Bibles please to Isaiah chapter
42. Isaiah 42. Isaiah chapter 42
begins with a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ and then with
a picture of us and then in chapter 43 something happened. Let's
read it together. Behold my servant, that's the
Lord Jesus Christ, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. He shall not fail, nor be discouraged,
till he hath set judgment in the earth, and the isle shall
wait for his law. Thus saith God the Lord. He that
created the heavens and stretched them out. He that spread forth
the earth and that which cometh out of it. He that giveth breath
unto the people upon it and spirit to them that walk therein. I
the Lord have called thee in righteousness and will hold thine
hand and will keep thee and give thee for a covenant of the people
for a light of the Gentiles, to open the blind eyes, to bring
out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness
out of the prison house. I am the Lord, that is my name,
and my glory will I not give to another Neither my praise
to graven images. Behold, the former things are
come to pass, and new things do I declare. Before they spring
forth, I tell you of them. Sing unto the Lord a new song,
and his praise from the end of the earth. Ye that go down to
the sea and all that is therein, the isles and the inhabitants
thereof, let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their
voice. The villages that Kedar doth
inhabit, let the inhabitants of the rocks sing. Let them shout
from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory unto the
Lord and declare his praise in the islands. The Lord shall go
forth as a mighty man. He shall stir up jealousy like
a man of war. He shall cry, yea, roar. He shall prevail against his
enemies. I have long time holding my peace. I have been still and refrained
myself. Now will I cry like a prevailing
woman. I will destroy and devour at
once. I will make waste mountains and
hills and dry up all their herbs. and I will make the rivers islands,
and I will dry up all the pools. And I will bring the blind by
a way that they knew not. I will lead them in paths that
they have not known. I will make darkness light before
them and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them
and not forsake them. They shall be turned back. They
shall be greatly ashamed that trust in graven images and say
to the molten images, you are our gods. Hear ye deaf, and look
ye blind, that ye may see. Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? Who is blind as he that
is perfect, and blind as the Lord's servant? Seeing many things,
but thou observest not. Opening the ears, but he heareth
not. The Lord is well pleased for
His righteousness' sake. He will magnify the law and make
it honorable. But this is a people robbed and
spoiled. They are all of them snared in
holes. and they are hid in prison houses. They are for a prey, and none
delivereth, for a spoil, and none saith restore. Who among
you will give ear to this? Who will hearken and hear for
the time to come? Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and
Israel to the robbers? Did not the Lord, He against
whom we have sinned, For they would not walk in his ways, neither
were they obedient unto his law. Therefore he hath poured upon
them the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle, and it
hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not, and it burned
him, yet he laid it not to heart. But now, don't you like that?
But now, something's happened. But now, thus saith the Lord
that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee By thy
name, thou art mine. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Sabab for thee. Since thou wast precious in my
sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee. Therefore
will I give men for thee and people for thy life. Fear not,
for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the
east. and gather them, gather thee
from the west. What a passage of scripture.
Let's pray. So good to see you this morning.
I feel so honored to be here. I appreciate your pastor calling
me and asking me if I'd come. It's a privilege and an honor
to meet with God's people on Sunday morning. We'll meet anytime,
but especially on Sunday morning. Bob Coffey, most of y'all know
Bob, he's speaking for me, Lord willing, this morning. I talked
to him just a little bit ago and he told me to make sure to
tell y'all he said hello. We serve a gracious God, a mighty
God. Like that song y'all just sang,
I'm thankful that God has provided a mercy seat. Because without
that mercy seat, none of us have any hope. What we need this morning
as we gather together is mercy. And that's where God said, I'll
meet with you. That's where I will commune with you. It's on that
mercy seat. And there's only one mercy seat,
and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. Apart from him, there is no mercy.
It is only wrath. I pray God does not give me what
I deserve. Because if I get what I deserve,
and if you get what you deserve, we're in a mess. We are in a
mess. But you know what mercy is? God
doesn't give you what you deserve. That's mercy, isn't it? That's
mercy. Simple and plain, that's mercy.
