INTRO.- ILL.- A man approached a little league baseball game one afternoon. He asked a boy in the dugout what the score was. The boy responded, "Eighteen to nothing--we’re behind."
"Boy," said the spectator, "I’ll bet you’re discouraged."
"Why should I be discouraged?" replied the little boy. "We haven’t even gotten up to bat yet!"
That’s expectation! That’s good hope, positive hope!
ILL.- Clare Boothe Luce (1903-87), American playwright, legislator, and diplomat told this story. “A man sentenced to death obtained a reprieve by assuring the king he would teach his majesty’s horse to fly within the year--on the condition that if he didn’t succeed, he would be put to death at the end of the year. ‘Within a year,’ the man explained later, ‘the king may die, or I may die, or the horse may die. Furthermore, in a year, who knows? Maybe the horse will learn to fly.’”
ILL.- Someone well said, “There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about them.”
Finish these sentences in your mind:
I expect to… I hope to or I hope for…
I think that all of us have certain expectations and hopes in life. Some pan out. Others don’t. But without expectation and hope we will not get far in life, nor will we please God.
Heb. 11:6 “And 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.”
Without faith in the Lord and the expectation and hope of better things, we cannot please God. WE MUST LIVE BY FAITH. We must have expectations and hope.
ILL.- Dr. James Dobson, Focus on the Family, tells about Dr. Stephen Hawking who is an astrophysicist at Cambridge University and perhaps the most intelligent man on earth.
Dobson said, “He has advanced the general theory of relativity farther than any person since Albert Einstein. Unfortunately, Hawking is afflicted with ALS Syndrome (Lou Gehrig’s disease). It will eventually take his life. He has been confined to a wheelchair for years, where he can do little more than sit and think. Hawking has lost the ability even to speak, and now he communicates by means of a computer that is operated from the tiniest movement of his fingertips.
“Quoting from an Omni magazine article: He is too weak to write, feed himself, comb his hair, fix his glasses--all this must be done for him. Yet this most dependent of all men has escaped invalid status. His personality shines through the messy details of his existence.”
“Hawking said that before he became ill, he had very little interest in life. He called it a ‘pointless existence’ resulting from sheer boredom. He drank too much and did very little work. Then he learned he had ALS Syndrome and was not expected to live more than two years. The ultimate effect of that diagnosis, beyond its initial shock, was extremely positive. He claimed to have been happier after he was afflicted than before. How can that be understood? Hawking provided the answer.
Hawking said, “When one’s expectations are reduced to zero, one really appreciates everything that one does have.”
He also said, “I began to make progress with my research, and I got engaged to a girl called Jane Wilde, who I had met just about the time my condition was diagnosed. That engagement changed my life. It gave me something to live for. I have had motor neuron disease for practically all my adult life. Yet it has not prevented me from having a very attractive family, and being successful in my work. This is thanks to the help I have received from Jane, my children, and a large number of other people and organizations. I have been lucky, that my condition has progressed more slowly than is often the case. But it shows that one need not lose hope.”
DID YOU HEAR THOSE WORDS? Even in his terrible physical condition, he said, “One need not lose hope.”
Matt. 11:28 Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
John 10:10 Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
We do have hope of a better life in Christ and here and now!
We will never experience a perfect life, because we don’t live in a perfect world. But because of Christ, life can get better, life can be better and because of Him, we’re going to the best life of all some day.
As someone said, “Life without Christ is a hopeless end, but with Christ, it’s an endless hope.” There is always hope in Christ: hope of a better day, a better life, and a better everything.
PROP.- Paul had great expectations and hope in life. His expectations and hopes should be ours.
1- The expectation of prayer support
2- The expectation of spiritual strength
3- The expectation of honoring Christ
4- The expectation of good work
I. THE EXPECTATION OF PRAYER SUPPORT
V. 19 “For I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.”
ILL.- People need people. A mother said, “Laurie was about three when one night she requested my aid in getting undressed. I was downstairs and she was upstairs, and ... well. ‘You know how to undress yourself,’ I reminded. ‘Yes,’ she explained, ‘but sometimes people need people anyway, even if they do know how to do things by themselves.’”
