Good morning brothers and sisters. It is a great joy to be found in your midst this morning and I would ask you to turn in your Bibles with me this morning to the book of Ephesians chapter 2. It's good also to see new faces among us and it's a a joy to be called to this service of the Lord. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter 2 this morning, and we'll read together from verse 1 all the way to verse 10. Pastor Zulu is a man in the Spirit, made us to sing Amazing Grace, because that's what we're going to be looking at the next two weeks. Let's read together from the book of Ephesians chapter 2 from verse 1 to verse 10. and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sands of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the presence of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us who believe. Listen to verse 7. So that in the coming ages he may show immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God. Not as a result of works so that no one may boast. For we We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. Four good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. It's by this morning, and ask the Father to be with us. I know that this is not a strange passage of scripture, but it is easier for us to trade on these holy things with familiality, assuming and presuming that we know And we've gotten so used to this. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much. This morning we are amazed indeed at your grace. How sweet the sound that serves a wretch like us. Oh, we thank you so much that you saw us in our own predicament and in your mercy. You can. You came not because we deserved this. You came not because we were lovable. You came not because we were men who were beautiful, but you came because we were lost and dead. And for that we say thank you. We ask now that you will be with us as we examine this passage together. You would, oh Father God, enable us to understand. So lead and guide us into all truth through your Holy Spirit. We also understand that our minds are tunneled, your word is spiritual. Only your Spirit is able to make us to understand. So we ask, like Paul would say, that you may give us the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of you, that you may have our eyes opened and enlightened, that we may know What is the hope to which you have called us? What are the immeasurable riches of your glorious inheritance in the sense? So help us to do that, help us by your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' glorious name we ask and may God's people say Amen. We have read together from Ephesians chapter two from verse one, and it is prudent for us to examine this passage together, and for the next two weeks, we'll be looking at this, and I've entitled my sermon, Called Out to be Ambassadors of the Grace of God. I'm aware that we are all here this morning, and you have come to this institution, presumably that the Lord has called you. He has called you into service for His glory, and He has called you into service that you may serve in His vineyard. My brothers and sisters, I would like us to examine this together this morning. As a word of introduction, you are all aware of what is going on right now in the world. There is an outbreak called novel coronavirus. It's broken out. It started in China. And on the 30th of January 2020, Radon WHO, the World Health Organization, reports they met together and the representatives of the World Health Organization met together with the representatives of the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China. And according to the Minister of Health of the People's Republic of China, they have reported that this was on the 30th of January. By then, I know the numbers have now increased, but they said, to say the current situation of the public health measures, there are measures that have been taken. There are, there were by the 30th of Jan, 7,711 people confirmed. as having this virus. 12,167 were suspected cases throughout the country of the People's Republic of China. Of the confirmed cases, 1,370 are severely saved and 170 people by the 30th of Jan were reported dead. And 124 people have recovered and they have been discharged from hospital. That's good news. But the WHO Secretariat provided an overview of the situation in other countries as well. And they have said that in other countries, the situation in other countries, there were, on the 3rd of January, there were 83 cases in 18 different countries. Of these, only seven had no history of travel to China. And there has been no human-to-human transmission in the three countries outside China. And one of these cases is severe and there have been no deaths by the 30th of January. Now, as you hear that report, and you can see even on media, that the nations and the world around us is trembling concerning this coronavirus. There are now travel restrictions that have been put in place, and there are now measures that are also put in place by the WHO. The committee believes that it is still possible to interrupt the virus spread, provided that the countries, listen to this, provided that the countries will put in place strong measures to dictate diseases area. And as such then the WHO has put on in place to say if ever then somebody is found to have this virus then you need to isolate and to treat the cases. You need to trace the contacts but also you need to promote social distancing measures to avoid the risk. Now as you hear about this coronavirus, and you know this, that the world around us is trembling, people have now stopped going to China. People are fearful now that they may die because of this coronavirus. It's actually so deadly that we are so scared and so fearful that right now people are taking measures in place. And you saw even maybe yesterday you were part of the secular SMS that was going about in WhatsApp. And they're sending, say, you need to wash your hands, make sure that you don't just eat, and make sure you do this. And we have treated it with careful caution and measures to make sure that we do not acquire this virus. Now brothers and sisters, I want to come then to this passage this morning. More than the coronavirus that people are scared of, more than the contamination and the transmission as to how this virus is acquired, there is another virus that has affected man from birth. It starts with a letter S, it has I in the middle, and it ends with N at the end. And it seems as if the men are indifferent about this virus as it would. Men, actually even some, would venture and would enter into this platform of ministry having not themselves been cured of this virus. Therefore, I