In his sermon titled 'Dead Under the Burning Anger of God,' Jason Dohm addresses the spiritual condition of humanity, tracing its origin back to Adam's rebellion that led the human race into sin. He emphasizes that, as a result, humanity is born spiritually dead and under God's wrath, a condition Paul refers to as being 'dead in trespasses and sins.' Dohm delves into the translation nuances of Ephesians 2:1-3, explaining the added words in some translations and highlighting Paul's original focus on the deadness of humanity before God's intervention. The sermon explores the theological implications of sin, drawing from Genesis 2 and 3 to show how sin radically altered human nature, leading to a state of rebellion against God, influenced by the prince of the power of the air, Satan. Dohm explains that this spiritual death is not merely physical but denotes a separation from God, characterized by a life in opposition to divine will. He emphasizes that this condition is universal, affecting every part of a person, and attracts God's burning anger. The sermon concludes by highlighting the significance of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross as the sole remedy for this spiritual condition, urging listeners to recognize the depth of God's love and grace in providing salvation.

Title of the sermon this morning is, Dead Under the Burning Anger of God. Sobering text. We're in this week about the condition of our race. The Bible teaches that there is only one race, the human race. And that the head of our race is Adam.

And that he plunged our whole race into rebellion against God, and changed our very nature in fundamental ways. And that because of what we're like. God's anger burns against us. I grieve for how trite we can be sometimes, when If this is true, it's no light matter and it's no laughing matter. If there really is a God in heaven who has given us every breath that we've ever breathed, and his anger burns against what we're like, We should take heed to what he says if there's a way out of that.

So Paul is bringing us into the way out of that, but he starts with pressing on us the desperation of our state that as we are born in our natural state we are dead and under the burning anger of God. Paul calls it his wrath. Today we begin chapter 2, but of course Paul didn't write chapters, he just wrote a letter. We shouldn't make much of the chapter break, and we ought to work to keep it connected with the things we've been studying. In chapter 1, there is a flow of thought, and this is simply midstream.

In the flow of thought, in chapter 1, Paul heaped up the spiritual blessings and the treasures that are the present and future possession of those who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a very happy chapter. So this is a very stark turn from a contemplation of our spiritual blessings. Paul actually says, every spiritual blessing. And then he begins to name them and to heap them up for our happiness and our encouragement.

And these blessings that we've been studying are the present and the future possessions of believers. The present possessions in that we can draw on them now, and yet There are glories that are saved up for God's people in the future. In the book of Revelation, you get the picture. It's hard even for people who have seen them, witnessed them, to find words to describe them. These are glories awaiting God's people.

Now Paul backs up having spoken of every spiritual blessing, the possession of believers, and he speaks to these believers about their state before they believed. So chapter 1 is about the treasures that belong to believers, but chapter 2 starts by backing up and going back before the time that they trusted in Jesus and His work on behalf of sinners and what their state was. So as we come to our text, let's ask the Lord to help us. To help us. Our God, I've read the Bible cover to cover now many times.

I know many times. And I know if my thoughts and my words and my actions were judged against that standard, There could only be one verdict pronounced on my life. It would have to be a guilty verdict. There would be no way out for me. I thank you for Jesus Christ and His willingness to take upon His shoulders the guilty verdict of this sinner and the punishment that is due.

This sinner, not for one thought, but a thousand thoughts, one word, but a thousand words, or one action, but a thousand actions, haven't been right. Thank you for a Savior who can bear them all. Wipe the record clean. Pray that you would press on us the hard truths of Ephesians 2, 1-3 on our hearts so that we would be that much more happy in the good news. I pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

We'll just take this verse by verse. We're in Ephesians 2. Hopefully you still have a finger there. And we'll just cover the three verses one at a time. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 1.

Follow along as I reread it. Trespasses and sins. And you He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins. In this verse, Paul teaches that you were, and maybe are, dead. Let me start by addressing a translational issue.

You might have a Bible that has certain words in italics. If you have a Bible like that, the words in italics are words that have been added in by the translator, because they think it's been important to add it so that you get the meaning from the language they're translating from. But there's not an actual underlying word. If you were to bring it over just word for word, you wouldn't have those words. And so To indicate where they've done that, they put certain words in italics.

At the beginning of verse 1, you have, And you, and then in italics, he made alive. That means the translators have added those words in. Why did they add them in? Because at least verses 1-7 are a sentence. There are some syntactic questions which make it possible that 1-10 are a single sentence.

