Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the Gospel according to Luke
chapter 3 and reading from our text part of verse 15. Verse 15, the people were in
expectation. margin it says, or in suspense. The whole verse reads, And as
the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts
of John, whether he were the Christ or not, John answered,
saying unto them all, I indeed baptise you with water, but one
mightier than I cometh, the lachet of whose shoes I am not worthy
to unloose. He shall baptise you with the
Holy Ghost and with fire. Now he's pointing to the Lord
Jesus Christ. But the word of my spirit is
that people were in expectation. This was designed by God that
they should be so. John was a voice that was to
go before the Lord and to prepare the ways of the Lord. And for that reason, his ministry
was to make the people to expect that something was going to happen. If we have an expectation, there
is a strong belief that something will happen. The things that
are happening seem to indicate that something else will happen. Some great event will take place. And we are to remember this,
that God does do this and has done this in the history of the
church, that there have always been those warnings, those things
that have gone before when the Lord has done great things. We think, well, what about in
the time of Noah? Well, in the time of Noah, it
must have been A thing much talked about, that this man was building
a boat upon dry land and his preaching, his constant preaching,
over 120 years. And then suddenly that event
came and the flood came, took them all away. But there must
have been many that really wondered what was happening, what was
going on. and mused at his words. And our Lord compares this time,
this day, the same. Not just one man, Noah, but all
of his servants preaching throughout the world. The Church of God
is a spectacle before the world. Many saying, what purpose is
this? Why gather together? Why worship? Why have a faith? Why believe
in God? What is the need of it? Well,
the Lord has said that one day the world will not be destroyed
by water, but by fire. And the Lord shall come, the
world shall end, and the heavens and earth shall pass away with
a great fire and great heat. The Lord shall make a new heavens,
a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness, and there shall be no more sin
or death or sorrow or crying. Those who have here in this world
believed on Him, trusted in Him, known His salvation, will be
part of that new creation. That shall be the blessing that
they have to look forward to. But all those who have mocked
and despised and laughed and ridiculed, those who have claimed
to the word of God and to the hope of the gospel, they shall
perish before the Lord and be banished to eternal hellfire
and under the wrath of God. We have the expectation in the
time of Moses, when the children of Israel were In Egypt, no doubt,
for many a month, many a year, they groaned under their burdens. We certainly know that they were
so when Moses was born. But from when Moses was born
until he came with God's commission to bring them out of Egypt was
80 years. 80 years had gone by. And you
might say nothing happened of any expectation of their being
delivered. Well, the first expectation that
they had was when Moses came and he said that God had appeared
unto him and that he had said that he would deliver them out
of Egyptian bondage. And he gave the signs, the signs
of the waters turned into blood, the sign of his hand turned into
a leper and then back again, the sign of his rod being turned
into a serpent and then back again. And they believed, they
rejoiced. It was a great event. But then
God hardened Pharaoh's heart and he wouldn't let the people
go. And so nine signs were given and that land just about destroyed,
as his own servant said. And no doubt there was a great
expectation. What was God doing? And although
they're children of Israel, they groan still under their burdens.
