Divine Strengthening

The Lord Is the Everlasting God Who Strengthens the Weak

Please turn to Isaiah 40 that can be found on page 600 of your pew Bible. Isaiah chapter 40. We'll be looking at verses 28 Through 31. Go ahead and stand when you have that for the reading of God's Word.

Isaiah 40 verse 28 through 31. Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youth shall faint and be weary and young men shall fall exhausted. But they who wait for 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.

Amen.

Dear Heavenly Father pray that you would encourage us through this passage. You would give us wings like eagles that we would Run and not be weary that we would walk and not faint in Jesus name. Amen.

Trials, Discouragement, and the Hard Road of the Christian Life

So the Christian life is full of difficult trials full of all kinds of things. It's a hard road. It's a long road for most of us. God in his wisdom has decided that though there may be some deathbed conversions.

Those are typically rare things usually when people live their lives hardening themselves further and further. There is less opportunity for salvation. So God would have that most of us spend significant portions of our life walking the Christian walk.

Living the Christian life and it is full of trials. It's full of difficult things. It is often easy to become discouraged. So what should we do during these times of discouragement? What should we think?

What should we feel? Should we wonder whether or not the our way is hidden from the Lord and he does not intend to vindicate his Saints. So we looked at last week. No, we should not because he is all-powerful.

This is not the case that he is not too powerful. It is not he is not he doesn't not lacking in the power to save. He is sufficiently powerful to save and not only that not only is he himself strong. But he himself gives strength all those attributes that we have looked at before God's immensity his omniscience.

His.

Omnipotence. His eternality. These are all things that are good. Not just because he is our God to save us, but also because he is our God to strengthen us. He is a well of strength from which we may draw our strength.

Talks about this problem of weakness here this discouragement. Verse 30 says even youths shall faint and be weary and young men shall fall exhausted. Now, why does it speak of youths and young men? That's because youths and young men are the strongest of all.

You think of old men. Think of young men. You think children. Think of little girls young women. Older women. Who is the strongest of those six different categories? I gave it as young men. Young men are the strongest category.

Even the strongest of men. Will faint. Like it says in Proverbs 20 29 the glory of young men is their strength. Even these will have their glory taken away. They will faint and be weary. They will fall exhausted.

There are all kinds of kinds of reasons that People would be discouraged in the Christian life. You see this previous context where it says why do you say Oh Jacob and speak Oh Israel? My way is hidden from the Lord.

My right is disregarded by my God. This is looking forward to the people being in Babylon longing to come back from Babylon to their own land. They're discouraged. Where is the Lord? They feel like fainting.

They are weary. What are they to do?

And so.

This happens in all different areas of life. You think of individual Christians, right? Individual Christians face all kinds of discouragements all kinds of hardships and trials in their own life. Often they are mocked for the Christian faith.

Sometimes.

The subject is mocking is even true. Sometimes it is their own folly or their own sin that they are mocked for but they are called hypocrites in a way that does Not make sense if they are truly repentant because it is not hypocritical to declare you are you're a saved sinner and.

So be found guilty of having sinned if you are truly repentant. People will mock the Saints for their righteousness and they will mock them for when they sin and they fail. There will be all kinds of trials all kinds of difficulties kinds of hardships.

Do you have to face all kinds of relationships are made? Especially difficult because of following Christ as we've seen in our preaching in Luke recently. What that does to families. How families are often broken up over?

Over the faith. This is true at the local church level as well. Churches undergo difficult hardships sometimes they're Targeted for persecution by authorities that exist. Sometimes it's not so intentionally targeted, but it still comes out that way.

You recall during kovat how a lot of the regulations were done in such a way that really churches got the short end of the stick. Now, I think few of those authorities would admit, even if it were the case that they were.

And they were targeting churches, but the reality is that that is what happened regardless of the intent. Still ended up targeting churches. Churches go through all kinds of hard things. So enemies from without well-meaning enemies poor meaning enemies enemies from within.

You know like the one to him says by heresies by heresies. Distressed. Yes, thank you. Yeah by division rent asunder. There's all kinds of division that happens in the church all kinds of backbiting and bitterness.

These are not things that were foreign to Jesus's mind when he founded the church. He sent out the Apostles to warn about all these things to know that all these things are coming all kinds of division and distress.