We do need one another even if we are somewhat self-sufficient.
ILL.- Someone said, “One of life’s major mistakes is being the last member in the family to come down with the flu -- after all the sympathy has run out.”
The sympathy should never run out…not with Christian people.
ILL.- Coval Russell spent 426 days in jail for stabbing his landlord with a pocketknife back in April 2001. It was the only time he ever ran afoul of the law. And that could be considered a tribute of sorts to Mr. Russell, for he was 90 years old when he committed his crime. He had never even had a traffic ticket before.
He was a World War II veteran who lived in Paradise (CA) until he got in trouble. Behind bars, the other inmates of Butte County Jail called him "Pops" and gave him dibs on the TV set, let him go first in the food line, and reserved him a place in the Monopoly game marathons.
Blind in one eye and suffering from prostate cancer, Russell loved his tiny cell. The relationships he formed with the transient population in jail appear to have rescued him from a life of unmitigated loneliness.
As the time drew near for Mr. Russell to be released, he petitioned the court to remain in jail. The lifelong bachelor had outlived all of his relatives. He was no longer welcome in Paradise. The only place he felt he had any friends was in the Butte County Jail. So he told the judge he would kill himself if he were sent "back out there" where he had nobody.
But he had something like $20,000 in his bank account. He had no mental illness that either incapacitated him or made him a threat to others. So the judge had no choice but to order him released at the end of June. No, he didn’t want any help getting into an assisted-living residence. And he refused all other suggestions for what he might consider to reestablish himself as a free man.
After two weeks of living in a motel, he took a cab to a 40-foot high bridge and apparently jumped headfirst onto river rocks below. The man who had told someone he had nothing to live for was dead.
A fellow-inmate with "Pops" was told about the death of the man who had been an unofficial grandfather to many of the younger prisoners. "We were a motley crew," he said, "but we were family nonetheless."
This sad story reminds all of us that there are people around us who are incredibly lonely. It also reminds us that we need one another. Loneliness was the first thing God saw in all creation that he said was not good.
Rom. 12:10 “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.”
Gal. 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
Eph. 6:18 “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and ALWAYS KEEP ON PRAYING FOR ALL THE SAINTS.”
Phil. 2:4 “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
These verses and many more tell us that we should support one any way we can and especially in prayer. We have the right as family members to expect prayer support from one another.
When I ask you to pray for me, I EXPECT for you to do this. When others ask you to pray for them, they EXPECT you to pray for them.
Whenever someone asks you to pray for them, do it! We are in Christ together. We are in this boat together. We are in the same boat, needing help occasionally and prayer assistance.
II. THE EXPECTATION OF SPIRITUAL STRENGTH
V. 19 “For I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.”
ILL.- Dwight L. Moody was to have a campaign in England. One pastor protested, "Why do we need this ’Mr. Moody’? He’s uneducated, inexperienced, etc. Who does he think he is anyway? Does he think he has a monopoly on the Holy Spirit?" Another pastor replied, "No, but the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on Mr. Moody."
ILL,- Preacher Alexander MaClaren said, “He who has the Holy Spirit in his heart and the Scriptures in his hands has all he needs.” We all need spiritual strength in life and this comes from knowing Scripture and from the power of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead.
ILL.- Christian author, Max Lucado’s first book was published in 1986, yet he already has 25 million copies in print. He’s spoken before government leaders, including the President of the United States, at the 1999 National Prayer Breakfast.
Max Lucado grew up in a small West Texas town, son of an oil-field mechanic and a nurse, the youngest of four children. Although his parents were devoted Christians and very active in church, Max took the all too familiar path of the prodigal son, drinking and partying and chasing girls.
But his high school days over, one summer night, after a six-pack of beer with a friend, Max turned a real corner, the kind that changes the trajectory of one’s life. He said, "I remember saying that night, ’there’s got to be more to life than this.’” He determined that night to find meaning he could build a life upon.
Max says of people today, "People are just trying to do what’s right, to be happy, to build strong marriages, and they need to be encouraged, to know God loves them and forgives unconditionally.”
