Good evening. If you'd open your
Bibles with me to Psalm 76. Psalm 76. As you're turning, let me give
you the good report of what a good week we had in Bible school this
week with our children. I think about how the Lord has
blessed His word over so many years. Bible school or classes
of preaching to our children. I think about that and I look
at those little faces every year and pray, oh Lord, would you
keep blessing us? Would you keep blessing your
word? I trust that he will. All right, Psalm 76. In Judah, God is known. His name
is great in Israel. In Salem also is his tabernacle
and his dwelling place in Zion. There break ye the arrows of
the bow, the shield and the sword in the battle. Thou art more
glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey. The stout-hearted
are spoiled. They have slept their sleep,
and none of the men of might have found their hands. At thy
rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and the horse are
cast into a dead sleep. Thou, even thou, art to be feared. And who may stand in thy sight
when once thou art angry? Thou didst cause judgment to
be heard from heaven. The earth feared and was still.
But God arose to judgment to save all the meek of the earth.
Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee. The remainder of
wrath shalt thou restrain. Bow and pay unto the Lord your
God. Let all that be round about him bring presence unto him that
ought to be feared. He shall cut off the spirit of
princes. He's terrible to the kings of the earth. All right,
Isaac, you come lead us in a song. Everybody stand and sing 450. There will never be a sweeter
story, story of the Savior's love divine. Love that brought him from the
realms of glory, just to save a sinful soul like mine. Isn't the love of Jesus something
wonderful, wonderful, wonderful? Oh, isn't the love of Jesus something
wonderful, wonderful it is to me? Boundless as the universe around
me Reaching to the farthest soul away Saving, keeping love, it
was that found me That is why my heart can truly say Isn't
the love of Jesus something wonderful, wonderful, wonderful? Oh, isn't the love of Jesus something
wonderful, wonderful it is to me? Love beyond our human comprehending,
Love of God in Christ, how can it be? This will be my theme
in never ending, Great redeeming love of Calvary. Isn't the love
of Jesus something wonderful, wonderful, wonderful? Oh, isn't the love of Jesus something
wonderful, wonderful it is to me? You may be seated. Turn to 236. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound, That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now
am found, Was blind, but now I see, Was grace that taught
my heart to fear And grace my fears relieved How precious did
that grace appear The hour I first believed Through many dangers,
tolls, and snares, I have already come. Tis grace hath brought
me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home. When we've been there ten thousand
years Bright shining as the sun We've no less days to sing God's
praise Than when we'd first begun If you would, for our scripture
reading, open your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter four. Hebrews, the fourth chapter. Let us therefore fear. lest a
promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should
seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached,
as well as unto them. But the word preached did not
profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard
it. For we which have believed do enter into rest. As he said,
as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest,
although the works were finished from the foundation of the world,
For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise,
and God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in
this place again, if they shall enter into my rest, seeing therefore
it remaineth that some must enter therein, for they to whom it
was first preached entered not in because of unbelief. Again,
he limited the certain day saying in David today, today. After so long a time, as it is
said today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus, or Joshua, had
given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of
another day. There remaineth therefore a rest
to the people of God. For he that has entered into
his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did
from his. Let us labor, therefore, to enter
into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of
unbelief. For the word of God is quick
and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest
in his sight, but all things are naked and opened under the
eyes of him with whom we have to do. Seeing then we have a
great high priest that has passed into the heavens, Jesus, the
son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not
a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without
sin. Let us therefore come boldly
under the throne of grace. that we may obtain mercy and
find grace to help in time of need. Well, aren't you thankful
for that high priest? Let's bow together. Our Father, we do bow before
your throne of grace. And oh, how thankful we are that
we can come before your throne at all times, pleading your mercy
and your grace. Father, we plead, we come to
thee only on the ground of thy sovereign mercy and grace and
love to your people, which is in our Lord Jesus Christ. And
Father, how we thank you for him who is our high priest, who
offered the sacrifice that puts away the sin of his people, who
ever lives to make intercession for his people, who has a heart
of compassion, for his people, these touched with the feeling
of our infirmities. What a mystery, what a great
mystery. Father, we're thankful. Father, I pray that this evening
that you have enabled us to meet together to worship your matchless
name, to lift up the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and enter
into his rest, to enter into his rest cease from all of our
works of the law, trying to earn your favor and to rest in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Father, I pray that you'd be
with our brother Mike as he comes to bring the message to us that
you've laid upon his heart. Father, uphold him with thy spirit.
