of Scripture, this is the way you live. This is the way you walk.

Doctrine, the doctrine we've seen in chapter 4, walk worthy of the calling, unity, one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, one Father, gifts of grace, conquering king, gifts of prophets, apostles, pastors, and teachers, gifts of equipping the saints for the ministry, maturity, unity in the truth, all in Christ. Because of that doctrine, therefore, no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk. No longer walk spiritually dead. And this no longer, this no longer, you see this, this should not, and that might seem a little soft to you. I think maybe our translators, our translators didn't mean for it to be soft.

I think it's what we have looked at this word should and the way we look at the word should now. Hey, you should do this, right? Almost as if I'm asking you to, but I'm allowing you to make a choice. But if I said this to my child, right, you know, think of it that context. This is the father speaking to his children.

If I said to my child, child, you should take out the trash. He or she knows my dad's not asking me if I want to or not. My father's telling me I need to do that. This is the way it's expected. I'm going to act and I'm going to obey that and I'm going to do that.

It's not a preference. The ESV says you must not walk. The NIV says I insist on it that you do not walk this way. So this is a command, but I want us to think different of a command of, it is a must, it is an insist, I insist on it, although the Greek doesn't do it this way, think of it almost as a truly, truly. With the authority of God, truly, truly I say to you, no longer walk.

Verily, verily, amen, amen, I say no longer walk as when you were spiritually dead. This no longer implies something sweet, doesn't it? It implies you were this way and you're not any longer. That's sweet. I want this text to be sweet to us brethren.

To you that aren't Christians, may it be hard. But to us, that repent and believe, May this be sweet to look at what you were, not what you are, but what you were. You have been redeemed. You have been made alive by God's mercy and Christ. Therefore, no longer walk as the Gentiles.

You have a new heart, a new mind, a new spirit within you. Therefore, no longer walk as the Gentiles. You have a new heart, a new mind, a new spirit within you. Therefore, no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles. No longer walk as spiritually dead people.

I want us to elevate our thinking on the great work of Christ. I'm always needing that. Because I think of myself way more highly. I think well of myself way too much. And these verses, these three verses are helping and they need to help us elevate our working of the great work of Christ, of His mercy and of His grace to rebirth us into life and what that means in the context of All we do, how we walk, how we live, all our motivations, the power of Christ in us through the Holy Spirit to mature us and conform us to Himself.

Just to elevate our thinking by looking at these verses and seeing just how dead we were. Completely dead. I don't want to let myself off the hook. Not a bit. With easy repentance, forgiveness.

Blaming the old nature, blaming circumstances, blaming sin, blaming the devil, blaming somebody else. I don't want us to let us off the hook for our sin. My sin is my sin. I am a Christian, I am completely redeemed, I've been cleaned by the blood of the Lamb, but my sin that I still have is my sin. Nobody else's.

And just think on the power of Christ to overcome that. I don't like the sin I have. And I know what I have. Now, before I was blind, we'll get into that. But now that I know, it's heartbreaking.

And God's given us to one another to mature us, to care for us. I want two men to help us on this point, John MacArthur and Martin Lloyd Jones. John MacArthur says, The Christian is a single new person, a totally new creation, not a spiritual schizophrenic. For those who don't know what schizophrenic is, schizophrenia means you have multiple personalities in you, warring with you, and you can't control when they happen, when they come out. And we're talking about spiritual schizophrenic, we're talking about this old nature and new nature and all this.

There is a battle, he'll outline this, he'll get to that, but we're not schizophrenics, we are a new creation. We're not really two people. We really are one person, one new person inside a body of death, yes. Right, it is the filthy coat of remaining humaness in which the new creation dwells that continues to hinder and contaminate his living. This is Paul, the body of death.

The believer as a total person is transformed, but not yet wholly perfect. He has residing sin, but no longer reigning sin. We have a conquering king who has conquered the last enemies of sin and death. Scripture tells us that. You have to believe that.

He is no longer the old man corrupted, but is now the new man created in righteousness and holiness, Awaiting full salvation. Awaiting full salvation. I'm fully saved, right? But this gets us back to Ephesians 1.14 that says, until the redemption of the purchase redemption. We are not yet what we will be.

We know that. If you're a Christian, you prayed for forgiveness and repentance several times this week. You know we're not what we will be. When we die or the Lord returns, then we'll be perfect. I am by No means preaching anything close to sinless perfectionism.