He doesn't give you what you deserve. In grace, he gives you
what you never worked for and what you never earned, what he
earned and what he gave. Let's open our Bible this morning
to Deuteronomy chapter 32. Deuteronomy chapter 32. You'll notice this
is almost the end Deuteronomy. Moses is speaking to this generation
who had come through the wilderness and they're getting ready to
go in and be led by Joshua into the land of Canaan, the land
of promise, the land of inheritance. And Moses is speaking to these
people. this generation who were raised up in the wilderness.
Except for Joshua and Caleb, all that came out of Egypt died
in the wilderness. These people were born in the
wilderness and they had to hear what happened in Egypt. They
were told what happened, how that God had brought them out,
and now Moses is getting ready. You know if you read on in the
next couple of chapters, he's getting ready to die. God's getting
ready to take him out of this world. The law served its purpose.
Moses is going to die, but he's instructing these people about
what God had done for them. We read, first of all, let's
go back to verse 30 of chapter 31. I'm just going to read the
first 11 or 12 verses. And Moses spake in the ears of
the congregation of Israel the words of this psalm until they
were ended. Give ear, O you heavens, and
I will speak and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine
shall drop as the rain. My speech shall distill as the
dew. as the small rain upon the tender
herb, as the showers upon the grass, because I will publish
the name of the Lord, ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the rock. His work is perfect. For all his ways are judgment,
a God of truth and without iniquity. Just and right is he. They have
corrupted themselves. Their spot is not the spot of
his children. They are a perverse and crooked
generation. Do you 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? Verse seven, remember the days
of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask thy fathers, he'll show you,
thy elders, and they will tell thee 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. Everything
had an eye to Israel. Everything God did was for his
elect. For the Lord's portion is his
people. Now you think about that. The
Lord's portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in the desert, in
a desert land and in the waste and howling wilderness. He led
him about, he instructed him and he kept him. as the apple
of his eye. What an amazing statement. He's
telling these people, you're here today because God kept you
by his grace because there is a people that are the apple of
his eye. They're the object of his divine
favor. And here will be our verse. as
an eagle, stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth
abroad her wings, she taketh them, spreadeth them, spareth
them on her wings. So the Lord alone did lead him,
and there was no strange God. Who did the work? He did the
work. What I want us to focus on there
is verse 11. Our Lord is as Gary read there
in Isaiah 42 and 43. He said, this is how God pictures
himself. He said, behold, my servant.
He's pictured as a servant. He's pictured in many pictures
in the scriptures. He's pictured by many metaphors.
And here in this verse, he pictures himself as an eagle. taking care
of his young. That's what he said. As an eagle,
he said he kept them as the apple of his eye, as an eagle, stirreth
up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her
wings, she taketh him and beareth him on her wings. So the Lord
alone did lead him, and there was no strange God with him.
Here we see in this verse, this is what I want us to look at
today, As the eagle takes care of his little eagles, God preserves
and takes care of his people. The eagle is known for its strength. Every other bird is compared
to the eagle. I'm glad when they were picking out an eagle or
something, a bird for our country, I'm glad that they didn't go,
I think it was Benjamin Franklin, he wanted to go with the turkey.
I'm thankful that they picked out the eagle. I'm hoping that
somebody had some spiritual sense about them and knew what this
picture, this is what it pictures, it pictures something of strength.
It's the only bird that can fly directly into and look into the
sun. The only one. The only one. It
is known for its swiftness. They say that an eagle can fly
when it's going after his prey over 200 miles an hour. That's
pretty fast. Oh, how swift our God is. Oh,
how strong he is. It can soar higher than any other
bird. It's known for its strength.
But we're going to see today it is also known for its tenderness. Those same talons that can capture
prey can feed its young. It is known for its strength,
it is known for its tenderness, but oh those loving eyes when
it looks at its young with tenderness and grace and kindness. The eagle
cares for, feeds, protects, and nurtures its young. And most
of all, we read here that he, in verse 10, he instructs them. You know what we always need
when we come here this morning? I pray that God, by his grace,
would instruct us. They shall be all taught of God.