Speak to his heart and open his mouth. Don't let him stand here
alone, but Father, enable him to, in clear and simple terms,
declare to us the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, let us hear. Let us hear and believe the Savior
that we hear preached. Father, we thank you for this
week we've had with our children. We thank you for the time we
had with them, the teaching of thy word. And Father, I pray
that you'd cause it to be planted in their hearts, that in thy
time you'd cause it to grow to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Father, for those who are hurting and who are sick, we pray for
them. We pray you'd undertake in their behalf to heal and to
comfort. Father, be with your people,
we pray. We know these things have not come on accident, but
they're according to your eternal will and purpose. And Father,
we pray you'd give your people a fulfillment of your promise
that you'd not leave them nor forsake them, but be with them
in these difficult times. All these things we ask in that
name which is above every name. in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ. O Lord my God, when I in awesome
wonder Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made, I see the
stars, I hear the rolling thunder Thy power throughout the universe
displayed Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee How great
Thou art How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee How great Thou art! How great Thou art! When through the woods and forest
glades I wander And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur And hear the brook and
feel the gentle breeze Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee
How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee How great Thou art! How great Thou art! And when I think that God, His
Son not sparing, Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in. That on the cross my burden gladly
bearing He bled and died to take away my sin Then sings my soul,
my Savior God, to Thee How great Thou art How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee How great Thou art! When Christ shall come, wish
out of acclamation And take me home, what joy shall fill my
heart Then I shall bow in humble adoration And there proclaim,
My God, how great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee, How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Saviour
God, to Thee How great Thou art, how great Thou art All day long, I've been so glad
I didn't have to preach tonight. Mike was coming to preach. After
that song, I'm just a little bit jealous of him. I'd like
to have a shot at that now, buddy. Oh, that was so good. Mike Walker
and his wife Sandy are with us tonight. Mike is the pastor of
Millsite Baptist Church. He is such a dear, dear friend
to me. And his congregation is just
so sweet and so special to us. And I'm so glad that you could
be here tonight with us. You come preach the message God's
given to you for us. First of all, I want to say thank you
for that song. Even when I was reading the bulletin there, Frank's
article on the hard heart, When he was singing that last verse,
you know, I don't want to ever just hear that and it just be
empty words when we think that our God, his son, not sparing,
give him to die, to put away our sins. What a God, what a
Savior. Frank, I appreciate you asking
me to come. I appreciate your pastor's friendship over the
years and We were talking, we went out to eat this evening
and talking about when we went to Mexico, I think that was in
2015. He stayed on me for a while and
I'm so glad that we finally got to go. I wouldn't have took anything
for that trip because that falls when the Lord called Brother
Covey home. But to see that work and to see how the Lord blessed
it. And now that our God, he still blesses his gospel. He
still calls his sheep wherever they're at. He's gonna find every
one of them. And he's gonna bring them. And glad to not that he's
still sitting on the throne ruling over all things, even viruses. Let's bring honor to his name. The wrath of men shall praise
him, and the remainder of it he'll restrain. If you would
turn with me and your Bible to the book of Deuteronomy. I want to begin reading in the
last verse of chapter 31. I'm thankful that our Lord remembers
that we are just dust. And in the Old Testament, especially,
he gave us metaphors, pictures, to set forth his love for his
people. We know one, especially in the
New Testament, is the shepherd and the sheep. Tonight in these
verses, I'm gonna read down through verse 12 of chapter 32. He gives the metaphor of an eagle
taking care of his young, and how that God takes care of his
elect. He watches over them, he protects
them, he keeps them, and they're his. But here in verse 30 of
chapter 31, and Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation
of Israel the words of this psalm, until they were ended. Give ear,
O ye Jews, O ye 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 you greatness unto our God. Here
in this chapter, he gives this, here's a metaphor, he speaks
of himself as a rock. And he said, our rock is not
like their rock. Everybody has a rock, and if
you want to know why that their rock is not like our rock, it
says you just asked them. They'll tell you. Because he
said, 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 ye thus requite the Lord,
O foolish people and unwise? Is not he thy father that hath
bought thee, and hath he not made thee and established thee?
Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations.
Ask thy fathers, he'll show thee, thy elders, and they will tell
you these things. When the Most High, now watch
this, 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
revolved around Israel. Everything revolved around the
elect. That was his inheritance. That's what we see in verse 9.
For the Lord's portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his
inheritance. He founded Jacob, his portion
in a desert land, in a waste, howling wilderness. He led them
about. Now notice that next statement.
He instructed them. He taught them. And he kept them
as the apple of his eye. Now verse 11, this would be our
text. As the 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 alone did lead him,
and there was no strange God with him. Here he uses is what I would
like for us to think about this evening in this eagle. this metaphor,
this eagle with her young. When you compare all fowl, they
always compare them to the eagle. I heard years ago when they were
asking men to decide what bird they wanted for our country as
the symbol of our country, they said some of them wanted a turkey.
Now I enjoy turkey hunting, but I'm glad they didn't choose a
turkey. But you think about an eagle, it's just a majestic animal.
It's the only bird, they say, that can fly and look directly
in the sun. It can fly so high it looks just
like a speck. No other bird can match it. It
has the eyes that are like could pierce through its enemy, can
look tenderly at its young. The same talons that could crush
its enemy all and rip it to pieces can feed its young. It's known for its strength,
its tenderness, The eagle cares for, feeds, protects, nurtures,
and instructs. That's what I want us to look
at. He instructs his people. They shall be all taught of God. He's the only one that can teach
us. Now we may learn facts, we may memorize things, but if we're
ever really instructed, he must teach us, and he does teach us. Psalm 71 verse 17. Oh God, thou hast taught me from
my youth. Even when you didn't even know
God, he taught you. You may not have understood it,
you may not have realized it, but he taught you. Some of you
may not know, and I hate to be personal, but when I was 13,
I'd come very close to dying, very close. And I remember my
grandmother saying she was religious. I hope she was a believer, but
I question, but that's beside the point. But there's a statement
she made, and I never forgot about it. I believe the Lord
spoke through that woman. He said, the Lord spared you
for a reason. And the Lord used that to instruct
me. I never got away from it. Now, I was 13, so you know how
it is when you become a teenager. I did exactly what I wanted to
do, but I never forgot it. And you go back and I go, who
many dangers, tolls, and snares we have already come. His grace
has brought us safe thus far, and grace will lead us home.
What's he teaching us? He'll take care of you. He watched
over you. Your steps are ordered of the
Lord. And thank goodness he does teach us. The first thing we
look at here, he stirreth up the nest. Now, what is the nest?
That's where the little ones are born. that's where they live
for some time. I don't know exactly how long
of a time they lived there, but they do. Now remember who he's
speaking to in the context. He's speaking to Israel. He's
speaking to the generation that's getting ready to go in to Canaan. The other generation died out,
and he's instructing them in the book of Deuteronomy, and
he's telling them, he's instructing them, this is what God did for
Israel. And he uses the metaphor of this
eagle. He said, this is what he did.
