Tonight we begin chapter 2 of Ephesians. In this chapter, Paul teaches two major doctrines of the Christian faith. The regenerating work of God in sinners. And the unity of Gentile and Jewish believers into one body in Christ. Now both are doctrines that find great resistance for whatever reason in buildings such as this. But they are two of the most blessed doctrines in all of Scripture. Now we recall in the first chapter of this letter, Paul taught several important eternal truths. First in that Baraka, verses 3 through 14 of chapter 1, he praised God for all the spiritual blessings that He had bestowed on these Ephesian converts in Christ. And then in his prayer in verses 15 through 23, he gave thanks to God for the conversion of the Ephesian believers. And he prayed for their growth in their intimate relationship with God. And then their grasp and understanding of His goodness toward them. He prayed that they would grow in conformity to Christ. He concluded chapter 1 by assuring them that Christ was on the throne. And Christ had been raised and exalted to the right hand of the Father, where He rules and reigns over all things. And these truths that were written down by Paul nearly 2,000 years ago are every bit as true today as they were then. And he told them in that first chapter that by the same power that God had raised Christ and seated Him in His right hand, He had also raised them. and was now working in them by that same power. And he told them of the marvelous gift the Father had given to the church, Christ to be her head. So now, chapter 2, he's going to begin to explain how God executed His plan. While chapter 1 dealt with the work of the Father, Son, and Spirit, now Paul's focus begins to turn to the objects of that work of God. Sinners who have received God's mercy. Now verses 1 through 10 consist of two sentences. Verses 1 through 7 is one sentence in Greek. Verses 8 through 10 is a second sentence in Greek. And we're going to read the ten verses in just a moment. But just by way of introduction, here Paul teaches first of the dire spiritual condition of fallen man, of all men. And he teaches of God's raising of sinners to new life, beginning in verse 4. And of the universal makeup of the church, Jews and Gentiles, beginning in verse 11. He reminds these Ephesian converts of the mighty change that had taken place in their lives. Affected by the power of God. Working toward them. Working in them. And how did this all happen? How did God exercise His power toward them to give them new life? The preaching of the gospel. The preaching of the gospel. God exercises His power toward us through the preaching of the gospel initially. He wants us to understand the riches of God's grace toward us. They've been raised up and joined to the risen and exalted Christ. He's sitting on the throne, and if you're in Him, you've been joined to Him. Now I'm not going to have to quote a lot of Scriptures here in this passage. There'll be some. This essentially is it. In verse 1 through 3, we're given as complete a summation of the condition of fallen man that we're going to find anywhere in Scripture. These are the verses that preachers go to to explain other passages in Scripture. In verses 4 through 10, we see this portrait, a powerful portrait of salvation. Maybe the most powerful one in all of Scripture. So in these verses, we see what amount to a before and after picture of Christians. Here's where you were. Here's where you are now. Paul's reminding them in these first three verses of their condition before God had raised them back to life. They, as we, were the living dead, with the appearance of life, but completely severed from any link to God. That's what spiritual death is. It's separation from God. This is what happened to Adam in the garden. And failure to understand this will lead one to error in his understanding of the saving work of God. Romans we're going to see turns out to be a very useful commentary on these first three chapters of Ephesians. We've already begun to see that in chapter 1. So here's the passage, Ephesians 2, verse 1. And you... Now the word and connects this to the previous chapter. And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them, we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, 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 ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Lord, thank You for this Word. Thank You for, by Your Spirit, inspiring the apostle to put forth this doctrine. That we may understand how we came to believe. How we came to desire to know You. How we came to desire You. How we were rescued from the darkness and from an eternal life in hell. Thank You for showing us this, Lord. Thank You for this clear teaching. And Lord, may this teaching be received by all who profess the name of Christ. And Lord, may we respond with the gratitude that You deserve when we read these things. In Christ's name, amen. So you were dead in your trespasses and sins. Who is you here? People in the church who believe. Were they Jews or Gentiles? Well, we're going to see in verse 3 they were both. But here he's talking to the Gentiles, it appears. And here's why I say this. Look down to verse 11. Therefore, remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh... So there's the Gentiles. But he's talking to both. Look at verse 3. In verse 3, we too, all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh. Paul was a Jew. So in the first three verses, we can see that Paul's words here apply to both unregenerate Jews and unregenerate Gentiles. So it begins, though, you