But in any event, 1-7 is a single sentence. But the main subject, God, doesn't appear until verse 4, And the first verb, made alive, doesn't appear to verse 5. So the translators have made the decision, we're not going to have one long sentence, one through seven, or one through ten is one sentence. We're going to break it up, because it's better for English speakers to break it up. And we don't want verse 1, 2, 3 to be separated from the subject.

God is the real subject of the sentence and the first verb is made alive And so to keep the unity of thought we're going to pull those words from verses 4 & 5 Into verse 1 to maintain the unity of thought so I understand why they did what they did and It's a it's legitimate to a point, but that's not what Paul did I want you to understand Paul doesn't start with the making alive of a sinner. He starts out with the deadness of the sinner. He doesn't get to God making a sinner alive until verses 4 and 5. He wants to press on the athesians the state in which they were in when God found them in their rebellion. So I'm not spending any time today on He made alive Because it's not there.

We'll get to it when we get to verse 4 and 5, which is soon enough. For our purposes today it will be, and you who were dead in trespasses and sins. Or more literally, being dead. And you, being dead in trespasses and sins. That would be the most literal translation.

It's a state of being. How did God find you Ephesians? In a state of being dead. And you, being dead in trespasses and sins. Absent of life.

And yet, clearly Paul doesn't mean it in the sense that we usually think of it, physical death. Paul's not writing to physically dead corpses. He's writing to people who are as alive in the physical sense as I am or you are, blood coursing through their veins." So then what does he mean and how did these Ephesians come into that state? Genesis 2 and 3 explains that. So turn to Genesis 2 and 3.

He's writing to physically alive people and he says, you are dead. Genesis 2. I'm going to start by reading Genesis 2, 15-17, and then skipping to chapter 3. I'll tell you when I do that. Genesis 2, verses 15-17.

Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil of this one tree you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Skipping to chapter 3, I'll read chapter 3 verses 1 through 13. Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, you shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.

And the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. And the eyes of both of them were open, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, Where are you? So he said, I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. And he said, who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded that you should not eat.

Then the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate. And the Lord God said to the woman, What is this you have done? The woman said, the serpent deceived me, and I ate. And then in the verses that follow, God pronounces the curse on mankind. The entry of sin initiated an ongoing war between the devil and mankind.

That's chapter 3 verse 15. And the entry of sin brought sorrow and pain into child bearing. That's the first part of chapter 3 verse 16. And the entry of sin initiated a power struggle and a heavy handed exercise of authority into the marriage relationship. That's the end of chapter 3 verse 16.

And I'll say it extends as you get more people the power struggle and the heavy-handed exercises Exercise of authority extends into every relationship It's not just the marriage relationship and in other words our radical self-love and a radical self-serving has entered into the human heart. It didn't exist before sin, but the entry of sin into the world has brought a radical self-love and self-serving which causes us to be in a constant state of struggling for power and a heavy-handed exercise of authority. The entry of sin brought hardship and exhaustion into our work. Thorns and thistles into our work. By the sweat of our brow, we eat.

That wasn't true before sin. That's chapter 3 verses 17 through 19. Now, God had said, In the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. That was chapter 2 verse 16. The day you eat of it, you'll die.

Physical death does enter the world. The drumbeat of that starts in Genesis chapter 4 where there are genealogies and a name is given and a history and then he died. And a new name and then he died and then a new name and then he died. And this drumbeat continues for chapters. So physical death did enter the world, but not that day.

But God said they would surely die that day, and Paul says they did die that day. Not physically, but spiritually. Mankind, the human race, became dead spiritually, at odds with God spiritually. Everything has radically changed with the entry of sin in the world. Everything from childbearing to the marriage relationship.

If you don't understand that, you explain the things that you see in the world the wrong way. You draw the wrong conclusions from all the facts. And you think all the problems you could just solve by throwing better information at it. You throw better information at it, it will solve all the problems of the world. Genesis 2 and 3 say, no.

No. Problems run so much deeper. Paul says that these Ephesians were dead in trespasses and sins. Some commentators say Paul uses two very similar words, and they are when you look at the two Greek words, trespasses and sins. They are very similar words.