Not an ounce of that. I don't believe that. Every second of my life is tainted in some way with sin. It is. Either sin or the effects of sin.

It is there, but we will be perfect. Completely perfect. But know this Christian, you have been completely redeemed, completely washed by the blood of the Lamb. The work is finished. Martin Lloyd-Jones.

Paul tells us that we must realize that we are entirely new creatures in Christ. A Christian is not just a man who's decided to be a little bit more moral than he was or who has decided to join a church or has decided this or that whatever it may be. What makes a man a Christian is that he has been born again. He has been given a new nature, he is a new creation, He is altogether different from what he was before. We are spiritually alive in Christ.

You're not dead any longer, Christian. You're not. No longer walk that way. Point number two. We'll spend, of course, the bulk of our time if you're looking at the clock.

Let me read 17 through 19. This I say therefore, in testifying the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart who being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all in cleanliness, with greediness." Titling this section, Seven Characteristics of the Spiritually Dead. Seven characteristics of the spiritually dead. God gives these extreme graphic ways of thinking of the spiritually dead people. And the knee-jerk reaction when you read this is to say, that's not me, or that wasn't me.

I was not that bad. I'm here to tell you, you were. You were. Whether you were old enough in the faith, Whether you're old enough in life to have the outworkings of all the most wretched things you've seen, you were this dead. You had to be, or you don't believe Ephesians 2.1.

You were this dead. Paul is not describing some special class of wickedness in Ephesus 2000 years ago. He's not. There's no special class of wickedness. A lot of pastors go off on how wicked it was and it was, but I will match up Ephesus with our wickedness now.

We've created new ways to be wicked. In the last 50 years, more babies have been killed than probably all of history combined before that. So don't even think for a moment there are special classes of wickedness, and I'll bring in more Bible verses to see that's consistent. It's not just Paul. I'll bring in Peter, I'll bring in Jesus, I'll bring in Moses.

We'll see this is not a special class of wickedness. This was us Christians. Or if you're not a Christian, this is you. So the first characteristic. Futility of their mind in the end of verse 17.

Futility of their mind. Futility, this is an emptiness. This is vain, a purposeless, a worthless, aimless mind. The mind is where we reason, where we understand our affections, our thoughts, and our wills. So let's put this futility of mind together.

You have empty reason, you have vain understanding, You have purposeless affections, you have worthless thoughts, you have an aimless will. You have nothing without Christ. You are completely empty. You have nothing. You might argue with me, but look at this.

Look at what the world has, the creations, the things that we do, the technology advancements. This isn't about smarts. Not about smarts, not about abilities, not that they can't figure things out, not that people that aren't Christians can't learn or make wonderful discoveries. This is about being spiritually dead. About the emptiness of all thinking without a spiritually new mind from God.

If you don't have a spiritually new mind from God, new heart, new mind, a new creation, what do you have? Ultimately it's vanity. Put up the smartest man, the most able person, smartest woman, greatest, put that up, put that up now and then put it up against any Christian a hundred years from now, two hundred years from now and you tell me what they have and what they have. And what this got them and what they ended up with. It's emptiness.

It's futility of mind. Maybe the most futile-ness of mind that we will see in our lifetime, not in our lifetime actually, after we're dead at the judgment, there will be people standing before the judgment throne, and Christ is going to say this to them, depart from me you cursed into the everlasting fire, prepare for the devil and his angels. And you might think, yeah, the wicked do that. No, you know who he's saying that to? Those that thought they were Christians.

Apart from me, I never knew you. In another section. This section I quote from you is from the sheep and the goats. Saying this to goats, especially to those that thought they were. How futile is that?

There are people here today that think you're saved and you are not and you will hear that if you don't repent and believe the gospel. You're dead. Dead. Christian though. Christian.

I want to leave each characteristic with what you are now. Make sure we understand what we are now. Romans 12, 2, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. You can read this and think of it a couple of ways, but one way that has to be there is that I couldn't renew my mind. I couldn't transform myself for there to be any forgiveness, any repentance.

I couldn't do that to myself. You were transformed with a new mind from God, knowing your need for a Savior who has filled your mind now with His purposeful reasoning, understanding, affections, thoughts, and will. That is you, spiritually alive Christian. You are alive in Christ. The second characteristic we see here is Having their understanding darkened.