God stirred up the nest. What was the nest? It was called
Egypt. Where was Israel at when he found
her? Where was he at when he called her in Egypt? How did
she get in Egypt? He put her there, brought her
there. How long did she stay there? 400 years. That's a long
time to stay in a nest. They didn't try to leave. They
couldn't leave. Couldn't leave. And even a lot of times when
they did leave, some of them wanted to go back to the leeks
and onions. When did they ever get time to sit down and eat
leeks and onions? I thought all they were were
slaves. But this is talking about Israel. He found them in a waste
and howling wilderness. They were there for 400 years.
But what did he do? He stirred up the nest. Why does
an ankle stir up her nest? She's instructing her little
ones, it's time to leave. It's time to leave the nest. It's time for Israel. Things
you might think, they had went on for several hundred years,
nothing changed, till there was a pharaoh that was raised who
didn't know Joseph. And God's gonna use all these
things to stir up the nest to cause them to want to leave.
And I can tell you this, God has to stir us up. We still like
staying in the nest. We still like it where it's comfortable. We were talking about earlier
some of the things that Walter Groover went through in Mexico.
We don't know anything about that. Our life would be comfortable
compared to his. That's the way we like it. We
don't like change. We like comfortable. We like to go home, sit down
in our easy chair. That's comfortable. That's comfortable. The word stir up means to open
the eyes. It means to wake up. It's high
time for us to wake out of sleep. I can just picture them little
eagles, they're all in there, and they're just, oh, I just
love it. Man, I just love being here. Being here with the other
little eagles, and it's so nice. Oh, he starts stirring it up.
Their eyes begin to open. What's going on? He's stirring
up, he's got their attention. God must stir up his people and
God must awaken us to our need. Now how did God stir up this
nest and how does he stir up our nest? That eagle would take
sharp objects, or she may start, there was a lining inside that
nest, she may pull some of that lining off, whatever it was,
and it would be prickly. Them little eagles, which they
were laying down first, was comfortable. It's not comfortable now. This
is how he worked. Israel had become comfortable
in Egypt. We become comfortable in our
sin. And God says, it's time, I'm
not gonna leave you here because this ain't where you need to
be. It's time, it served its purpose and it's time to go. Listen, Genesis 47, six, where
did Israel live in Egypt? The land of Egypt is before thee,
Genesis 47, six. In the best of the land, make
thy fathers and thy father and brethren to dwell. in the land
of Goshen, let them dwell. You know what Goshen was? It
was the best land in all Egypt. And even when Pharaoh raised
up who didn't know Joseph, he never run them out of Goshen.
The best land? Oh yeah. Why are they there?
That's where God put them. That was the nest he made. He's
going to take 70 people and he's going to raise up a church. He's
going to raise up a whole nation in that nest. One of the things that he used,
he raised up a man named Pharaoh, who did not know God. Turn with
me to Exodus chapter one, beginning in verse five. 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. And Joseph died, and all of his
brethren, and all that generation, that generation's gone. And the
children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, were
in the nest. And they multiplied and waxed
exceedingly great and mighty, and the land was filled with
them. Now, when? Now, when they begin to multiply,
now. There arose a new king over Egypt,
which did not know Joseph, which did not know Christ, didn't care
about him. And he said to his people, behold,
the people of the children of Israel more and mightier than
we. They hadn't considered that for years. Come on, let us deal
wisely with them. Lest they multiply and it come
to pass when their 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 their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasured
cities, Python and Ramesses. Things got a little rough. God's
beginning to stir up, you see where I'm going? You could see
it. Well, we didn't do this for years. Now we're having, now
we're slaves. Why does this guy hate us so?
God raised him up for that purpose, that very purpose. So he not
only used Pharaoh, he used somebody else. You know who else he used? Moses. God spared Moses from the river.
He was raised in the palace and all the wisdom of Egypt. You
know what God was doing? Instructing him. For 40 years,
he was instructed as an Egyptian. He knew their ways, he knew it.