Some commentators say he's just using similar words for emphasis to make sure his readers get the desperation of their conditions so he adds word to word to make sure you understand you're drowning in wrongdoing. You're drowning in wrongdoing. At every turn you're in one kind of sin or another. Other commentators make a bigger deal about the distinctions between the two words, and if I had to describe the distinctions between the two words, the nuance between these similar words, I would say this first Greek word, which is translated trespasses, has to do with what you aren't doing. You abandon the way of truth and righteousness.

There is a good way, a way of truth, a way, a right way, a good way, a way of righteousness, and You abandoned it. You walked away from it. The second word translated, sins, is the Greek word most often translated sin or sins in the New Testament. And it has to do with what you are doing. You missed the mark.

You actively engaged in wrongdoing and unrighteousness. So the first word is what you aren't doing, you abandoned the way of truth and goodness. And the second is what you are doing, you actively engaged in wrongdoing and unrighteousness. So Paul says to these Ephesians, you were dead. Your state of being was the state of spiritual death.

Your conduct was characterized by abandoning the way of truth and goodness and embracing the way of falsehood and wrongdoing. Verse 2, back to Ephesians 2. Verse 2. In 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. In verse 2, Paul teaches that you walked, and maybe walk, maybe today you're walking, in stubborn rebellion.

If you're taking notes on the handout and filling in blanks. Stubborn rebellion fills in those two blanks. You walked, and maybe you do walk today, in stubborn rebellion. Paul now describes what a life looks like when in a state of spiritual death. In which you once walked.

So walk isn't just a snapshot. It's not just one point in time where you did something. Walk is pattern of life, your life patterns that characterize you. A dead person walks, they're characterized by, they have a pattern of life according to two things. Consistent with two things, in harmony with two things.

Number one, according to the course of this world. A spiritually dead person walks according to the course of this world or literally in the Greek the age of this world. Course is a fine translation. Literally it's the age of this world. Unbelievers are people of this age.

They're people of this world. Their lives are consistent with this world, in harmony with this world. Sin has entered the world. People have abandoned truth and righteousness and embraced falsehood and wrongdoing and the unbeliever is comfortable in the new normal. It's not particularly new.

Genesis 3 was a long time ago, 6, 000 years ago probably, something like that. But before sin entered the world, there was none of this, but now with sin entering the world, mankind has abandoned truth and righteousness and embraced falsehood and wrongdoing, and the unbeliever is completely comfortable in the new normal. Listen to what Paul says in Romans 12, 2. First part of Romans 12, verse 2. Paul says, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

But Paul teaches that the natural pressures in the new normal, so we live in a world since here Now, the lid is off of that. The natural pressures inside us and from the outside are conforming us to the world's pattern. Us to the world's pattern. A truth abandoning righteousness, abandoning falsehood, embracing wrongdoing, embracing world. The internal pressures and external pressures are pressing you into that and conforming you to that more and more and more.

Paul writes to Christians, you have to be transformed. You have to have your minds renewed. Or the inside pressures and the outside pressures will press you into a mold that is against God. The world's mold. That was number one, according to the course of this world.

According to the world with the new normal. Now that sins in the world. Number two, according to the prince of the power of the air. Consistent with the prince of the power of the air. In harmony with the Prince of the Power of the Air.

This is Satan. This is the devil. It's 2021. You believe in the devil? I believe in the Bible.

Satan isn't an earthly ruler leading physical forces. He is a spiritual ruler leading spiritual forces. When we get to Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12, Paul will call them spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Satan is real, the devil is real, and he rules spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. They're not bound by gravity, they don't walk the earth like you walk the earth, so they are powers of the air.

Paul calls them here. Satan, the devil, was there in Genesis 3, instigating the fall. Did God really say that? And now, the patterns of the lives of unbelievers, their walks are consistent with the chief rebel against God. Satan is the chief rebel against God.

Their lives are in harmony with the chief rebel against God, the prince of the power of the air. Does that mean they live like the devil? You know what I mean when I say they live like the devil. They live in open, scandalous sin. It might mean that.

It doesn't have to mean that. 2 Corinthians 11, 14, Paul says that Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. You don't have to live like the devil as the world thinks of it. To walk according to the Prince of the power of the air. He transforms himself into an angel of light.

He does not show up with horns and a pitchfork. Oh, that's the devil. I should stay away from him. He's subtle. He's been studying mankind for 6, 000 years.

And he knows how to pray on every weakness. So that you don't even know that He's preying on your weakness. The prince of the power of the air He's fine with your rebellious morality. He has no problem with your rebellious morality. He's glad that you're nice.

