Turn to Isaiah chapter 40.

That's in the Old Testament.

Somebody referred to the verse that I want us to begin with, the passage that is the latter part of the chapter.

Start with verse 28. Have you not known, have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. Don't you know that?

That's who our God is. We're not worshipping a weakling God. We're worshipping the God who is the creator of the ends of the earth. and he doesn't faint or grow weary. You might,

but he doesn't.

His understanding is unsearchable and he gives power to the faint.

To him who has no might, he increases strength. Even youth shall faint and be weary and young men shall fall exhausted. It's not just the elderly and the decrepit, but even the young and strong and virile are going to wear out. Things are going to get tough. But God doesn't faint, and He would give His power to those who do.

And then we come to the great promise

that they who wait for the Lord or wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not think. We have three pictures here, one after another. They'll mount up with wings like eagles. They'll soar up in the heavens. The great moments of flying above it all.

Then there are times when we've got to just keep running the race, keep slogging it out like those Olympic champions. So they'll keep running. It's one thing to have that great moment up in the stratosphere It's another thing to keep running mile after mile. They'll do that too.

It's yet another thing to walk. The day in, day out, endless, non-glorious, plodding alone. And God will renew even the strength of the walker. He'll keep him going.

In Isaiah 50 we read, The arm of the Lord is not shortened.

He's still mighty to save, mighty to heal, mighty to bless.

And back in Psalm 103,

which is to the left.

I love verse 14.

Let's look at 13 first. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him. That means he takes pity on them. It's not a sentimental word. He takes pity. He expresses compassion on those who fear him. Why?

Because he knows our frame.

He remembers that we are dust.

He knows what we're made of. See, you may think that you're made of strong stuff like steel or precious stuff like silver or gold.

and there might come a moment of great disillusionment when you discover what you're really made of.

You see, God is trying to create a thing of beauty out of dust.

And that takes time. That takes patience. That takes care. You might get surprised when you faint and grow weary and collapse and want to give up.

But he's not going to be surprised at all. He knows what you're made of. He remembers your frame. He knows that you're dust. And his will is that you replenish your strength. He knows that you don't have it in yourself. He knows that you're going to run out of your own resources. And he wants you at that point to turn to him and be replenished, be renewed, be filled up by waiting on him.

And in the process, you mount up like an eagle.

Everything from here on that I'm going to say is secondhand, at least, maybe thirdhand. I don't know quite why, but over the last few weeks, it seems like everything I've picked up to read and everything I've heard by way of cassette tapes has been talking about eagles, what it means to mount up like eagles. And I've heard from Malcolm. And somebody sent me a tape from New Hampshire. I haven't any idea who it was.

I don't even know the person. Sent me a tape of Terry, a whole teaching on eagles. So everything from here on out, you're getting warmed over.

If you steal from one, it's plagiarism. If you steal from many, it's scholarship.

I'm interested that the Lord identifies himself with the eagle before he tells us that we'll mount up like eagles he identifies himself with this great king of birds you might look at Exodus 19

you remember of course that this comes just before the giving of the Ten Commandments which we've been studying these many weeks together Just before the Lord expresses his sovereign will for his people, we read in chapter 19 in verse 3, Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him out of the mountains, saying, Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel, You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to myself.

now therefore if you'll obey my voice and keep my covenant you shall be my own possession among all the peoples for all the earth is mine that's what we just read in Isaiah all the earth is mine you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation these are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel you saw what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagle's wings you don't need to turn to it but you find in the book of Revelation, we have at the very beginning of the story and at the very end of the story a reference to eagles.

And in chapter 12, the book of Revelation, the dragon who is Satan is out chasing the woman who is Israel who has brought forth the man-child who is clearly Messiah. And it says that the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness. God has delivered his people on the wings of the eagle, and he'll do so again.

I'm interested that the Lord Jesus identifies himself with the king of beasts. One of the titles that he applies to himself is the lion of the tribe of Judah. And isn't it a curious thing the way the king of beasts and the king of birds are identified with the king of kings? there's much to be learned right there

we have God saying I bore you on eagles wings I've given you the two wings of the great eagle wait on me and you'll mount up with wings like eagles and so out of my scholarship I want to share with you seven things about eagles tonight

the first is

to grow up to be an eagle,

you've got to be born an eagle.

