If you would open your Bible
to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 32, we're gonna be reading verses
one through 12. Before we read these verses,
I'll give you just the context of this passage. The Deuteronomy
is when Moses is speaking to the generation of the children,
their parents had died in the wilderness. They'd walked in
the wilderness, their parents had for 40 years till all those
20 years old and upward had perished except for Joshua and Caleb.
And he's giving them the law, telling them what God requires
as they're getting ready to go into Canaan to go in to rest. So what is he doing? He's reminding
them of everything that God has done for them. You think some
of those maybe had not lived in Egypt. Some may had, some
hadn't, so all they know about Egypt was what their parents
had told them. And he's telling them what happened,
and he's telling them what God has given them. He's pointing
them to Christ. He's the one who fulfilled all
the law. So with that in mind, let's begin
reading here in verse one. of chapter 32. Give ear, O ye
heavens, and I will speak. Hear, O earth, the words of my
mouth. Now notice how he describes his
word, his doctrine. My doctrine shall drop as the
rain. My speech shall descend, distill
as the dew. as the small rain upon the tender
herb and as the showers upon the grass. He's using these things,
these metaphors to describe how his word is distilled in the
world. It's like the small, gentle rain
and the mysterious dew. You imagine you go out Go, where
did that water come from? All over my car. Where did it?
That's the dew, mysterious. And he sends it, that's how his
word, his word is mysterious. When God, your God makes it known
to you. And you see how he works. God
moves in a mysterious way. His wonders to perform. He plants
his footstep on the sea and he rides upon the storm. Verse three. Because I will publish the name
of the Lord, ascribe you greatness unto our God. He is the rock. His work is perfect. For all
His ways are judgment. Our God of truth and without
iniquity, just and right is He. They have corrupted themselves.
Their spot is not the spot of the children. They are perverse
and crooked generation. Dee thus requite the Lord, O
foolish people and unwise, is not he thy father that hath bought
thee, hath he not made thee and established thee? He bought thee,
made thee, and established thee. He's reminding them. And if you're
his, that's what he's done for you. He has bought you, he has
made you, you're his creature, his new creation, and he has
established you. Verse seven, remember the days
of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask thy fathers
and they'll tell you. And they will show you thy elders
and they will tell thee. Now what's this verse eight?
When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance. When he separated the sons of
Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number
of the children of Israel. He set their bounds according
to God's elect. You think about that. Why do
you live in America? Why were you born where you were
born? Why would we not born some other place? He did it all when
he said, here's where Israel's gonna dwell. Israel's gonna dwell
in Christ. Israel's gonna dwell in Canaan.
Well, what about all the other nations? They are where they
are because of what God did for his people. That's what he's
saying. And he's reminding them, reminding them. For the Lord's
portion, verse nine, is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him, where did he find
him? In a wilderness land, in a waste
howling wilderness. He led him about. He instructed
him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. He led him, he instructed
him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. And then he uses
this metaphor, verse 11, how he instructed them. He taught
them. They shall be all taught of God. He taught them. He taught them
his grace. He taught them his law. He taught them how to worship
God. He taught them how to walk by faith. And he uses the metaphor of an
eagle. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her
young, spreadeth abroad her wings, She taketh them and beareth them
on her wings. So the Lord did lead him, and
there was no strange God with him. So that's what I want us
to look at tonight. I mean, this morning there in
verse 12, those five things mentioned that the eagle did as a picture
of what God does for his elect people. He stirreth up her nest,
He fluttereth over her, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them
and beareth them on her wings. Could I ask the favor of someone?
Could I ask someone to get me a glass of water? If you wouldn't
mind. Thank you. The eagle. Most of y'all have
saw an eagle. not in person, you saw one on
TV or something. When they were deciding what
animal would be the bird for our nation, I think it was Benjamin
Franklin wanted them to choose a turkey. I'm kind of glad, not
that I have anything against turkeys, but an eagle is known
for its strength. It's known for its swiftness.
You know, they say an eagle can fly over 200 miles an hour. They
can soar up and see a rabbit, and just in a second, they can
grab that rabbit. It can soar higher than any birds.
It's known not only for its strength, but it's known for its tenderness. Those same piercing eyes, which
would be judgment to his enemy or his prey, speaks grace to
those little ones. Can you imagine those little
ones in that nest and that mother eagle lays down and when she
lights on the edge of that nest and they just look at their mother
looking around, the tenderness, the grace. Those same talons that can snatch
prey can feed her little ones. Oh, thank you so much, I appreciate
it. The eagle cares for, protects,
nurtures her young. It's her responsibility. But
most of all, what I want us to think about this morning is how
she instructs her little ones. I want us to think how God instructs
us. He teaches us. Everything he
sends in our life, he teaches us. before you were converted. Those things happened on purpose
and for a reason, to teach you, to instruct you all your life. You maybe didn't realize it,
but now as we look back, we say, I kind of see why that happened.
