Greatly Limited Expectations

Greatly Limited Expectations

Acts 3:1-8

Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. 2And 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; 3Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. 4And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. 5And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. 6Then 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. 7And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.

 Is it possible that we could expect too much from God?

 Do you think there is anything that God can not do?

 Can the creation ever dream, desire or demand more than the Creator?

 Do we limit the hand of God by limiting Him to our ideas and expectations?

To our detriment, we act as though the answers to these questions are a resounding yes! God is not limited by anything other than the faith of the believer. The trouble is not with an all powerful, all knowing, and all loving God! The trouble lies with the child of God, who in our limited understanding binds the hands of God. The trouble is that we, with the aforementioned limitations, set our goals (expectations) too low and are satisfied with the results of limited expectations. I thank the Lord that He does not limit His blessings based on our expectations and understanding. It is a miracle of God that He continues to give to us according to His expectations, which are far beyond anything we could ever dream. As we read the account here in Acts of a certain man we notice the similarities to the Christian today.

We would have liked to entitled the sermon "Great Expectations" but in a quest for accuracy we shall name it, "Greatly Limited Expectations." The greatest of our expectations are far below the abilities of God.

Certain Expectations:

KJV: Ac 3:2

2And 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;

Nothing in this life is ever accidental! All things, in the life of a Christian, are ordered by God (Psalm 37:23.) It is not a haphazardly placed meeting that we witness here at the gates of the Temple. Not only was the event ordered so were the individuals. It was the plan of God that this man had suffered and was placed here at the gate called Beautiful. This "Certain" man was indeed certain (sure) of many things but today his wildest expectations were about to be met and surpassed.

A Certain Someone:

This man had been lame, crippled, from his mother’s womb. It was by no accident that the Lord had caused him to be born with a crippling sickness. We are born from the womb with the sin sickness, and cannot by nature come to God on our own. But Jesus came to seek and to save us and He is not willing that any should perish. 2 Peter 3:9

A Certain Sickness:

This man was crippled from his birth and there was no natural cure. For this man to be cured would require a miraculous work of God. For us to be cured of our sin sickness we are sick unto death, it will take a miraculous move of God.

A Certain Situation:

It was by the law that this man could expect alms from the faithful Jew and being laid by the gate only served to remind them as they walked to and from worship. As we make our way to and from the House of God do we notice those who are spiritually crippled. Law does not bind us but by Grace to extend such as we have towards those that are lost or back-slidden.

A Certain Solution:

The only solution expected by this man were the gifts of those who would show mercy towards him. No doubt he had been surprised before with a generous gift, but what lay in store for him this day would be beyond his imagination. Why do we expect so little from God? We should simply expect that by what ever means should please Him, He will meet and exceed our wildest dreams if we will only remain open and sensitive to the Holy Ghost.