Don't overlook that.

Remember the story of the ugly duckling. You can take the egg and you can put it under the duck and you can get it hatched and you can get it adopted and it can go where ducks go and it can do what ducks do and it can learn to quack like ducks quack and swim where ducks swim and if it wasn't born a duck it ain't going to be a duck.

A lot of people seem to think that you can take a person and let them be hatched into a Christian family and go where Christians go and do what Christians do and the church can do a lot of things that the church does to Christians and that will somehow make them a Christian. that he isn't going to make him a Christian unless he's born a Christian. Scripture calls it being born all over again. He's never going to be a Christian. Paul to the Corinthians said, I tell you this, brethren, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

That's your human birth, flesh and blood. That's how you were born into your parents' family. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Jesus himself said, unless you are born all over again, you're not even going to see the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

At the beginning of John's Gospel, he wrote that when Jesus came to his own people, the great majority of them rejected him. Not all, but most, his own people, knew him not, rejected him as their Messiah. And then he says in verse 12, But to all who did receive him, who believed on his name, to them he gave the power to become the children of God. He doesn't give what we already have. He gave to those who believed on him, who received him as Messiah and Lord.

He gave to them something which they didn't have and couldn't have in any other way, namely the right or the power to become the children of God. And he goes on to say, Who were born not of the flesh, nor of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh,

but of God. Unless you're born of God, you're not going to be a member of His family. Unless you're born an eagle, you're not going to be an eagle Christian.

second thing is the character of the nest that the eagle builds look at Job chapter 39

it's right before the book of Psalms Job 39

verse 27 and 8

Job is asking a series of questions of God trying to find some meaning to the universe and meaning to his own distress and we read in verse 26 he says is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south, is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high? On the rock he dwells and makes his home.

In the fastness of the rocky crane, is it by your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high? One of the things you surely know about eagles is that they make their nests in very, very inaccessible places, places where no other beast or bird of prey can get to them. They're up on the top of the highest mountain in some rocky crag, utterly protected. They're overlooking the whole of creation and nobody can get to them.

It's interesting that Paul writes to the Ephesians in the second chapter that God who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Him, with Christ, by grace have you been saved, and raised us up, he says, and made us sit in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Do you know that that's your true residence?

Do you know that's present tense right now? spiritually, that's where we are. Now sure, our bodies are here on earth. Spiritually, if you're joined to Christ, He's on the right hand of the Father and you dwell in the high heavenly places, in the eagle's nest.

Do you have that perspective? Are you able to see things from where He sees things? Or do you get so bogged down in the mire of everyday living and all of its pressure that it just overwhelms you. The eagle, the eagle Christian, lives in the high places.

They build nests with not little twigs and grasses like some of the other birds, but the eagle builds a nest with great, huge, strong branches. In fact, it's said that you could take an eagle's nest and drop it from a height of several stories and it would simply bounce. It's so tightly woven together. Huge branches interlocked together, giving it great, great strength.

And the only way you're going to take it apart is to literally disentangle it, pull it piece by piece. And I'm reminded, as I'm sure you are, of what Jesus said about building a strong house on a firm foundation, one that isn't going to be easily shaken apart when the wind or the waves or the sea or the rain beats upon it. The eagle then gathers soft things to line the nest because obviously those heavy branches aren't going to be very comfortable.

And it takes rabbit fur or tufts of other animal skins that it makes as its prey and it lines its nest so that inside that strength, that toughness, that hardness, that indestructibility is a place of great restfulness, great comfort. Somebody gave thanks tonight that it's the Christian's privilege to enter into the Sabbath rest of God. That we dwell in the high and lofty place.

We dwell in a place that's secure, that's not going to be easily destroyed, but somehow in the mercy of God, it's lined with soft things. He says, come unto me and rest.

If you're weary, if you're heavily laden. Perhaps the most interesting thing of all about the eagle is the way the mother trains her young. Like any other bird, at first she comes back and stands on the edge of the nest and stuff things down the very hungry mouths that are reaching up for whatever she's brought back to them. And that goes on for quite a long time. And then all of a sudden one day, she comes back and she doesn't stand on the edge of the nest.