If you're his, God will teach you. And every day of your life,
if you're a child of God, he will never cease instructing
you and teaching you his ways, his wonders, his grace. He's
going to teach them. And he does teach us. He keeps
on teaching us because we don't get the lesson. It's hard for
us to learn because of our own nature. Like I said, it says
in John, they shall be all taught of God. Psalm 71, 17, Oh God,
that has taught me from my youth. What is the first thing he says
here in this verse? He stirreth up her nest. What is the nest? The nest is
where they live. The nest is where they dwelt. Where did Israel dwell? Where
did God find her? What was her nest? It was a place
called Egypt, the land of Ham. You think about this, God took
Jacob. He said, don't be afraid to go
to Egypt. He took him to Egypt because Joseph was there. Why
was Joseph in Egypt? To spare many people. God sent
him there. And God took Israel to Egypt. And they were there for over
400 years. You imagine that. 400 years. God put them there. God placed
them there. And that was the nest that God
put them in. It said in verse 10, he found him in a waste and
howling wilderness. Where did God find you? That's
where you was at in your nest too, in a barren place, in a
wilderness. That's where you lived. That's
where you were born. That's where we resided. They
were there for over 400 years in that infant state. What's
God doing for 400 years? I tell you exactly what he's
doing. He's raising up a nation. We see, we're going to read in
a minute in Exodus chapter 1, when they went there were only
70 people. Now we don't know how many there were. They probably
cut several million. And God has raised up a nation. God has raised up a people. And
you know what? They have to be instructed to
leave. They have no way to leave. They
can't set themselves free. And if the truth be told, we
don't want to leave. Even when they came out of Egypt
to re-read the story of the children of Israel in Egypt, they're always
wanting to go back. Why? Does that not describe us? It describes us. Here it says
she stirs up her nest. That word stir up means to open
the eyes, to awaken them. You know what grace is? When
God awakens you to your need and he makes you see where you
are. He's got to stir up your nest.
God must stir up his people. We steal. He says, Awake thou
that sleepest and arise from the dead, then not the wise and
the foolish virgins both go to sleep. It's high time to awake
out of our sleep. Our salvation is nearer than
when we first believed. And listen, he won't ever stop
stirring up your nest. How did God stir them up? Sometimes the eagle would put
sharp objects in the nest to make the nest uncomfortable.
I can just picture that little eagle. Oh, it just wants that
nest to be so perfect. I found me a little place and
I'm just going to sit right here. You may sit there for a while,
but if you're God's, he's going to make the nest uncomfortable.
That's grace. He's going to stir up the nest. Israel had become comfortable
in Egypt. Where did they live? They lived in the land of Goshen.
It says in Genesis 47, 6, the land of Egypt is before thee.
In the best of the land, make thy father and thy brethren to
dwell in the land of Goshen. Let them dwell. Where did they
dwell? In the best part of Egypt. Who would want to leave Goshen?
They didn't. But what I want you to see, when
God said it's time, In the time of his love, in the day of his
grace, he said, I'm going to stir up the nest. And when God
intends to stir up the nest, he's gonna stir it up. He don't
ask people's permission. Because it's his nest, those
are his eagles, and it's all his. Come with me back to Exodus
chapter one. How did God stir up that nest?
How did he stir up Egypt? What did God do? Exodus chapter
one, verse five. And all the souls that came out
of the loins of Jacob were 70 souls, for Joseph was in Egypt
already, verse 5. And Joseph died, and all his
brethren, and all that generation. And the children of Israel were
fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding
great, and the land was filled with them. Don't you see verse
8? I want everyone to see this. Now there arose a new king over
Egypt. which didn't know Joseph. Was it saying Romans 9? For this
same purpose, Pharaoh, have I raised you up. This man was born at
the precise time in history and God's going to use this man as
a thorn in Israel's side to stir up the nest. Let me tell you
a little secret. Everything that's happening in
this world and everything that's happening in this nation is happening
on purpose. God Almighty has a people he's
going to save. And to save him, he has to stir
up the nest. That's how he always works. He
says, I kill and I make alive, and that's how he always works.