All things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to his purpose. But how does
she instruct, or the eagle, instruct her little ones, and how does
God instruct us? There, the first thing, she stirs
up the nest. Well, the nest is where the little
ones are raised. She lays her eggs and that's
where they grow to a certain time. But she did not have these
little ones to live forever in that nest. there comes a time
that they must be instructed to fly. And that's what all these
five things are for. It's when God will teach us and
he must teach us every day to walk by faith, not by sight,
not putting confidence in the flesh, our flesh or anyone else's,
but to trust him, to trust him. Well, what was the nest for Israel?
Where did God raise up a nation? A place called Egypt. 70 souls
come to Egypt. Jacob and 70 souls. Several hundred
years later, it's not 70 souls. It's probably several million.
Why are they in Egypt? Why didn't God raise them in
Canaan? Why Egypt? Well, where did God
find you? In a waste howling wilderness,
he found you in Egypt, the land of Ham. Remember who Ham was? And he said they were in the
iron furnace. But in that nest, God is raising up a nation. And
when it's time for them to leave the nest, he's going to instruct
them to leave. How does God stir up the nest?
Well, what does the word stir us up mean? It means to open
the eyes. It means to wake up. You were
dead in trespasses and in sins, and God gave you life. It's high
time, even as believers now, it's high time for us to wake
out of sleep. Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
What did the Shulamite say? I sleep, but my heart waketh. So he's going to, now come on,
we need to wake up. And you know, every one of us
need to be encouraged this morning. We can become spiritually slumbered. We become comfortable. And he
says, come on, children, it's time to wake up. I remember when
my children were small, it was always my responsibility to wake
everybody up on Sunday morning. I'd say, now, y'all, come on,
you gotta get up. You know how that goes. It was more like two
or three times. And he was, we got to, it's time
to go. I had to instruct them, we've
gotta get ready, you've gotta take a bath, you've gotta do
all these things, we've gotta eat breakfast before we go to
church, okay. They needed to wake up. God knows how to wake
us up. God used the rooster crowing
to wake up Peter. And he woke him up. How does
God stir his people? He must awaken us to our need. How did he stir up the children
of Israel? He raised, if you want to turn
to Exodus chapter one, verse five, He raised up a man named
Pharaoh. And it said in Exodus 1 verse
5, for all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were
70 souls, as we've already mentioned. For Joseph was in Egypt already
and Joseph died and all of his brethren and all that generation
died. And the children of Israel were fruitful. That's why God
put them there. And they were fruitful and increased
abundantly and multiplied and waxed exceedingly mightily. And
the land was filled with them. Now there arose a new king over
Egypt, which did not know Joseph. Now something's going to change. The other pharaohs that knew
Joseph, they may have been kind to Egypt, I mean, to Israel,
but the one who's raised up now, who we find out in Romans chapter
nine, God said, for this same purpose, have I raised you up?
God's gonna use him as the instrument to wake up the children of Israel.
He's going to afflict them. He's stirring up the nest. Why
is it so uncomfortable here in Egypt? Because you must go, you
must have to leave. And he said, and to his people,
verse nine, behold, the people of the children of Israel, they're
more mightier than we are. Come on, let us deal wisely with
them, lest they multiply, and to come to pass, that they fall
without any war. They join also into our enemies
and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with
burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasured
cities, Python and Rameses. Afflicts them. You're his slaves. He's going to afflict you. You
know where they lived? In the best of the land. They always
lived in Goshen. They lived in the land that God
gave them. But when it's time for them to leave, and it's almost
time, I'm gonna raise me up a Pharaoh who's gonna persecute them, who's
gonna afflict them, who's gonna prick their conscience and cause
them to wake up. Why are we treated this way?
How long they were persecuted, we don't know. That's when God
raised up Moses. That's my second point. And Moses
is 80 years old before God sends him to do what? Lead his children
out and to instruct them. And you know who Moses is? He's
the law. God uses Pharaohs and he also
uses the law to awaken your conscience to your need. Paul says, I was
alive without the law once. Paul was comfortable in religion
till the law came and sin revived and I died. You know what it
did? It awakened him to his need. And unless God awakens you of
your need, you will perish without God. So he uses Pharaoh. Because you
remember, if you've read in Exodus, that when Moses came, it didn't
get better. It got worse. They said, Moses,
what are you doing? You said you were gonna deliver
us. I don't see any deliverance. You just wait. God's not only
instructing Israel, he's instructing Egypt. They're gonna find out
when God's through who God is. They'll know he's God. And you
know when you'll be converted? When God makes himself known
and you know that you're not God and he's God. He's God. The law entered that the offense
may abound. Now listen to this statement.