When it's time, God says, I'm gonna take you over here to the
backside of the desert for 40 more years, and I'm gonna instruct
you. And now it's time. And when Moses the Law showed
up, it really stirred up the nest. Things didn't get easier. Things got harder. You want to
see a picture of this in the New Testament? Paul said, I was
alive without the law once. But when the law came, sin revived
and I died. It was easy for Paul to be comfortable
in religion. God said, it's time, Paul. And
he sent Moses. And that's how God works. God
will cause things to make you realize and you're not comfortable
anymore. It's like Hezekiah said, for
my peace, he gave me bitterness. He gave me bitterness. Our Lord's waking up his church. He wakes us up. We were comfortable
in sin. It didn't bother us. Thank God
one day it did bother us. Like Paul said, when the law
came, sin revived. It was like an old monster. And
you know what? I, capital I, died. I died to my high opinion of
myself. God killed it, he kills and he
makes alive. He said this in Deuteronomy,
even in this chapter, verse 39. See now, that I, even I am him
and there is no God with me. I kill and I make alive. I wound
and I heal. He wounds them in the nest. Neither is there any that can
deliver out of my hand. You know, in the New Testament,
You see this all through the scriptures. God had raised up men, they began
to preach the gospel. 3,000 souls were saved from the
dead Pentecost. Then another time, there were
several thousand saved. Every one of us would have loved
to have been in Jerusalem. How many of us would have wanted
to leave? I wouldn't want to leave. I would have wanted to stay right
there, and that's exactly what the disciples wanted to do. But
the Lord had done told him, he said, you take the gospel into
all the world, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, then to the uttermost
parts of the earth. They ain't even left Jerusalem.
How are they gonna leave Jerusalem? God's gonna fix it. He's gonna
stir up the nest where they will want to leave. Acts chapter eight,
verse three. And as for Saul, he made havoc
of the church. entering into every house and
hailing men and women committed him to prison. Well, what was the result of
this? God's doing it for the salvation of Saul, and he's also
doing it for the salvation of his church. Therefore, they that
were scared abroad because of the habit, We can't stay there. They'll lock us up. What do we
got to do? We got to leave. You know what
happened when the winter brought? The winter brought everywhere
preaching the word. And they would never have left. We got to leave. We're just leaving. We got to leave. We can't stay
here anymore. But everywhere they went, they went preaching
the gospel. Then Philip went down to the
city of Samaria and preached Christ to them, Jerusalem, Judea,
oh, Samaria, hmm. How are they gonna get the gospel
to them in Samaria who have to be saved? God's gonna cause havoc
to come on and they're gonna go and preach the gospel. That's
how the Lord always works. None of us would have liked it
when the havoc began. What's gonna happen? Listen,
another example is in Acts chapter 13, verse 48. The Jews turned from the gospel.
They wanted to stay in their deadness, in their religion,
in their self-righteousness. But the Gentiles, when they heard
what? They heard the gospel. They were
glad. And they glorified the word of
the Lord and as many as were ordained into eternal life believed.
And the word of the Lord was published throughout all regions.
But, always notice the little word but. But the Jews stirred
up the devout and honorable women, and the chief men of the city,
and they raised persecution against Paul and Silas, and expelled
them out of their coast. But they shook off their dust
of their feet against him and went to Iconium." Just so many examples of how
the Lord, He gets us where we need to be. He makes a moment to go. When
you see all these things, you go, why did they stir this up? The Lord used him. The wrath
of men shall praise him, but the remainder he'll restrain.
In chapter 19, verse 23, in the
same time, there arose no small stir about that way. Our gracious Lord can still cause
a stir, cause people to come. Be a little personal, again,
I remember before I went to West Virginia, I've been there, hard
to believe, eight years this October. And Sandy had lived
in the same place for 50 some years. Very comfortable. My family's
there, my three daughters, soon to be four granddaughters. Sandy's
mom and dad, my parents have been gone for years, but, you
know, we had family. And, you know, by nature, you
don't want to leave. My first wife passed away and we were
living in my house, the house that I had before we got married.
