An Expected End

Our text is found in Proverbs, Proverbs 23. Solomon, by our Lord's inspiration, by his spirit's inspiration, is writing admonitions and wisdom unto the Lord's people. And only the Lord can impart wisdom. because he has all of it. He is wisdom. He's actually, this particular message is about our end. He's actually conveying the wisdom about our end. And you heard, as we read in Jeremiah, we will read again there shortly, but to bring us to an expected end. This is what I've titled the message, Unexpected End. We live life. And we easily forget our frailty. We easily forget that we're made of dust. We easily forget that we're sinful creatures. We easily forget that life is a vapor that appears for a little time, then vanisheth away.

We need to be reminded of our expected end. And tonight, if the Lord would be our helper, he would cause us to hear, give me the ability to speak, bring all this back to my memory that he's given, And my hope is that we leave rejoicing, knowing our expected end has completely been taken care of. The destiny has already been established. We've been predestined. We're already in Christ. And what rest we can have knowing that there's nothing left to do, that that expected end will come to pass.

We forget that our lives are for a purpose, for the glory and honor of God. But when we are reminded of his sovereignty, we see our sin. When we're reminded that he has all power, we see our frailty. When we're reminded that our life is a vapor, we see him eternally. We see him as he is. That's what he does. That's why we need to be reminded so often. That's why we have services on Wednesday. Somebody said, why do you go to services all the time? I said, well, they said, why do you have to go? I said, well, I don't just have to go. I get to go.

It's a glorious opportunity. But yeah, there's a need there. Don't misunderstand. This is the only place that, You can find a remedy for the need. That needs of the Lord. He's the one that put it there. And he's given us a way to meet our need. The Lord Jesus Christ. When we see our sin, brethren, we don't even realize that we're taking matters into our own hands. It's mercy. It's mercy that the Lord reminds us. It's mercy that the Lord reminds us of our expected end. Let's read this together. Proverbs 23, verse 15 through 25. My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine. Yea, my reign shall rejoice. And thy lips speak right things. Let not thine heart envy others, but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.

For surely there is an end of thine expectation. And that's where our, and thine expectation shall not be cut off. That's where our title comes from here is the end and the expectation. And then what he says in Jeremiah as well, which we'll be turning to shortly. For surely there is an end There is an end, and thine expectations shall not be cut off.

Hear thou, my son, and be wise and guide thine heart in the way. Be not among wine-bibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh. For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty in their drowsiness, shall clothe a man with rags, hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. Buy the truth and sell it not, all wisdom and instruction and understanding. The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice, and he that begat a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bear thee shall rejoice. Unexpected end. That's our title. We are so false and full of sin We were like the children of Israel.

They complained about everything. They murmured about everything. They had food falling from the sky. Can you imagine having food falling from the sky, how you didn't have to work, because you'd have everything you needed, but yet they still complained. They still murmured and still complained. Their shoes never wore out, and they still complained. Their clothes never wore out, and they still complained. God gave them water out of a rock, in a desert, and they still complained.

And we're just like them. That's the sad part. We're just like them. We complain and get frustrated and murmur ourselves. And I hate to say daily, but I feel like that that's how it is. It's daily. It's a struggle. We end up being frustrated about something because we can't fix it the way we want to fix it. We're a lot like Peter, you know? He was ready to charge the gates of hell with a squirt gun for the Lord at one point, and then just a few moments later, he's denying affiliation with the Lord because of a 12-year-old little girl. Is that not us? We're just up and down and up and down. We can be sitting here, enjoying what the Lord has given, resting in his grace, resting in his salvation, his truth, and then it's not five minutes after leaving here, we're already back in the world and the world's in our head.

That's why we need to hear it. That's why we need to hear it. Here's our hope. Fear not, for I have prayed for you, Peter, that your faith fell not. Fear not. There's our hope. that the Lord Jesus Christ is our intercessor, that he is our substitute, that he is our surety, because if he is, no amount of murmuring that we can do can ever change our salvation. Whether he, he is salvation. No amount of murmuring can, we can't get, Unsaved I guess is the way I'm trying to say it. We can't lose it. Can't lose it because it's in him We're kept in him. We don't keep ourself.

He keeps us Isaiah 43 1 and 2 says but now say thus sayeth the Lord that created the old Jacob and he that formed the original fear not for I have redeemed thee I have called thee by thy name thou art mine When I pass it through the waters, I will be with thee and through the rivers. They shall overflow not overflow thee Why do we fret? After reading a verse like that, why do we fret over the slightest variations of our day? Whenever some of our expectations, either been a small expectation, is not met, we fret about that. We get frustrated about that.