Our Lord sends his ministers to the ones that he loves to
arouse them by letting in the law into their conscience, which
works the sense of wrath by convicting them of their sin and causing
them to see their wretched, miserable condition. And he plucks them
like firebrands out of the fire. That's how he stirs up the nest.
And that's why he stirs up the nest. Another example, and this
is all through history. This is how God always works.
You remember when our Lord goes back to glory and he sends the
Holy Spirit upon the church and they go forth preaching the gospel.
He said, you go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and then to the
uttermost parts of the earth. You know where they wanted to
stay? In Jerusalem. They didn't want to go to Samaria.
They don't wanna go to the Gentiles. They wanna stay in Jerusalem.
So what's God going to do? He's gonna stir up the nest.
And as Saul made havoc of the church, entering into the ever
house and hailing men and women, committed them to prison. Therefore
they were scattered abroad, went everywhere preaching the word. He stirred up the nest. Who would
not want to stay around the conference where there was 3000 souls converted? We'd all want to stay there.
That's the place to be. God says, no, you're to take
that gospel. And we don't want to go. We want
to stay here. I'm going to raise up havoc.
Stephen's going to be stoned to death. James is going to be
thrown into prison and James will be martyred. Why? To cause
them to leave and to take the gospel. And everywhere they went,
they went what? Preaching the gospel. But they
would have never left if God hadn't stirred up the nest. And
we're the same way. the same way. Our gracious Lord can still cause
a stir to cause his people to come to him. He could send something
that you can't even see called a virus. It stirred up the whole
world. I know this, it got us all awake. That's all we thought about.
I told someone it's like last year, it seemed like it was just
a blur. Well, who sent it? Well, we know
God sent it. And why did he send it? He sent it for his people,
that's why. Everybody else was affected, but he sent it for
his people, for his people. And God must stir us up because
listen to Isaiah 64, seven. There is none that calleth upon
thy name that stirreth up himself to take hold. Only. When he stirs your heart, you'll
be like Jacob, wrestling with the angel. The angel came and
wrestled with Jacob, so Jacob would wrestle with him, and he
caused it. Listen to what Peter said. 2
Peter 3.1, this second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you,
in both which I stir up your pure minds, by way of remembrance. I don't have anything new to
say to you this morning. I just stir up your pure minds.
I'm just reminding you that our God's on the throne. And it stirs your mind, your
memory, reminding us, reminding us. It's just like I said about
Peter, when that cock crowed, Peter remembered. We're reminded
that we're just dust. God and his grace must arouse
you or you will perish in your sins. The spirit of God must
convict of sin. Notice the second thing, he says,
she fluttereth over her young. Now she's made the nest uncomfortable.
How would she do that? She'd put thorns and stuff inside
the nest and now they want to leave. And now she begins to
flutter over them. You know, that's the same word
in Genesis 1-2 where it says the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the water. She brooded over her children. Listen, Genesis
1-2, and the earth, was or the earth became without form and
void. That ain't how it was originally
made. Something happened, it's called sin. And darkness was
upon the face of the deep and the spirit of God moved upon
the face of the water. To think about the spirit of
God like that dead earth brooding over you to give you life. He took chaos and made a cosmos. He took chaos and brought order. The earth could have spun on
her axis and all of her spinning would have never changed her
till he moved upon her. He fluttered, brooded. She fluttered over her wings. If he had left her in their nest,
they would have died. If he had left Israel and Egypt,
they would have perished. And if God leaves you to yourself,
you will perish. They get their life from her.
Their life, it's imparted unto them. He comes to her, he comes
to us on purpose to instruct us. She begins to move her wings. The wind begins to blow. Isn't it amazing when it talks
about the day of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit came like a rushing,
mighty wind? The wind moves where it will.