Yet the Lord was going to deliver them and those great signs, those
wonders, they led up to the Passover, a beautiful time of our Lord
Jesus Christ and his shed blood. When all of the firstborn of
Egypt were slain, the children of Israel, under that same destroying
angel, were preserved when the angel saw the blood, the blood
of the lambs that were slain on the doorposts of their houses,
and he passed over them. A beautiful time of the blood
of Christ shed for his people instead of his people perishing. And so we have those times that
the Church of God knew an expectation of either coming judgment or
chastening or deliverance. Then we have it here, the expectation,
and their thought was that maybe it was that John was the Christ. Now some feel that The Jews,
they understood that Daniel's 70 weeks were accomplished, the
prophecy there. They recognized that the scepter,
the kingdom, was taken from Judah. They were under the Roman rule. And it was the time that had
been prophesied that Christ should come. But we read in another
place that they knew not the day of their visitation. In the end, they crucified the
Lord of life and glory. And I believe that really what
the Lord used in the expectation here. It's a remarkable way that
John Baptist came forth, how he came preaching, and he came
preaching repentance. And in a very simple way, he
was setting before them each how repentance was to be shown,
make a real difference in their lives. And you and I, if we are
brought to repent, and our Lord said, accept your repentance,
He shall all likewise perish. And we see that there was different
things the Lord said, or John said before the tax collectors,
the publicans, those that were used to exacting more and taking
it to themselves. He said to them, the evidence
of repentance for them, was that they do not exact more than what
was due. And with the Roman soldiers as
well, those that were used to doing violence to men, falsely
accusing and being discontent with their wages, the evidence
with them was to do violence to no man, neither accuse any
falsely and be content with their wages. And so John Baptist had
a word for each in a very simple, practical evidences of repentance. And maybe be delivered from just
looking at things in a spiritual way, where God gives revival
and repentance, lives will be radically changed. They will,
it'll touch. All things that we do, it will
make a difference, a real difference, and people will see that the
Word of God and our faith has made a difference. God has made
a difference in our lives. But the work of John Baptist,
he was not the saviour. He was not the redeemer. He was
one that was to point them to the redeemer. Their salvation
was not to be through their repentance, though repentance is joined with
it. The Lord Jesus Christ is exalted
to give repentance and remission of sins unto Israel or to his
people. And the two things are joined
together. Where sin is put away, then there
is repentance given. In this time with John, it was
still the time of the prophets. Our Lord had not yet begun his
ministry. He had not yet been crucified
and risen from the dead. The Holy Spirit had not yet been
given. It was the baptism of John unto
repentance. In gospel days, in the days from
the time of the apostles, it is repentance and a baptism. on repentance and profession
of faith. And so with the eunuch, it was,
if they are believers, baptism. If they are believers, they must
be baptized. And that is what is required
with baptism. We read of those that only knew
the baptism of John, and they were baptized again, they were
baptized with the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, buried with
him by baptism into death and risen again in newness of life. Baptism is a sign of being buried
and risen again in newness of life. It is the command the Lord
gave, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature
He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved, he that believeth
not shall be damned. Baptism is not necessary for
salvation, but it is a very clear command of the Lord, and it is
a very clear evidence of an obedient soul walking in that way, and
one not walking in it is disobedience. So we have the baptism of John,
and the teaching that was within, and especially the expectation. And it is that that is much on
my spirit at this time. The people were in expectation. And what our expectation is,
can tell us a lot about our souls, where we are, what we believe,
there is a very big difference between the expectation of the
wicked and of the righteous, of God's people and of those
that are not. Especially, we read these contrasts
in the book of Proverbs. In Proverbs chapter 10, verse
28, we read, the hope of the righteous shall be gladness,
but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. Then we have in
the 11th chapter, verse 7, we have, when a wicked man dieth,
his expectation shall perish, and the hope of unjust men perisheth. And then we have in verse 23,
the desire of the righteous is only good, The expectation of
the wicked is wrath. And then moving on to the 23rd
chapter of Proverbs and verse 18, for it is, sorry, verse 18,
for surely there is an end. And thine expectation shall not
be cut off. He's speaking of the Lord's people. Let not thine heart envy sinners,
but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long, for surely
there is an end and thine expectation shall not be cut off. And then in the 24th chapter
in verse 14, so shall the knowledge of wisdom Be unto thy soul, when
thou hast found it, there shall be a reward, and thine expectation
shall not be cut off. There is a difference between
the expectation of those that are dead in sin, those that are
of the wicked, and those that are alive unto God, those that
are saved. And all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. And all of God's people, when
they come into this world, they have those same expectations
of those that are lost. And it is as that expectation
is changed that then we begin to see the reality in religion,
the reality of the true faith of God. And it is that what I
desire to Just briefly trace through this morning and we may
ask ourselves what is our expectation? What is it that we strongly believe
will happen, will happen to us? What is before us? What are we
looking forward to? What are we expecting to happen?