"As civilizations have developed and tried to envision God," he continues, "they see him as powerful, but never loving. However, we have a God who loves us and accepts us. His love doesn’t depend upon my success or my abilities. And I think that is the most misunderstood aspect of God’s character—the fact that he loves unconditionally. We have the assumption if I do well, God is going to love me more. We assume that if I work harder, God will accept me. His love is mind shattering. We tend to impose our own love level on God, trying to measure God’s love. It is a human element. We want to know how much is available—keep everything in a box, manageable and tight. His love goes way beyond what we can measure."
"I guess that is my strong suit now, telling people about the immensity of God’s grace," he says of his writing career. If you ask him why his books sell so well, he adds, "Maybe God said, ’I’m gonna use you, Lucado, just don’t blow it.’ I don’t know. But I do know I recognize the thirsty people when I see them."
Brothers and sisters, how could a guy like Max Lucado with a somewhat normal past become such a great Christian writer? It’s called the grace of God. And it’s called the power of the Holy Spirit at work in him.
We all cannot become great writers, but we all can live for Christ and serve Christ in our own special ways. How can this happen? The power of God’s Spirit is at work in our lives. We have the right to expect God’s Spirit to work in us and strengthen us.
Eph. 3:16 “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being.” God has promised to strengthen us by the power of His Spirit in our inner being or in our spirit. We must pray for this strength and expect to receive it!
III. THE EXPECTATION OF HONORING CHRIST
V. 20-21 “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Paul wanted to honor Christ in life and in death.
ILL.- Listen to this news item. (CBS/AP) A 12-year-old girl in New York who was among the first to be sued by the record industry for sharing music over the Internet is off the hook after her mother agreed Tuesday to pay $2,000 to settle the lawsuit, apologizing and admitting that her daughter’s actions violated U.S. copyright laws.
The hurried settlement involving Brianna LaHara, an honors student, was the first announced one day after the Recording Industry Association of America filed 261 such lawsuits across the country. Lawyers for the RIAA said Brianna’s mother, Sylvia Torres, contacted them early Tuesday to negotiate.
"We understand now that file-sharing the music was illegal," Torres said in a statement distributed by the recording industry. "You can be sure Brianna won’t be doing it anymore."
Brianna added: "I am sorry for what I have done. I love music and don’t want to hurt the artists I love."
I DON’T WANT TO HURT THE ARTISTS I LOVE. The same thing should be true of us in regard to our Lord. We should not want to hurt the great artist who created us, loves us beyond measure, and gives us great songs and music!
This means that we should want to honor Christ in life at all times.
ILL.- Wesley Britt is a 6-foot-8-inch, 312-pound lineman for the Crimson Tide, University of Alabama. He was one of 22 players nationwide chosen to the Playboy All-American team.
With the honor comes a free week at the Playboy Mansion in California, the opportunity to meet Hugh Hefner himself, and a chance to be pampered by real-life Playboy bunnies. What football player wouldn’t jump at it? For one, Wesley Britt. He said it didn’t sound like the sort of thing he should do.
Britt is a deeply committed Christian. He spends a lot of time visiting churches and speaking to young people about the importance of embracing and living faith. Without sounding prudish or self-righteous, he said it wasn’t the thing for him to do.
"Initially, I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to take it. It’s a great honor,’ " he said. "But after thinking about it for a while, I decided this is not one of my goals. I put God first and I set my goals for him. I talked to God about it — and I felt it just wasn’t the right thing to do."
As you might expect, he has taken some ribbing from college buddies. A few just outright told him he was crazy. One or two offered to wear a disguise and take his place. Many more have spoken of how they respect him for his decision. He’s sending the right message to all those teens who have heard him at their churches.
We can expect to honor Christ in life, just like Wesley Britt is trying to do and this is because God is at work in us. We can pray, “God, help me to honor you and to honor Christ, in life and in death.” And we can fully expect God to honor that prayer and give us the grace to honor Him.