Because if left to ourself, this is why, because we have this old man still yet, hates God, hates everything about God, and wants to be God. Still yet, it's restrained and constrained by the Lord and by his power, and the new man that lives in inwardly. But the old man, and the scripture even says that the outward man perished, the inward man renewed day by day. But that old man, if we left for ourself, that old man would say, look at me, bow down and worship me.

You know, you go out to any type of place of business today in this day and time, and you're going to find somebody, it doesn't take long to find somebody that has the attitude of look at me, I am God, you need to serve me. When you go to a restaurant, how do people treat the waitresses? And how did the, I mean, it's just they're getting served. That's what they wanted. And they're sometimes they're belligerent and they're rude. Why do they do that? Because they believe they're their own God. They don't even know it. That's the sad part. They don't even know it.

But we would be the same yet for the grace of God, there go I. It's only because it's grace and mercy. Only by his grace and mercy that he sends us trials to keep us looking to him and not self. If he doesn't send a trial, if it never rains, I wouldn't need shelter. Think about that. If it never rained, I wouldn't need shelter. We need shelter from the storm. We need an ark. Whenever he leaves us, what feels like leaves us to ourself for a brief moment, we mess up or do something. We find ourself guilty, feeling guilty of something. Usually it's our unbelief. It always comes back to unbelief.

But he'll cause us to cry out, Lord save me. He allowed Peter. He could have upheld Peter on that water himself. He could have just kept allowing him to walk on the water. Because it was the Lord's power in the first place. It was what the Lord given him to be able to do. But he let him sink, why? To draw the confession, Lord save me.

Trials are grace and mercy. Trials are for our good and his glory. He only gives trials to his people. And only his people understand in those trials to look to him alone. We are made to say not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be all glory and honor and praise. This is how he does it. He sends trials. He reminds us of his gospel that we are but dust, that we are but dust. Turn over with me to Jeremiah one, Jeremiah chapter one. And I got a couple of places for us to turn this evening.

Now, we can relate to this, especially when there's a child that's difficult, especially whenever somebody has, if we're threatened or if we're frightened. And a lot of times, I know as a parent, I get frightened for my children's sake. I'm worried something's going to happen to them or something like that. And we feel our frailty then, don't we?

We feel, I can't fix this. I hate that feeling. And I think everybody in here knows probably. I cannot fix this, no matter what I do. Immediately, what do we do? We hit the floor to Lord, not literally, but figuratively. We cry out. We cry out, said, Lord, help me. I'm just a child. I can't do anything to fix this. Let's read this together.

Jeremiah 168 says, then said I, Oh, Lord God, behold, I cannot speak for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say not I am a child for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. No matter the trial, no matter the problem that we think it is, he said, I'll never leave you and I'll never forsake you. He said, I'll go with you all the way even to the end. And he can't lie. He can't lie.

Even if we feel that we are weak, what did he tell Peter, or Paul, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Are we not the definition of weakness? Get a dictionary out and you'll probably see a picture of me as the definition. I mean, that's just how we are. We're weakness compared to him, full of weakness. He's working out everything for our good and His glory. And I wanna show you why. We read this already, but turn to Jeremiah 29. And this is really where everything ties together that I'm speaking of.

Jeremiah 29, verse 10. Now what this is, is God's judgment. on the children of Israel. He's announcing the judgment through Jeremiah, telling Jeremiah, tell them they're going to be in captivity 70 years in Babylon for their unbelief. What is the length of time the Lord has given man to live? Is it not 70? And if by reason of strength, four score, which is 80.

Babylon represents this world that we live in. Babylon represents the captivity that we're in, that we need to be set free from because of our sin. Babylon represents all the things around us, and yet we see that we cannot be content in Babylon because we can't maintain our happiness. We don't have any joy in Babylon. This isn't our home. We're pilgrims and strangers. That's what Babylon represents. So let's read on.

Verse 11, for I know the thoughts I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall you call upon me and you shall go and pray unto me and I will hearken unto you and you shall seek me and find me when you shall search for me with your heart, with all your heart, and I will be found of you, saith the Lord, and I will turn away your captivity and I will gather you from all the nations than from the places where I have driven you, saith the Lord, and I will bring you again into a place, the place, whence I caused you to be carried away captive." God brings his elect to their expected end. God shows his elect their expected end while they're living. In order for him to do that, he has placed us in physical Babylon. We're no longer captive to our sin because the Lord had put away our sin. So it can't be spiritual Babylon. We're physically in Babylon. He did that to cause us to need him.