And so I want to look then in four ways. The first is the expectation
of an unbeliever and that of the wicked. The second is the
expectation of one quickened into spiritual life. And the
third is the expectation of a believer. And the last one is the expectation
of heaven, that is, for a believer. Firstly, the expectation of an
unbeliever or the wicked. When we think of the expectation
of an unbeliever and the wicked, we are thinking of the expectation
of one who is yet still dead in trespasses and sins. They're
spiritually dead. They may have the written word
of God, but they really have no life to understand it. or to even walk by him. And there
are many, many things that those who are yet in nature's darkness
have an expectation of. It would be really impossible
to enumerate them all. But we would say of this, that
whatever their expectation is, It is not based upon the word
of God. It is not based upon what God
has done in their heart. It is not based upon what Christ
has done upon the cross. It is a vain hope. It is an expectation out of their
own heart, and very often an expectation of peace when there
is no peace. A saying to themselves that all
will be well, there's no problem, no trouble, that they shall go
through this life without God, that they shall be then after
death in some happy place. But little thought of it here
or apprehension of it and certainly no basis in the Word of God. The Word of God speaks of the
wicked as being tossed about upon every wind of doctrine,
just tossed as even a troubled sea. And those that have no belief
or no thought of God at all, we are told that their expectation
is that they should continue forever. that their strength
is firm, their riches will endure forever, they call their houses
by their own name. And there's many, many things
that they look unto, but how different from the reality. We have in the Psalms, and especially
our thinking of of Psalm 73, where it is a trouble to the
people of God that they view the wicked as being in prosperity. There's no bands in their death. Their strength is firm. They're
not in trouble. As other men, they're not plagued
like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them
about as a chain. Violence covereth them. as a
garment. There's no repentance, no turning
to God, no seeking after God, but God's people, they know trials
and troubles and it seems that God's people serve him and that
there is no need to, but the answer was there that he says,
when I thought to know this, it was too painful for me until
I went into the sanctuary of God then understood either end. Surely thou didst set them in
slippery places, thou castest them down into destruction. And
there is a solemn picture that we have death as set between
this world and the world to come. And there are those going through
this world as if everything shall be well, they're just living
life to the full, No fear of death, no accountability to God,
no sense of sinnership or need of a saviour. And then they come
down into death and may even to their last breath still be
expecting that everything will be well and right. And then they
open their eyes in the day of judgement. Then they face God. And then they know they are sinners. They know they're under condemnation. Then they see things as they
really are. But it's too late. No saviour
then. No opportunity for believing
then. No grace, no gospel. Too late. Only the wrath of God to fall
upon them. Eternal banishment from God.
Eternal hellfire. Very, very different view, the
other side of the grave than this side. You say, how do you
know that? Because the word of God declares
it and sets it forth. No man, and many of those that
despise the things of God will say, well, how do you know no
man has ever been the other side of the grave? No, they haven't. And come back and told us that
God God, he has. God does know what is the other
side, and he declares it to us, and he has the authority to declare
it to us. And what a foolish person that
would say, well, I'd rather believe in a poor man that is born one
day and dead the next, who knows nothing but what he's supposed
out of his own fallen mind and thoughts, rather trust in Him
than trust in the testimony of the true and living God and of
the holy sacred Word of God. And we'd rather trust in those
that have walked in ways of wickedness than those who have testified
that originally their ways were wicked but they are brought to
see the truth, brought to repent, brought to seek unto God, to
believe his word and have an expectation of heaven. A solemn
thing to be without God and without hope in the world. So the expectation
of an unbeliever and the wicked is very, very different. than
that of a believer, however many forms it takes, is not based
upon the word of God, Christ's work on Calvary, or in their
own heart. It's a lie, it is not the truth. What then is the expectation
in the second place of one that is quickened into life? The first resurrection is that
in which God most sovereignly gives a person eternal life. Spiritual life opens their eyes
so that they understand the scriptures, so that they really know themselves
that they are sinners, so that they know the truth, so that
they seek the things of God. And the Word of God is described
as being born again, and our Lord insisted upon it in John
3, ye must be born again. Except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God. It is conversion. It is repentance. It is the change that God makes,
that God begins. I pass by thee when thou wast
in thy blood, and bid thee live. I am sought of them, I am found
of them that sought me not. He which hath begun a good work
in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ.' It's a
very distinct blessing from God to be quickened into life. Our Lord says, I give unto them
eternal life, they shall never perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of mine hand. And we testify, the Word of God
testifies that that is the very first thing, is a very essential
thing. It's not just a turning over
a new leaf, it's not just studying and learning the things of God,
it is new life. And when that life is given,
yes, that soul needs to be taught, but they are made teachable.
