THE EAGLE

Eagle Height

(Part 2)

Isaiah 40:1-31

New Season

“Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” Says your God. ² “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the Lord’s hand Double for all her sins.” ³ The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. ⁴          Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; ⁵ The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

All Flesh is Grass so behold your God! He is Strong yet Tender and Gentle

⁶ The voice said, “Cry out!” And he said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. ⁷    The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. ⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” ⁹ O Zion, You who bring good tidings, Get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” ¹⁰ Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him.¹¹ He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.

His Might

¹² Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span

And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales

And the hills in a balance? ¹³ Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or as His counselor has taught Him? ¹⁴  With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him,

And taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, And showed Him the way of understanding? ¹⁵ Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing. ¹⁶ And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. ¹⁷ All nations before Him are as nothing, And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless. ¹⁸ To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?

Futility of Idols

¹⁹ The workman molds an image, The goldsmith overspreads it with gold, And the silversmith casts silver chains. ²⁰ Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution

Chooses a tree that will not rot; He seeks for himself a skillful workman To prepare a carved image that will not totter.

God’s Swag!

²¹ Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? ²² It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. ²³ He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. ²⁴ Scarcely shall they be planted, Scarcely shall they be sown, Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, When He will also blow on them, And they will wither, And the whirlwind will take them away as stubble. ²⁵ “To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One. ²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing.

Why do You Doubt Me

²⁷ Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: “My way is hidden from the Lord, And my just claim is passed over by my God”?

²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. ²⁹ He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might, He increases strength. ³⁰ Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, ³¹           But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

Background of the Text

I.                   MOUNT UP

To ascend; to lead up; to lead out; to bring up; to cause to rise

1.     Revolution

There is Rank in the Spiritual Realm

Ephesians 6:12

¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

2 Corinthians 11:5

⁵ For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles.

a.      The rank is usually by faith unto grace…

Romans 5:2

Through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

2.     You Seldom Lose your Peace

Acts 20:18-24

“You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, ¹⁹ serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; ²⁰ how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, ²¹ testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. ²² And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, ²³ except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. ²⁴ But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

3.     Be Comfortable with Your Identity and Authority

Colossians 2:10

¹⁰ and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

4.     Your View is Upward

2 Corinthians 4:8-10,12,16-18

⁸ We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—¹⁰ always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body…¹² So then death is working in us, but life in you…¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.  ¹⁸ while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Answer Key: Seldom, Comfortable