He never departs from that. So he's going to make the nest
uncomfortable. Why? He's going to raise up a
Pharaoh who doesn't know Joseph, who doesn't love Joseph, who
doesn't love Christ, who doesn't love the gospel, and he doesn't
love the people of God. That's what it's saying. And
he said unto his people, behold, the people of the children of
Israel are more and mightier than we. Come on, let us deal
wisely with them, lest they multiply and it come to pass that when
their fall without any war, they join also into the enemies and
fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. Therefore,
did they set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. Now it's not comfortable anymore,
now it's a burden. Once sin was comfortable, now
sin's not comfortable anymore. Now sin's a burden, now it's
a weight. And they built for Pharaoh treasured
cities, Python and Ramesses. Don't you see verse 12? But the
more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. What did Pharaoh say? We're going
to afflict them so they won't multiply. But the more they afflicted
them, the more they multiplied. Even the wrath of men will praise
our God. Isn't this amazing? He means it for evil, but God
means it for good. You think about it. You remember
that. You remember that this November. They mean it for evil,
but God means it for good. God, our God's in control. Our
God is sovereign over all things. This man says, ah, we're going
to afflict them. We don't want them to multiply. And the whole
time, God uses it to multiply them, and they grew. And they
were grieved because of the children of Israel. So you see this, this
is the thorn that God has put in the nest. And don't you know
the Israel's now saying, what's going on? We're not comfortable
anymore. We're having to work as slaves. Every one of us, by nature, are
slaves to sin. And we cannot set ourselves free. It would be a sad story if we
just stopped there, wouldn't it? He's afflicted them, but
that's not the other part of the story. What else did he do
to afflict them? What else did he do to stir up
the nest? He raised up a man named Moses, sent Moses to the
backside of the desert after he'd lived in Pharaoh's house
for 40 years. Now God brings him back and he
sent him to Israel to bring out his people. But what I want you
to see, you know what happens when God sends the law? You just
stir up a place. The law, when it comes in its
power, what did Paul say? I was alive without the law once,
but when the law came, sin revived, and I died. You know what Paul
was? He was comfortable in his religion. Paul was happy being
a Pharisee of the Pharisees. That was his nest. That's where
he was dwelling till God sent the law, and it stirred it up,
stirred it up. He said, I was alive without
the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. The law entered that the offense
might abound. Now listen, our Lord sends his
preachers to those who he has chose and loved with an everlasting
love to arouse them. convicting them of their sins,
causing them to see their wretched and miserable condition, and
then plucking them like firebrands from the fire. I'd like to be
in that room when Moses walked into Pharaoh's room that day.
Wouldn't you like to have been a fly on the wall? When Moses
walked in and he says, Pharaoh, God has said, let my people go. And he said, who is your God
that I should obey? Basically, Moses said, you just
hold on. You're getting ready to find out. You know what I
want you to see is when the law came in, it caused a stir. And it does. The law's not made
for a righteous man, but for an unrighteous man. The law,
you see the holiness of God, the justice of God, and you can't
keep the law. You can't satisfy the law. It's
only kept in the ark, covered by the mercy seat. But God sent
Moses, and it created, he stirred up the nest. You know, we see
this in the early church. What did our Lord say? He said,
you stay in Jerusalem till you be endued with power from on
high, then you go preach in the gospel to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria,
and into the uttermost parts of the earth. And on the day
of Pentecost, God saved 3,000 souls. Who wouldn't want to stay
in Jerusalem? God said, you're not to stay
in Jerusalem. And they didn't want to leave Jerusalem. So you
know what God did? God stirred up the nest. And
Acts chapter 8 verse 3, And as for Saul, he made havoc of the
church, entering into every house, and hailing men and women, committed
them to prison. Therefore they that were scattered
abroad went everywhere. You know where they went? Preaching
the gospel. Exactly what he told them to
do. What I want you to see is I still see Mike Walker. I want
to stay where it's comfortable. I want to stay where there's
a revival going on, where God's blessing, where God's honoring
his word. But God says, I want you to go
over there and preach the gospel. We're going to stay right here.