There are many things they don't know, many things they do that
are wrong, but they have life, they have the beginning, and
they shall be taught. All thy children shall be taught
of the Lord. Now I want to look under this
point of the expectation of one quickened, into life and how
that expectation changes as they are taught by God. When first the eyes are opened,
when first they see themselves as sinners, coming short of the
glory of God, it can only lead to an expectation of wrath. It can only lead to realise that
we are under condemnation, under the sentence of death. Bunyan,
in his Pilgrim's Progress, he pictures his pilgrim, Christian,
in the city of destruction. And when he first had then spiritual
life and began to go on pilgrimage, it was when he viewed that where
he was, was the city of destruction. And he was then seeking a celestial
city, a heavenly city. He was seeking to escape from
the wrath to come and escape from that city of destruction. And the first work of God is
to come with light and it shines in a dark heart and it shows
the true state and condition of that song, and it shows the
condition of this world, and it shows what the Lord Jesus
Christ has come to save his people from. He shall save his people
from their sins, and save them from them in this life, and save
them from condemnation due to them. But that is not felt at
first. At first, There is wrath. Now the Apostle Paul, he describes
this in Romans 7 as for his own experience. And I would say of
this, that experience is vital in this. If your and my expectation
changes, it changes because what we have experienced personally
of the things of God. Paul first saw that he was a
Pharisee and his expectation was to obtain salvation through
his own good works and deeds. That was his expectation as a
religious man. But then he said the law came
and God quickened him into life but the law of God. He says he
became a sinner. He said, I had not known sin,
but by the law. Sin is the transgression of the
law. I had not known lust, except
the law has said thou shalt not covet. And it was this one sin
that he was brought to be convinced of. But sin taking occasion by
the commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence,
For without the law, sin was dead. I was alive without the
law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And he says he found that commandment
unto death. An expectation of death under
the holy law of God. And that will be the next expectation
of a soul out of Christ. Have we ever been warned to flee
from the wrath to come? We go back to where our text
is and we have John Baptist and he is saying to those that are
coming to him and those are the Pharisees. And he says to them
in verse seven, the multitude that came forth to be baptized
of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from
the wrath to come? Well, there is a very difference
of expectation. If we are warned to flee from
the wrath to come, we have an expectation of the wrath to come. Have we ever had an expectation
of the wrath to come upon a sinner. Then there is another expectation
that is for a time felt by those that God has quickened into life.
We are under the law and so it is a very natural thing to seek
that by the deeds of the law we shall be justified. And so
we will look to our works, we will expect that by our own diligence
and our own efforts, we will be able to master our own sin
and make ourselves acceptable to God and take away our guilt
and give our consciences ease. And for a while we'll have that
expectation until time after time we feel they have totally
failed and become more and more sinners and more and more under
condemnation. Until that expectation is taken
away, we cannot promise future good to bring, that by the deeds
of the law no man living shall be justified. But it is actually
by experience that that expectation of salvation through the deeds
of the law is taken away. So many in this world, you ask
them their hope for heaven, and I'll testify again and again,
they will come back to something good that they have done. And
as soon as they point to that, you say, there's your expectation. Your expectation is that you
will be saved by something that you have done. The word of God
says, not by works of righteousness that we have done. And if we
are still in that expectation, we are yet in our sin, we're
yet in darkness, we're not saved. But for one who has been quickened
into life, they are to prove that that door of salvation is
shut. It was right back with Adam when
the sentence of death was executed because the law was broken then
and it can't be mended by you and I. And so the expectation
changes. For a time it will change back
to wrath. Where can there be hope then?
