BLESSED EXPECTATION

3 Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.

² And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;

³ Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.

⁴ And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.

⁵ And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.

⁶ Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

⁷ And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

⁸ And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.

⁹ And all the people saw him walking and praising God:

¹⁰ And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.

¹¹ And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.

¹² And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?:

• Brethren here was a lame man, crippled from birth
• He was listening attentively to Paul preach the gospel
• Paul could see a great expectation in his eyes
• We as preachers see your faces, your body language all the time.
• Paul saw the faith of the lame man, his faith drew out the miracle from Paul’s spirit.
• Paul looked at his eyes, saw a serious faith and expectation.
• He abandoned the sermon and decided to release the blessing on the man.
• How about the woman with the issue of blood?
• Her expectation was great and and it was  fulfilled.
• She expected to be healed as soon as she touched Jesus.
• Many are in church they never believe in miracles
• They don’t expect God to do anything
• If you have no interest, no personal expectation when you come to church , nothing will happen to you
• It’s easy to know those who come to service without any expectation
• They come very late, their faces show you all their thoughts.
• They walk to the church with weak legs and weak spirit
• No joy, no hope, no excitement and no enthusiasm.
• They sing and clap without any expectation, their total approach is sluggish, slow and distant
• They pray, sing and do everything without any fire or any hope that God will bless them.
• No bible,  no note book nothing, no smile, no laughter no joy as they give their no offerings.
• No interest in whatever is going on in the service
• They are more like  spectators than  participants
• They wonder why some people are so full of joy in the service.
• They also wonder why some always have powerful testimonies and they just come and go
• They have this look of let’s us wait and see what will happen here today
• That attitude must now change not just in the interest of such Christians but also in the interest of the whole world,because the world  needs our faith
• Now a lot of people have terrible expectations as far as this pandemic is concerned
• They call their wicked expectation scientific and realistic.
• Well let us hear what Apostle  Paul also has to say about this opposition to faith in God:
• 1 Timothy 6:20-21
• O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:
• ²¹ Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.
• Unfortunately many of those with weak or no expectations to soon see the end of covid -19, are also tongue-talking,tithes-giving children of God
• They just have this ability to create  an absolute anxiety for themselves and for others  about this pandemic
• They have forgotten that we are to trust God in all circumstances  and that we should have no anxiety about anything
• Apostle Paul also says something about these very smart people who are too scientific and too intelligent  to totally trust God for the healing of the earth:
• 1 Timothy 6:17
• Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
• They are rich in this world
• They are high minded i.e smart and proud
• They are trusting in uncertain riches
• Apostle Paul says we should charge them not to trust in these things anymore but in the living God who gives us all things to enjoy
• In Philipians 3 Paul presents his spiritual and professional credentials
• It is a very serious C.V. He says I have a lot more  to boast about that can actually make me think like a natural scientist
• But, he says I would rather put all those things behind me and walk in the faith of Christ:
• Philipians 3:4-10
• Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
• ⁵ Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
• ⁶ Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
• ⁷ But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
• ⁸ Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
• ⁹ And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
• ¹⁰ That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
• Currently all the scientists, all the great and mighty of this world just need the wisdom and the power of God in order to defeat Covid -19
• Covid -19 is a principality that the Lord of Hosts in his loving kindness and mercy on the earth should confront and defeat by Himself
• If the people that don’t know the power of God are being confused, we should be different
• The solution to all the evils that are on earth now, lies with faithful and prayerful  Christians
• We should be different .We should not live in fear and defeat and poverty
• We should not be sick and we should expect all the sick ones to quickly recover hallelujah!!
• We should expect the Lord to send salvation and prosperity on earth  again
• Psalm 118:25 “”Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
• –         Jesus says in Luke 18:8    “…………. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?”
• This is serious question for us all to answer.
• So How strong is your faith? How strong is my faith?
• Can your faith or mine see us through and lift others out of this current disaster on earth?
• What Jesus teaches in this Luke 18 is why some of us have been praying day and  night  for the past two months
• We have a powerful faith in the mercies of God, a lively expectation for Him to hear and answer us
• The children of Israel used to run to the prophets  whenever they realized that the wisdom of man was failing them and God always helped them

• Judges 4 : 1-24

And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud was dead.² And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.³ And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.⁴ And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.⁵ And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.

⁶ And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?⁷ And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand.⁸ And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.⁹ And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.

¹⁰ And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.¹¹ Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.¹² And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor.¹³ And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon.¹⁴ And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the Lord gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.¹⁵ And the Lord discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet.¹⁶ But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left.¹⁷ Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.

