The Power of Expectation – Part III
They Have Expectations… So You Should
Too!
Matthew 8th Chapter
28 When he [
Jesus] arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon –
possessed men coming from the tombs met him.
They were so violent that no one could pass that way. 29 "What do you want with us,
Son of God?" they shouted. "Have you come here to torture us before
the appointed time?" 30
Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31
The demons begged Jesus, "If you drive us out, send us into the herd of
pigs." 32 He said to them, "Go!" So they came
out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into
the lake and died in the water.
This week we are going to share
something with you about expectation that will shock you, and that is this:
EVEN DEMONS HAVE EXPECTATIONS! So if
demons have expectations, then surely we can do a better job ourselves of
having expectations. And by the end of
this message, I am sure that we will.
We start our text by seeing Jesus enter
into the region of Gadarenes. Wait a minute! Jesus Enters!! That right there is enough to get our
expectation stirred. Jesus
Enters!! Wherever He enters, change
must come. Wherever He goes, the
miraculous must occur, so we should be expecting something big soon.
Now as Jesus entered, He was met by two demon-possessed men. Our
text tells us that they were so violent that no one could pass their way. Remember that neighborhood bully that
wouldn’t let you walk on his/her street?
Well these demons were bullying people the same way. But once they ran up on the wrong brother,
Jesus Christ –– the Anointed One and His Anointing, all of that changed. They went from being a menace to looking for
mercy. Why? Because from the moment they met up with the Christ their
expectations changed!! Oooohhh !! If you don’t feel your shout groove coming ,
you’re about to in this explanation.
What you’ve got to understand is
that the only expectations these demons had were to devour and destroy. But when they finally met up with Jesus
Christ, face to face, all of that changed.
Their expectation went from
being tormentors to being terrified of what was going to happen next. This is why
these two demons begged for mercy! Can
I repeat that. This is why the demons
begged for mercy!!!
29
"What do you want with us, Son of God?" they shouted. "Have you
come here to torture us before the appointed time?" 31 The demons begged
Jesus, "If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs."
Now,
what is meant by their statement: "Have you come to torture us before the
appointed time?" You see, these demons thought that they would dwell in
that flesh until that person’s death.
The demons had their own agenda.
They had their own time-line until Jesus showed up!! Then when He showed up —— Time was
up!! I love that statement,
"Before the appointed time." The King James simplifies it,
"Before the time." This is truly a word for someone going through
right now:
"Jesus
is ready to torment your demons —— BEFORE THE TIME!!! I know that you have been going through some
heartaches that you feel will never be resolved, but He’s going to torment your
demons —— BEFORE THE TIME! There are
some things that through natural progression will take years to get out of, but
you will be out of them in months. That
breakthrough that everyone said was not going to happen will happen even sooner
than you imagined. You just get ready
and start expecting Jesus to cross the paths of your demons. Whether it’s through family members, health,
debt, self-esteem —- no matter what it is, He’s coming —— BEFORE THE
TIME!!! Get ready and EXPECT!!!"
Get
your expectation ready!!! Why? Because Jesus will not fail you when your
expectation is of Him and from God.
Even the demons were not "LET DOWN" when their expectation was
from God. HUH??!! You mean demons can get their expectations
from God? You better believe they
can!!! Remember in the 31st
verse they said, "If you drive us out, send us into the herd of
pigs." Honey, even the demons
were expecting a move of God — SUDDENLY!!!
So by the 32nd verse Jesus gave them one word, "GO"
and did to them exactly what they expected. But wait. It gets better!!
We
shouldn’t only expect Jesus to cast out the demons; we should also expect Him to destroy them. Even when all they hope for is to be cast
out, there is more to come. Don’t just
expect them to go off so they can come again.
Expect them to go off a CLIFF so they won’t ever come again!
32
He said to them, "Go!" So they came out and went into the pigs, and
the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water.
No matter what you’re going through, start expecting the
Father, Son & Holy Spirit to bring you out!! And for them to bring you out of it, you’ve got to know personally
the man called Jesus! You’ve got to expect Jesus to save you from what you’re
going through — that’s why it’s called salvation!! Even the demons expect
Him to show up. Most of our
problem WAS don’t expect Him at all or enough.
But demons beware because now WE DO expect our Jesus to come, show up
and show out —— BEFORE THE TIME!!!