And heresy and whatnot. So enemies from without enemies from within some of them being well-meaning some of them not being well-meaning. All of these are the case and then you think of the the global church the global church frequently mocked all kinds of people identifying as part of the global church that are not part of the global church and so increases the.

The kind of mockery that the true church would receive. You know in Deuteronomy when that statement is made vengeance is mine says the Lord. That is in the context of those who would claim to be God's people who are not God's people.

And this is a very serious thing how many people claim to be Christians and bring? Yeah, bring dishonor to the name of Christ. Because they claim to be Christian, and they are not Christian. They're not walking in his ways.

Think about how this plays out in the media. Obviously a lot of times Evangelical Christians and media and shows are shown to be you know just ridiculous prudes that no one can stand or on the other end of it a lot of times.

Depending on which kind of so that's that's in comedies. That's usually what's depicted right in action movies when Christianity is depicted. What is it often? It's often Roman Catholicism because you know if you're looking for something cinematic and aesthetic.

You know this what we've got here. This doesn't really give you a whole lot. So you need you need lots of you know crosses and statues and colors and all kinds of things and so. So you think about like think about the Marvel movies right you want this this clash of good and bad and so you have this good guy who's Very religious, but pictured also as a demon so you've got like daredevil.

Who's Roman Catholic, and you know he's mixed with all these aesthetics of Roman Catholicism, but he's also you know got this demon mask. That nightcrawler same thing right where there's you know. He's Roman Catholic.

And you're you're mixing this demonic imagery with all these other things and and so Roman Catholicism ends up when I when I talk to internationals who have little experience with Christianity a lot of times what they imagine Christianity is is Roman Catholicism because that is what the media finds most aesthetic to put forward in stories and.

And so you have all these ways that the church is is distressed by all these different enemies all these kinds of discouragements that happen and so what is the. What is the approach that one would take to deal with all these things you have?

Three Sinful Responses to Discouragement: Triumphalism, Despair, and Defection

At least three categories of sinful approaches right there is this Unfounded triumphalism this is one way people deal with it right people people Pretend as though the problems are not real and they go about as though.

The church has a victory that has not yet been made manifest. You see this often with post-millennial groups where they will where they will speak as though Something has been accomplished. It is not that the church has won some victory that it has not won or that rather that the victory has not become fully Manifest they pretend like things are getting better in all kinds of secular spheres where they are not getting better.

You know Jesus described in his parable of the wheat and the tares growing together. He did not say the wheat would overrun the tares. Right, so the wheat and the tares would grow together and then on that final day They would be harvested.

So some people pretend the tares are decreasing and the wheat is increasing you will get. You know if you if you really invest in that mindset I do believe that will lead to some kind of burnout when you find that it's not true if you are.

You're not being honest with yourself about the spiritual reality of the war that is Increasing. Yes, God's people are growing, but the enemy is growing too and the intensity of the the battle is increasing.

It's it is difficult. Now the next kind of approach that one could take is despair, right? It's just grow incredibly weary because you are Pessimistic, you know in today's modern terms, you might say blackpilling, right?

You're just so distressed by what's going on and you can't handle it. And so you grow weary and the last category of Approach sinful approach is defection, right? You can defect from the faith. You can just say this isn't worth it anymore.

I'm just not even gonna try. There's no there's no real hope here. So all those things are are different sinful approaches that someone might have. But what is the response of the Lord to all this in 28?

Says have you not known have you not heard the Lord is the everlasting God. His point here is that if all these things that we've learned about before these different attributes of God if they are all true.

Then of course, he will take care of you. Of course, he will give you strength. Consider.

What those.

Categories are the Lord is the everlasting God. What does that primarily refer to primarily now? They're not using the kind of technical language that we would use for these things. But I'm gonna translate it into the technical language.

Okay, he is the everlasting God. Okay, that means he is eternal. He's the creator of the ends of the earth. Remember when we talked about that how how it described his you know. His extending through all creation being transcending space itself, right?

He is immense. Some might say he's omnipresent.

Right.

It says he does not faint or grow weary. So that means he's all-powerful. He's omnipotent. Says his understanding is unsearchable. He is omniscient so all these different sections that we looked at before where Isaiah or the Lord through Isaiah is arguing for his his omniscience his immensity his Omnipotence his eternality arguing for all four of those now.