Having their understanding darkened. They are blind. They can't see. Darkness in scripture often describes sin, hell, people without God. In Romans 1, you knew Romans 1 would come in today and all of Romans 1 could be read really.

I'm just going to look at verses 21 and 22 for this having their understanding darkened. Because although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God nor were thankful, but became feudal in their thoughts, we just saw that, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools. They are futile in their thoughts, their hearts are darkened, they are spiritually dead fools. Sinners are fools.

The spiritual dead are fools. They are foolish men, foolish women, foolish children. They are set in their hearts, set in their minds, there is no God. Now, you and nobody here, especially if you're nobody here that's unsaved, would be brash enough to say there is no God. But, but, your life confesses that you believe there is no God.

You've never confessed, you've made your own religion, and are a fool with darkened understanding to think you're a Christian at that point. Turn to 2 Corinthians 3. 2 Corinthians 3, Mereed verses 13 through 18. How about this understanding darkened. Unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away.

So this is hearkening back to Moses. He comes down from the mountain, he's reflecting the glory of God, and he has to put a veil over his face because the people are just so fearful of just seeing the reflection of the glory of God. So Paul is reaching back to that example, 14. But their minds were blinded, for until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament. So he's talking about this veil where they're in darkness and they can't see the light because they're blind.

They can't see through this veil. So what's happening here is Paul's saying, this is an example, there's a type here of what's happening Because the veil is taken away in Christ. They don't know that the light's right there. Their understanding, their hearts are darkened, their understanding is darkened, they're blind, there's light right there, but they can't see it, nor do they want to see it actually. But even to this day, when Moses is read, he's being read right now, the law is being read, the word of God is being read, a veil lies on their heart.

Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. This veil that's there, you need new eyes to see, to understand, to believe the light of Christ. It's right there.

But you're so blind, you can't see that light that's just right on the other side, just right there and all around you. It's the light of Christ. But you can have the Word of God that says here, even when it's red, even when it's red, they don't see it, they don't understand it, They're blind. You can have a Christian and non-Christian sitting right here, and a sermonist preached, or great fellowship, great singing, and the Christian leaves so encouraged like that. It's awesome!

And the non-Christian leaves. I don't understand a word that was just said. Or I don't believe a word that was just said. Because one's dead, one's alive. In John 1, it says, And The light shines in the darkness, that's Christ, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Christ is shining all around here. And we have all around here people that deny it. That have not confessed that Jesus is Lord. And then in chapter 8, verse 12, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life.

Christian, we no longer walk in darkness. We have been given the light. Christ has removed the veil. He's torn the veil into. He's removed the veil.

So now when you see the light, the light is sweet. The light is precious. The light is good. The light has brought you reconciliation. The light has brought you peace and joy and forgiveness.

The light has brought you repentance because you've seen the hardness of your heart, the deadness of yourself, and the light is sweet and good. Christ has revealed that. Christians, that's what Christ has done for you, has made you alive, that the light is sweet to you now and you walk in the light. The third characteristic, being alienated from the life of God. We were separated, we were excluded, we were outside.

I think, well, I went to church all my life. Yeah, you went to church still separated, excluded outside of the life of God. You were strangers to God. You didn't know there is life in God. You didn't even realize you were dead and needed life.

You think, I'm doing fine. Obeying my parents, all this, I'm doing fine. You didn't even realize you were dead and needed life. You were alienated from the life of God. In God, in Christ, there is life.

Some recognize a need. They got this feeling like there's a need. So what do they do? We see it all across the world. There's all kinds of religions.

They see this and their feudal minds are darkened. They invent works. They invent systems. They invent religions to try to help them, their own moral standards, their own truth, to convince themselves of some life to come. But they have no life.

They really don't. They are dark. They are separated from God, alienated. Alienated. As Christians, our eternal life comes from God alone.

We have life in God. Ephesians 2, just looking back here we have Ephesians 2, 12 and 13, but at that time you were without Christ, being aliens, we were aliens, alienated from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope, you're alienated from the life of God, you have no hope and without God, alienated from God in the world. But now, but now in Christ, not in me, not in anybody else, in Christ, you who were once afar off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. You're not alienated anymore. When you're made alive in Christ, you're not alienated, you are brought near.

