No, I don't have a mic on it.
The mic is coming in Tuesday. I tested it this morning, it
picks up. As long as I don't keep banging on it. Jeremiah chapter 29, and we're
going to look at Psalms 9. So if you want to turn there
and hold your finger there, get your place. What I'm about to state is not
presumption on the believer in the least. It is a confident,
faithful expectation. Jeremiah chapter 29 and verses
10 through 14. For thus saith the Lord, that after
70 years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you and perform
My good word toward you in causing you to return to this place.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the
Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected
end, or end of expectation. 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 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 nations and from all
places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord. And I will
bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried
away captive. Psalms 9 and verse 18. Psalms 9 and verse 18. The needy shall not always be
forgotten. The expectation of the poor shall
not perish forever. The two verses in particular
is this one and in verse 11 of Jeremiah 29 where the Lord Himself
says, I know the thoughts I have toward you, thoughts of peace
and not of evil, to give you an expected end. What do we,
the elect, expect from our God? That's a reasonable question.
What do we expect from our God? We, as the redeemed, have great
expectations of our Lord. These expectations, as I said
before I read the Scriptures, is not presumption. It is a faith-given,
faith-born realization that what God says to His people, He's
going to perform. Based upon what He has said to
us in His Word, in His promises, and in His everlasting covenant.
I want to look at ten things, and there are many more. What
are some of these biblical expectations that God gives to us? Think about
this this week. Just think of one of them. Just
pick one. I've got ten and there's more,
but we'll just look at ten. These expectations are given
to who? In Psalms 9, it's the poor. In Matthew 11, blessed are the
poor. It's His people who are made
poor by His grace, who understand, who have been taught by the Spirit
of grace and supplications to see in us no good thing, not
one. To see that if it were left up
to us, we would not come to Him that we may have life. If it
was left up to us, we would see that gospel, the preaching of the
gospel, the singing about the gospel, the speaking, fellowshipping
the gospel is foolishness, is total foolishness. But we, knowing by the grace
of God our sins and what we are and who we are, and we understand
that His name shall be called Jesus, for He will save His people
from their sins. So we acknowledge that. We own
that. We understand that. This then
is for the people of grace. People who understand by God's
Word and Holy Spirit revelation. What are some of these biblical
expectations? One, out of Genesis 22, and you
don't have to turn there, but in 22-44, where Abraham said,
Jehovah Jireh. Isaac says, Father, here's the
wood, here's the fire, but where's the sacrifice? And Abraham said,
the Lord will provide Himself as the sacrifice. So the Lord provided and has
provided, past tense, the satisfaction and the sacrifice
for His people. So first thing, we expect the
Lord to provide. His name is Jehovah Jireh. The
Lord will see to it. The Lord will provide. In that
context, in Genesis, our great God will provide Himself as the
sacrifice for our sins and accept Christ in our stead. forever. He didn't do it once, and it's
based on time. No, it's based on eternity. So
we expect the Lord to provide spiritually for us. Our greatest need is to be made
one of His children, to be adopted into the family of God. And in
general, We expect the Lord to provide for us. God in Christ
Jesus will provide daily for us in this temporal life, and
most assuredly in the spiritual life. Secondly, we expect, out
of Matthew chapter 6, we expect as His dear children, Jehovah
to grace us with all things necessary or needful in this life, Therefore,
abating anxious care and worry on our parts. We don't have to
worry about what we're going to wear. We don't have to worry
about what we're going to feed. Because in Matthew 6, he says
in verse 24, no man can serve two masters. For either he will
hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one
and despise the other. You cannot serve God and man.
Therefore, I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what
you shall eat, what you shall drink, or yet for your body,
what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat
and the body more than raiment? Behold, the fowls of the air,
they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better
or worth more to Him than they?" This passage is in Matthew 6.
has always rebuked me. Because tomorrow, I will get
up and wonder, what am I going to put on? What am I going to
wear? Is there enough gas in the tank? There's all these things
that we worry with. But He says, and why take you thought for
raiment? Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow and they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
After these thoughts, concerns, wealth, wealth management, property,
job, positions, titles, importance, community importance, he says,
all these things do the Gentiles, meaning unbelievers, seek. Let
the potchers of the earth strive with the potchers of the earth.
