Isaiah 40:27-31
Posted by Calvary Chapel Fremont at 7/8/2009 10:08 PM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Pastor Tim Brown Calvary Chapel Fremont Isaiah
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Pastor Tim Brown Calvary Chapel Fremont Isaiah
Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday July 8, 2009
Isaiah 40:27-31
Isaiah has been prophesying of the God who is near them. He has been declaring that the Bab. captivity would be ended/temple rebuilt/Jerusalem again inhabited. The God who has been far from them has drawn near and Israel would be in the place where they would love w/ God/consumed by the majesty of God. I wants to see the people retain this sense of the nearness of God/maintain a passion for God. I wants them to nurture their vision of the God who rescues/draws near to them.
Jesus: I will never leave you or forsake you. OT: with | NT: in. The passion/ zeal/fervor of those who know Christ should be deep/abiding.
V27 Israel is complaining that God doesn’t truly see them. They ‘say’ and ‘assert’ - they keep saying/declaring emphatically – “God really doesn’t see me/doesn’t know what I’m going through. I don’t have a Father who cares for me. I’m not getting what I deserve.” They began to complain that for a God who spoke of being near, He felt far removed.
It is easy for passion to drain off/to lose sight of God/to think that God isn’t paying attention to me and not listening to me. Sometimes I think you’re not listening to me and paying attention to me and you’re sitting right in front of me and I can see you! How much more a God I can’t see. Israel is asking: Is God listening to me, does He really hear?
Franklin Roosevelt often endured long receiving lines at the White House. He complained that no one really paid any attention to what was said. One day he decided to try an experiment. To each person who shook his hand, he murmured, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." The guests responded with phrases like, "Marvelous! Keep up the good work. We are proud of you. God bless you, sir." It was not till the end of the line, while greeting the ambassador from Bolivia, that his words were actually heard. W/o missing a beat, the ambassador leaned over and whispered, "I'm sure she had it coming."
There are times when we come to a place where we think that God isn’t listening to us. “If God is so big, why does He feel so small?” If He’s bigger than oceans/earth/heaven, why do I feel like He is smaller than the head of a pin? This is what I speaks to at the end of C40. He wants the people of God to continue to have a big vision of God.
Israel complains that God doesn’t really see them/I argues that the problem is that they don’t truly see God – that they haven’t lifted up their eyes on high v26. They no longer had a big vision of a big God, but a small vision of a big God. Since that big God wasn’t in their sights at the moment/assumed He didn’t care. People: “We’re getting a bum deal and God doesn’t care about us.”
We can do the same. We complain about money/marriage/material possessions/recognition/appreciation/position – “It’s not fair! I’m not getting what I deserve. Something must be done about it.”
God’s response: 28 Inscrutable – cannot be fathomed/scrutinized. You cannot understand the ways of God. You’ll never get to the bottom of God. 29 God doesn’t give understanding, God gives strength. We think God is a social worker – solve problems/psychologist – unravel mysteries and give insight/psychiatrist – dispense pill and make us feel better
Your problem isn’t that you lack answers, rather its’ that you lack strength/perspective. You are not weary because of the length of the journey/steepness of the path/weight of the burden/lack of understanding, but due to lack of faith. The problem isn’t that God hasn’t explained Himself to you, but that you haven’t submitted yourself to God. Your problem is that you think God is answerable to you instead of you being answerable to God. Your problem is that you think God has to keep pace w/ you instead of you keeping pace w/ God. Your problem is that you haven’t been lifting up your eyes on high. The problem isn’t that God doesn’t see you, but that you don’t see God.
* How do I keep a big vision of God? 26 Lift up your eyes
o 21-22 God is the creator of the universe (cf. Rom. 1)
o 23-24 God is the director of history - providence
o 25-26 Lift up your eyes on high… Man is always looking below and in so doing, suffers in his vision of God.
* HOW DO I KEEP A BIG EXPERIENCE OF GOD? 27-31
o By nurturing a big vision of a big God. If you have a small vision of a big God, you will have a little experience.
o By realizing that God isn’t a God who always explains Himself.
o The longer I am a pastor, I have fewer ‘whys’. “Why did this/ that happen?” I don’t know. We are seeking reasons and God waits to give revelation – answers v presence. Ps. 23:5 He doesn’t necessarily change circumstances, He imparts courage. He is not a God of explanation as much as a God of revelation.
Issue w/ God here isn’t justice, but strength. Not: are we getting what we deserve? But: are we being enabled to do what God has called us to do? You may never understand why your husband isn’t as attentive as other husbands/ministry isn’t as large as another/ health suffers. Understanding doesn’t give birth to strength, faith/hope does.
31 Wait for/hope in the Lord. Hope is a great healer of the heart.
At the height of the Christmas shopping season, a young boy was standing at the bottom of a department store escalator, staring intently at the handrail as it moved along and refusing to take his eyes away. A saleswoman asked, "Are you lost?" "Nope," the boy said, "I'm waiting for my chewing gum to come back."
In hope there is a dynamic interchange between the human spirit and the Holy Spirit. When you hope in/wait for the Lord, He pours into you. When He pours in to you, you gain something.
…gain… = exchange. This happens when they hope/wait on the Lord. God wants to pour into you, but you have to stay still for this to happen. Remember, Hezekiah was running here/there trying to make earthly alliances against the Assyrian Empire. God was saying, “Stay still, stop running around, so I can pour into you.”
Mount up – soar over your problems
Run and not get tired – power through difficulties – leave it behind
Walk and not become weary – live w/ and through your trouble.
The order is counter-intuitive to what we think the growth of spiritual maturity should be. Don’t we start out walking, taking baby steps, and then pick up the pace to where we are running, and then take off and soar? The order is reversed here – and so it should be – for it reflects life. We end up w/ a walk – a daily putting one foot in front of the other – w/o becoming weary.