were dead in trespasses and sins. How did that come about? How did they come to be dead in their trespasses and sins? And why are we all born that way? We're all born in sin because of Adam. Genesis 2, 16, 17. In the day you eat of it, you will surely die. Now did Adam die physically that day? No, in fact, Scripture tells us he lived over 900 years. It's not physical death that he suffered that day. But God said, in the day you eat of it, you will surely die. Now it's true that because of his sin, Adam and all of his descendants would die a bodily death. But it was spiritual death that Adam suffered that day. And what's that mean? That means he lost his connection to God. He was separated from God. And God is the source of all life. All life, of every description, including spiritual life. So here, Paul also is referring to spiritual death. You were dead. Well, they were obviously walking around in the world sinning. They weren't bodily dead. They were spiritually dead. And this is a death that every human being suffered through Adam's sin. It's important we understand men are not born in neutral. So that we may go to the good. We may go to the bad. No, men are all born condemned. They're born in sin. They're born in this pit of corruption, as some would call it. They're born in bondage to sin and to Satan. And they're headed for hell. All of us were born that way. All are born spiritually dead. and can only be made alive by a unilateral, sovereign, gracious act of God. You can't make yourself spiritually alive. And so Paul reminds them of their former condition. And what God had now done in verse 4 in Christ. You were lost, but He will tell them, Now God has rescued you. But tonight we're just going to deal with the first part of this. Paul identifies three characteristics of life in a state of spiritual death. And folks, we were all there. There's nobody who wasn't there. Life in a state of spiritual death meant walking. Now when he says walking, he's talking about living in such a manner. Walking according to, one, the course of this world, or the age of this world. That might be translated. Although I doubt that any of your translations translate it that way. We're going to talk about that. Walking according to the prince of the power of the air. Who would that be? That would be Satan. And three, walking according to the lusts of their flesh. So here are these three forces that rule all men who are apart from Christ, who are spiritually dead. And tonight we're going to look at what it means to be dead in trespasses and sins, in verse 1. And what it is to walk according to the course of this world, the first part of verse 2. But we must understand something. And the failure to understand this leads to a failure to understand the work of God in salvation. Before God had made them alive with Christ, they were ruled by and in bondage to evil influences. The ways of this world, their own lusts, their own inner inclination toward evil. And this supernatural opponent out there, the devil, the prince of the power of the air, who Paul describes as the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Their former lifestyle, one writer says, which characterizes all who are outside of Christ, was not one of true freedom. And I just saw this somewhere today. I'm free. We're free to do whatever we want. No. No, no, no. To do as one wills tells you that someone is in bondage to forces over which they have no control. That's what all of the sexual revolution was about. It was actually not liberty, but evidence of bondage to sin and Satan. And that, of course, is what all the gender insanity is about today. And the same-sex insanity. Paul begins his treatise on the new birth, which is what this really is here in the first ten verses. This is a treatise on the new birth, on how it is people come to be born again by speaking of the condition of unregenerate men before the new birth. He is spiritually dead. He's alienated from God. He's separated from God. The only source of spiritual life. And that's true no matter how nice a person is. No matter how good a person seems in a human sense. Isaiah 59-2, your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God. and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear." This is why a person needs the blood of Christ to cleanse him. Now, different ways to try to understand this, but one way is this. When one dies a bodily death, he no longer has any connection to the material world, to people in the world. One who's spiritually dead, though, has no connection to heavenly realities. He's like a man trying to pick up a cable TV station without having the cable equipment. He can't do it. Their time, energy, and focus is on things of the fallen world. That can be true even if they show up at a church every Sunday, if they're not born again. Their focus is not on the things of God. Why is this? Why don't they believe? Why can't they believe? Why are so many so absorbed in and invested in the things of this fallen world? The answer is because they're dead to spiritual realities. Why can't you reach somebody with the gospel? It's our duty to seek to do that. But unless God makes them spiritually alive, they cannot hear and understand and believe. only God can make a spiritually dead sinner spiritually alive. It's important we understand this because many would seek to preach that we can make ourselves spiritually alive by decisions we make. That's not true. New birth, regeneration, being born of the Spirit, born from above, all these speak of the same work of God. They're just different