How much did the children of Israel pray, Lord deliver us from this captivity whenever they were in Israel? Not a bit, because they weren't in captivity. How often did they pray whenever they were in Babylonian captivity? Well, I'll remind you, Daniel prayed 21 days in a row, asking for the Lord to deliver them, allow them to go back to Israel, Jerusalem.

But the Lord didn't answer for 21 days. And finally, the angel of the Lord came and said to Daniel, fear not Daniel, for from the first time you prayed, I heard you. And now I've come for your words. It's not that the Lord was shutting out, shutting his ears on Daniel. It was that Daniel needed to pray for 21 days in order for him, for the Lord to change his heart, for the Lord to change his heart. And that's what he's going to do for us. The trial that he sends is for our good and his glory going to cause us to cry out to him, going to make us desperate, desperately need him. You ever desired something shiny in this world and you get it? I know every one of us have done this.

I just ask rhetorically because, God, I can't use big words to try to sound smart. I did it again. I'm not trying to be rhetorical. No, I am trying to be rhetorical. Have we ever got something shiny? Yes. I mean, you name it. We have stuff, a lot of stuff. See something I like, I'm going to buy that if I got the money. Pretty soon the satisfaction of getting that vanishes. Let's say you get a new car. Next year's model has a feature that this year's model don't have. We're ready to upgrade.

Isn't that true? Well, maybe not for everybody, but there is an example some way, somehow that I could bring that out to where we see something shiny and as soon as we get it, it is starting to lose its luster, even though we don't even realize it. There's very few, there's nothing that holds its value to us forever in this world. Why is that?

Because God is teaching us you will never be satisfied in Babylon. You will never be satisfied with the food in Babylon. You will never be satisfied with the drink in Babylon. You'll never be satisfied with anything in Babylon because you are not Babylonians.

You're my people called by my name. That's what the Lord is teaching his people when he sends them trials, when he sends us sickness, when he sends whatever it may be, and he's doing it. And this is the hardest part for my brain, and I feel like probably yours too, to grasp. It's for your good. It's mercy that he's giving us. It's grace that he's giving us.

How is that possible? No amount of chastisement seems good or seems joyous, Paul said, but he's working out all our good for his glory, for his glory. You will never be satisfied, the Lord saying in Babylon, but you will be satisfied if I am all your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Satisfaction can only come through and by the Lord Jesus Christ and his finished work.

Makes us say, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. I believe. Help thou mine, I believe that you can, you've already put away my sin and this trial seems overwhelming to me, but I believe. Help my unbelief, because I feel that there's more unbelief in there than there is belief. Anybody relate to that? I hate that about myself.

How is it possible to trust Christ with salvation as all of our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, but not trust God for the most minute circumstance that overwhelms us? Isn't that what we do sometimes? We don't immediately run to him and trust him. With our simplest circumstances, we won't trust God, but yet we trust Christ for salvation, which is much greater than anything we're going to face in this life.

He executed his son for the salvation of his people. What is he going to withhold from us? What would you withhold from your children? That's what he calls us, his children. It's going to be for our good. It's going to be for his glory. He secured salvation for us.

Do we not think that He can fix whatever problem we may face? Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. Help my unbelief. Yeah, we're still in Babylon full of unbelief. We just say, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. While I'm here in Babylon enduring, enduring, I am weary. I am tired of Babylon. I'm tired of dealing with the Babylonians, the world. I don't like being around Babylonians.

I just don't. I wanna be with brethren. If I had my choice, but you have to go in workplace. People might say, well, that sounds a certain way. Well, no, I'm just being honest. You're my family. I love being around you. We have one thing, we have one daddy. We have one thing in common, one heavenly father.

God will bring his elect to the place where we will say, woe is me, like Isaiah. In chapter one through five of Isaiah, Isaiah said, woe unto them seven times. You know that? Woe unto them. They are a stiff neck people. They have a, uh, how did he word that? Their lips, uh, unclean lips. That's what he said. Unclean lips. Woe unto them. Woe unto them. Seven times. chapter six. Chapter six changed everything. He said in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated high and lifted up and his train filled the temple. And at the end of all that, when he saw all that, you know what he said?

I am the man of unclean lips and I dwell with a people of unclean lips. It's no longer about the other people that's the problem. I see that I'm the problem. I have the sin problem as well. I have the unclean lips. He's going to cause a trial to come to us so that we have to say, Lord, you've shut me up again to yourself. And it's glorious to be shut up to the Lord, but sometimes it's painful. Sometimes it's painful. Lord, shut me up to you and you alone. Cause me to need you and nothing else. Don't allow me to find satisfaction in anything else. I don't want to leave you. I don't want to leave you. Keep me. What about Joseph? Boy, Joseph would have been cocky. He'd have been sure of himself.