You are children of the King, joint heirs with Christ. All the grace for grace, the unsearchable riches become yours through Christ. Verse 19, now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Colossians We've said all along Colossians is a great companion letter to be reading along with this. Colossians 1.21, and you who once were alienated and enemies.

It's not just that You're separate from God, from the life of God. You're separate because you're an enemy. You want nothing to do with your enemy. You don't want to be near your enemy. You're alienated.

You have alienated yourself. You've condemned yourself. And all of us were there. Or you're still there. But Christian, we were there.

You were, I was an enemy of God. I alienated myself willfully. I got what I wanted. God what I wanted, verse 21, continuing, were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled. He made you alive.

He reconciled you. Through Christ, He brought you near by the blood of Christ. He has made peace with his enemy. He has made his enemy his friend. He has made his enemy his child.

He has brought you into the kingdom and given you unsearchable riches beyond any other creation in all the universe, beyond what the angels even will have. A fourth characteristic, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the ignorance that is in them. Because of the ignorance that is in them. This is a lack of the knowledge of the truth. Your futility, your darkness, your alienated, you're ignorant.

You're lacking knowledge. You didn't want the true knowledge. They didn't know they were dead and that there was life through Christ alone, His merciful and gracious work. This is what you were ignorant of. You have to believe this.

You were ignorant of God's holiness. You were ignorant of God's justice, of His purposes, of the truth of His Word that God is appointing into your life and the world. You were ignorant of Christ's reconciling work, which leads to you were ignorant of where there is true joy, true peace, true hope. You were ignorant of eternal life. You were ignorant that you could be a child of God.

You're ignorant of unsearchable riches. You're ignorant of the depths of grace and of mercy that was sitting there for you. You're ignorant of all this. God tells us through his prophet Hosea, my people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge. He's talking to Israel.

He's not talking to the Philistines. He's not talking to Sodom and Gomorrah. He's talking to Israel at this point. Things would be said there, but not all of Israel is of Israel. Not all believe, but my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

You have rejected knowledge. They were ignorant. They rejected willfully. For you give yourself an excuse of when you were dead, you willfully rejected the knowledge of God. You were an enemy.

Why would you listen to your enemy? Who listens to their enemy for wisdom? You were an enemy. You rejected the truth. Lloyd-Jones.

If only they could see these things, they would turn away from everything else and would spend their time in looking upon him and gazing upon him and meditating upon him and seeking to know more and more of him, but they do not. They are ignorant and so they spend their time following after follies and vanity. The ignorance that is in them or that was in you. Christians, we're not ignorant anymore of these things. Yeah, we may not have, right?

We're maturing, right? There's different levels of knowledge here of these things. But as a Christian, you have to have at least the basic knowledge. I talked about that last week. You're not ignorant.

You know where the truth is. You know where to go look for the truth. Who to talk to about truth. Being around more mature people. Being helpful to these things.

1 Peter 1, 13-16. Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lust as in your ignorance, but as he who calls you as holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy. We know the standard. We're not ignorant anymore.

We know the standard was perfection is perfection. And Christ removed the veil, removed the veil, and made us see that I can't be that way. I can't be perfect. I can't save myself. And So I throw myself at the mercy of Christ and His work to redeem.

His work to take the wrath out. He lived the perfect life in my place, took my just penalty, died and rose again. For all who believe and trust in him alone and repent will be saved, made spiritually alive." The fifth characteristic, because of the blindness of their heart, who being past feeling. Because of the blindness of their heart who being past feeling. When you bring in the other translations and the literal, you get this.

This blindness is hardness. This past feeling is callous. So you get this. Because of the hardness of their heart, not just the blindness. We talked about blindness a little earlier, but because of the hardness of their heart, had become callous, lost all sensitivity.

Because of the hardness of the heart. But this callus, start with this callus. This callus, callus is a, you think of callus, think of a hardened skin, mostly we'll find it on our hands or on our feet, a place that has hardened over skin that's hardened over and so you don't have really any feeling there, which can be a good thing, which can be a good thing where you have that. But how do those calluses happen? It happens over time, doesn't it?

You may have been, say you've got calluses on your hands, You may have been working with a shovel or some other hard work and you might feel a little bit of sting. You might get a blister. You might sting and hurt. But then over time as you work more and more, gradually the sting goes away Because you're building up a hardness on there, enabling to do that work that you want to do, and maybe not have to use gloves anymore, maybe. But you've got these calluses that have been built up over time.