We see them all summed up here in this one verse where they all spoken for it. He is all those things and He gives this power. So sometimes in theology we refer to attributes of God in two categories there are incommunicable attributes and communicable attributes.

Okay, so the incommunicable attributes are things that God cannot cannot give to others, right? He is eternal meaning he transcends time. He's immense meaning he transcends space. He can't make you transcend time or space.

It's not really something that's possible. But when we talk about God being love or we talk about him being powerful, you know, he God is love. He is loving and so he makes us loving right from him. He communicates love to us that we might love others.

He communicates power to us that we might be able to do things. Okay, he communicates knowledge to us in order that we might know things. Now a lot of these can be framed in different ways so that. Some of these categories around incommunicable or communicable are Somewhat artificial because you could state all of his attributes in positive ways if you want to rather than just saying, you know eternal meaning without.

Yeah, transcending time itself. You could call him everlasting, right? Meaning that he cannot be he cannot be bound by time in another sense. But if you say everlasting, that's something that you could communicate to another right is making them long lasting so God.

Because he is one who has all these qualities. He is one who is capable of communicating these qualities. Communicating by the way doesn't just mean speaking. It means sharing right when we when we celebrate communion.

We're sharing in something. It's a fellowship that's happening. So he communicates he shares these attributes of his with his people in order that they would have the strength needed to Do what he has called them to do and says in verse.

Says in verse 21 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. Shall mount up with wings like eagles. A few passages worth considering here. They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.

So he says in Psalm 121. Three through four. He will not let your foot be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber behold. He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep. What had he said in verse 29?

He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might it increases. Why. Because he does not faint he does not grow weary. This is what Psalm 121 confirms. Because he is one who doesn't sleep or slumber.

He does not let your foot be moved. He will not. Yeah, he will. He who keeps you will not slumber. So he takes care of Israel. He takes care of his people. Because he is one who does not sleep because he's one who does not stumble.

Now this statement about wings like eagles consider what that means Psalm 103 verse 5. He says that God satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the Eagles. And this is talking about God giving people strength.

Think about how an eagle flies a lot of birds because they have small wings they do a lot of they know they beat their wings pretty hard. The Hummingbird, you know, this is one of the smaller birds. It's not the smallest and it beats its wings crazy fast.

I don't have stats for you right now, but crazy fast. The Eagles got a big wingspan span. And what does it do? It just kind of holds its wings out there and just effortlessly glides without ever having to flap.

So that's that's kind of what distinguishes the eagle from other birds is it's not really flapping its wings. It's just just soaring round and round and round and this is what it's imagining like so much strength that you're just effortlessly Soaring like it's nothing and this is alluding to something in Exodus 19 now a lot of people a Lot of people think that this is referring to the rapture, right that.

That this is talking about sometime when Christ comes back before he finally comes in judgment, right? And there's this millennial reign that happens in between etc. So those people who think that they think okay.

Well it talks about mounting up with wings like evil, you know flying away. That's got to be the that's got to be the rapture. The reality is you see tons of Eagle imagery throughout scripture that is just talking about strength.

Just talking about you know having energy. It's not it's not talking about literally flying away into the sky now Christ will be come back. There will be a rapture, but it will not be a rapture that is Divorced from the day of judgment and it will be one for all people.

Not just uh. Both righteous unrighteous all will go stand before God and judgment.

All right.

It says in Exodus 19 verse 4 This is what in part this is alluding to you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians how I bore you on Eagles wings and brought you to myself. Okay, so the This is a statement in Exodus 19 right before the Ten Commandments are given.

You know God's preparing them for the Ten Commandments. He says I bore you on wings like an Eagles out of Egypt where the people now People now Isaiah is prophesying are going to be in captivity again.

They were in captivity. Egypt made it out of Egypt on the Eagles wings now. They're gonna go to Babylon and he's prophesying about Eagles wings. So what's he what's he saying? Just like I saved you out of Egypt.

I am going to save you out of Babylon. That is what it's saying. It's not talking about flying away. Literally. It's talking about Talking about salvation like the salvation out of Egypt.

Divine Strengthening in the Present Life

Now.