He was daddy's favorite. Gave him a coat of many colors. He taught him how to do things that his brothers didn't do. They were shepherds. He got to stay with daddy and learn stuff. That's why his brothers hated him. They were jealous. So you know he was cocky. Even after having those dreams where the brothers bowed down to him, you know he was gloatful in that. He wasn't humble about that at all. Which probably is why it says Jacob, it angered Jacob, the way that he went about it.

Anyways, the point I'm making, He was sure of himself until he spent three years in a dungeon for a crime that he never committed. He was sure of himself until the Lord put him in the dirt, in the dirt. For three years, he was in prison. I don't know what prisons were like back then, but I'd imagine they weren't very good. They didn't have If I say this, I sound like I'm joking. They didn't have TVs in beds like we have today. Everything, they'd have been sleeping on the floor probably. They didn't have running water. We understand it was bad living conditions.

They got humbled, Joseph, in that prison. How do I know that? When his fathers died, his brothers lied and said, hey, Joseph, we just wanted to let you know that before Jacob died, he told us to tell you to not seek vengeance upon us. That was his dying request. Don't seek vengeance upon us for what we did. And Joseph cried, he wept.

And he said, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. That's not an arrogant man. That's not a prideful man. That's a humble man. He had all that power to do whatever he wanted to do with his brothers and the Lord gave him the grace to look to Christ and not take matters into his own hands. Isn't that glorious? That's what I need. I need him to give me grace to look to you instead of trying to take matters into my own hands because that's what I do every time and I mess it up. You know, he tells them, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. And he has sent me before you to preserve your life. Preserve your life.

What about Job? He lost everything in one day except for his wife, his children, his cattle, his flocks, his herds, everything gone. Lord allowed boils to be put from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. wife said, why don't you just curse God and die? And he said, you speak as a foolish woman. But you know what Job's response was when he first learned of everybody he had lost, all ten of his children, everything that he had been taken away from.

You know what his response was? The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Oh, I want to say that from the heart and mean it. When trials and troubles come I want to say that. I I want that to be the first thing that comes out of my mouth, and it's true, and I mean it. The Lord's got to be the one to do it. If God has made us sinners, the only way we could say that is God has made us sinners. We'll loathe ourself. We'll see ourself as we really are, as we heard on Sunday. We'll see ourself as sinners, and we'll see him as God. And so then we can say, the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. What he's saying was, is whatever the Lord did, whatever the Lord does is right.

When the sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas were polluting the sacrifice by taking it before it cooked, they weren't following the law as the Lord had commanded. And it was brought to Eli's attention and they continued to do it. And the message came, Samuel had to prophesy. I believe it was Samuel prophesied unto Eli and said, Hoppy and Phinehas are gonna die for what they've done. And when the father heard this, Eli said, it is the Lord. Let him do whatever he will. That's what we need to say.

It's the Lord. Next time your tire goes flat, and I'm not joking, it's the Lord. Oh, it's frustrating, yeah, but it's the Lord. Can we rejoice in that? Well, probably, I'll try. Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. Ezekiel 36 31 30 31 through 32 says then shall ye remember your own evil ways and your doings that were not good and shall loathe Yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations Not for your sakes do I this sayeth the Lord be it known unto you Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways. Oh house of Israel. You know why he did it. I for his own namesake, for his own namesake. Do you loathe yourself?

Well, if you do, it's because God's made you a sinner and you need a savior. It's not because of what we do, sinning is what we are. God is causing us to see sin, God is causing us to see our inability, and God is causing us to see Babylon all around us. Then we have no rest. Do you ever feel like your rest is taken away? You're troubled, cry out to him. Best time to cry out to him is whenever, when my heart is overwhelmed within me, lead me to that rock which is higher than I. God is making us see that we cannot help ourself. We cannot save ourself. It's our inability.

For one reason, brethren, to reveal unto us an expected end, an expected end. Before time, he elected a people for one reason, to bring them to an expected end. He elected them for the purpose of saving them. He elected them unto salvation. He predestined them according to his will unto salvation. to give us an expected end. Now everybody has an expected end, but only the Lord's people get to rejoice in our expected end because we know, we've read the book, we know the ending of it, we know what's going to happen. He's already told us. What a mystery. How difficult would that have been not knowing the things that he's shown us already. He's already shown us what's going to take place when we get there. We're going to say with the elders and the beasts, we're going to sing his praises. We're going to say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. We're going to rejoice. We're going to praise him.