Instead, she hovers right above it. And she flaps those great huge wings and remains in one position right above the nest, beating down the currents of air and getting the attention of the young. and you can just see the little eaglets saying to each other, what's going on?

Mama, what big wings you have.

And she says, the better to fan you with, my dear.

And it appears, we're not sure, because of course eagles can't tell us why they do that, but it appears that she's giving them a demonstration. showing them by her own example that's what those funny little appendages in the middle of your back are for

not just to stay in the nest forevermore you're going to learn to fly and here's how you do it

she does that for several days and they take in this object lesson they're fascinated with it for a while and then somehow they get distracted and think about other things And so the next step that she takes is to go down into the nest, not this time standing on the edge of it, but right down into the middle of the nest. And she starts pushing with her big head the little eaglets to the side of the nest.

And she pushes a little further, and they're up on the very lip of the nest. They're saying, Mama, Mama, look out. Don't you see what's down there? Oh, no, oh, no. And over they go.

and they start tumbling

from that very high lofty place

and they're certain they're going to be destroyed

and then at just the last moment the mother eagle comes swooping down and catches her little baby in the middle of her back and brings it back to the nest safe and safe that's what we read in the book of Exodus I bore you on evil's wings

mama really made a mistake that time

she starts doing it again pushes him right to the edge and over the edge time after time after time swoops down, catches him on her back brings him back and plops him back in the nest. Until finally it begins to dawn on him. Yeah, I'm supposed to do that too.

Do you understand the point?

He became a Christian and everything was going so well.

He was so comfortable in that nest with all those other little eaglets.

God was just filling you full of good things.

Then all of a sudden, what's happening? The nest is getting very uncomfortable. I'm getting crowded out. I'm getting pushed to the edge. Doesn't God know what's happening? Then all of a sudden, over the edge, and I'm sure I'm going to be destroyed.

Then just before I am, somehow,

I'm rescued.

Oh, good to be back, Lord. Good to be back with you. And then it happens again.

You understand.

You were made to fly.

And when God pushes you out of the nest, so that you're going to learn to develop the strength of the wings that He's implanted in you.

When it gets very rough and very scary, and it looks like destruction awaits us, God is training you for the thing that you were created in Christ Jesus to do. Which is to fly.

You weren't made for the nest. You weren't made to be a penguin.

If that doesn't do the trick, the mother eagle then does another interesting thing. all that nice soft lining that she put in the nest. She goes in and rips it out.

She reaches down with those great huge talons and she tears up some of the central most branches. Makes it very sharp and spiky and uncomfortable.

You do get the point.

We were remarking a couple of weeks ago, Jesus gave the commission to his disciples. I want you to go out and evangelize the whole world. Not just Jerusalem, all Judea, all Samaria, to the uttermost parts of the earth. And what did they do? Sat around Jerusalem. Very comfortable here. Having a tremendous ministry.

First time Peter ever preaches, 3,000 converted. Can't ask for better statistics than that.

Next time he preaches, another 3,000. 3,500. Pretty good return.

then persecution breaks out

God tears the lining out of the nest brings the spike that's the only way he could get those comfortable apostles to move out and start doing what they were supposed to do

well the fourth thing

is that all along we've been saying eagles fly, but for the most part, they really don't at all. For the most part, what they do is they soar.

I don't know if you've ever watched an eagle or a film of an eagle, but you can see an eagle sitting on a branch or up on the top of that mountain somewhere, absolutely immobile for hours. What's he doing? He's waiting for just the right air current. And then all he does is he stretches out those great wings, and it catches him, and he just soars along from one air current to another. He's like the surfer down at Malibu waiting for the perfect wave.

Somehow he knows just when it's coming, and he allows it to carry him effortlessly.

It's interesting that in Scripture, both in the Old and the New Testament, the word for wind and the word for spirit are the same word. Did you know that? In Hebrew, ruach can be translated spirit or wind or breath.