And what God's telling us here is This is the same way with our sin. This is the way we were when we were spiritually dead. At first, we may have been sensitive to sin. Sensitive, oh man, that wasn't good. You're spiritually dead, but oh, that wasn't good.

And you might feel the effects of pain. Might have been disciplined, there might be other pain, along with that to encourage you, don't do that, that hurts, but then you keep going and eventually, little by little, you harden off to it. You don't feel the effects of that sin anymore. And this is the hardness of the heart. You don't feel, you don't even care about the consequences anymore.

Parents, keep going. Keep going. Do not let your children use you as an excuse for their callous hearts. Don't let them. Keep disciplining.

Keep chastening them. They may callous off to the effects of it. You can't stop it, but you can at least keep pulling the lever you've got to help keep, maybe at one point you'll rip off that callous that will be ripped off if it's formed and they'll feel that again and God might use that to save them or it keeps them tender maybe keep some tender for the day of redemption all right keep at it parents please mr. Hohner this hardness of heart toward God and His will and alienation from the life of God have caused them to become insensitive or callous to God and His ways. It reflects their moral apathy.

This is what you were. Not just them, not just the rest of the Gentiles, see what they are now, but this is what you were. Or as Paul tells us in his letter to Timothy, in the first letter, four, two, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their consciences seared with a hot iron. What a visual. This cow is seared with a hot iron.

When you look at that word, it's like cauterized. So cauterized is like if you have a wound, you may have seen this before in videos, movies, if there's a wound you lose a hand, right? They even do that in procedures now. They'll cauterize. They'll use a hot implement.

He's using the example of an iron here. How to implement the cauterize, seal that off, stop it from bleeding, and stop it right there. But you know what happens when you get cauterized? When that happens, your nerves are destroyed. Like a callus, your nerves have been destroyed now.

You've been seared, your mind's been seared, your nerves aren't there, you have no feeling, you have no sensitivity. Imagine if that happened to my fingers. I lost all feeling, had no sensitivity in my fingers anymore. What happens when I touch something hot? I don't know that I'm destroying my hands.

If I hurt my body, if I get hurt somewhere, I can't see that I'm bleeding. I can't see that I'm hurt, that I can't feel a broken rib, I can't feel that my heart is doing something it shouldn't do. That's a dangerous position, wouldn't it be? And that's the way it is with sin. You get calloused off, hardened, it's seared, you lose all sensitivity to it at all, and you don't care, You're apathetic to it.

And that's the way we were. The way we were. Another passage you probably figured out that we'd be going to here when we talk about hardness of heart is Ezekiel 36. Ezekiel 36 verse 26 and 27. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.

Well why? Why would God give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. Because I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Now I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you will keep my judgments and do them. Job says the heart is as hard as stone.

We have this heart of stone. How feeling is the heart of stone? What's a stone feel? Anybody? It feels nothing.

It doesn't care if you throw it, if you toss it, If you walk on it, if you drive on it, if you break it, what does it say? Nothing. There's just two of us now, they don't care. It has no feeling and that's how God describes your heart. Before you were saved, as you were dead.

But now, now you can feel, you're alive. You can feel. You can be molded. You can be shaped. You have cares.

You have compassion. You have humility. You are sensitive to sin. You do love. You have a new heart and a new spirit within you, Christian.

Sixth characteristic. They've given themselves over to lewdness, sensuality, indecent behavior is what that means. They've given themselves over to lewdness. They've given themselves over to sensuality, to indecent behavior. They've abandoned all restraint at this point.

Abandon all restraint. No self-control, no decency. Nothing moves them from self-centeredness. Turn to 1 Peter 4. 1 Peter chapter 4.

We've read Paul, read a prophet. I've mentioned Ose on this point. I mentioned Ezekiel on this point. We reach back to Moses on this point. See, this isn't a special class of Christians, is it?

Of wickedness in Ephesus, is it? We were all this way. Now Peter. Now Peter. 1 Peter 4 verses 1 through 6.

Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, remember, therefore, he just talked about some doctrine, about Christ's suffering and what he's done. Therefore, here's the practice, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, I can't have my old mind, I need Christ's mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lust of men, but for the will of God. You need a new will. New mind with a new will. Verse three, for we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles, the will of the spiritually dead.