This is true not only for For the people coming out of Babylon But it is true for us as well that the Lord's promise holds true for his church day that we will be born up on Eagles wings. We are a people who are found in this sinful world Sojourning and he will bear us up until that last day.

This is true for the individual. It's the individual is taken out of bondage. God bears him out of that on Eagles wings. He carries them through the Christian life and on that final day He meets the end and then same thing for the church at large.

God has established a church In the first century through Christ. He established his church takes it out of the milieu of Of yeah the mixture of true believers false believers, etc and establishes something more pure and Carries it along in all strength through that power of Pentecost that we were just talking about with the giving of the Holy Spirit the outpouring of the Holy Spirit prophesied and John and Carried through until that final day.

So.

These things while many people will look at this passage and think oh this is something that he will do for us He will give us strength at that point in time. He will Care for us then. No, it's not just that it is something that he is doing now.

He is giving us strength now to continue through this life now if you call on him today He will give you strength today. These are all these are all part of the promise God and why is it that he does these things this way?

He does this for his own glory? 2nd Corinthians 12 10 Paul speaks says that He is content with weaknesses insults hardships persecutions and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. What's his point?

That's not just some nonsense contradiction. He's saying that when he is weak God's strength is made known in him and God is glorified as when he has strength God has made it so that even the young men faint and grow weary.

So that he can give strength and be glorified in that He has called us to wait on the Lord. Says they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength now waiting for the Lord. I've mentioned this many times.

It is not a passive thing. It's not something where you just sit around the idol. You are to actively wait for the Lord you are to be praying you are to be seeking the Lord. This is how he gives strength and notice that there's a bit of a.

Maybe you could call it a catch -22. But the waiting for the Lord itself requires strength right. Believing in the Lord.

Requires.

Requires belief. So they you know, these people are saying Like I'm too I'm too weary I'm too discouraged and he is telling them that they need to wait on the Lord and if you they wait on the Lord He will give them strength that requires strength in order to do that.

It's it's a bit like the prayer mark says I believe help my unbelief. That is what we are supposed to be calling out I believe help my unbelief those who believe he will give more strength and he will give more strength.

And those who do not believe They will either perish or he saves them out of that unbelief that they might believe and then cycle in belief cycle in strength. Using strength to increase strength calling on God and Receiving more and by that more strength calling on God to receive more and so on.

It really does reinforce it Reinforce itself you see this frequently in society how there are Disparities that the world tends to view as Signs of oppression that are not necessarily right if someone has some amount of wealth they can use that to make more wealth.

Right the rich get richer in a lot of ways and this is this is not a bad thing. Is it's a good thing that someone who has a lot of money can invest it make even more money, etc and so you see this kind of This distribution that is that allows some to rise not just a little above others.

But way above others the same is true with strength and spiritual strength, right? Spiritual encouragement if you call on Lord He will give you strength in order that you might call on him more in order that you might call him more, etc.

These are things that have Yeah escalating returns, you know exponential returns. Reinforced return so do not Understand yeah understand the level of blessing that we're talking about here by that strength.

You might have even more strength and more strength so do not just see the Small amount that you need as the amount that you will get know that from that as you trust on the Lord more he would Give you more even more.

Waiting on the Lord, Receiving Strength, and Encouraging One Another

So with all this Considering how the Lord speaks about this my ways. Yeah, have you not known have you not heard?

Learn to.

Recognize discouragement as As something that is sinful right now. I'm not saying that weakness is itself sinful. But discouragement is right. Lacking courage or lacking joy in the Christian life through the Spirit is joy.

Right. This is something that we should be able to do joyfully. So if it is something simple and it is something that needs to be addressed if you find that hard to accept consider the Bible. Also cause anxiety sin or an anxiety is a lack of trust in the Lord was discouragement.

Same thing. It's a lack of trust in the Lord the kind of discouragement we're talking about here, right? It is an either an implicit or an explicit Questioning of God saying My way is hidden from the Lord and my right is disregarded by my God.

Maybe he's not watching. Maybe he doesn't care. Maybe he can't strengthen me. The answer is with these rhetorical questions. So how foolish and irrational such a thought is. Have you not known have you not heard?

God is great. He is high. You know those who a lot of times it's very easy to try to be Maybe excessively sympathetic with those who would. Those who would wallow in discouragement, right and wallow in despair.