want us to examine what the Bible is saying this morning. I want us to see the way, the manner in which the gravity of sin. I want us to see what is the Bible saying concerning a deadly virus that actually you do not have to contact to get it because you are going into China. You don't have to go to China to get this virus. No matter how much you are going to wash your hands, this virus is actually a virus that we acquire. It's a hereditary virus and its name is sin. If I may use this context, now think with me, if you were a part of the Congress that was there, the WHO, World Health Organization, and you've been assigned to be one of the men who are going to be custodians or who are going to be carriers or stewards, who are going to carry, to take about, to take around the antidote to this coronavirus. Or think with me like this, if you're one of the practitioners, if you're a healthy practitioner assigned by the WHO and you have a remedy to the virus, what would be your attitude and perception towards this? So therefore I want us to wrap that in our minds and to think in the same lines as to what Paul is saying here concerning what is ahead of us. How or why are you here? Paul reminds us in verse 2 of our deadly, that's the first thing we're going to look at this morning, our deadly dilemma. Questioning our deadly dilemma in verse one, Paul tells us that you were dead in the trespasses and in the sins in which you once walked. We want to come to that. Following the priest of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. You were dead. You were not just a man or a woman who was nice, good, And in a coma, no poison, you were dead. And look as to where were you dead. You were dead in your trespasses and in your sins. In simple words, you were unable to follow the laws of God and by nature you were then regarded as one who has missed the mark of God's righteousness. You were dead in the trespasses and in sins. That is your residential address. That is who you are, that is your nature, and I don't want us to lose sight of that. I want us to remember where the Lord has taken us, and I want us to remember what sin is. Because if we lose sight of the truth that we are by nature sinners and we are spiritually dead, And if we do not understand the grace of God, if we don't understand that we are eternally separated from the life of God as we see in Ephesians 4 verse 8, if we lose sight of that we are eternally justly deserving of the wrath of God, if we do not appreciate the fact or the truth that we are by nature sinners, for Romans chapter 3 verse 10 tells us, Romans 3.10 says, there is no one who asks us, not even one, there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks after God. Romans 3.23 tells us that all men have sinned and all men have fallen short of the glory of God. That's the state in which we are in. And that is our nature. It's not on the basis of what we do. It's who we are. We do what we do because of who we are. We are sinners, and sin rules every heart of a human being who is far away from the grace of God. And if sin had its way, it would damn every human soul. If we don't understand our sinfulness or see our sin as God sees it, you and me, then we cannot understand or make use of sin's remedy. You will be like a man or a woman who has been diagnosed to have coronavirus, and you've been taught to say, sir, ma'am, if you do not get the treatment, you're on the verge of dying. If you do not first understand your predicament, you cannot make use of the remedy. Or if we do not understand the people that we are reaching out to, the people that the Lord has assigned you to, if you do not understand that this is the condition in which they are in, you will not be able to administer the correct treatment to them, sir. So understand the state of the human heart. Understand the state of every man apart from the grace of God. Every man is a sinner. Every man is in sin. And sin is an abomination to God. He hates it. Deuteronomy 12 verse 31 tells us that. Habakkuk 1 13 tells us that his eyes are too pure to approve evil and he cannot look on wickedness with favor. Sin is contrary to every nature and every attribute of God. Sin is contrary to his very nature. God is described in Isaiah chapter 6 verse 3 that he is holy, holy, holy, holy, infinitely holy. Sin is sinful, sinful, infinitely sinful, and forever sinful. And we need to understand that. Our dilemma, brothers and sisters, is that we are in sin. Yes, maybe you were saved, thank God for salvation, but we are coming to that. But I want to remind you where He took you from. You are depraved. You were depraved. I am depraved. Every smallest transgression is worthy the penalty that it deserves. Romans 6, 23, the wages of sin is death. Therefore, what you and I deserve is death. But not only do we deserve death, but Paul is saying, you are dead. That is a penalty. So that's what we see. We're depraved. dead in the trespasses and sins. And in this, look at verse two, in this you once walked following the course of this world. So not only are you dead, but you are deceived. That's what verse two is saying. In verse one it's saying you are dead, but in verse two it's saying you are deceived. You are walking following the course of this world. I want you to see that. So there's the world, then there is the prince of the power of the air. Okay, if you can sum this up, and we're going to come to that, you begin to see where Paul is going here. In verse two, he introduces Satan, and he's going to tell us about the flesh. In verse two, though, he's speaking of the world and Satan. Deceived by the world and deceived by Satan. But not only are you just deceived, if you would look with me in the book of John, chapter eight, you see this. Not only are you just deceived by satan Not only you and me were we just deceived by satan, but we were actually The sons and daughters of satan Look with me wake your neighbor up because I see some people are praying for me. Thank you for that, but wake them up Wake them up Listen to the words of jesus He speaks in John chapter 8 from verse 42, just to put ourselves in context. Listen to the words of Jesus. Christ challenges the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. And this is what he says to them. If God were your father, you would love me for I came from God and I'm here. I came not on my own accord, but he sent me. Why don't you understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. And Christ gives a verdict in verse 44. That's where I wanted you to see. You are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character. Actually, he speaks his mother tongue. That's the