But then God in mercy brings a soul to look for mercy and
to cry for mercy. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I want salvation that is not
due to works. I want salvation that is mercy
alone, that never can be deserved. And then the Holy Spirit, the
teacher of God's people, he will lead them to Christ and lead
them to view Christ as their only hope. And as a seeker after
Christ and a seeker of true faith in Him and peace and comfort
in Him, the expectation of that soul will be that the Lord will
bless them through the Lord Jesus Christ. And that will, if that's
a true expectation, will make that soul an urgent seeker after
Christ, desiring the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich
and addeth no sorrow within." And we had that expectation of
blessing through Christ, the forgiveness of sins, the blessing
of sins forgiven, and that hope set before us through what Christ
has done, that He on Calvary has put away our sins that he
has endured the wrath of God in our place, that God has laid
on him the iniquity of us all, all of God's people, that he
has laid his life down for the sheep and that he has taken it
again, and that he has wrought out in his life a perfect righteousness
that he will give to believers so that they will stand before
God's throne faultless that it is Christ's work alone and faith
in Christ's work alone that saves. In Hebrews 11, those that have
faith, they saw the promises afar off and they embraced those
promises as the only hope for their souls. So this will be
the expectation as it changes through one quickened into life,
changing from wrath changing from maybe there's a hope in
my own works and then having that taken away and then an expectation
my only hope is in Christ alone. Do we know something of the changing
expectations of one heart through the teaching of God in our own
experience? Well the third then is an expectation
of a believer. And again that changes, because
when the Lord comes and blesses a soul, when they have their
first love, when the love of God is shed abroad in the heart
by the Holy Ghost, where they go, as the Apostle says in Romans
8, there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are
in Christ Jesus. where he realised, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
And then I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So with my mind I serve the law
of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. You know what it
is to have faith in Christ. to walk with his hope solely
being on what Christ has done. And when that's first revealed,
when that's first shown to a believer, they have joy. They have a prospect
of heaven. They have the burden of the broken
law lifted off them. They have that love of God shed
abroad in their heart by the Holy Ghost. All things passed
away, all things become new. The secret of the Lord, which
is with them that fear him. We think with Eunuch what joy
he had. And the Lord, when he came into
Jerusalem, they sung hosannas to him that cometh in the name
of the Lord. If these should hold their peace,
the very stone should cry out. If we have received the greatest
blessing that ever poor man can have, is having his sins forgiven,
having a promise of heaven, a promise of a new body free from corruption,
and to be forever with the Lord, to have the blessing of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus, if we really had that, that will
cause joy and gladness. And so the expectation of a new
believer fast is all of joy and gladness and happiness and love. But very soon that they'll find
the truth of the words of our Lord, that in the world you shall
have tribulation, in me you shall have peace. Then they find that
their expectation of a smooth, easy path here is soon taken
away. And they realise that it is a
path of trouble. It's not a smooth path. We still
have a body of death. We still have a world that tugs
and pulls. We still have accusing devil.
We still have many adversaries. But as Paul had to prove when
he had the thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet
him, the Lord gave grace to help. My grace is sufficient for thee. And so the expectation of a soul
like it was with Paul, when I am weak, then am I strong. The expectation
is based on what Christ has said in me, you shall have peace.
In the world, You shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer.
I have overcome the world. And so our expectation is a realistic
one. We don't expect to be free from
trouble or trial or tribulation or even chastening, because the
Lord has said that he chastens every son whom he receives. Why are they chastened? Because
they fall into sin. They make mistakes. They rebel
against him at times. They do those things which he
doesn't cast them away because of, but he corrects them in love. And so the expectation then of
a believer changes to be more realistic. Sometimes the Lord's
dear people don't have a realistic expectation. They still think
that it should be all smooth. It should be almost heaven here
or peace here. But the Lord says, no, this is
not your rest. It is polluted. You shall have
my presence. You shall have the blessing of
the Lord in your soul. You shall have grace to help
in time of need. But it shall be a thorny path,
a troublous path, a path that is balanced, a path that Many
clouds at times, many times have been cast down. Why art thou
cast down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted within
me? Many sorrows, but the Lord balancing
them. We have an expectation then that
is to be raised up, and it is in the Lord. The expectation
spoken of in Psalm 62, where we read, My soul, wait
thou only upon God, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock
and my salvation. He is my defence, I shall not
be moved. In God is my salvation and my
glory. The rock of my strength and my
refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, ye
people, Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. And so that expectation, that
is the Psalm of David, becomes an expectation based upon reality,
based upon the Word of God and the experience of the people
of God in the world, in a body of death, compassed with sins
and temptations and infirmities, but receiving the the help of
God, the blessing of God in their souls, feeding upon the Word
of God. We may ask under this heading,
what expectation do we have when we read the Word of God? Do we
expect it to be blessed to us? What expectation do we have when
we come before the Lord in prayer? Do we expect the Lord will hear
and answer our prayers? What expectation do we have when
we come into the house of God? Do we expect the Lord has given
his word to his servant, that he will bless that word? My word
shall not return unto me void, it shall accomplish the thing
whereto I sent it. Do we expect that God, through
the foolishness of preaching, shall save them that believe?