Towards the end of my career, and I did like my jobs, but towards
the end of my career, and clock out. If somebody needed help, this
guy needed help out in the parking lot, I got jumper cables. No, I'm not ignoring people who
need. But as far as my responsibility
to my boss, and he paid me. That's what work is. That was
done. That was done. So we expect Jehovah
to grace us with all things necessary and needful in this life to take
away our anxious cares and the worry on our part. Thirdly, we
bank on, that's expect. I was trying to look up different
words for expectations and expect. We bank on our tender and wise
Father to cause all things to work for our good and His glory. Isn't that what Romans 8? I mean,
everybody knows Romans 8. But we can expect that. The believer,
not the unbeliever. Everybody says, oh, I believe
stuff works for a reason. And what they're saying is they're
sidestepping the grace of God. And I said something to someone
the other day. Everything works according to
God's purpose. They don't want to hear that. They just want
to hear everything works. I know everything works for a
reason. No, everything works according to God's purpose. And
it works for good to them who love God and are called according
to His purpose. This is reality and is very pertinent
truth to all His people. It's pertinent. Fourthly, we
can confidently say that our merciful substitute will comfort
His people whom He foreknew. That's in John 14, John 15, and
John 16. He says that it's expedient that
I go away because I'm going to send the Comforter. to you. So we expect that. We expect,
and the apostles, when he was leaving, what he told them is
what he said out of his word, he said, I'm going to send a
comforter. And they expected it. Is that presumption? No. That's God-given faith. That's
expectation. That's fourthly. Fifthly, we
expect to, as we grow in age and in years, to have a closer
walk with our loving guide. Closer walk. John chapter 15,
he talks about I abide in you and you abide in me. A marriage relationship? Now
don't answer this husbands and wives. But as you've grown, as the years
multiply from the day of marriage till now, I hope and pray that
you've grown closer. Understand, dwelling with wives
according to knowledge, you didn't have that much knowledge. But
we can expect. Because He says the Holy Spirit
will take the words and reveal them to you concerning Christ,
concerning me. We can depend upon Emmanuel to
at one time or another fulfill every promise He has made to
us through the blood of the Lamb. This passage in Jeremiah. He
says, I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the
Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected
end. We depend upon it. Turn with
me to 2 Peter 3. 2 Peter 3. Verse 9, The LORD is not slack
concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering
to usward, not willing that any or any of His people should perish,
but that all should come to repentance. We can depend on our God through
the blood of the Lamb that what He says He will perform. It says
in Hebrews 11, if you want to look at some of those brethren
who walked by faith, it says, they were persuaded of them and
they did not see them. Many of them did not. They didn't
see Christ come, but they were persuaded, persuaded of them. What is that? The promises. What God had said
He would do. Seventhly, we are convinced and
expect God to answer our petitions and prayers as they are according
to the faith that He gives. James 1. James 1. James 1, verses 5-8, And if any
of you lack wisdom, let him ask God, that giveth to all men liberally,
and upbraideth not. And it shall be given him. But
let him ask in faith, Nothing wavering, for he that wavereth
is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For
let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the
Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways." If
you lack wisdom, if you lack wisdom, I need wisdom in this
situation. I need wisdom to see Christ.
I need wisdom to see how Christ would have handled this or how
I'm to handle this through the Word. Ask God. He gives all men liberally,
and upbraideth not. And it shall be, it shall be,
not maybe, might be, it shall be. So I can expect, I'm convinced
that God will answer all of our petitions as it's according to
His Word. That's what faith does. Faith
lays hold of the promise. Eighthly, We can expect if it
is His will and He gives life, health, and soundness of mind,
we can seek to see Him in His second coming. Our Lord is coming
again. I don't know whether we'll be
alive, but if He gives life and health and soundness of mind,
Hebrews 10, Revelation 22 very explicitly say He's coming again.
