This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

Welcome to day two of our look through 1st Corinthians chapter 16. We're talking
in this chapter about ways that you and I see God's continuing work in our
lives. And it really has to do with our attitude, the spirit that's in our
hearts.

Yesterday, we talked about the fact that you have to have a generous spirit.
There's something about a generous attitude that makes all the difference.
Today, particularly in verses 5 to 9, but beginning back in verse 4, we're going
to look at the fact that we also need to have an expectant spirit.

A giving spirit, but then also an expectant spirit. Listen to what Paul says as
he talks about ministry in these verses, beginning in verse 4. "If it seems
advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.

" He's talking about the taking up of this offering and taking it to the people
in Jerusalem. "If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.
" "After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you, for I will be going through
Macedonia.

Perhaps I will stay with you for a while, or even spend the winter, so that you
can help me on my journey wherever I go. I do not want to see you now and make
only a passing visit. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.

" So Paul in these verses is talking about his ministry plans, what God is
doing, how God is working. But as always, he's talking about it with the spirit
of expectancy, God's going to do something. And you can really hear this spirit
of expectancy in verses 8 and 9.

Listen to what he says in these verses. "But I will stay on at Ephesus until
Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there
are many who oppose me. " Now in these verses, verses 8 and 9, Paul talks about
three key perspectives to living with an expectant spirit in this world.

As you look through these verses, he talks about a great door that's been
opened. He talks about a commitment to remain, "I will stay on at Ephesus," and
he talks about many who oppose. Those are the characteristics of someone who is
able to live with an expectant spirit.

They see all three of these things in their life, the great doors in life, the
necessity in times of life to remain where you are, but also the opposition in
life. You have to understand all of those in order to live with an expectant
spirit. Walk through these with me.

First, Paul talks about a great door that's been opened. Paul says, "This door
for effective work has been opened to me in Ephesus, so I am sticking here
because God's at work. " Paul didn't see this work as something just to pass by
or to leave for others.

He saw an open door for ministry. And when Paul saw an open door for ministry,
he was drawn in. That's what drew him every time in life.

Like a light draws a moth, like a bee is drawn to honey, Paul was drawn to the
open doors for ministry. People who live with expectancy look for God's open
doors. You may have been knocking on a closed door for months or years, or
sometimes people even knock for decades.

And it may be that God wants you to stay somewhere and work in a very hard work,
and it doesn't seem like the door is opening like it should. But I also know
that there are many times when we as Christians feel like, "No, I have to stay
here. I have to keep suffering for Jesus in this.

" Paul had the wisdom to lift his eyes above the circumstances he was in at the
moment and look around and say, "God, is there somewhere else you want me to be?
" When's the last time he prayed that prayer? In your ministry, in your life, in
your job, "God, is there somewhere else that you want me to be?

" It may be that the reason things are not working like they should where you
are right now is because God needs you to be somewhere else. And one of the
reasons Paul was used in such a great way in his life, but also one of the
reasons he was able to live with such expectancy in his life, is he was
constantly looking for that open door. Where's God at work?

And how can I join God in the work that he's doing? Instead of staying where you
are and saying, "God, would you show up and help me in the work that I want to
do? " Looking for open doors means you're looking around saying, "God, where are
you at work and how can I join you in the work that you are doing?

" It is not necessarily faith to always stay in a difficult situation where
nothing is happening. Sometimes it's stubbornness. Sometimes it's being a
martyr.

Sometimes it is faith. How do you know? The only way to know is talk to the Lord
about it.

The only way to know is to lift your eyes up and to look for the open doors. And
if you see something that looks like an open door, what do you do? You move
toward it.

The only way to know the door is open is to try to go through it. Sometimes I've
thought a door is open and I try to go through it and it slams right in my face,
or it was slammed the whole time. I just missed it.

I didn't understand it. That happened to Paul too. You can read about it in the
book of Acts.

There were places he thought he was supposed to go, slammed the door. The only
way to know that is to move toward it. So if you've been stuck somewhere for a
long time, if you feel like I'm not living with that expectant spirit anymore,
look for some open doors, start to move towards them and just see what God does.

That's one of the key perspectives to living with this expectant spirit. A
second key perspective is the attitude he had that I will stay on at Ephesus. I
will remain.

This door of service was an invitation for him to stay. Paul would not refuse
this opportunity to stick there and to do Christian ministry. People who live
with expectancy are willing to also stay.

There are some people who think an expectant spirit is I'm always looking for
the next big thing. So they're always looking for an open door and they skip
from this to this to this to this and even when they find an open door, the most
exciting thing to them is that the door was open. Wow, God could do great things
here.