ways of saying the same thing. So to make a man spiritually alive is entirely a work of whom? Of God. No man contributes to this work. All are spiritually dead. And yes, by the way, all men are duty-bound to believe in Christ. But unless one is made spiritually alive, he cannot do that. None can do anything to make himself spiritually alive. No man has the ability to join himself to Christ. If he's spiritually dead, he's lost in sin, and he lives under the power of sin. Remember how Paul wrote about that at length in Romans. He lives under the power of sin. And Christ, Romans 8, 3, condemned sin in the flesh. Sin brought about the spiritual death of Adam and all of us, all of his descendants. Romans 5, 17. By the transgression of one, death reigned through the one. Verse 19, through one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners. And this is the condition in which every man and every woman comes into this world. Spiritually dead. And yes, there are some who live more morally, more moral lives, who seem to be far better people, even than many of us. But what we are born as are people without any power or inclination to change our condition of spiritual death. And a great portion of what calls itself the church today is lost because of its failure to realize and recognize this. We're not just going along and we're doing fine and I'm going to add Christ to my life and now I can go to heaven. No. When we are born again of God, He takes us from death to life. Now Paul, in Romans chapter 3, verse 9, he quotes from David in Psalm 14. We have already charged, Paul says, that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. We're all under sin. As it is written, and then he goes to the psalm, there is none righteous, not even one. Second, there's none who understands. Third, there's none who seeks for God. Fourth, all have turned aside. Together they have become useless. Fifth, There's none who does good. There is none who does good. We know some people who treat us well. But there's none who does good. Not in God's sight. There is not even one. Their throat is an open grave. With their tongues they keep deceiving. 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 paths. in the path of peace. They have not known. There's no fear of God before their eyes. So, there will be people who, according to the course of this world, according to the mores and standards of this world, are very good. But very good according to the course of this world is not even good in God's sight. There's two kinds of people in the world. Those who are in Christ and those who are still in Adam. And that's the only distinction that matters. Romans 8, 5, speaking of the unregenerate man, here's what Paul wrote. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God. It's not even able to do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. What does Hebrews 11.6 say? Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. So this is the true condition of all men apart from the regenerating work of God the Holy Spirit. And what this means is that every man who's not indwelt by the Spirit of God, who has not been born again, is under the control and influence of other forces. Paul writes that all such men are ruled by the wisdom and the mores of this world, this fallen world. When you were spiritually dead in your trespasses and sins, you walked according to the course of this world. Now the Greek word here for course, and it's rendered course, I think, and I think the NIV uses the ways of this world. But the word here is actually aion. And in Greek this word means age or eternity. and is rendered by many, age of this world." So how do we make sense out of Paul putting those two words together? Well, this speaks of this place of existence, but it also speaks of this age, this time. And he combines them here in this phrase. Ion of this cosmos, or world, speaks of the corrupted order of this fallen world. Sometimes we forget that there is no chance of fallen men bringing this fallen world into a state of perfection. It's not possible. Men are evil. So we have this corrupted order of this fallen world in this period of time. The period of time that began when? When did the corruption begin? With Adam's sin. Jesus described this as this present evil age. And this present evil age began with Adam's fall and will continue until Christ returns. And the eternal age is brought in. Now the thoughts and the desires and the actions of an unregenerate man are according to the ways of this fallen world. So they're measured. They're not only dictated by and influenced by the ways of this world. But they are according to the ways of this fallen world and its sense of what is acceptable conduct and what, if anything, is not. The actions of the unregenerate man, let me say it again, are according to the ways of this fallen world and its sense of what is acceptable conduct and what, if anything, is not. And we know we're now living in a world where almost anything is acceptable according to the course of this world. This is very apparent to us in 2022. And not just in America. The course or age of this world refers to the mores of the times. these times, not the eternal age. And the world is always against God. It always stands in opposition to God. Martin Lloyd-Jones says the world is the outlook, the mentality, and the organization of life apart from God. This is what the world's doing. When the Supreme Court says no Bibles in schools and no prayer in schools, and executive orders and laws come out banning kids from seeking God in their formative years. This