It is sovereign. And he can move in a congregation
like this. He can speak to one and leave
another one alone. And he flutters by his grace. And then she spreadeth abroad
her wings. Now the wings represent his strength. You think about that equals ability,
strength to soar, plumb to heaven and soar above the storms. You
know, they say it's the only bird that can fly and look directly
into the sun. The only one I know do that is
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look directly into God's face
and have mercy upon us. Listen to what our Lord said
in Matthew 23, 37. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou
that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto
thee. How often would I have gathered our children together,
even as a hen doth gather her chickens under her wings? And
you would not. You know why? Now think with
me, you know why that she's spreading her wings? She's getting ready to take those
little ones and put them on her wings. This is how she instructs
them to fly. Eagles were not made or designed
to live in a nest all their life. Like Israel was not designed
to live in Egypt all their life. He brings them out and he's going
to teach them. He brought them out to prove
them, to teach them to trust him, to trust him. The same wings which can smite
the enemy can carry the young. All the weight, all of our weight
rests upon him. He must make the nest uncomfortable.
He must reveal his power. And the gospel's the power of
God unto salvation. Listen, Deuteronomy chapter 26,
verse eight. Listen how he describes it. And
the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with a
stretched out arm and with great tenderness, terribleness, and
with signs and with great wonder. How did he bring them out? It
was God's strength was made manifest. We've seen God's power. God brought
all those plagues upon Egypt. And how did they come out? God
brought them out. It's like God put them on like
them little eaglets on those wings. And he says, we're leaving
this place. Well, how are they gonna survive?
God's gonna make them Egyptians start pulling off their gold
and their silver and start giving this to the children of Israel.
And they'll want them to leave. And a dog won't even bark. Pharaoh said, they're not leaving.
They're not leaving. It was the death of the firstborn.
It was the Passover. And when God killed Pharaoh's
firstborn, he said, y'all get out of here. You know how God
brings you out with a high hand and with a stretched out arm?
His arm's not shortened that he can't save. His ear's not
heavy that he can't hear. God not only saved you, he is
saving you, and he shall save you, your whole life. So she fluttereth, stirreth up
her nest, she spreadeth abroad her wings, and then she takes them. Trying to put myself as an eagle
in a nest. You want me to do what? You want me to get on your
wing? I would have drawn back just
a little bit, because you know, we're so timid. And he said,
it'll be okay. And he takes them, I think that
this word, what it says, taketh them, it means to carry them,
draw them, fetch them, and seize them. Like when he fetched Mephibosheth,
he reached out and he brought him. He brought him. This is what he said in Deuteronomy
chapter four, verse 20. But the Lord hath taken you and
brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt,
to be unto him a people of inheritance as you are. this day, he hath
taken you. And when he's pleased to save
you, he will come with his power and grace through the preaching
of the gospel, and he will come and take you. And he will bring
you to himself." They can't leave on their own. There's no way,
they have to depend upon him. And then it says, he bears them
on his wings. Exodus 19 verse four, you've
seen what I did to the Egyptians. We still talk about what God
did to the Egyptians. When the children of Israel come
out 40 years later, when they go into Canaan, Rahab the harlot
said, we've heard what your God did to Pharaoh. They'll know
who did this. And that's why God does things
the way he does. So he gets all the glory. Then
no flesh glory in his sight, but the Lord hath taken you and
brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt,
being to him a people of inheritance. I brought you out, I bear you. You know how most birds carry
their little ones in their talons? An eagle carries his little ones
on their wings. You go, why? To kill them little
ones, you have to go through her. To get to you, you must go through
him. He is our salvation. You think
about this, when they come to the Red Sea, what are we doing here? We can't
get through the Red Sea. Then we turn around and look
and here comes Pharaoh and all of his army and he says, you
just stand still. You're gonna see something. And
the wind begin to blow and the sea opens up and they go through
on ground, but not Pharaoh. They're protected. The spirit
of God was separated between the enemy and the children of
Israel like that wing did. And God brought them all out,
all safely, and then God says, that's it. You remember this. It's not you
carrying him, it's he that carries you. Underneath you are his everlasting
arms. I know most of you have probably
seen that thing everybody just makes so much over in religion,
those footprints. You know, there was two sets,
well then there was just one. Can I tell you a little secret?
There's never been but one set of footprints. If God ever lets
you down for a second, you're in a mess. He's always carried
you. He's always watched over you.
And he bear you, as the eagle did upon his wings. He bears
all your weight and he does this and then he begins to soar. He's teaching. Oh, this what
it is to fly. Oh, this is what it is to believe. Isn't it amazing how God teaches
us? You know how he teaches us? He teaches us by experience. I remember the first time me
and Sandy flew. Now, a lot of people told me how it was, oh,
it's no big deal. Now, if you've never flown, it
is a big deal. Especially somebody that comes
from the foothills in North Carolina, we don't fly. I remember I was
telling somebody the first time we flew was gonna fly to Greensboro.
