2007-02-04 - Do you not know - Isaiah 40 27-31
Message: Do you not know? Newport Baptist Church
Scr: Isaia 40:27-31 Date: Feb 4, 2007
Intro: Israel were captives in Babylon, they had no king, no army, no hope… their homeland invaded, the capital Jerusalem destroyed… it even looked like the false gods of the world were greater than God himself. In short, they were disappointed with God, he seemed absent, or at the very least, late in coming to save them.
Explanation – not the only time people felt that way about God…
Abraham – left home, served faithfully, no kids… 99 yrs old… what went wrong?
Moses – baby, prince, murderer, shepherd… what went wrong?
David – shepherd, anointed to be king, defeated Goliath, honoured, then chased, hiding, running for life… what went wrong?
Stephen – early Christian, chosen as deacon, feeding the hungry, healing, preaching… stoned to death.. what went wrong?
TS – Explore the problem of disappointment with God, recognize who he is, explore Isaiah’s answer to the problems we face.
1) Explore the Problem– vs 27
a) Disappointment with God
Ill – ask God for help on test! Not help me.
Ill – world asking same questions – Tsunami, hurricanes, 9-11, war in Iraq, car accidents at home.
i) Philip Yancey, in his book, Disappointment With God, suggests that there are three fundamental questions that plague us as Christians, yet we are generally hesitant to ask them aloud. The three questions are: Is God unfair? Is God silent? Is God hidden?
b) Conclusions and responses to disappointment with God.
i) God is not
(1) Some people’s conclusion based on answer to three questions
ill – scientific atheists – If good is good then why do bad things happen? Must be no God.
ii) God is, I’m the problem
(1) Many believers answer to the questions
(2) I must have done something wrong - God is punishing me
- Ill – Jim – children are distant and avoid him – convinced that God is punishing him.
iii) God is and beyond my understanding
(1) Others conclusion… not unfair, silent, hidden, I must simply not understand.
Ill confusion – ‘turning left on a bridge’
(2) God is distant and becomes irrelevant – his ways are not our ways…
2) Who God is - vs 28 – rhetorical question!
a) Eternal God
- Ill – eternity – figure 8 – no end, no beginning…
b) The Lord - Infinite in power and knowledge & authority
- Ill – King Arthur? Round Table? Not!
c) The Creator/Provider of all that has been created.
3) Isaiah’s Answer – vs 29-31
Ill – energy of a three year old!
a) Weakness is a universal experience – vs 29-30
b) But strength comes to those who hope in God – vs 31
c) God’s strength comes to us in three forms
i) Ecstasy—“mount up with wings”
· The eagle is an interesting bird. It makes its nest from briars and thorns and then inlays the nest with animal skin, to stop the thorns and briars hurting the newly hatched eaglets. For the eaglets, this is the life. Mum brings the food and the eaglets hang around the nest getting fat. UNTIL one day, when Mum decides it is time to fly. Naturally the eaglets are not keen and so the mother eagle pulls away the animal skins and the eaglet is soon keen to leave the nest. He clambers on his mothers back and the mother flies high, 1000 ft, 2000 ft till she reaches about 5000 ft over the ground. If the eaglet suffers from fear of heights, this isn’t the job for him. Suddenly, the mother tips the eaglet off and it goes hurtling down. It flaps it wings but nothing happens and the earth looks closer and closer. Just as the eaglet is about to be splattered all over the ground, the mother eagle swoops down and catches the eaglet and the process is repeated until the eaglet can fly.
ii) For a special task—“running”
Ill - Many of you will have seen the film "Chariots of Fire", an outstanding film about a Christian Eric Liddell, who refuses to run in the prestigious 100 metres in the 1924 Paris Olympics because it involved racing in a preheat on a Sunday, which Liddell believed to be a ungodly use of Sunday.
Liddell was probably the fastest man alive at that time and had been the favourite to win it for Britain. Press and the Prince of Wales tried to talk him into running but he refused.
Instead, he went to the Scottish Presbyterian church that Sunday and read the lesson from Isaiah 40. And verse 31 seem to capture the situation
However, he was given the chance to race for Britain in the 400 metres a race he had never even run before. And God honoured him for his stand. Liddell ran the 400 metres at a 100 m pace. Te experts thought he was running the first 100 metres too fast and would tire later in the race. But it wasn’t to be and he won with a new world record.
iii) Daily strength—“walking” – our greatest challenge
(1) What difference can we make?
Ill – starfish on the beach…
The Message puts Isaiah 40 this way…
27–31 Why would you ever complain, O Jacob, or, whine, Israel, saying, “God has lost track of me. He doesn’t care what happens to me”? Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening? God doesn’t come and go. God lasts. He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything, inside and out. He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, they run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind.
Conclusion – fresh strength?
Abraham – had a child at age 100
Moses – age 80 - led God’s people out of slavery
David – became King and a man after God’s own heart
Stephen – first martyr – saw God himself.
God’s timing is not our own. Great hymn of faith - Trust and obey
What the Bible means when it tells us to walk by faith, not by sight
Healing service last week – Debbie completely healed of thyroid problem… blood tests normal! 3 to 13!
Application – today we come to the table. God’s timing… plan from the fall… realized in Jesus Christ. Not late, right on time…
Today we still wait for his return, but while we wait, he gives us the strength… we can mount up with eagle’s wings, running without growing tired, walking without losing hope.
Need strength?
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Prayer –