But then they go on and look for another open door. If you find an open door,
what Paul is saying here is go through it. And if you go through an open door,
that means you're going to stay.

I will remain to stick it out in the place that God has put you. It wasn't
always easy in Ephesus. The fact that the door is open doesn't mean there's not
going to be problems.

We'll talk about that in a minute. But you see the open door, you see God at
work, so you stay where God is working. You stay where God is working.

Now there's a time in your life when you might realize God's not working here
anymore. And that's when you begin to look for another open door. The brook has
dried up, and it seems like God's not in that place anymore.

Well, he wanted you there at one time. He may want you somewhere else right now.
The idea that he wants you in a certain place for the rest of your life, if you
read the New Testament, read the Old Testament, that doesn't happen very often,
if at all.

God wants us to move towards the open doors. But once we find one, we need to go
through it, and that means you stay there while God is working. And then Paul
says this amazing third thing that is one of the hallmarks of those who live
with an expectant spirit.

He says, "A great door for effective service has opened for me, and there are
many who oppose me. " It's almost as if that's a positive. Paul includes the
idea of adversaries in this wide open door.

When God opens the door, Paul had recognized this in his ministry. He'd seen it
again and again and again. When God opens the door, Satan's going to try to
block the way.

So don't think that an open door means there's not going to be any opposition.
In fact, Paul saw that if he was where God wanted him to be, there would be
opposition. Living with expectancy means that you're not shocked when that
happens.

You expect God to open doors, but you also realize that Satan is going to give
opposition. There are some who think if Satan gives opposition, if there's any
negativity of any kind, it must mean God's not in it. All you have to do is look
at the ministry of Jesus to realize that's just a false teaching.

There was negativity all over the place in the ministry of Jesus Christ because
he had open doors everywhere that he went. He was God in human flesh. So anybody
who did not want to follow what he was teaching came in opposition against him.

They didn't realize that Satan was motivating that opposition, but he was. Paul
was determined not only to recognize that there were adversaries, but he was
determined to see God overcome those adversaries, to see God emerge victorious
in this situation in Ephesus. So he was just watching what God was doing.

What are you expecting to happen in your life or in other people's lives that
are around you? Isn't it amazing that we often get exactly what we expect will
happen? What we expect will happen is what does happen.

There is a faith factor in your life of how you're expecting God to work. And
Paul reminds us in these verses about how this faith factor works. It's not just
a matter of positive thinking.

It's not a matter of me pushing myself forward or selling myself. It's a matter
of spiritually looking at the world in a new way. So as you think about
expectancy in your life, here are the questions to think about.

Where's the open door right now? Are you looking for it? Are you passing by an
open door right now?

You also need to think about the question, am I willing to keep trusting in the
struggle of faith? Am I willing to remain right now where God has put me? I'll
tell you, in a relationship, in a marriage for instance, God has told us to
remain.

So no matter what, we know the right thing to do is to remain in that place and
to trust him in the struggle of faith and to watch him work. And as you think
about expectancy in your life, you also need to think through the question, am I
going to allow adversaries to keep me from God's abundance? The fact that
there's something in the way to keep me from going through God's open door.

The door is open, but there is opposition. When you think about expectancy in
your life, just think about it in terms of just going to church on a weekend.
Let's just start there.

When you come to church on a weekend, do you go to church because you're
expected to be there? Or because you're expecting Jesus to do something in your
life, in the life of the people that are there? You just start there at the very
simple, simple meeting of believers together and then build from there.

When it comes to the ministry in your life, when it comes to the relationships
in your life, when it comes to the decisions of your life, when it comes to
what's happening in your business, what's happening in your school, are you
doing it just because you think God expects me to do this? Because you're
expecting God to be at work. God does not want us to live the life under a
burden of his expectations.

He wants us to live our lives with faith, expecting him to be at work. Jesus,
you're the giver of all good gifts. So help us to live with new expectation, not
an expectation that's built on our selfishness, but an expectation that's built
on our willingness to serve others and to see you at work through our lives.

Jesus, you want to reach the world. You want to touch the world. And you've told
us you want to use us.

So it's only faith, it's only right that we expect you to do that. So I pray
particularly for me, for every one of us, help us to see your open doors this
week, help us to go through them, help us to stay in that place where you're
working and help us to not let those adversaries, those enemies, keep us from
continuing to do the work you've given us to do. We pray this in Jesus' name,
Amen.

Tomorrow, we're going to talk together about what it means to have a humble
spirit.