We want to stay right here. I went this year for the first
time to Mexico, and I'm so glad I did. I was so scared to death
about going. But to see those people, and to see what Cody
and especially Walter and his wife had done for years, is anybody
want to sign up this morning to go to Mexico? Somebody asked
him one time, they said, Walter, he said, are you happy? You know
what he said? My happiness has nothing to do
with it. But what I want you to see is
God allowed even Paul to stir up the church and create habit
so they'd go preach the gospel. We see that again in Acts chapter
13 verse 48. They preached the gospel to the
Jews and they wouldn't have it. They despised the gospel. And
it said, when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified
the word of the Lord and as many as were ordained to eternal life
believed. And the word of the Lord was
published throughout all the region. Did it accomplish his
purpose? Yes. Why? God stirred up the
nest. He stirred it up. But the Jews
stirred up the devout and honorable women and the chief men of the
city and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled
them out of their coast. They said, we don't want you
around here. But they shook off the dust of their feet against
him and they came to Iconium. You see the picture? That's saying
I stirred up the nest to awaken you to your need of me. And he sent the law to make you
see who you really are. Every time you look at the law,
it still says the same. It says you're a wicked, vile,
corrupt thing. From the top of your head to
the sole of your foot, there's no soundness in it. None. The
world is not our home. We're just sojourning in this
place. God in his grace must arouse you and awaken you or
you will perish in your sin. The spirit of God must convict
of sin. Must convict of sin. If we knew what sin was, we'd
be ashamed to leave the house. Isn't that right? Every time
I see someone in the scriptures who saw Christ, they're on their
face before God. I'm a man of unclean lips. Peter
said, depart from me, Lord, I'm a sinful man. So he stirred them
up. Then what does it say? It says
they flutter or she flutters over, she fluttereth over her
young. That word fluttereth means to
brood or to hover over. Turn with me to Genesis chapter
1. Genesis chapter 1. He stirred up, she stirred up
the nest but she's not through. That's where she begins. Genesis
chapter 1 verse 1, in the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth. And the earth was without form
and void. Someone said you could read,
and I read this the other day, and I don't have a problem with
it whatsoever. The word was can also be because. And the earth, I'm sorry, the
earth became without form and void. God didn't make it without
form and void when he originally made it. No, he didn't. Everything
God made is perfect. How'd he make Adam? He made him
perfect and upright. But that ain't how he became.
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth and
we don't know the space between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. We don't
know how much time was there. We don't know. We just don't
know. And the earth became without form and void and darkness was
upon the face of the deep and the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters. And what that word moved is?
Fluttered. The Spirit of God fluttered over
the face. What's it saying? The Spirit
of God brooded over the face of the deep. It's without form
and void. Darkness is upon the face of
the deep. There's no dry land. There's
nothing but darkness. That's all they are. You know
what it is? There's nothing but chaos. Isn't that it? Chaos. And God said, let there be light. And there was like, what is this
a picture of? This is a picture of you. Can we still, are we
still Adam? Adam was made perfect and upright.
Adam named every one of the animals, every one of them. He had perfect
communion with God, but then he fell, and he's without form
or void. He's totally corrupt, dead, and
unless the spirit of God moves upon a man, he'll perish just
like that. What if God had not moved upon
this earth? What if God had just left it
like it was? It would have stayed that way.
Listen to what Arthur Pink says, bless my heart, he said, out
of the chaos was brought the cosmos. What does the word cosmos
mean? It means order, arrangement,
and beauty. Where we live, we are blessed
to see some of the prettiest sunrises I've ever seen. We walked
out the other morning and his head came up, you see the blue
and the orange, you know, the sun's getting ready to come up.
Why is that? This is my father's world, that's why. Out of the
chaos became the cosmos. Well, why does this earth still
spin in its orbit? It's arranged, it's ordered,
everything, it's exactly the way it's supposed to be. It's
order, and the things are not out of order, everything's are
in order. Why? Because the Spirit of God moved
upon the face of the waters. You were without. You were dark
and dead in your trespasses and sins. But the Spirit of God,
you know what He did? He moved upon you. He brooded
over you. And when He brooded, He brought
life. He brought life. And now there's order. And we see it. Before salvation,
everything was a mess. I couldn't understand anything.
