The text for this morning sermon is found in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1 through 3.

And you he made alive when you were dead through 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 sons of disobedience.

Among these we all once lived in the passions of our flesh,

following the desires of body and mind,

and so we were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

We're talking in these Advent sermons now about our need for a Savior.

And in verses 1 to 3 of Ephesians 2, there are three reasons given.

According to verse 1, we need a Savior because we're dead in

trespasses and sins. According to verse two, we need a Savior because we are

captive to an alien prince or power. And according to

verse three we need a Savior because we are children of wrath by nature.

And the first thing I want to stress this morning is that

you won't learn this anywhere else.

This is not the kind of description of human nature that you'll find in time or Newsweek or the Tribune or on the 6 o'clock news, virtually no one outside a little tiny group of

evangelicals spread around the world believes these things.

Who believes that without a Savior, without a divine Savior,

we are so dead in sins that we are incapable of no spiritual good. Who believes today that without a

Savior we are captive to a supernatural power called Satan who governs this world system.

Who believes today that without a Savior we are sentenced to hell and will be tormented in the lake of fire forever and ever.

Who believes these things?

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