This book says He is coming again. So we can expect whether us,
our children, We can expect that He'll be coming again. Ninthly,
we expect by and by to be made like unto our Groom and our Sovereign,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that hath begun
a work. He will continue it. He will
continue it. Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter
8 and verse Romans 8, verse 29, "...for whom
He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among
many brethren." This is a declaration of truth. And therefore, we believe
that this book is without error. It's the Word of God. And what he says here is true. Expect it. Expect it. We expect by and by to be made
like unto the Lord Jesus Christ. And lastly, the tenth, the last
that I have, and I love this one, we thoroughly expect to
one day see our Beloved face to face. 1 John 3. 1 John 3, verses 1-3, Behold, what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should
be called the sons of God, the sons and daughters of God. Therefore
the world knows us not because it knew Him not. Beloved, now
are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall
be. But we know that when He shall
appear, we shall be like Him, For we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this
hope in Him purifies himself even as he is pure. And one of my favorite passages,
Psalms 17. Psalms chapter 17. Psalms chapter 17. I've got this one dated. So in April
of 2004, the Lord gave me this promise. And like I said, Spurgeon
said, just date them. And then when I'm going back
and I study Bible and look and I see that, and my eyes always
go to that. And I'm like, well, I remember
that. And it's just a warm, beautiful experience all over again. As
for me, And as for you, expect it. If you understand who God
is, who you are, what He's done, where He's at, as for me, I will
behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness. The second point I have is simply,
why do we expect so much from our God? How can we stand confident
therein? For simple reasons, because God,
Malachi says in other places in Hebrews, He does not change.
If God has once spoken it to your heart, expect it. God does not change. Secondly,
because of Jehovah's everlasting covenant, and I love that passage
in 2 Samuel, David's last words, although it be not so with my
house, my children still do not have an interest in the Gospel.
They would rather be doing something else than hearing me speak with
my children and grandchildren, sitting them around the house and speaking of the grace of
God. But we can expect so much from our God because of His everlasting
covenant promise. He said, the Lord hath made with
me this covenant, this promise,
ordered in all things and rock solid sure, even though I don't
see it. He's done that. And He doesn't
change. So you see how these all are
built on His character, His attributes. God does not change. Secondly,
because Jehovah is of His everlasting covenant promise. And thirdly,
because of who it is that's made the promise and who it is that
stands for us, who it is that speaks for us. Christ the Lord,
our surety. That's who it is. And fourthly,
because it is He. Well, how do I know that image
of somebody throwing a life preserver out? Well, how do I know I'll
trust Him until I die? How do I know I'll hang? How
do I know I'll keep? Well, this is the last reason.
Why do we expect so much from our God? How can we stand confident
therein? Because He's done all the work. And I mean all the work. He initiates
repentance, faith, by His grace, which is that not of yourselves.
Because He, the great and supreme Sovereign, through His beloved
Son, by God the Holy Spirit, initiates, makes us willing in
the day of His power, keeps us, and seals us till the end. It's an unbreakable seal. That's
why we have confident expectation in what He says. Now, I'll close. I have to say this. I have to do this. I added this
last night about 11 or 12. I don't know what time it was.
But I've got to close. But I've got to close with a
warning and an exhortation. Because if you look at the word
expectations, expect in the Scriptures, there's a lot more negative than
positive. So I have to issue this warning. Firstly, if you
do not believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ, if there's no repentance,
if there's no faith, there's no hope, and no eventual change,
then you will also have an expected end. One of eternal separation,
one of damnation, wrath, and judgment. So my exhortation to
us and to all of us flee from the wrath to come, fall upon
Christ for mercy, full and free, cry out to the sovereign mercy
of God without money, without price, trust upon Christ singularly,
solely, and simply. And we who believe are continually
exhorted to do so, day in and day out. Trust Him singularly,
solely, and simply. And I expect based on this Word,
that you will find peace and help in your time of need. For He says, back in our text
in Jeremiah 29, Then shall you call upon Me, and shall go and
pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you, and you will seek Me
and find Me, when you shall search Me with your whole heart. Expect that to be true. If you once cry for God for mercy,
He will. You found Him. You found Him
and you trust Him. To God be the glory, all glory
and all honor. Amen and amen. Bruce, would you close us please?