is a world apart from God. to walk in accordance with the course of this world, is to live in a way that harmonizes with what Jesus calls this present evil age. It is to live in a manner entirely contrary to the ways of Christ. There isn't some crossover, folks. And you can't live in both worlds. Ultimately, you're going to be drawn into one or the other. You can try it for a while. Ways of this world are contrary to the kingdom of God. They are in flagrant opposition to God's norm. And we're going to see this. Because men who walk according to the course of this world, they go along with whatever is fashionable and acceptable. They're not out of step with the world. They embrace temporal rather than eternal values. TV, movies, books, commercials that promote greed, Gratification of the lusts of the eyes and of the flesh. An unbiblical way of living. When's the last time you saw a commercial come on that said, here's how Christ wants you to live. He wants you to seek to love your neighbor, to do this and do that. No. Here's the car you need. Here's the whatever you need. Here's the vacation you need. It's all about feeding our lusts. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. You can go there and you can sin without consequence. Isn't that what they're trying to sell? It's a lie, you know. See, there's a consequence for every sin. And the consequence for every sin is eternal hell. So here, this world speaks of the society of men in their fallen and depraved state. It refers to the anti-God attitudes of humanity. By the way, if you think this is just some small group, no, no. How many true believers are there in the world? We know there's 8 billion people. We know there's 1 billion professing believers. That's seven billion, at least, in this group. Anti-God. That's what Paul's telling us. Those who have been born again of the Spirit realize they're not at home in this fallen world. Our citizenship is in heaven. They know they're not at home among a gathering of those who have not been born again. I mean, we get in those situations, but we realize we don't fit. This world reflects the shapes, beliefs, and values of unregenerate man. That's what's out here. And it sells sinful pleasures. It sells covetousness. It sells greed. It sells sexual pleasure. James 4.4, Don't you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. But 1st John 5, 4, whatever is born of God overcomes the world. Whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? So to walk according to the law of God and the ways of God is to stand against all that he condemns. Oh, that would be murder, hatred, theft, covetousness, deceit, sexual relations outside of that between a man and his wife, and idolatry, and love of self. God's opposed to all those. to walk according to the course of this world, always speaks of living according to a spirit of sin and death. But this takes different shapes and forms in different times and in different cultures. So we might give different examples in a nation in South America, Africa, or Australia. But all false religions, that is all religions other than biblical Christianity, are of the course of this world. It's not just the self-professed atheists. It's all false religions. Because they're all inventions of fallen men that can't save anybody. All false religions and all perversions of Christianity are inventions of men. All of them. They're inventions of this world. The product of this world. And they amount to the worship of false or imaginary gods. And that is idolatry. I want to look at a couple of these sins and the way the course of the world looks at them. I mean, you would think that all cultures would understand that murder is wrong. Are there cultures that would not hold that? There are. Many cultures, the murder of enemies, opponents, those deemed opposed to you, even outside of time of war, goes unpunished. They put videos of them on YouTube. And remember what Jesus told us. Hatred is the equivalent of murder. There's no human law against that. Think about it in terms of God's standard versus the standards of the world. I don't think there's ever been a human law against hatred. They try to attach it to some crimes now, but that's not really what they're after. In fact, it's a full-time job of propagandists all over the world to foster hatred against those they deem as their opponents. We saw it the other night in a speech, an attempt to foster hatred. Hatred is murder in God's sight. In the 21st century, these technologies we have enable faster and wider dissemination of hate-filled propaganda. Hatred is murder in God's eyes. And according to the course of this world, this isn't a crime. But it certainly is a crime against the law of God. Maybe no better illustration of the contrast between God's ways and those of the world than the matter of human sexuality. Now the law of God is you shall not commit adultery, shall not have intimate sexual relations outside of the marriage of one man and one woman. That's God's law. Few cultures follow this divine command or frown upon it or hold it to be valid even. And the law of God, as we know, as explained by Jesus, Matthew 5, 28, condemns not only physical relations, but He says, I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. No law against that. Not in this world. This isn't the standard of the world of this age. Advertising is geared to the promotion of sexual lust. Because the course of this world does not condemn such lust. Now this whole study tonight would sound just insane to an unbeliever, to one not acquainted with the Bible, to