The Power Of The Cross - Number 2 Series

The Power of the Cross - Number 2

Ephesians 2:11-19

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Series: The Book of Ephesians

(Prepared March 23, 2024)

Note: The previous sermon in this series was prepared for Memorial Day in the United States. This is a very similar sermon for any time of the year.

MESSAGE:

*Think about all the people who have helped you over the years. One of those people for me was Mrs. Lois Culver Jordan. She was the excellent, tough teacher who taught me in the 7th grade, 31 years after she taught my daddy in the 7th grade.

*Another very helpful friend is Richard Mencer. Back in the mid-1990's Rich owned a kiosk Christian Bookstore at the mall in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He also served on staff in a church up there. I got to know Richard through his in-laws at Emmanuel Baptist Church.

*In early 1997, I was going through the most discouraging time in my ministry. Then one day Richard called out of the blue. He told me that he was going on a mission trip to Ukraine that summer. He said they needed another pastor to go with them, that they had prayed about it, and felt like the Lord was leading them to ask me. Then Rich said he had shared this with the city-wide singles group he was leading, and they had volunteered to pay the $3,000 cost for the trip. I couldn't believe it!

*God did a lot of great things on that trip. But on top of everything else, He used that trip to give me a new burst of encouragement. God used those dear people to help me in an unexpected, wonderful way.

*But our greatest source of help is from God Himself! Psalm 46:1 tells us that "God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble," and He surely is. In Acts 26 the Apostle Paul had been falsely imprisoned for at least two years. And Paul was called to appear before King Agrippa for one of the trials he endured. There Paul clearly explained the reasons why he had been falsely imprisoned. And in Acts 26:22-23, Paul gave this word of testimony for God: "Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.''

*Even though Paul had gone through more trouble than most people, he could boldly say that God had helped him all the way. Christians: Now we can look back and see many examples of God helping us. But the greatest way that God ever helps people is through the cross of Jesus Christ!

*There is no way that we can exaggerate the importance of the cross in our world. And as Paul speaks to Christians in these verses, God shows us what the cross of Jesus Christ can do in our lives.

1. FIRST: THE CROSS CAN PUT REAL HOPE IN OUR HEARTS.

*Paul reminds us of this truth in vs. 12-13, where he describes our lives before we trusted in Jesus:

12. . . at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

13. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ.

*Believers: Without Jesus, we had no hope. And I care enough about you to tell you that if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are without hope right now. But Jesus Christ can give you real hope. And Jesus will give you real hope, if you will trust in Him. But what is real hope?

*Pastor James Chandler helps us understand with a story from his early childhood. One Thanksgiving James was asked to say the family prayer at the big meal. And in that prayer he said, "Dear God, I sure hope the Oakland Raiders make it to the Super Bowl!" James remembers that prayer, because he found out real fast that it "wasn’t really appropriate." And James said, "As I grew, I also learned that real hope is not the kind of hope I mentioned in my prayer. Real hope is not a wish, but confidence in a certainty." (1)

*I like that definition: "Real hope is confidence in a certainty." Real hope, godly hope, biblical hope, is joyful confidence in something that is certain. That is the kind of hope Paul is talking about in vs. 12. It's confidence in the certainty of everything we gain when we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior: The forgiveness of our sins, a place in the family of God, future perfection, a perfect home forever in Heaven, and much more.