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Isaiah 40:27-31
Isaiah has been prophesying of the God who is near them. He has been declaring that the Bab. captivity would be ended/temple rebuilt/Jerusalem again inhabited. The God who has been far from them has drawn near and Israel would be in the place where they would love w/ God/consumed by the majesty of God. I wants to see the people retain this sense of the nearness of God/maintain a passion for God. I wants them to nurture their vision of the God who rescues/draws near to them.
Jesus: I will never leave you or forsake you. OT: with | NT: in. The passion/ zeal/fervor of those who know Christ should be deep/abiding.
V27 Israel is complaining that God doesn’t truly see them. They ‘say’ and ‘assert’ - they keep saying/declaring emphatically – “God really doesn’t see me/doesn’t know what I’m going through. I don’t have a Father who cares for me. I’m not getting what I deserve.” They began to complain that for a God who spoke of being near, He felt far removed.
It is easy for passion to drain off/to lose sight of God/to think that God isn’t paying attention to me and not listening to me. Sometimes I think you’re not listening to me and paying attention to me and you’re sitting right in front of me and I can see you! How much more a God I can’t see. Israel is asking: Is God listening to me, does He really hear?
Franklin Roosevelt often endured long receiving lines at the White House. He complained that no one really paid any attention to what was said. One day he decided to try an experiment. To each person who shook his hand, he murmured, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." The guests responded with phrases like, "Marvelous! Keep up the good work. We are proud of you. God bless you, sir." It was not till the end of the line, while greeting the ambassador from Bolivia, that his words were actually heard. W/o missing a beat, the ambassador leaned over and whispered, "I'm sure she had it coming."
There are times when we come to a place where we think that God isn’t listening to us. “If God is so big, why does He feel so small?” If He’s bigger than oceans/earth/heaven, why do I feel like He is smaller than the head of a pin? This is what I speaks to at the end of C40. He wants the people of God to continue to have a big vision of God.
Israel complains that God doesn’t really see them/I argues that the problem is that they don’t truly see God – that they haven’t lifted up their eyes on high v26. They no longer had a big vision of a big God, but a small vision of a big God. Since that big God wasn’t in their sights at the moment/assumed He didn’t care. People: “We’re getting a bum deal and God doesn’t care about us.”
We can do the same. We complain about money/marriage/material possessions/recognition/appreciation/position – “It’s not fair! I’m not getting what I deserve. Something must be done about it.”
God’s response: 28 Inscrutable – cannot be fathomed/scrutinized. You cannot understand the ways of God. You’ll never get to the bottom of God. 29 God doesn’t give understanding, God gives strength. We think God is a social worker – solve problems/psychologist – unravel mysteries and give insight/psychiatrist – dispense pill and make us feel better
Your problem isn’t that you lack answers, rather its’ that you lack strength/perspective. You are not weary because of the length of the journey/steepness of the path/weight of the burden/lack of understanding, but due to lack of faith. The problem isn’t that God hasn’t explained Himself to you, but that you haven’t submitted yourself to God. Your problem is that you think God is answerable to you instead of you being answerable to God. Your problem is that you think God has to keep pace w/ you instead of you keeping pace w/ God. Your problem is that you haven’t been lifting up your eyes on high. The problem isn’t that God doesn’t see you, but that you don’t see God.
* How do I keep a big vision of God? 26 Lift up your eyes
o 21-22 God is the creator of the universe (cf. Rom. 1)
o 23-24 God is the director of history - providence
o 25-26 Lift up your eyes on high… Man is always looking below and in so doing, suffers in his vision of God.
* HOW DO I KEEP A BIG EXPERIENCE OF GOD? 27-31
o By nurturing a big vision of a big God. If you have a small vision of a big God, you will have a little experience.
o By realizing that God isn’t a God who always explains Himself.
o The longer I am a pastor, I have fewer ‘whys’. “Why did this/ that happen?” I don’t know. We are seeking reasons and God waits to give revelation – answers v presence. Ps. 23:5 He doesn’t necessarily change circumstances, He imparts courage. He is not a God of explanation as much as a God of revelation.
Issue w/ God here isn’t justice, but strength. Not: are we getting what we deserve? But: are we being enabled to do what God has called us to do? You may never understand why your husband isn’t as attentive as other husbands/ministry isn’t as large as another/ health suffers. Understanding doesn’t give birth to strength, faith/hope does.
31 Wait for/hope in the Lord. Hope is a great healer of the heart.
At the height of the Christmas shopping season, a young boy was standing at the bottom of a department store escalator, staring intently at the handrail as it moved along and refusing to take his eyes away. A saleswoman asked, "Are you lost?" "Nope," the boy said, "I'm waiting for my chewing gum to come back."
In hope there is a dynamic interchange between the human spirit and the Holy Spirit. When you hope in/wait for the Lord, He pours into you. When He pours in to you, you gain something.
…gain… = exchange. This happens when they hope/wait on the Lord. God wants to pour into you, but you have to stay still for this to happen. Remember, Hezekiah was running here/there trying to make earthly alliances against the Assyrian Empire. God was saying, “Stay still, stop running around, so I can pour into you.”
Mount up – soar over your problems
Run and not get tired – power through difficulties – leave it behind
Walk and not become weary – live w/ and through your trouble.
The order is counter-intuitive to what we think the growth of spiritual maturity should be. Don’t we start out walking, taking baby steps, and then pick up the pace to where we are running, and then take off and soar? The order is reversed here – and so it should be – for it reflects life. We end up w/ a walk – a daily putting one foot in front of the other – w/o becoming weary.
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