one not believing in the Bible. But this is what God says. So, do we live according to the course of this world, or are we going to live according to the ways of God? And by the way, not only does God condemn any man who lusts after a woman who is not his wife, He condemns all intimate sexual relations outside of a God-ordained marriage. I mean, is the world complying with the law of God here? Does the world have any sense of adherence to the law of God? Or does the world ignore the law of God? You know, before He formally established Israel as a nation at Mount Sinai, God commanded that they not walk, not live according to the course established by the Egyptians or by the Canaanites, neither of whom followed Yahweh or even knew Him. Don't live like them. See, both the Egyptians and the Canaanites, like all unbelievers today, had created their own morality and their own wicked mores. But here's what God said, Leviticus 18, 1. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, I am the Lord your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes to live in accord with them. I am the Lord your God, so you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them. I am the Lord." Well then you drop down to verse 20 and here's the commands. Specifics. You shall not have intercourse with your neighbor's wife to be defiled with her. Adultery. Verse 21. You shall not give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech. Abortion. Nor shall you profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. Verse 22, You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female. It is an abomination. And you shall not have intercourse with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is a perversion. Don't defile yourselves by any of these things, for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled. Now we're living in a world completely ignoring and rejecting God's law. Verse 25, For the land has become defiled, and therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants. But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native nor the alien who sojourns among you. For the men of the land who have been before you have done all these abominations. See, this stuff isn't new. This isn't new. And the land has become defiled, and our land has become defiled, so that the land will not spew you out, should you defile it, as it has spewed out the nation which has been before you. For whoever does any of these abominations, those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people. Now this is the way of God. This is not the course of this world. Deuteronomy 22, 22. Just one more. If a man is found lying with a married woman, then both of them shall die. The man who lay with a woman and a woman, and thus you shall purge the evil from Israel. So what Paul is saying to us here is that all those who have not been born again are living according to the ways of this world. They're living according to all of these abominations that defile the land. And so here, Yahweh presents a clear contrast between His ways and the course of this world in 1450 B.C. And over the past 3500 years, nothing has changed. The ways of God never change. He is immutable and His standard of righteousness is unchanging. And the ways of men, conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity, will always be wicked in the sight of God. There isn't some way of an unregenerate man that can be pleasing to God. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. And see, God's judgment is the only one that comes because He's the only one who can save anybody from hell. And God's been clear throughout all of human history. 1 Corinthians 6, 9, Don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Don't be deceived, neither fornicators... See, it isn't just homosexuals who will not inherit the kingdom. It's people who are living according to the course of this world. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, but all who are involved in any sexual sin are in the same boat. They will not inherit the kingdom of God. And neither will thieves, neither will people whose inner self is covetous, or drunkards, or revilers, or swindlers. None of these, Paul says, will inherit the kingdom of God. And now, I mean, we can see it. The course of the Western world, anyway, has taken a radical turn in our lifetimes. Sex outside of marriage is viewed by many cultures and people as entirely permissible. People don't give it a thought, but God does. Few have laws prohibiting sex outside marriage. There used to be such laws. There certainly were in Israel. and rarely outside the church. And far too rarely in the church are voices heard disapproving of premarital relations. So is such a place walking according to God's ways or according to the course of this world? Which is boiled down to few are taking the law of God seriously. Few cultures, few rulers, few ruling bodies take the law of God seriously at all. Or even bother to factor it into their deliberations. And now, here we are in America after a 50-year campaign against the ways of God. Laws prohibiting abominable relations between people of the same gender have been swept off the books in many places. There were laws in Texas 10 years ago that prohibited same-sex conduct. Supreme Court said, no, that's fine, and that's the official government position. And the cores of this world now come to a point where ruling bodies sanction these marriages. Quote marriages. These are among the standards. These are just a few. I mean, we're letting crime, thievery, arson, mayhem, rioting, and