language there. For he is a liar and a father of lies. You are of your father, the devil. So there are only two families here on the earth. There's a family of God and there's a family of Satan. In this first family of Satan, you are born in it. You get into it by birth. So by nature, you're born in it, and you inherit everything of Adam in this family. You are separated from God, you do not stand in truth, you don't believe God, you hate God, and you are an enemy of God. Your mind cannot submit to God, it resists God. If it had its way, it will actually dethrone God, and it will fight against God. That's who we are by nature. In this family. That's where your people are. They are not just nice people. They don't have the best inside of them. That's the people God is sending you. God is not sending you and me to people who are alive and well and kicking. No, God is sending us to people who are dead in their sins and in their trespasses, people who are following the course of this world, people who are under the prince of the power of the air, the spirit now at work in the sense of disobedience. They are called the children of disobedience. They cannot but disobey God. That's their nature. Even in their best works, they disobey Him. Now brothers and sisters, I want you to see here. In case you may think that maybe you are good enough Listen to the words of Apostle Paul in verse 3. Not only are we dead, not only are we deceived, but Paul says we are deprived. Verse 3, we too all previously lived among them. How did we live? In our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclination of our flesh and our thoughts That's what we're doing. We too once lived carrying out the inclination of our flesh and our thoughts. Carrying out the inclination of our flesh and our thoughts. And if you can take that, you go to Genesis chapter 6 and you see the description which God gives the generation of Noah, you will see as to what is this inclination and the desire that man is carrying out. In Genesis chapter 5, Genesis chapter 6, God gives a diagnosis. He's sorry that he has made man because man's ways and thoughts and the inclination of his hearts were and are continually evil. His thoughts have been affected. He does not think thoughts of God. His heart, Jeremiah 17, verse nine, tells us, deceitful, desperately wicked, beyond cure. His feet, swift to do evil. His tongue, under his tongue, the venom of wasp, speaking lies, like their father, Satan himself. That is the deadly dilemma of man. Now Christians, we are dead, deceived, depraved. Lastly, we look at the next one next week, we are damned. ordained or condemned by God. 3b we were by nature not because of what we did we were by nature under wrath as the others were also. You and me inclusive there. Paul as he's using this language presumably and you're going to see later on as he writes in chapter 2 from verse 11 he's speaking of both the Jews and the Gentiles. In verse one, as it would, in verse one and two, he's speaking to the Gentiles. You were dead in your trespasses, in your sins. You walked after the prince of the power of the air, the spirit now at work in the sons of disobedience. But in verse three, he says, no, it's not just you. We all, we all, it's collective. Sir, don't lose sight of where the Lord has found you. You are not lovable. You don't chase after God. You don't desire God. By nature, it's not like you are going to, by nature, by your nature, it's not like you deserve love from God. You deserve wrath. Can you wake your neighbor? Wake your neighbor. Please, neighbor, wake up. That is where the grace of God has found us. Gained, deceived, depraved, condemned. So we stand hopeless before God. And men, that the Lord is sending you to, Christian, you are like a healthy practitioner who is taking a medication to help people who have been condemned to death. And we're going to look at this. But I want us to understand the diagnosis that the Lord gives. Because if we do not understand the diagnosis, we are not going to make use of the remedy which God gives. So it has nothing to do about you, sir. It has nothing to do about you, ma'am. It has nothing to do about you, my brother, my sister. It has everything to do about God. You've been found here. It's not like you're searching and you were searching for God. You were calling out for him. No, no. We too once walked among them. Don't lose sight of that. then you come to the divine intervention next week. That is the dilemma of man. So it requires a great sense of urgency by obligation. It requires a great sense of intentionality in the way that we're going to present the gospel. It requires that we do not presume that the people who are sitting before us are saved. Even here, you might come here, but you are not saved. It's possible. It's possible. We've seen it. You come here, but you're just coming for your diploma or your degree, or you're coming for your higher certificate, or you're just coming for status. No, sir, you must be a partaker of the grace of God. Otherwise, you are dead in your sins, you are deceived, you are depraved, and you shall be condemned. So you must be a partaker of this grace first. And I'd love to know as to where you are. And it's between you and God. And as you come and you come here, you're not coming here just to make your head bigger. You're coming here so that your heart, your mind, your hands would be available as a living sacrifice to the Lord. So that wherever the Lord is sending you, you know even the people that you're reaching out to are not a perfect people, are a people in need of the grace of God. So understand the great dilemma of man. Shall bow our heads and we pray together. Our heavenly father, we bow before you this morning and we say thank you so much. We thank you for your mercy and for your grace upon us. We thank you that you saw us in our predicament and you have revealed to us in your word who we really are. We realize, O Father, that what we have been affected with and what has affected us is greater than the coronavirus. We also realize and understand that the remedy that will be able to heal us is not found in ourselves, it's not found in our mechanisms or techniques. The remedy is found in the finished work of Christ on the cross. Him we proclaim, warning every man presenting this gospel to all men that we may present them to you as trophies of your grace. So we pray that you will pass by your Holy Spirit, give us a great sense of urgency that we may go out and be ambassadors in this world that is dying and decaying. It is for the glory and honor of Jesus and for the good of your church we ask of this. May God's people say amen.