And we're terrified. You know how you sit there at
the window at the gate and you wait for the plane to come in? The
plane pulls up to the gate and Sandy goes, that's an awful small
plane. Within a minute, you know, the pilots come walking through.
Those are all for young pilots. Because, you know, that's how
they teach the young pilots is to put them on the small planes,
thank goodness, but we were terrified. But then, there's nothing like
it. You say, how do you know? I've
been there. You could tell me what it was like. but there's
nothing like me experiencing it. And when I was experiencing
it with somebody that I loved and go, man, this is amazing,
Sandy. And while I was just admiring
God's creation, I wasn't a bit afraid. You see how he teaches
us? What are you afraid of? If he's carrying you, what are
you afraid of? Well, I might fall off. But you know what he does? You
know what the eagle does? He will deliberately let that
little eagle fall off its wing. Can you imagine how terrifying
that would be? And he may let him fall for a
pretty good while, but you know then what he does? He just flies
down and catches you. Do you ever feel like you're
falling? Terrified. He says, I've got
them. What did he just teach them? Or what did he just teach us?
You trust me. Trust me. That's why he stirred up the
nest. That's why he fluttered over us. That's why he took us.
That's why he put them on the wings. And you go, why is he doing all,
why did he do all this? To teach them to fly. To teach them to fly. Listen to Isaiah 40 verse 28.
Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting
God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, he fainteth
not, neither is weary. There is no searching of his
understanding. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that
have no might, he increases strength. Even the youth shall faint and
be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. I love the buts
in the scripture. That little three-letter word,
but. They that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings
as eagles. You think that's an accident?
I don't think so. They shall run and not be weary. They shall
walk and not faint. What is he teaching us? to live,
and how do we soar above this world, above the troubles of
life? By faith. I was looking Wednesday night,
and I never saw it before, talking about Enoch, you know, in Hebrews
11. By faith, Enoch walked with God. Well, how did Enoch walk with
God? One step at a time. And without faith, it's impossible
to please God, because those that come to God must believe
that He is, and He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
Him. What does that mean, I believe Him? What is it to be saved? It's to believe God, believe
Him. We believe everything else. And just like Enoch, he said,
man, look at him soar. Look at Abraham, what's he doing? He's soaring. And you think about it, he's
just relaxing. No effort. Doesn't it describe
faith? It's just resting. That's what it is, it's resting. What was Canaan rest? He's going to take them from
the nest, and he's going to put them in the rest. Someone said they described an
old and old eagle, and it was molded, and its fur and feathers
were all matted up, and it just walked around and just drug its
wings. I want to walk by faith. Faith
without works is dead. Believers believe. Believers
are taught. They are instructed. And this
is not a one-time thing. I know it's a picture of God
bringing you out in regeneration and bringing you to himself,
but that's your whole life. It's like, I pray God meets with
us this morning. that in the morning we're gonna
need fresh graze. And this week, I hope he reminds
you of this message. He says, I've got this. And I'm
bearing you, and he said, just trust me. Just raise your wings and fly. And you know something else I
just thought about? Things look different from up there than
they do down here. Don't they? I remember when we was flying,
we flew out to Iowa. You remember we used to talk,
I can't remember how many acres they would lot off when people
went out years ago for homesteading. I can't remember it, but it was
like a mile square or something. And I would have never saw that
driving up the road and looking at it. But I can still remember
looking and going, look at this, look at each one of them. And
over here in the little corner, it may just have a little home
place. And the rest of it was a field. And you go, how did
you see that? Well, I saw it from up here.
I couldn't see it from down here. The Lord knows where to put you
so you can see it. I don't know if some of you,
I'll say this and close. I don't know if y'all have ever
heard of a place in North Carolina, the North Carolina Mountains,
a place called Boom and Blowing Rock. There's another place called
Grandfather Mountain. If you've ever seen it, the mountain,
you'd know why they call it Grandfather Mountain. You could actually
see it. It was probably 60 to 70 miles
from Wilkes-Barre, from where we lived. But on a clear day,
I could see that mountain. And I could point it out and
it looked just like an old man laying down. Looked like Grandfather
Mountain. But when you could really see
it, if you go up 105 out of Boone, and when you come around the
corner, you go, oh my goodness. But you couldn't see it just
from anywhere. But when you saw it, that's what
he's talking about. What am I saying? This may not
make any sense to you at all. But if God ever opens your eyes
and allows you to see God, that's what He's talking about. That's Him. That's Him. And we walk by faith. They walk by faith, they live
by faith. And they every one died in faith. Amen.