That's how it's set forth in the word of God. How is our expectation
realised? in our life day by day? Or do we have those false expectations
and then get surprised when we find the way through with snares
and temptations? If we have a realistic expectation,
then we'll be praying, watchful souls, leaning upon the Lord,
looking for the Lord's grace, looking for His help in a hostile
world. but not having those false expectations
that are constantly dashed to pieces, but knowing that what
the Lord has said, if they have done these things in a green
tree, what shall be done in the dry? If they have persecuted
me, they will persecute you. We mustn't have any different
expectation than the word of God tells us to expect from this
world, but also no different expectation than what it tells
us to expect from our Lord and Saviour, our Shepherd, our Keeper,
our Guide, our Hope. So the expectation of a believer
will change. It changes as taught by the Lord. What is our expectation? How
has the Lord changed that in our hearts? that we never thought
about it. What is the state of our soul?
Often it can be best described by what our expectation is. I want to just close briefly
with the expectation of heaven. That is what is set before the
people of God. Paul said, if in this life only
we have hope in Christ, with all men most miserable. And Peter,
he points us to that inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled
and reserved in heaven for you. And in the list of those who
lived and died by faith, those that say and testify that they
are but strangers and pilgrims here, they declare plainly they
seek a city yet to come, a heavenly country, And this is what is
said before the people of God. The whole creation groaneth together
until now, waiting, waiting for that redemption, waiting for
that day when there shall be the new heavens and new earth. The people of God know that this
mortal must put on immortality, that this corruption might put
on incorruption. The expectation is Absent from
the body, present with the Lord, the expectation is of the last
day, that the dead in Christ shall be raised fast, and we
which are alive and remain shall be caught up with the Lord in
the air, so shall we be forever with the Lord. In the New Testament
letters to the churches, As much as the Old Testament Church looked
forward to Christ's first coming, so we, a believer in the New
Testament Church, are to look forward to his second coming.
And our expectation must be that he should come, that we do not
fall into the trap of those in Christ's day, they knew not the
day of their visitation, that we do not be those that sleep
who do not read the signs of the times that say, well, all
things have continued since they were from the beginning of the
world, and it will always be so. No, the Church of God says
Christ shall come. The Lord has said he shall come
again in light manner, in the clouds with power and great glory. And our expectation is that he
will come and that we shall be forever with the Lord. is a blessed
hope and expectation that we are not to lose sight of. And that if we don't have that,
we may well ask ourselves, what kind of a believer are we? What
kind of a Christian are we? A follower of Christ. Christ
is in heaven. The apostle says we are to run
the race set before us, looking unto Jesus who is in heaven. May these expectations This word,
the people, were in expectation. Are we included in that expectation? And how is it traced through
as we traced it through this morning? How has it found us? Are we a believer? Are we one
of God's people? Or have we stopped short at the
very first? The expectation of an unbeliever
or the wicked. May the Lord search our hearts
through this word. May we truly be one of the people
of God with a scriptural expectation founded upon the
Lord Jesus Christ and his work in our hearts, his teaching and
that assurance that we are his dear people and he which hath
begun a good work in performing unto the day of Jesus Christ. The people were in expectation. Amen.