He's glad that you think well of yourself. Serves his purposes. He will actually help you cultivate an external self-righteousness which is disconnected from dependence upon God and trust on Jesus Christ. Let me just read that again. This is how subtle he is, having studied mankind for 6, 000 years, and knowing how to drag them into damnation, he will actually help you cultivate an external righteousness.

That man has his mess together, which is disconnected from dependence on God, trusting in Jesus. As long as you don't depend on God, and trust in Jesus, He's happy for you to be moral in every external way. He's happy for you to give to the poor, and be nice to everyone you meet. This great enemy of mankind, he hates man because we bear God's image, and he hates God. He's the chief rebel against God.

And anything that bears God's image, he hates and wants to destroy. He's been studying us since the fall and fitting his influences to our every weakness of nature. So he dominates the unbeliever without them knowing he dominates the unbeliever. You go up to an unbeliever and you say you're dominated by the devil, they'll say you're crazy, you don't know what you're talking about. That's how good he is at his work, undetected.

Paul says here in verse 2 that Satan is the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. It's like a family of disobedience that they fit so well into. The Greek word behind disobedience is obstinate opposition to the divine will. So if you have to put it in one word, fine. It's fine to translate it as disobedience.

But if you look in the lexicon at an expanded definition of that word, you find obstinate, stubborn, stubborn opposition to the divine will, Strongs says, Obstinate rebellious unbelief. A dead person walks according to the course of this world, fitting in fine with the new normal that sin has brought in, according to the prince of the power of the air. A final point. What about all the disunity in the world? You have lots of unbelievers and if you were to read this in isolation, you might expect all the worldlings to be in lockstep and to get along with each other.

That they're all walking according to this world, the course of this world, they're all walking according to the prince of the power of the air. You would expect, if you saw this in isolation, to find them in unity. All these things draw them deeper and deeper into self-love and self-service. That does not bring them into unity. I just asked you to consider the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Herodians in the Gospel accounts.

Who were they? These are three groups. They're all Jews. The Pharisees were outwardly precise. The most strict in their living.

The Sadducees were less so and they had different doctrine. They believed that The Old Testament taught different things. The Pharisees hated the Sadducees, and the Sadducees hated the Pharisees. And to both of them, the worst of all was the Herodians, The Jews who didn't care so much about religion, but had made peace with the occupying authorities that Herod represented. But they all agreed on one thing, Jesus has to die.

So if you read the New Testament, in many places you would find these groups are in perfect unity. But no, the Pharisees hated the Sadducees and vice versa. The Herodians hated the Pharisees and the Sadducees and vice versa. They just agreed Jesus must die. So at the most fundamental level, they all lived according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air.

That drew them further and further into self-love and self-serving, and so that brought them into conflict with each other, but they were all against Jesus. Verse 3, Ephesians chapter 2 verse 3. Among 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. In verse 3, Paul teaches that you were and maybe are dominated by things which makes God's anger burn. Taking notes on the handout by filling in blanks, dominated, fills in the blanks.

You were, and maybe are, the distinction between were and are in each of these is just, do you trust Christ? Do you belong to Christ? I don't think you're in and out of a state of were, are, were, are. You were until you are. Once Christ has you, He has you.

He doesn't let you go. No one can pluck you out of His hand. You were and maybe are dominated by things which make God's anger burn. Let's consider three truths. Truth number one.

Three truths taught here in verse three. Truth number one. This condition is universal in scope. These things are either perfectly true of you now, or they were perfectly true of you, and then the three in one God intervened and saved you. There is no other category.

It's either true of you today as you live and listen, or it was true of you until the second God saved you. Among whom also we all conducted ourselves that's what Paul says in verse 3 among whom also. We all conducted ourselves. Paul too, me too, you too. Paul is a very helpful and example.

Devoutly religious. Externally meticulous. Careful over his life. In Philippians chapter three he says, with regards to the law, blameless. Meaning, nobody from the outside is going to detect sin that would make him blame worthy in their eyes.

In his unsaved state, you might say, well Paul did have that violent disposition. Maybe there's a nicer version of Paul that's different. Consider Nicodemus. Nicodemus a Pharisee, so also very meticulous about law keeping, careful over his life. A ruler of the Jews acknowledged As a leader among the Lord's professing people, even speaking well of Jesus, teacher, we know that no one could do these things unless He came from God.