murder go. God doesn't let any of those things go. He will punish them with eternal hell. But these are the standards the unregenerate are living by right now, are living under. Even though there may be some among the unregenerate who strongly disapprove of allowing all of this sin. And even some who claim to be of Christ, or even in Christ, approve of some or all of these perversions. We have people standing in pulpits like this one who are openly sinning in homosexual relationships. We have men in pulpits dressing as women in pulpits. This is the course of this world. This is not Christ's kingdom that we're talking about here. These all stand by the ways of the fallen world. These walk according to the course of this world. And whether they're standing in a pulpit or somewhere else, they stand in opposition to Christ. It's not only those who commit these atrocities who will live forever in hell, you know. Those who approve of such sins. You don't have to actually commit these sins of rejecting the way God made you or of engaging in relations that he says are evil to be condemned. Those who approve of such sins also stand condemned before God. This is the danger of the course of this world. And why one must live according to the Word of God, you see, if he is to have any hope at all. After writing in the Sins of Lust and Homosexual Relations in Romans 1, Paul wrote, Romans 128, And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind. And that's what we see when a man puts on this long hair and a dress and says, Oh, I'm a woman. A depraved mind. To do those things which are not proper. being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice. They are gossips. They are slanderers. They are haters of God. They are insolent. They are arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful, And although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. The course of this world, this is what it is. And God gave them over. And He's given this, all of Western civilization over, because it's rejected Him. And that's why we have what we have. Sexual abominations abound. Murder, rioting in the streets. This will always be what the course of this world leads to, by the way. We're not the first people to live in a culture that seeks to normalize behavior that God has plainly told us is sin. But the fact is, we do now live in such a culture. And I know you all know it. Great many have been persuaded by Satan and his instruments on earth that what God says is wrong is not wrong at all. Who allows one who has clearly murdered somebody out of prison? Somebody who's godless. Somebody who does not want to do the will of God. God said, if you shed someone's blood, your blood should be shed. And all of this will bring about a society that is godless. Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia, Maoist China, now Western Europe, and the United States of America. Variations of cultures, different kinds of cultures. But all have one thing in common. All turning away from God. These are all variations of the course of this world. So was Nero and many others along the way. Well, the law of God stands as the only standard of true righteousness. And we can't meet it. Any failure, in fact, to comply with the law of God in any respect is seen by God as a violation of the whole law of God and brings eternal punishment in hell. Here's James chapter 2, verse 10. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. The gravity and the horror of the previous condition of all men, of all of us, should serve to magnify the wonder of God's mercy. Because folks, this is where we all were. We were all in accord with all of this. Again, the particulars change over time. But we were all walking according to the course of this world. We came into this world, citizens of this world. We came into this world in Adam. Now, Paul in verse 4 is going to begin to speak of the mercy of God. But right now, he recalls the condition in which all of us come into the world in order to call our attention to the grace of God and the power of God in Christ. We don't know who are the chosen of God, but we do know one thing about them. They all come to recognize that they are sinners, unworthy of God, who have greatly offended God, and who come to God begging for His mercy and forgiveness. Well next week we're going to move to the next two categories. Because this bondage is not only to the course of this world, but it's to our own lusts and to Satan himself, the prince of the power of the air. And we'll pick up there next week. So let's take a few moments, reflect on the things that the Lord has spoken to us tonight, and then we will close in prayer. Lord, when we see the wickedness all around us and realize, recall that we were very much a part of it all, and that through no power or inclination of our own, you have called us out of it, opened our eyes, changed our hearts, awakened us to spiritual life, we can only stand before you in awe. Why us, Lord, we wonder. Well, Lord, we don't know the answer. We know it's nothing in us. We know that you brought us from a place where we were among those who offended you in all these ways that we looked at here. And yet you've called us over now to understand your ways and to stand with them. And so, Lord, we express our gratitude as inadequate as that seems. And Lord, we pray that by this word tonight, and then as we work through this letter, you will evoke in us a right response that is pleasing to you, a response of gratitude, worship, and obedience for your kingdom and for your glory. In Christ's name, amen.