And I told Sandy, I said, we're going to buy this house together,
which will be ours. So that's what we bought. We were working
on it. We worked on this house for six
months. I mean, by the time I was six months, I was so sick of
it. You know what he was doing? He was stirring up the nest.
And these thoughts kept coming to my mind because we'd went
and preached for Millsite several times and the thought was in
my mind, we may go there sometime. And I never said anything to
anybody. And I asked Sandy one day, I said, Sandy, what do you
think about that little church there in Millsite? She said,
we'll be there someday. And that was almost a year earlier.
But what I see is the Lord begin to stir up the nest. There was
trouble from a lot of sides. There was persecution from a
lot of sides. And you know what? He made us
want to go, not just to get away from the persecution, but he
was instructing us every step. And only the Lord can do that.
Let me say, I don't know what you're going through. I don't
know what you're facing, but you're facing it for a reason.
Lord knows where you need to be. He'll put you right there.
Right there. Why does God stir up his people? Because they will never stir
themselves up. Isaiah 64 verse 7. And there is none that calleth
upon thy name that stirreth up himself to take hold on thee. But he makes you weep. You'll
cry out. Israel, what did our Lord say
when he sent Moses? I've heard their cry. Lord, deliver
us from this mess. I'm sick and tired of it. I'm
tired of this. He'll make you tired of it. He
will make you tired of it. This world's not your home. You're
just sojourning. Listen, God in his grace must
arouse you and wake you up or you will perish in your sins. And what our Lord told Paul,
it's hard for you to kick against the pricks. So he was kicking
against them. What was it, those pricks? I
think that he couldn't get off of his mind seeing Stephen stoned
to death. And this man crying out said,
God have mercy upon him. I don't want to think about that.
I've got to wipe this off my mind. God says, nope. He had found comfort in his religion. So he stirs up the nest. And I like this one, he flutters. He's made the nest uncomfortable.
I can see it because it was Gil, I think, said he was the male
eagle. I can see him sitting on the side of that nest. I can
see him take his big old broad wing. And he begins to move. And he's very close to his eaglets.
There he is and he's stirring up the wind. You know what that
same word is, fluttereth? It's the same word, brood. And
the earth was or became without form and void and darkness was
upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved,
brooded upon the face of the deep. God began, you know what happened?
God began to move. And when God begins to move,
there's things happen. When the spirit of God moved
or brooded over the face of the deep, you know what? He brought
life with it. That's what he brought. The earth
describes the natural man apart from Christ. We were without
form and void. But this is not how it was originally. This is what sin caused. The earth came, became without
form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. Let
me read you this from Mr. Pink. You think about this, what happened?
What happened when Gandhi began to move? Out of the chaos, he
brought the cosmos. The cosmos which signifies order,
arrangement, and beauty. Out of the waters emerged the
earth, a scene of desolation, darkness, and death was transformed
into one of light and life and fertility, so that in the end
all was pronounced. It's very good. He said, the earth, and I thought
this was interesting, the earth no doubt moved in its orbit,
rotated upon its axis, but its motion could never mend it. It had to be moved upon by the
Spirit of God. Otherwise, it would have remained
forever, without form and void. That's as we would have just
spun and opened. Without form and void, but God
said, And there was life. Life. The eagle flutters over
her young ones. She could have left them to die
in the nest, but she didn't. She brooded over them. They get
their life from their mother. We have life imparted unto us. What a picture of the new birth
of a sinner. And the eagle, she comes to her
young on purpose. to instruct them. You know, once
she's instructed them, you've got to leave this comfortable
place. We are totally dependent upon
our God. The work of the Spirit is like
the wind moving. The wind blows where it will. Then he spreadeth abroad her
wings. The wings represent her strength. With those wings, she has the
ability to soar. You never use your wings. They
never use their wings. How are they going to know how
to use their wings? She's going to teach them. We have to be
taught. We have to be taught. Matthew 23 verse 37, here's a
parallel scripture in the New Testament, oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem.
Thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent
unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together
as a hen gathered her chickens under her wings? And ye would
not. And she begins to flutter her
wings, spread abroad her wings, She's getting ready, she's getting
ready. She's gonna be the one to take
them out of the nest. She is. They have life, but they have
to be taught, and we have to be taught over and over and over
again to depend upon our Lord. God stretched forth his arm,
to smite Egypt. And the Egyptians shall know
that I am the Lord when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt to bring
out the children of Israel from among them. The same hand that
smote Israel and smote Egypt, he brought them out. The same
hand that held back Egypt protected Israel. The same Lord. I will stretch out my hand and
smite Egypt with all my wonders. And after that, they'll let him
go. When God spreads abroad his wings, it is to protect his people. He must make the nest uncomfortable
and he has to reveal his power. Deuteronomy 26, 8. And the Lord
brought us forth out of Egypt. How did he bring us out? With
a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with terribleness and with
signs and with wonders. There was darkness that could
be felt in Egypt. And there was light in the dwelling
of Goshen. Amen. God's gonna reveal his
strength. He must bring you out by his
power. It takes the power of God to
save a sinner. We can't save someone. We can't
give someone faith. We can't even teach anybody,
but he can. He can. He taketh them. He carries them
away. He draws them. He fetches them.
He seizes them. Listen, Deuteronomy 4.20. 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 takes him. It's just like when the king
sent to fetch Mephibosheth. He went and took him and brought
him. If God intends to save you, He's
going to take you. He's going to come and get you
and pick you up and take you where you need to be. He'll bring
you to Himself. Then He bears them on His wings. Why is He
going to bear them on His wings? He's going to show them how to
fly. You picture this. He puts them
on His wings and He soars. I can see them when we're blind.
I ain't never seen nothing like this before. How are we doing
this? And you know what he would do?
He may just have one at a time. And sometimes he would do this
and let that low ego fall off. Can you imagine what's going
through that low ego's mind? Well, I'm gonna fall, I'm gonna,
this is it. And right at the last moment, I'm just gonna,
I'm just gonna. And what he's teaching them,
I've got this. Oh, the tenderness and mercy. Most birds, they say they carry
their young in their talons, but the eagle carries them on
their wings. You know why? To get to those little ones,
you'd have to kill her. To get to you, you have to go
through him. He said he would cover thee with
his feathers, and under his wings thou shalt trust, and thou shalt
be a shield and a buckler. When he puts them on his wings,
he bears their weight. And he's gonna teach them. He's gonna teach them. Half the
time. You know why? That's what eagles
do. I read somewhere one time, they'd say some old eagles, they
just get so old and they just get to the place where they just
couldn't fly. You know, that would be a sad statement. Just
imagine this eagle, it's just nature to soar. He can soar above
the storms. Think about that. Soaring above
the clouds, above the storm. Listen, Isaiah chapter 40, verse
28, you know this. Has thou not known and has thou
not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of
the ends of the earth, he faileth not, neither is weary. There's
no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint
and to them that have no might, he increases strength. I feel
sometimes like that old eagle that just can't fly, have no
strength. But he said, He giveth power
to the faint, and to them that have no strength, no might, he
increases strength. Even the youth shall faint and
be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait
upon the Lord, they shall renew their strength. They shall mount
up with wings of eagles. They shall run and not be weary.
They shall walk. The weight upon him is to see
our need of him. You know what? He will teach
you to walk by faith. That's how we soar above the
storm. If we don't soar above the storm, it's our own fault.
Lord, help thou mine unbelief. And when he encourages your faith,
There's nothing to that. Look, He brought you out of Egypt.
He stirred up the nest. He made it uncomfortable and
He taught you to trust Him. And He's going to teach you how
to walk by faith. By faith. If you've then been risen with
Christ, seek those things which are above. That's our nature.