Before time he elected his people for the very reason for the very reason of giving them an expected end. And then understand this, He made everything for one reason, for our expected end for His glory. For our expected end for His glory. How do we know that?

Well, we're reading Jeremiah, look at verse 10 again. For thus saith the Lord that after 70 years be accomplished at Babylon, I'll visit you and perform my good work towards you, good word towards you, and in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord.

Thoughts of peace are not able to give you an expected end. That's why. That's why. I like the word that starts out with in verse 10. It says, for thus saith the Lord. That's his word. That's his word. And God cannot lie. So thus saith the Lord, look with the rest of the next part, then shall you call upon me. That gives me hope. He's going to do it. I'm going to call upon him. That gives me hope.

He gave his word to ensure that this would happen. He gave his word and he sent forth his son to die in our room, in our stead. I've lost my place. He sent forth his son to die in our room instead, to take our place as the substitute of his people on the cross of Calvary, because he was our surety. He was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He did all this to give us unexpected end.

I can expect to be one with him in eternity forever because he said so. If he gives me faith to believe, That means I'm His, and if I'm His, I can expect to be made just like Him when I see Him face to face. I can expect that He took all the wrath due me whenever He died on the cross, thereby causing us, while we're in Him, causing our sin to be put away, causing our guilt to be gone, causing us to be found the very righteousness of God in Him so that whenever we awake, we're going to awaken his likeness. Paul said this, the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in us.

What glory is that? It's his glory. That's his glory. Hey brother, he did all this to honor the father. Yes, that's, that's a reason. I understand that. But for one reason for us to give us an expected end, you can expect to have eternal peace. You could expect to have joy unspeakable and full of glory. Even right now, actually, you can expect to have grace upon grace upon grace in this life. You can expect to have mercy instead of what we deserve. The Lord has given his people and expected in. We have hope. We have rest. We have peace.

You know, Babylonians don't have that. Do you know that? The world don't have rest. They don't have peace. They don't have a hope. And if they do, it's not truly hope. It's not hope given of God. So it's a false hope. A lot of people have false hopes. We have a true hope. We have true rest.

We have true peace with God. If any man sin, he has an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. The Lord sees the blood, he says, I'll pass by you. I'll pass by you. We have all this hope, rest and peace, not because we've done something, but because Jesus Christ saved his people from their sin. Therefore, he has justified his people. God was satisfied and resurrected his son. His son ascended into glory and sat down as our mediator, as our intercessor, as our prophet, priest, and king. Do you know why? To give us an expected end. It's already finished. We already know the end. The Lord said, it is finished. When we awaken his likeness, we will no longer be in Babylon. We won't have any memory of Babylon.

It'll be a dream. And this always sounds odd when you say it like this, but I believe believers understand this. It's almost as if this life was a dream or a fairy tale. I know that sounds kind of crazy, but because we won't have any memory of it whatsoever. We'll be known as we're known. How are we known? In Christ. That's how we're known. That's how we're going to be known there is in Christ.

We're gonna see him face to face. Old things will be passed away, and old things become new. Our expected end means that we no longer, we'll no longer be bound to this sinful nature that we have, this body of death that we carry around. But our inward, sinless nature will be revealed. He's gonna reveal what he's already put in there. It's already in there, he's gonna reveal it. will be made like Him for we shall see Him as He is. This is our expected end, brethren, that our great God and Savior has promised. He has given His word. He has told us, I'm doing all this to give you an expected end. We have hope. We have hope.

Paul said, if I had hope in this world, I'd only be of most men, be all men most miserable. We'd be miserable, wouldn't we? You know why that person Is angry at you that the checkout line, because you're not moving fast enough? Because they don't have any hope in this world. They don't have any hope. They don't have any hope. Why somebody gets mad and cuts you off, they don't have any hope.

I mean, am I guilty of cutting people off? Probably. I have hope, though. I'm saying that the reason people act the way that they act is they're angry at God. They're angry at themselves. They hate themselves. They hate life. But in reality, they really love themselves. Do we see that? the Lord's people loathe ourselves. Only the Lord's people have given an expected end.

You can expect for the Lord to descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God will sound. Then the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be called up together to meet Him in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. So shall we ever be with Him.

You can expect that. You know why? God gave His Word and He cannot lie. God has promised, he gave his word. He signed his name to it. Do we understand that? He signed his name to it. He said, I have redeemed you, you're mine, that we might have an expected end. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we ask that you would take this, cause us to think on our expected end, knowing that it is finished. Give us rest, in Christ's name, amen. In closing, let's turn to number 300, More Secure. I feel like that's a very fitting song for the moment.

An Expected End

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An Expected End

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About Caleb Hickman

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