But now we understand somewhat. We see through a glass darkly,
but we see that God controls it all. And why do you see? Because
he gave you sight. He said, let there be light. He fluttereth over. I kept chicken
sitting down over her little bitties. You know what she's
doing? She's brooding over them. I heard Paul Mahan tell a story
one time. He said he used to raise chickens. And he had some
laying hens who had a bunch of little biddies. And he said that
little chicken house he had caught on fire. Burned up every chicken
in it. Every one of them died. And he's
walking out through there and all there is left is a bunch
of ashes. He's just walking along. He just sees what he thinks is
a bunch of ashes. And he kicks it. And it's a dead hen. And
when he kicks that dead hen out from under her, runs those little
biddies. Spirit of God moved upon them. She flutters. She flutters. She broods over
her little ones. Why don't she do it? They're
hers. Can you picture this in your mind? He raises up Pharaoh. He sends Moses to the children
of Israel. And now God begins to move. God
begins to move. And when God begins to move,
he moves to give life. The law brings nothing but death.
The law can't give life. It can't. But he gives the life. He gives life. Someone said the
earth. You think about the earth. It
was without form and void. The earth, no doubt, moved in
its orbit and rotated upon its axis, but its motions could not
mend its ways. It had to be moved upon by the
Spirit of God. Otherwise, it would remain forever
without form and void. Then it says, she spreadeth abroad
her wings. I think her wings represent her
strength. God will reveal, and God did
reveal to Egypt. What did he reveal? He revealed
his sovereign power. You think about all those plagues
that he brought. He brought 10 plagues upon Egypt. You know
what he's bringing them on? He's bringing upon their gods. They worship
the Nile River. They worship frogs. They worship
flies. They worship everything. And
God brought judgment on their gods. And God revealed his mighty
power. Our Lord said in Matthew 23,
37, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and
stonest them which are sent unto thee, how long would I have gathered
thy children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under
her wings? And you would not. She spreads
abroad her wings over the nest. You know why? She's getting ready
to take them out of the nest. That's why. You know what she's
doing? I can guarantee she's got their
attention. If I was that little eagle in that nest, I can see
if she maybe gets up on the side of that nest and she spreads
abroad her mighty wings. You know why? When she's got
them tucked in, you don't see them. But you let her spread
them. You let God, he talks about revealing his arm. God exposing
his arm. You know what he does? He reveals
his strength. He reveals it. He reveals it. Let me give you
a couple scriptures. Exodus chapter three, verse 20.
I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all my wonders,
which I will do in the midst thereof. And after that, he'll
let you go. Why did he let them go? Because
he spread forth his wings. He revealed his mighty arm. Exodus
7 verse 5, and the Egyptians shall know that I'm the Lord. He said, they'll know I'm God.
You know, I thought this was ironic. You remember when they
came to Jericho and Rahab the harlot was there? You know what
she said? This has been 40 years later. She said, we heard what
your God did to Pharaoh. For this same purpose have I
raised you up that I might display my power in thee. The Egyptians
shall know that I'm the Lord. When I stretch forth my hand
upon Egypt and I bring out the children of Israel from among
them, the same wings that can smite the enemy can carry the
young. When God spreads abroad his wings,
it's to protect his people. He gets the attention of his
people both, and he gets the attention of the enemy. It's
judgment upon them. We must look to him and rely
upon him for everything. You know what our problem is?
When we get our eyes off of him. I think about Peter walking on
the water. As long as he kept his eyes on Christ, he was fine.
But you get your eyes off him, you see what happens. Look at
me, look at him. He must make the nest uncomfortable.
He must brood over his nest and he must make his power known. The gospel is the power of God
to salvation. He said, I'm going to send one
more plague. And after that, he'll let you go. You know what
it is? It's the death of the firstborn. It's the Passover
lamb. Is sacrificed and he says get
out of here get out of here and you know what? He did he brought
israel out of the nest. He brought him out Deuteronomy
26 8 and the lord brought us forth out of egypt with a mighty
hand and with a stretched out arm and with great terribleness
and with signs And with wonders and he says he an eagle stir
as an eagle stirs up her nest fluttereth over her young spreadeth
abroad her wings she taketh them and beareth them on her wings.
She takes them. That means she carries them away.
