Renew Sermon Series
Part 4
The Product of Renewal
Isaiah 40:31 …they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary;
and they shall walk, and not faint.
Intro: What happens when we allow God to RENEW our strength? The prophet Isaiah gave three separate results
- they shall mount up with wings as eagles
- they shall run, and not be weary
- and they shall walk, and not faint.
All three of these have the same common theme – perseverance; stamina; endurance.
Each one of these could be a separate message.
If there is anything we need today, it is a church full of enduring; stedfast; unwavering believers.
Christians that are not characterized by fainting and weariness.
There is easily a month’s worth of preaching just in the last part of this verse.
We could preach an entire series on the word RUN.
- Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
- Galatians 5:7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?
- Corinthians 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
- 1 Peter 4:4 Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
We could preach an entire series on the word WALK.
We could look at:
- Genesis 5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he [was] not; for God took him.
- Psalms 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
- Colossians 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
- Ephesians 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
- Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
- 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Maybe later we can look more in depth at those two words.
But I want to focus on that first one this morning. – they shall mount up with wings as eagles
I. The Significant Possibility
Man has always been infatuated with the prospect of flying.
Gravity has always been a formidable obstacle to man’s efforts to fly.
JOKE: Two ole hillbillies were out fishing one day when a plane flew over at about 20,000 feet. One of them said, “I’d sure hate to be way up there in that airplane right now.” The other one said, “I’d sure hate to be way up there and NOT be in that airplane!”
Leonardo da Vinci drew models of helicopters and gliders all the way back in the 1400’s.
He drew hundreds of pages of pictures of the wings of birds.
QUOTE: –“When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.” — Leonardo Da Vinci
There have been times when I wanted to fly away and be at rest.
There have been times when the world around me was no longer appealing; no longer held any element of desire.
Da Vinci wasn’t the first man that wanted to fly.
The Psalmist David prayed for wings in Psalm 55:
- 1 Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.
- 2 Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise;
- 3 Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.
- 4 My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.
- 5 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.
- 6 And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.
The truth of the matter is – many of us have longed for the ability to “mount up with wings…”
How many times have we longed to simply “rise above?”
Is it even possible?
What is fascinating to me is that spiritually, God has apparently also wanted that for me.
When I read Isaiah 40:31, God promised that if we would wait on Him, He would renew our strength.
The result of that would be our ability to “mount up with wings as eagles.”
How many times have we longed to simply “rise above?”
How many times have we desired to achieve a closeness to God far above this wicked world?
How many times have we asked to be delivered from the muck and mire of our surroundings?
II. The Sovereign Power
Let’s get one thing established this morning. You can’t do it.
There is nothing you or I can do to achieve this ability.
We might can run, and we might can walk. But we cannot mount up with wings as eagles.
This picture that God is painting is without a doubt the results of a Divine work.
- You can’t read enough books to learn how mount up with wings as eagles.
- You can’t talk to enough experts to figure out how to mount up with wings as eagles.
- You can’t study eagles enough to imitate the ability to mount up with wings as eagles.
- You can’t want it bad enough or wish for it bad enough to mount up with wings as eagles.
If it is going to happen, GOD IS GOING TO HAVE TO DO IT.
The PREMISE of the PROMISE was – They that wait upon the Lord.
This renewal is essential for the fulfillment of the promise; of the possibility to happen.
So how in the world can we ever achieve this amazing possibility? This promise?
Only with the Divine help of Almighty God can we “rise above.”
Only God can give you and I the power to:
- Rise above the carnality; the compromise; the criticism.
- Rise above the coldness, the calloused, the complacency.
- Rise above the contention; the conflict; the carnage.
- Rise above the corruption; the confusion; the counterfeit.
I’ve been saved for 44 years, and it is impossible to do it; to rise above; to soar above it all WITHOUT GOD!
I know! I’ve tried it! I’ve attempted many times in my own strength to “mount up with wings” and couldn’t!
It will take the supernatural moving of God to help you and I renew our strength to that level of victory.
First Mention Principle of WINGS is also the first mention of the word EAGLE.
- Exodus 19:4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.
I stand this morning on the authority of the Word of God and tell you – He is able!!!
He’s done it before, and He’ll do it again!
We can’t mount up. But He can!
We don’t even have wings. But He does!
He can lift us up on HIS wings; he can bring us to Himself through HIS power.
Through His power He can take us to heights we never imagined.
Through His power He can give us the ability to rise above anything and everything Satan throws at us.
God delivered His people from the Egyptians by bearing them up on eagle’s wings.
He helped them rise above the plagues of the Egyptians.
He helped them rise above the punishments of the Egyptians.
He helped them rise above the pursuing of the Egyptians.
He reminded God’s people – Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.
He’s done it before, and He can do it again!!
III. The Superior Perspective
Things look different from up high.
Your perspective changes.
QUOTE: “You haven’t seen a tree until you’ve seen its shadow from the sky.” — Amelia Earhart (famous flier)
QUOTE: “Man must rise above the Earth—to the top of the atmosphere and beyond—for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives.” — Socrates
The thought that has been on my mind for days now is this – if God can strengthen us to the point that we can “mount up with wings as eagles,” imagine the perspective we could have on this current world.
Imagine if we could see the world as God sees it.
Imagine if we could see our world when we weren’t the center of it.
Imagine if we could get far enough away from the muck and the mire to see it in its proper perspective.
ILLUSTRATION: I walk out into my back yard every day for some reason or another.
We’ve got a fence, so my vision is a bit limited.
But when we flew over our house a few weeks ago in a plane, I saw my entire house, yard, neighborhood, everything.
It looked completely different from up high.
Things that look real big up close is not that big from up high.
Things that look dirty up close looked beautiful from up high.
Things that seem so far away up close doesn’t seem that far from up high.
I can’t see my back yard and my front yard at the same time – up close.
But from up high, I saw it all.
Conclusion: I can’t think of anything more necessary for us as Christians RIGHT NOW than to see things from God’s perspective.
When nothing make sense, maybe we need God to RENEW OUR STRENGTH so we can MOUNT UP WITH WINGS AS EAGLES.