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Location:
6425 Jefferson Rd. For
directions, click here.
Jerry
Varnado,
pastor August
18, 2002 I
had intended, until just a few
minutes ago, to continue our
series on spiritual gifts in
corporate worship. But I feel
like God would have me talk with
you about something else this
morning. Several
things have happened in the past
few hours that have brought me to
this change. Secondly,
I found out after I got here the
police have determined that young
man who found dead on the
university campus Friday
committed suicide. In despair, he
jumped from the top of one of the
dormitories, taking his own
life. And
third, a dear member of this
church family who's battling
cancer has just been told by the
doctors that there's nothing more
they can do. So,
it's been a rather depressing
morning. But there's something
that stirs in my soul that tells
me to hope in God, no matter the
circumstances. And
that's what I've decided to talk
you about today: hope for the
hopeless. Turn
with me to Ephesians 2, starting
at verse one. I'm reading today
from the New American Standard
translation: 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. Therefore
remember that formerly you,
the Gentiles in the flesh, who
are called "Uncircumcision" by
the so-called "Circumcision,"
which is performed in the
flesh by human hands --
remember that you were at that
time separate from Christ,
excluded from the commonwealth
of Israel, and strangers to
the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God
in the world. But
now in Christ Jesus you who
formerly were far off have
been brought near by the blood
of Christ. Paul
gives us in this passage an
important truth that I want to
zero in on this morning. He told
the people in the church at
Ephesus that at one time they
were without hope because -- and
this is key -- because they were
without God. I
believe that hopelessness is the
result of "God-lessness." The
person who is hopeless either
does not know God, or has been
duped into believing that God
cannot or will not touch their
situation. Those without hope
think God isn't capable of
changing them or others or human
institutions -- or that He simply
not willing. Many
people, of course, think there is
no God. There is nothing beyond
this material existence. If that
is true life has no purpose, no
meaning. It's nothing more than a
terminal disease -- suffer
through it for 70-80 years, then
nothing. It's
sad that so many people have no
sense of a transcendent God. But
for 30 years we have allowed
extremists to recreate our
society into one devoid of God
consciousness. We've allowed them
to legally exclude God, by
judicial degree, from our public
school systems and many other
areas of our corporate life.
We're now suffering consequences.
Even
in the church, we seem to have
lost touch with the reality of
the power of the gospel to change
human life and institutions. The
influence of liberal theologians
has resulted in many seeing
Christianity as a religion
consisting of philosophical
idealism, moral teaching, human
goodness and social action,
rather than a movement of God's
power. As
people see the continuing
degradation of our society, and
without having any sense of an
almighty God who can change
things, despair and hopelessness
are natural results. But
there is a God. He is alive and
He is active and He is the "God
of hope." Paul
says in Ephesians 2 that at one
time we all were dead in our
transgressions and sins. We were
therefore objects of wrath,
separated from Christ, foreigners
to the covenants of God without
citizenship among God's people,
without God and thus without hope
in the this world. We were a
pitiful, helpless, hopeless
lot. Then,
there appear in this Ephesians 2
passage two of the most important
words in the entire Bible: "But
God!" But
God, in his love, made us alive,
raised us up with Christ! We who
were once far away, have been
brought near to God through the
blood of Jesus Christ! Listen
my friends, this is so important.
No matter what difficulty
confronts you, what trouble looms
before you, no matter what sins
you have committed, no matter how
badly you have been hurt by
others, no matter how helpless,
hopeless and desperate your
situation seems, there is always:
"But God...!" From
cover to cover the Bible reveals
a God who just doesn't seem to
recognize the words, "hopeless"
and "impossible." When God's
people are in desperate,
hopeless, impossible situations,
that is His opportunity to show
the world His power. If
we could just get hold of this
one truth, if we could just
believe this one thing about God,
it would radically change our
lives and the world we live
in. In
John 11: 40, Jesus said, "Did I
not tell you that if you
believed, you would see the glory
of God?" There word translated
"believed" is, in the Greek,
pisteuo. It means to have
faith. Faith is the means by
which the promises of God are
realized in our lives and made
visible in the world. Hebrews
11:6 says that "without faith it
is impossible to please God,
because anyone who comes to him
must believe that he exists and
that he rewards those who
earnestly seek him." When
God acts through our faith and
does the impossible, it
demonstrates His power and shows
his glory to the world.
When
Sarah heard God tell Abram they
were going to have a baby she
laughed. Justifiably so! They
were pushing 100 at the time.
They probably hadn't given much
to sex for years, much less
having a baby! The whole idea was
preposterous, impossible, a
hopeless dream. Abraham's
descendants were slaves in Egypt
-- the greatest, most powerful
nation in the world. Without an
army, without resources, without
a means of escape, they were
hopelessly trapped in
slavery. Daniel
found himself in a den of hungry
lions. No way out. No way to
defend himself. A hopeless case.
But God closed the mouth of the
lions -- and Daniel walked out
the next morning unharmed!
Jesus
was dead and in the grave. He was
the last hope for the human race.
Now it's over. The devil had won.
No hope left. Peter
was in jail. Herod has already
killed James. Peter was next. He
was locked a dungeon. Chained
between two guards. It was all
over. His situation was hopeless.
His funeral would be
tomorrow. I
was tired of living. The world I
had built for myself had crumbled
in ruin. I had squandered by
youth on fruitless living. My
first-born had been killed in an
senseless accident. My best
friend had died. My wife had
divorced me. I had no purpose,
life had little meaning, I wanted
to die. I was a helpless,
hopeless, shell of
man. There's
always, "But God..." There's
always hope in Him. Nothing is
impossible with God. And
the thing that's absolutely
amazing about walking with Jesus
is that you can't lose! What's
the worst thing that can happen
to a human being? It's to lose
your life. But if you're a
Christian and lose your life, the
worst thing becomes the best
thing! You get to go and be with
God. Sure,
we all grieve when loved ones
die, but the grief is ours, not
theirs -- if they know Jesus.
Friends,
for those who put their trust in
Jesus Christ, God always has a
plan to give you a future and a
hope -- and there's nothing the
devil can do about it.
So
as we come to pray today, we're
going pray in hope. God is the
God of hope. Let's do what Jesus
told us to do. He said to always
pray, and not give up. Let's pray
as people of hope, people who
know there's always, "But
God...!"
Gateway
Church gathers
for worship
Sundays
at 10:30 a.m.
(Hwy. 129) in Athens,
Georgia.
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A
GATEWAY SERMON
Hope
for the hopeless
Gateway
Church,
Athens GA
First,
just before I left the house I
received word that the father of
a good friend of ours died early
this morning.
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.
Hopelessness
results from
"God-lessness"
The basis for
hopeBut
God said, "You will have a
baby" -- and Sarah conceived
and gave birth to a son.
But
God said, "Let my people go!"
And they walked out with the
riches of Egypt in their
possession, leaving Pharaoh's
army drowned in Red Sea!
"But
God...!" God raised Him from
the dead, seated Him at His
right hand, and made Him the
King of kings and the Lord of
lords! Hallelujah!
But
God was not through with
Peter! An angel came in the
night! The chains fell off!
The gate swung open! Peter
walked out!
"But
God...!" God had a plan! God
had a purpose for my life. God
put my life back together. He
gave me a new family, a new
job, a new mission, and a
reason for living.
The God of hope
An
audio tape of this sermon is
available
free of charge (U.S. requests
only).
Request
a tape by calling
or writing the Gateway Church
office.
Please specify tape number
020818a: Hope for the
Hopeless.
©
2002 Gerald R.
Varnado