¹⁸ And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle.¹⁹ And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.²⁰ Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.²¹ Then Jael Heber’s wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.²² And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.²³ So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.²⁴ And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

• Obviously Barak did not see a woman, when Deborah informed him that God wanted him to face Sisera so that their sufferings of 20 years would end
• He believed the prophecy and even said  that Deborah must accompany them to the battle
• She said no problem, you will do all the fighting, but a woman would take the honour as punishment for your lack of trust in God
• He said I don’t care, just come with us because you have the power of God .
• When will the world recognize their limitations and seek the wisdom and the power of God against Covid -19 and the economic woes in the nations?
• The foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men
• When will the Church of God  who is blessed with  righteous expectation and faith in God rise to the occasion and prophesy victory to the kings of this world?
• Shedrach ,Meshach and Abednego expected God to deliver them from the fiery furnace and he did
• Daniel expected God to deliver him from the lion’s den and he did
• Joseph told the butler, just remember  me when you get out there to serve the king again.
• His expectation was that he would come out of jail and fulfill his destiny
• Esther and Mordecai cried unto God when the spirit of death wanted to use Haman to wipe all the Jews off the face of the earth
• They cried unto Him with an expectation that God would hear them and he did
• God used the unshakable righteous expectations all these Old Testament Saints to advertise his greatness and power in the times of need on earth:

–         2 Kings 4:18-22

And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not?   And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren. And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.

2KINGS 6 :25-33

25 And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver. And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. And he said, If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son.30 And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.31 Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.32 But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?33 And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the Lord; what should I wait for the Lord any longer?

2 KINGS 7:1-2

Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.² Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

• You need to understand what happened here. Elisha had to prophesy in a hurry
• The matter was urgent.The king actually followed his messenger to Elisha’s houseThen he said, “This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”
• The king gave up but Elisha did not give up
• This should be our position as Christians,we should operate like the Saints of old who knew that no problem is allowed to last forever
• No matter the magnitude of your problem, it must end.
• Prov. 23:18 – For surely there is an end………., and your hope will not be cut off.

• The second part of Prov. 23:18 says your expectation shall not be cut off.

• Your expectation shall never be cut off in Jesus name.
• Your expectation, your desires are God-given desires.
• Prov. 10:28 – The hope of the righteous shall be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.
• There is divine expectation and  there is wicked expectation concerning this Covid -19 at this time
• But that expectation of the wicked shall perish, it shall not stand in Jesus name
• Jesus came in order to destroy all the works of darkness. 1 John 3:8.
• No problem has been given the mandate to last forever.
• There is nothing that starts and does not have an end.
• Nothing is meant to continue forever and ever
• Afflictions, tribulations, pains and troubles MUST ALL COME TO AN END IN JESUS NAME
• Jesus came to end all the works of the Devil
• They must expire, only God must continue forever and ever amen.
• God is the only one that one that has no beginning and no end.
• Ps. 62:5 – My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.
• John 10:10 – God wants you to have peace, joy and deliverance. Once you locate that which is God’s will for your life, you must expect Him to give you an answer of peace.
• He must give you an expected end. Jer29:11.
• I prophecy again that the end of all your tribulation and fears has come.
• What do we mean by expectation?
• We mean anticipation.We mean assurance.We mean a lively hope.
• We mean a great hope that something is about to happen without fail.
• That great hope is the senior brother of Faith.
• Not only do you believe that something great is about to happen, but you are looking forward to it.
• You have prayed and trusted God for many things from January till now.
• Expect your breakthrough now in Jesus name.Greater is He that is in us than he that in the world.
• A Christian can have problem, but the problem must never have you John 16 : 33.
• Without human beings a problem has no power
• This means that we are meant to be greater than problem as far as God is concerned.
• We are seated at the right hand of God far above principalities and powers.
• Christ has given us power over them.
• We just need to fully surrender to God and fully follow his instruction Matt:11:28 – 30 
• Be a sheep, know your master’s voice and follow His voice.
• Expectation is a weapon of victory.Expectation is the fertilizer of miracles
• Expectation is the breeding ground for breakthrough and testimonies
• Expect God to fulfill His covenant promises and blessings in your life, in your children and children’s lives.
• Expect Him to carry out all His promises in 2020
• That was why He gave us a very powerful Anchor well ahead of covid -19
• Even when you are not in tune with Him expect Him to be merciful to you.
• Miracles usually happen when God sees a lively expectation in us.
• Remember the story of Naman the leaper?
• Remember the Shunamite woman whose son died and she still expected Elisha’s prayers to raise the child from the dead?
• Remember blind Bartemeus?
• Remember the woman Jesus called a dog in Mark 7 and yet she did not lose hope?
• How about Hanna?
• Year after year she went to Shilo without result, but her expectation was alive. She kept going on in hopeful assurance
• Remember also the famous prayer meeting for the deliverance of Peter in Act 12.
• We shall not pray without an expectation of an answer from God

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