He said Jesus came from God. Jesus said, You must be born again. You must be born again. My friends, hell will be filled with people who say, I'm not like that, that's not me. They look at these verses that we're studying and they deny all the charges.

Paul says, you're just as the others, just like the rest. My neighbors don't think so. My friends don't think so. My family doesn't think so. My co-workers don't think so.

They are not God! God is the only one who matters and God pronounces it here. Your friends can't see into your heart. Your friends don't know what you do in secret. Your neighbors can't see into your heart.

Your co-workers don't know what you do in secret. God knows. He knows it all. Truth number two, this condition defiles every part of the person. No part of a human being is left untouched by this stain of sin that entered the world in Genesis chapter 3.

This condition defiles every part of a person. We all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. Don't you dare restrict this to sexual sin because the word lust is here. The word lust is an intense word that just means intense desire, craving. There are a thousand cravings.

Yes, you have physical, base level cravings. But the mind is not spared from these corruptions. The mind actually helps talk you into them and justifies them. The mind enters into your sins as much as the body ever would. It's just my hormones.

I run hot. Your mind told you that. Your mind justified it all. Your thoughts might be more guilty before God than your flesh. I want to just run you through four places that speak to this, starting in Genesis 6.

Genesis 6 is before the flood. You can listen or follow. I'm going to move fast because of time. Genesis 6 verses 5 and 6 and then verse 12. Genesis 6 verses 5 and 6 and then verse 12.

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth and he was grieved in his heart. Just listen to this again. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man, not men, man, He looks at the group, the totality of mankind, and he sees that every intent of The thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. It's the stacking up of comprehensive words that let you know that no one is exempt from that.

Verse 12, So God looked upon the earth and indeed it was corrupt for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. What did God do? He sent a flood. He killed every man, woman, and child down to eight people that were saved in the ark. Ok Genesis 8.

Then what? So God solved the problem with the water, right? He killed the bad people and we're left with eight good people to restart. Problem solved. That is completely contrary to what the Bible teaches.

Listen to Genesis 8. This is after the flood. Genesis 8 verses 20 and 21. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma.

Then the Lord said in his heart, I will never again curse the ground for man's sake. Although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done." They just got off the ark. The eight people God chose to save and yet he knows that the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. Jeremiah 17 verse 9, listen to Jeremiah 17 verse 9, is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?

You say, that doesn't sound like me. You proved the verse! You proved the verse. The heart is desperately wicked above all things. Excuse me, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it?

That's not me. Yeah, you don't know your own heart. Why not? Because it's deceitful above all things and it's desperately wicked. And it's got you thinking that's not me.

Finally, Paul in Romans 3. So, Paul is talking about Jews and Gentiles and how they both really have the same state before God. And then he just starts piling up Old Testament quotes. There's probably eight Old Testament quotes here. And he just chains them together.

Listen to this. Romans 3, 9-18. What then? Are we better than they? Are we Jews better than those pagan Gentiles?

Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin as it is written. There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none who understands, there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside.

They have together become unprofitable. There is none who does good, no not one. Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have practiced deceit. The Poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.

Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways, in the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Psalm 14, Ecclesiastes 7, Psalm 5, Psalm 140, Psalm 10, Isaiah 59, Psalm 36. The point is, Paul says, it's everywhere, it's everywhere.

It's in the Psalms, it's in Ecclesiastes, it's in Isaiah. Every part, every person is in this state. So this rebellion isn't against your will, it fulfills your will. It fulfills your cravings. It fulfills your cravings.

How was truth number two? This condition defiles every part of the person. It's not like the body is bad, but the mind is good. Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. Truth number three.

The nature of this condition unavoidably attracts the burning anger of God like a magnet. Taking notes by filling in the blanks, burning anger fills in the blanks. The nature of this condition unavoidably attracts the burning anger of God. He cannot help it. Not because there's an external Not because there's an external constraint, but because of what he's like.

He hates sin. I'm going to quote to you again Isaiah 64 verse 6. I hope when these little kids who are here are old and they reflect back, they'll say something like, What was his name? He would always quote Isaiah 64 verse 6. He was stuck on that verse.

He said it over and over again. He probably said it 20 times. I hope our little children will say that. Isaiah 64 verse 6. Isaiah 64 verse 6, But we are all like an unclaimed thing, And all Our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.

Again, nobody thinks of it that way. We all know good people and bad people. And the good people we know do good things and the bad people we know do bad things. God is different. God sees it differently.