You know unwilling to gather with the Saints etc because of because of the the despair that they're undergoing in the Christian walk. While it is important to encourage people. There needs to be a recognition that it is something irrational that needs to be addressed.

That needs to be addressed as such right not necessarily. Yeah legitimize as something that is that is right, but something that is addressed with with gentleness with With concern and care, but know that someone who is discouraged is not dealing with something rationally.

They're dealing with something irrationally. This is true for you. This is true for your brothers and sisters. And so you should address these things knowledgeably. So wait on the Lord this calls us to wait on the Lord.

We should wait on the Lord pray for all the circles that you are. Yeah, responsible to pray for yourself your own life. The local church pray for your local church to have the strength. It needs to continue until the end pray for the global church to have the strength that it needs to continue into the end.

It's not those who do not wait for the Lord that have strength. It is those who wait for the Lord have strength. It's not those who do not pray to the Lord who receive strength. It's those who pray to the Lord who receive strength.

So if you're wondering why is it that I don't have strength could it be that you haven't even asked God for strength? Do ask him for strength. He gives it and then when he gives it it must be identified as what it is a gift.

Right, you should Recount what the Lord has done in giving you strength. You should encourage others with that you should Use it as a gift if something is given as a gift. It needs to be appreciated. It needs to be used well.

And so if the Lord has given you encouragement if he has given you strength and ability. These are things that need to be used if you do not use them and they are squandered gifts squandered gifts from the Lord.

And he will entrust you with more and more and so the more he has given you the more you are responsible to use. The Gospels speak about this frequently how. To one who has given much much will be required and then lastly encourage your brothers and sisters.

This is something that has been. First of all while this comes from God the strength comes from God. It comes through different means and some one of those means is you okay? One of those means is you you can encourage brothers and sisters and by encourage a lot of people really Narrow that down just to the idea of Saying nice things to them, right?

I'm talking about much more than that. I'm talking about giving courage right think about what someone needs in order to be to have more courage to have more boldness and Say those things it might be reminding them of the promises of God.

It might be pointing to what God has done in the past. It might be saying that they have done well in something. That's what most people think about it. It might be reminding them of the promises of God.

Encourage you did well in this thing, right? But it's much broader than that. It includes much more than that to really encourage someone to give someone courage. And we've seen this before in Isaiah said strengthen weak hands weak knees.

We see this in Hebrews where it quotes Isaiah 35 and says strengthen weak hands weak knees. This is what we're called to do. We're called to strengthen weak hands and weak knees. God is giving his people strength.

But one of those means he uses to give people strength is you and me and so we ought to be Strengthening weak hands and weak knees. We ought to be encouraging one another in the Lord. There's a verse that addresses us and Luke.

Excuse me, not Luke and first Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 14. And we urge you brothers and monist the idol encourage the faint-hearted help the weak be patient with them all. Those last two encourage the faint-hearted help the weak now if you see the one who is faint-hearted.

Encourage if you see the one who is weak help. These are things that require that require addressing. It is if someone is spiraling into the irrationality that is discouragement. Go encourage them remind them of the promises remind them of the truth that they need to hear in order.

They would latch on to what God has. Pray for them in order that they might have boldness and courage. I encourage them to pray that they might have boldness and courage and joy. Enjoying the Christian life so that you aren't wandering through the Christian life sojourning in Babylon.

Wondering whether or not God sees you but you are doing so joyfully. Knowing that day is coming and that every moment that you go through Where you are experiencing the hardships of this life and not being vindicated will be reward tenfold a hundredfold.

Whatever it may be with rewards in the next life for having undergone all the difficulties in this life. So the Lord would say to you well done good and faithful servant. You can have that but the strength of the Lord that is available in him as he communicates his own goodness.

To you as you seek him and wait on the Lord. Amen. Let's pray dear. Heavenly Father. You're a great and awesome. God. You are above all things and You are all powerful. We thank you for Communicating even your own self to us in this way giving us Your strength giving us your your power and wisdom.

We pray that you would continue to do that. We pray that for ourselves individually. We pray that for this local church that you would give us strength to endure. No matter what hardships come our way and we pray that you would do that also for the global churches.

It longs for the day when Christ returns in his name. We pray. Amen.