And over in the New Testament in Greek same thing with the word pneuma. Spirit or wind. It carries over into Latin as well with spiritus. It's the same thing.

the eagle Christian isn't one who goes about flapping like a Thanksgiving turkey

at least not all the time

he catches the wind of God's Spirit and allows it to carry him

Jesus said the Father tells me what he's doing and I do what he does I do what He does. The Father tells me what He's doing. I see what the Father's doing and I just fall into step with it.

Then He turned around and said to His disciples, I've called you friends for all that I've heard from My Father I've made known to you. What's the implication? You're to do exactly the same thing. Not a whole lot of continual labor and effort and trying to make it work. He's told me what He's doing and I fall into step with it.

I've told you what I'm doing. Falling to step with it. My yoke is easy. My burden is light. His yoke is easy only if we're going the same way He's going. If He's going one way and you're yoked to Him, but you're going the other way, you've got big trouble, friend.

But we catch the wind of His Spirit

and soar.

Fifth thing. It's a tremendously keen perception. Back in that same passage we were reading from Job 39, we read, On the rock he dwells and makes his home in the fastness of the rocky crag. And verse 29 says, Thence he spies out the prey, his eyes beholded afar off. Talk about the eagle's eye.

That clarity of vision. You know, an eagle can see a rabbit from a mile away. you can see a lizard from over a thousand feet up the eagle sees things that other people don't see

the eagle Christian sees things that others don't see

the book of Hebrews says Abraham looked forward to the city which had foundations whose builder and maker is God he saw a city nobody else could see it but Abraham saw it and he was willing to move out and follow God wherever you lead. Jesus said, Abraham rejoiced to see my day. Nobody else saw it.

But Abraham saw it. 2 Kings 6, you know that story of Elisha and his servant Gehazi? You sort of remember that like a sneeze. Gehazi. And they're surrounded by the Syrian army. And Gehazi says,

It's sort of a free translation.

and Elisha says don't you know that those who are with us are more than those who are against us and he prays Lord let him see let him see and scripture says something like scales fell off his eyes and suddenly he saw yeah we're surrounded by the Syrian army but they're surrounded by the angels of the Lord and Elisha and Gehazi God bless you, captured the whole Syrian army without firing a shot.

The eagle Christian sees things that others don't see. Do you know that those who are with us are more than those who are against us? Do you know that?

That great Russian bear moving into Afghanistan.

Do you know that those who are with us are more than those who are against us?

two more things very quickly

if you catch an eagle

clip its wings

tie its leg to a chain and chain it down

it becomes one of the messiest creatures under heaven

because an eagle was not made to be tied down when a Christian gets tied down with legalism he becomes a dirty bird

stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage God calls us to freedom where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom He wants us to soar like the eagle.

The final thing is the eagle's uncanny ability to know when his life is about to be over.

That's the one thing that completely surprised me out of the various materials that I had come across recently. I didn't know anything about that. But it turns out that the eagle somehow knows when his life is about to end. And typically he'll fly to some very, very high rock on which he's never sat before.

And he'll turn and look directly into the sunshine.

And he'll die.

That's a pretty good picture, isn't it? With our feet firmly planted on the rock and our faces turned toward the sun,

we're released into the presence of God. St. Paul said, I'm already on the point of being sacrificed. The time of my departure has come. He wrote that in the second letter to Timothy, and some scholars think that may have been a matter of hours before his life ended.

I'm on the point of being sacrificed the time of my departure

has come do you hear a note of complaining there? I'm about to be released this is what I've been waiting for you remember what he said to the Philippians I've got a real problem because I'd really like to go and be with the Lord that's far better and yet for your sake I've got to hang around here a while longer

but I'm ready My feet are on the rock. My face is turned toward the sun. And all you hear is joy.

Dwight L. Moody, after an incredible career of winning men and women to the Lord Jesus, came to the day of his death and had that uncanny sense. And he called in his family. His wife, his children, his grandchildren.

tremendous huge family into his bedroom surrounding his bed and he said there's one more thing I want you to see how a Christian dies

only joy

you want to be with the Lord

you ready to be an eagle Christian

to rise up with wings

to soar feet planted firmly on the rock turn your face toward the sun

and go to be with the king