It's the same word for draw. She draws us to him. No man can come to me except
the Father draw him. And it's also the word fetched. Remember what he did to Mephibosheth.
What did he do? He said, go fetch him. You know
what he did to those in Egypt? He took them. He took them. He
fetched them. He seized them. He picked them
out. Isn't that how God saves his
elect? He has to fetch them. He has to draw them. He has to
seize them. He said, I'm bringing them out.
Every last one of them. There's not a one of them left
behind. Let me remind you again this morning, God has an elect
people that he's going to save. And he's going to fetch. He's
going to bring. He's going to draw. He's going
to seize every single one of them. Then he bareth them on
his wings. You know, this is what he said
in Exodus 19 verse 4. He said, you've seen what I did
to the Egyptians and how that I bear you on eagles' wings and
brought you unto myself. Most birds carry their young
in their talons, not an eagle. They carry them on their wings.
You know what he did to Israel? You know what he did to his elect?
He gets them, he puts them on his sovereign wing and he carries
them all the days of their lives. You know why he carries them?
He's protecting them. To get to that little eagle,
you've got to go through her. To get to one of God's elect,
you've got to go through our surety. You've got to go through
our Redeemer. There's never been a moment when
he didn't carry you. To bring him to himself at the Red Sea,
when Pharaoh, he changed his mind. He said, I'll get him,
I'll bring him back. You know what God did? God shut
him in between the Red Sea, and God got between Pharaoh and the
children of Israel. And they, he couldn't touch them.
They cannot, nobody touch you unless he lets them. What he
said about Job said, have you considered my servant Job Satan?
He said, you can touch him, but you can't take his life. And
what they said to Ruth, when she came from Moab, said, the
Lord recompense thy work and a full reward be given to thee
of the Lord God of Israel under whose wings thou art come to
trust. He took them out on his wings.
He bears all their weight. You know why? They can't fly,
that's why. They can't fly. You know why
he put them on the wings also? Now listen to me, I want everybody's
attention. Why did he do all this? Why did
he stir up the nest? Why did he brood over them? Why
did he spread forth his wings? Why did he put them on his wings?
He's going to teach them to fly. He will teach you every day that
you must walk by faith. You know what they say that eagle
will do? Man, you can imagine how high she's soaring and she's
got them little eagles on her back. And you know what she'll
do? She'll deliberately dump them off. If that little eagle
could speak, what would it say? Man, I'm scared to death. And
about the time it hits the ground, he flies under them and catches
them. You know what he has to teach
us. You trust me. Trust me. Listen, Isaiah chapter
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 gives power to the faint,
and to them that have no might, he increases strength. Even the
youth shall fain and grow weary. Even the young grow fain and
grow weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they
that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall
mount up with wings as eagles. Hmm, isn't that strange? How
does he describe it? How does he describe them? He
said, this is what they will do. They will mount up and they
do. All God's people will, cause
they're his. He teaches them to soar above
this world. I mentioned Job. You imagine,
okay, Job, he's lost all of his children. God's stirred up his
nest, ain't he? He's taken everything he's got.
He's stirred up his nest. And his wife says, why don't
you curse God and die? He says, the Lord gave, and the Lord hath
taken away. How can a man say that? He soars
like an eagle. He's starting to fly. The Lord
gave, the Lord hath taken away. They shall mount up with wings
as equals, they shall run and not be weary. They shall walk
and not faint. What did God do to Israel for
40 years in the wilderness? He taught them. He gave them
manna every day. Their clothes never wore out.
God give me faith in those children. Listen, Colossians chapter 3
verse 1. If you then be risen with Christ,
Seek those things which are above, for Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection, not affection, set your affection
on the things, set your affection on things above, not on the things
of the earth, for you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ
in God. Let me give you one more scripture.
In the book of Revelation, chapter 12, verse 14, he's speaking of
the church, and he said unto the woman, We're given two wings
of a great eagle that she may fly into the wilderness, into
her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half
a time from the face of the serpent. He provides a place for his church
and he provides her the faith to trust him and to rest in him. Has this made any sense? Boy,
I hope it has. God, teach me the lesson. Teach
me the lesson. Amen.