We've spent enough. Enough. Whether you're five or whether you're 80 when you're saved or older. Enough. You tell me how long is enough time to live as a spiritually dead.

Tell me. Can you number your days? When we walked in lewdness, lust, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries, you might say, oh, I was never that bad. And I'm not that bad. You might say, Oh, I'm pretty confident I can even get to your propensity to steal cookies in this list, little child, whatever it may be.

These are just categories. These are categories that we can get to. Verse four, in regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. They will give an account to Him, to God, who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

We spend enough time, and they will think it's strange if you don't walk like them, but they are not our standard. That's an easy bar to get over once you're saved, right? It's not an easy bar. I can't get myself over that bar. Christ paid a high penalty for us to get over that bar.

But now you're saved. That's not your bar anymore, what you were. You're saved. Of course you're not dead anymore. You're alive.

Our standard is Christ. And we already read about Christ. Be perfect as I am perfect. Be holy as I am holy. And we couldn't attain that.

And Christ died. He lived the life, died the death we deserve, rose again from the dead for all who repent and trust in him alone for salvation will be saved. The seventh characteristic, the last one of the spiritually dead, to work all uncleanness with greediness. To work all uncleanness with greediness. You have this word work in there.

Work. This is to work, to practice all uncleanliness. This is their life to go against the Holy God. They are working at it. They are practicing it.

You were perfecting that life. You were perfecting that life. You were working hard at it. No desire to be washed clean from sin, didn't even know they needed to be, but to perfect their work of giving themselves over to and fulfilling their sinful desires. What does work do?

What does it build? It builds calluses, doesn't it? Hard work can build calluses. And in your wickedness, you worked hard to build those calluses against God. You worked at it.

In God's mercy and grace, He didn't let them get so built that He couldn't come right through that, no matter how he did that, many ways that he's done that. Through other people, especially through his word, through parents. He didn't let them get so hard. There's no callus so hard that he can't break through. Rip off and make tender again and sweet again.

With greediness, this insatiable appetite that they have to get what they want. But They want something, they think I'll be satisfied by it, but then they get it and they're not satisfied. They want more. Not only do they want more, they are so self-centered. You were so self-centered in your lust of this addiction that I must have it even at the expense of other people.

I might call my friends. And then you would say, no, I would never do that. And you look out there and say, well, there's people out there being nice to one another. But Ultimately, why are they being nice if you don't have Christ? What's your motivation?

It's to make you feel better about yourself. That works here. That's greediness. That's uncleanliness to do that. But Christian, That's not us anymore.

It's not us anymore. 1 John 1, 7 and 9. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we walk in the light because Christ removed the veil, saved us, we're now in the light. We have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. Brethren, you're alive, you don't walk in uncleaning us anymore, You've been cleansed by the blood of Christ.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He, Christ, is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. All this uncleanliness, this practicing uncleanliness with greediness has been cleansed. Cleansed away And now we can and we have and we should have an insatiable appetite for God and His Word, His Truth, the Bible. Summary.

This is the life we were all either saved from or still in. You were saved from this Christian. You were this wicked. I was this wicked. I was.

I just look at the sin in my life since I was saved. You can't imagine how it would have manifested itself if I had been allowed to go beyond my ten years without salvation. But it was all there. It manifested different than the murder in jail, but it was all there. Ephesians 5, verse 11.

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Your works as a non-Christian were unfruitful. Your works as a dead person, a dead spiritual person, were unfruitful. They might have had some nice benefits to the world, but ultimately they're unfruitful. No matter what they were, you could not, you cannot, when you stand before that judgment throne say, but I cured cancer, but I fed Africans, but I went to church.

But I helped someone with a flat tire. Helped someone that was out of gas this week. Good for you. I never knew you. But I never knew you.

Glad you felt? No, not glad. Too bad you felt good about yourself, because you should have felt horrible about yourself, your wickedness. You were wicked and needed salvation. We now have the Holy Spirit producing fruit and no longer walk in the unfruitful, futile, darkened, alienated life from God, ignorant, callous, hard, lewdness, uncleanness with greed.

You are a new creation. You have a new heart. You have a new spirit within you. You have that Christian. Application.

Two weeks in a row, one application.