By Calvin E.Y. Tan
Message preached on Sunday Worship at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in S’pore.
Once there lived a young eagle among the chickens. Every day the eagle, like the chickens, could only look downward to feed. However, one day, the eagle turned his head upward and saw the blue etheral sky above. An instintive surge of adrenalin coursed through the eagle’s body. He spread his wings and ascended upward to the sky – the place he truly feels at home.
There are seven lessons regarding the Eagle:-
No. 1 The Eagle Fly The Highest.
As the lion is the king among beasts on the land, the eagle reign supreme in the sky. the eagle fly the highest among all birds. The chickens stay on ground level, while birds fly from tree to tree the eagle soar above the heaven. The eagle is also the only bird found in heaven and depicted as ” A Flying Eagle “(Rev.4:7). We are told to set our affections on things above, not on things on the earth. We sit we Jesus in heavenly places.
No. 2. The Eagle Sees The Furthest.
The eagles are equiped with sharp vision and could see an object miles away. As if out of nowhere it swoops down from the sky to catch the unsuspecting prey. Likewise, Chistians have been given spiritual eye-sight to see beyond the here and now, – “seeing Him Who is Invisible”.(Heb. 11:27)
No.3. The Eagle Live The Safest.
Far beyond the shooting range of the arrows – far above the firing range of the rifles, the eagles dwell in an exclusive zone all by themselves.
When the two angels saved Lot and his family from Sodom, they we told to “Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed (Gen.19:17).”
Escape from the damp, dust, noise of the city. Escape from the bright neon lights of the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. Escape to the safety of the mountain peak of fellowship with God in daily prayer and praise.
“And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. (Lk. 6:12). Those days were days when the “Pharasees were filled with madness; and communed one with aonther what they might do to Jesus (Luke6:11)” Jesus Christ dwell high above in fellowship with the Heavenly Father.
“I want to live above the world,
Though Satan’s darts at me are hurled;
For faith has caught the joyful sound,
The songs of saints on higher ground.
Chorus: LORD, life me up, and let me stand
By faith on heaven’s table land,
A higher plane than I have found,
LORD, plant my feet on higher ground.”
Johnson Oatman, Jr.
No.4 The Eagle Fly Effortlessly.
The chicken, ostrich and kiwi have lost their ability to fly. Other birds flap their wings and get tired, but the eagles being raptors , fly differently. They wait for air current to warm up during the day and spread their wings to catch the thermal current to lift them upward toward the sky effortlessly. Here up in the sky they continue to spread wide their wings to lean on the upward flow of the warm air current. They could fly for many hours because it is effortless! No wonder that king Solomon says ” The way of the eagle in the air”
is one of the 4 things too wonderful for him.
One of the most precious and memorable experiences I had in prayer was in 1978 when I was a fourth year student in the Bob Jones’ Memorial School o Missions (SOM) run by the Jesus Saves Mission (JSM) in Singapore. It was a time of revival and many students were enroled in SOM. As there was a lack of teachers and lecturers in the Bible College I was enlisted to help to teach the 1st and 2rd year students. I remember it was a friday night when I taught Revival and Church History. I worked hard during the day and had little rest, and in the evening gave 2 lectures on Revival/ Church History; after that I was totally exhausted. Friday was also a time of prayer and fasting for me till 5p.m. Every Friday JSM conducts an All Night Prayer Meeting lasting from 10 p.m. till next Saturday morning at 4 a.m. on Mt. Faber. It was a 6 hour marathon Prayer Meeting
As I walked up the steep slope of Mt. Faber that night I was totally exhauted. When the Prayer Meeting started I could hardly keep myself awake, much less pray. It was a very weary and sleepy first half hour –
and there are five and a half more hours to go before 4 a.m!
As I struggled, just kneeling and listening to the prayers of other brothers and sisters, I suddenly felt a freshness – an uplift of the weary spirit. The words “The EVERLASTING GOD” (Isa.40:28) came before me in strange freshness. Gradually, weakness and weariness disappeared and I received strength to pray – then to singing and praising God. Finally at 4 a .m. the next day when we closed with the doxology ‘ “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow”. I was fully awake and refreshed as though I had rested and slept for ten hours.
I could literally skip and run down the mountain with this song fom Isaiah 40:31:-
They that wait upon the LORD;
Shall Renew their Strength;
They Shall Mount Up With Wings As Eagles.
They shall run and not be weary;
They shall walk and not faint.
Teach me LORD, Teach me LORD
How to pray.
No. 5 LONELINESS
“And every man went unto his own house. Jesus went unto the mount of Olives (John 7:53 & John 8:1)”
Birds of a feather flock together. Not so the eagle. While birds fly and stay together, the eagle fly solo. The eagle is a solitary bird. “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, Jesus went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed (Mark 1:35} Pioneers, explorers, trial blazers, Mountaineers, CEOs are all lonely people. Against the opinion of the masses they dicovered New Continents, founded new empires, brought out new inventions – conquered Mt. Everest!
The prophet Elijah say, “I, even I only am left.” and there were 850 false propthets. Not so saith The LORD GOD, “I have left me seven thousand ” still true and faithful to God Almighty.
My hope is to reach out and help these seven thousand today and strenghten your prayer life.
If you would walk with Jesus, you must walk the narrow way. Your true life is a hidden life with Jesus Christ.
No.6 The Eagle Destroys The Nest When The Eaglets Are Grown.
When the eaglets are fully grown, the eagle will nudge the young fledging eagle to fly. However, they might not want to leave the comfort and safety of the nest. So the eagle has to detroy the nest by removing the cushoning feathers, leaving the sharp sticks and twigs in the nest to make the eaglets uncomfortable. The young eagle must learn to fly and hunt for himself if he were to survive.
We are pilgrims and strangers on the earth. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come (Heb.13:14). Just as God sent a flood of water to destroy the evil world that then was, He said that the present evil world is reserved for the coming fire judgement. “The elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing that ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE DISSLOVED … and the elements shall melt with fervent heat…(2 Pet. 3:10 -11)
No. 7 The Eagle is A Symbol of Jesus And All Saved Christians In The Day Of RAPTURE!
On the continent of North America, in the Northen Hemisphere, when before winter approaches there is a
great migration of countless thousands of eagles to the warmer equator. At this particular time of the year
we don’t just see one or two solitary eagles. When All the Eagles Emerge From All Areas of Alaska, Canada, and most of North America, the whole sky is blanketed by eagles. What a gathering of so many migrating eagles! What a sight to behold!
But the day will come when All The Saints That Are Saved from the Beginning of time, from Every nook and corner of the world, from land or sea. Those that are dead or are still lliving — WILL ALL BE RESURRECTED AND TRANSFORMED in the an instant to RISE UP IN THE SKY and meet with JESUS- The King of Kings and LORD of Lords.
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR: and so shall we ever be with the LORD.” 1 Thessalonians 4 16 & 17)
buddyinvest
Calvin, don't relate bible to stocks ok?
2016-02-14 08:23