IV. THE EXPECTATION OF GOOD WORK
V. 22 “If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.”
ILL.- A new employee had been caught coming in late for work three times and the fourth time the foreman decided to read him the riot act. He said to him, “Look here, don’t know what time we start to work around here?” The man said, “No sir, they’re always working when I get here.”
Some people are not very interested in working. They either don’t go to work or go in late. On the other hand, there are those whose work is important to them regardless of any negative factors. They want to work and want to accomplish something in their work.
HAVE YOU ACCOMPLISHED WHAT YOU WANTED AT WORK? Do you have goals? Have you met those goals?
ILL.- A preacher named Fenton sold insurance until age 37, then he stopped, went to seminary, and launched Tarzana Baptist Chapel three years later with five people.
He said, "I expected it to grow to a church of 300 or 400 in a couple of years.” He planned to use his church to build a network of satellite churches throughout the Los Angeles Basin.
It didn’t turn out that way.
Tarzana Baptist Chapel constituted as a church five years later with 135 members. It never grew any larger; today is has fewer than 25 members.
"I once complained that we’d done all the church growth stuff, but the church wasn’t as big as it ought to be," Fenton said. "God reminded me that he never promised me a big church."
But Fenton had promised himself one.
With a doctorate in church growth, Fenton knew the principles, and he applied them. But the church wasn’t growing. Why?
He’d always thought that if a guy couldn’t grow a church he was "either incompetent or carnal." Fenton didn’t want to consider himself either.
The work was tough. Tarzana Church seemed unable to close the back door. Fenton felt he had to reach three new members to net an increase of one.
Some, like John, left to attend one of the large churches in the area. Fenton had poured hours into John, an aspiring movie director from Australia, and brought him to faith in Christ. Just when Fenton was seeing fruit in John’s life, the director left Tarzana to go to a church with a drama program and a theater.
The cycle repeated itself, Fenton said. "I’d do all the hard work of cultivating, witnessing, and baptizing the converts only to lose them to the great choirs, youth groups, and drama programs of larger churches.
"It was frustrating." Fenton had a faraway look as he told the story.
If Fenton didn’t lose converts to a church down the road, the transient nature of Los Angeles claimed them. One year 51 of the church’s 110 members moved away.
Brothers and sisters, what a discouraging church work that would have been!
In our text, Paul speaks of fruitful labor. As long as he was in the flesh he was going to serve Christ by preaching the gospel. He was here for people! He expected that his labor would not be in vain as he served Christ.
However, that preacher Fenton felt as though he was failure in his work in preaching the Gospel and serving Christ. What about you? How do you feel about your Christian service? Did you accomplish any good? Did you expect to accomplish some good?
I Cor. 15:58 “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” We must trust that our work for the Lord (whatever form it takes) is not in vain.
ILL.- A Sunday School teacher had been telling her class of little boys about crowns of glory and heavenly rewards. “Now tell me,” she asked, “who will get the biggest crown?”
There was silence for a moment and then one little boy said, “HIM WOTS GOT THE BIGGEST HEAD.”
We who have taught for years in Sunday School wonder sometimes if we are doing any good. Let me assure you, that you are doing some good. GOD HAS PROMISED THAT YOUR SERVICE FOR CHRIST IS NOT IN VAIN.
We may not immediately see the results, but they will come. God will bless. People will come to Christ and grow in Him.
WE MUST PRAY OVER OUR WORK AND EXPECT GOD TO BLESS OUR WORK!
CONCLUSION-------------------------------------
ILL.- A little boy was crossing the ocean with his father who was the Captain of the ship. They ran into a terrible storm that tossed the ship around like a cork. Everyone was afraid, but the boy sat perfectly still with his eyes directed toward a certain spot.
Someone asked him if he was afraid and he said, “I have my eyes on that little window, and through that window I can see the bridge, and on that bridge is my father. My father is the captain of this ship and he has taken it through many storms.”
The storms of life call for us to trust our Heavenly Father. Even in good times, we must trust our Father to care and provide for us.
Prayer support, spiritual strength, living for Christ: these are matters of faith. We must trust our Father to provide these. Without faith it is impossible to receive these things.
Someone well said, “Faith in God sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible.”