He says, he raises up a prophet to say, but we are all like an unclean thing. And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. I know you've heard me say it before. Hear me say it again. It's all our righteousnesses in the plural.

So bring this before God. All of the things, however many or few, bring them and present them to God. Not the things that you're ashamed of. God, for this thought experiment, will let you put them behind your back, out of sight. You can walk down the street and get any man or woman to agree that we're all sinners.

That's not what God's saying here. He's not saying you're all sinners. He's letting you Take those things you're ashamed of and put them out of sight. Oh, bring the things that you're proud of and offer them to Him. All your righteousnesses, many or few, and hold them out to Him.

And He says, filthy, filthy. Filthy. That's what we're like, we're filthy. What is this creator of God like? He is utterly holy.

He cannot even look on wickedness. He is light. In Him is no darkness at all. He dwells in unapproachable light. Light.

So yes, every sin, every display of what I'm like is cosmic treason, but it's so much deeper than that. I wish it was only that. It's what I am. It's my nature. If you go down to my core, you find something that God is angry at, before I ever express it, before I ever display it.

Because the things that I crave in my body and in my mind, God hates. So yeah, If you give me the smallest opportunity, I'll put that on display. I'll do something that you could say, oh, you sinned. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's not the half of it.

It's just an expression of what I am and the things that I crave that are against God. All I needed was the smallest opportunity to show that I loved me most. That I would serve me first. Just give me a little line and I'll show it. Who do you love most?

Me. Who do you serve first? Me. It's what the unbeliever is even before he or she does anything. What did Jesus say?

John 3.36. Jesus says, He who believes in the Son has everlasting life and he who does not believe in the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." Jesus is the only thing, Jesus' blood shed on the cross is the only thing that can separate you from your sins. If you are not separated from your sins, they cling to you. And God's anger burns against them. He who does not believe in the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." It doesn't come and go, it abides on him.

It burns against him. God is wicked. God is angry with the wicked every day. I think that's Psalm day. Here's what the expositors Bible commentary says, wrath is God's settled stance against sin.

Burning anger is God's settled stance against sin. Burning anger is God's settled stance against sin. The response demanded when holiness encounters sin and evil. It is not fickle, nor does it betray a loss of control. God's not out of control angry.

He's just righteous. He's just holy. So when He sees you and the things that you crave in your heart of hearts, in body and mind, His anger burns. Jesus' blood is the only thing that will separate His wrath from you. Can't you see that this Holy God must either destroy you or save you?

Because of His holiness, His perfect righteousness, He must either destroy you for your sins and for what you're like, or He must save you, and part you from your sins. He can't do anything else. He is holy. Applications I'll give you two. Number one, do you understand the depth of God's love and grace?

Why is Paul doing this? Why go back in time to the bad old days? Let's talk more about every spiritual blessings in Christ in the heavenly places. Let's go back to chapter 1. Why is he doing this?

So you can see God's love and His grace. Unbelievers are by nature children of wrath. They are dead under the burning anger of God against them. Christian, worship Him. Oh the love of God.

Oh the love of God. He didn't heal a sick He raised a dead man, if you're saved. Oh, the undeserved kindness of God. Remember the structure of Ephesians. Doctrine then practice.

He's not interested in you turning over a new leaf. He wants to convince you that God's love and grace is so beautiful that then living to His honor will just be the honor of your life. That's where He's headed with all this. Number two, ask this question, Why the cross? Why the cross?

Why did Jesus have to come and die? This is it. Nothing would part you from God's anger against what you're like and what you've done, except cleansing. Except to be cleansed from it. Why the cross?

This is why the cross. Because You were dead in trespasses and sins and he either has to destroy you or save you. So he sent his son. Understand this, if God did not spare Jesus, He will not spare you. If God killed His Son in order to be able to pardon sinners.

He will not pardon sinners who will not embrace his son. If he didn't spare his son, he'll not spare you. He'll not make an exception for you. God, We do find ourselves so doledy these things. A week and a month can pass.

I'll barely scratch the surface of any of these thoughts. And salvation will loom as a small thing. How could it? How could it? Loom as a small thing.

Thank you for Jesus. I thank you. That you didn't leave the dead dead without hope. That you did on their behalf what they were unable and completely unwilling to do for themselves. Pray that your grace and your love would be so sweet in light of these things.

In Jesus name, Amen.