Not the things of this earth. These things are just passing
by. It's just fleeting things. Our
affection is set upon Him. Set your affection. It's not
affections with an S. Set your affection on things
above. Not on things of the earth. For
you are dead. You're dead to this world. And
your life is hid with Christ and God. Frank, I want to soar to the
stars. And you do too. You know why? That's what He's told you. I'm tired of the old, the world. There's no comfort here. There's
no rest. Our rest is in Him. He's our rest. You know, I just
love to imagine that. It just seems effortless, just
soaring. You know what, the wind just
lifts him up. He just soars, you know what that is? That's
a picture of faith, we just soar. That's what he's done for us. And he has to keep teaching us.
It's like when he come to Elijah, he said, Elijah, what are you
doing? What are you doing like a nigger,
just molting around, just, niggers, I'm the only one left. He said, I want to die. Here's
a man who's going to glory without dying, wanting to die. The day
before, he's standing on Mount Carmel, and God reveals his glory,
and he's on, he's soaring above the clouds. The next day, he's
sitting like this. What's going on? What are you
doing here, Elijah? He said, he laid down and got
rest, He woke up and he said, here, you eat this. He said,
you go in the strength of this meat for 40 days. He said, your
work's not done. And I can see that a week later.
They shall mount up with wings of eagles. They shall run and
not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Listen, in Revelation chapter
12, and that chapter is talking about when the picture of the
woman who brought forth Christ into the world, And Satan was
standing there to devour the hill as soon as he was born,
like when Harry tried to kill our Lord. And he was called up
to heaven. Then he turns his attention on
the woman, on the church. And the woman were given two
wings of a great eagle, that she might be able to fly into
the wilderness, into her place. where she is nourished for a
time, time, and half a time from the face of the serpent. And
if you read the rest of that chapter, it says he spewed this
water out of his mouth to try to destroy the church. He spewed
what? False doctrine out of his mouth,
and he does it, and they do it to destroy the church. And you
know what happened? The earth helped the woman. They
swallowed up the heresy. But what about his church? She
flies into a place that was prepared. I think it was that place in
the rock where God said, I'm gonna put you in that cliff.
And when I come by, I'm gonna take away my hand. You can see
my back part. You can see my glory. Lord, thank you for your tenderness
and your kindness love and compassion for you people for teaching us
every day. I made me a note. I think our Lord
stirs up this world. To me, it seems like he's stirring
it up to make us want to leave. You know that I have borne you
on ankles, wings. And why did he do that? And here
it is. To bring you to my sight. And that's what salvation is.
It's when God in his grace brings you to him. And teaches us always
to look to him. We are just like this. Great to have you. Amen. Oh, thank you, Mike. I don't
know about y'all, but I need that. I worshipped tonight and
learned. Not really learned anything new.
Saw pictures of the gospel, pictures of Christ, didn't know were there
before. That is such a blessing. Thank you. Thank you so much.
May God bless you. All right, guys, you can leave
us in some. Turn to 222. you There is a fountain filled with
blood Drawn from Emmanuel's veins And sinners plunged beneath that
flood Lose all their guilty stains Lose all their guilty stains
Lose all their guilty stains And sinners plunged beneath that
flood lose all their guilty stains. The dying thief rejoiced to see
that fountain in his day. And there may I He wash all my sins away, wash
all my sins away, wash all my sins away. And there may I, though vile
as He, wash all my sins away, dying lamb, thy precious blood
shall never lose its power. Till all the ransomed church
of God be safe to sin no more, be safe to sin no more, be safe
to sin no more. Till all the ransomed Church
of God be saved to sin no more. E'er since, by faith, I saw the
stream thy flowing wounds supply. Redeeming love has been my theme,
and shall And shall be till I die And shall
be till I die Redeeming love has been my theme And shall be
till I die When this poor lisping, stammering tongue Lies silent
in the grave Then in a nobler, sweeter song I'll sing thy power
to save I'll sing thy power to save I'll sing thy power to save
Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I'll sing thy power to save.