Watchman Radio Hour

David Shuldt: Welcome to the Watchman Radio hour. Coming to you from Portland, Oregon, here in the beautiful Northwest. This is David Shuldt, your announcer. The Watchman Radio hour is a production of Watchman Radio Ministries International, an evangelistic ministry reaching out to the peoples of the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And now here's our speaker, Alex Dodson, to bring you this week's message from God's word.

Alex Dodson: For our scripture reading today, let us turn to Isaiah chapter 60 and we'll begin reading in verse one. Let us hear the word of God. Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples. But the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look about you. All assemble and come to you. Your sons come from afar and your daughters are carried on the arm.

Then you will look and be radiant. Your heart will throb and swell with joy. The wealth on the seas will be brought to you. To you, the riches of the nations will come. Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. All from Sheba will come bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord. All Kedar's flocks will be gathered to you. The rams of Nebaioth will serve you. They will be accepted as offerings on my altar and I will adorn my glorious temple. Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests?

Surely the islands look to me in the lead of the ships of Tarshish, bringing your sons from afar. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the Bible that you have given to us. We thank you that it's your infallible word and that we can put our full confidence in everything that it says. And now, oh Father, as we come to study your word, we pray that you will send forth your Holy Spirit in great convicting power. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. It seems that we have a very low view of the church in our generation.

Some await an any moment rapture to whisk the church out of the way. Yet has she finished her mission? The tide of immorality and unbelief is on the rise. Will the church be able to turn back the tide? Can the church stand up against the unprecedented onslaughts of Satan that are going on in our generation? We are seeing things today that former generations did not have to face. Things the Bible condemns are becoming the law of the land and gaining in popular support from the top on down. How can the church survive such onslaughts or will it survive?

We must believe that it will. We must not only believe that the church will survive, but that it will prevail in this world. Isn't this the message that Jesus gave to Peter? In Matthew 16:18, Jesus says, and I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not overcome it. Jesus depicted the church as a mighty tide which Satan and all his forces would not be able to stop. Today it seems we have reversed all this. It would seem that the forces of Satan are a mighty tide that the church will not be able to stop.

Yet this kind of vision is erroneous. Satan will not succeed, but the church will. This is what Isaiah the prophet is telling us in Isaiah 60. Our text is Isaiah 61:1-3 which says, Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples. But the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn. The church will increasingly be a light to the world. This we must hold on to.

This we must believe. The gospel is powerful. It is more powerful than the forces of Satan. We as the church must not give in to the kingdom of darkness, no matter what he throws at us. We are on the winning side and we will prevail. Now let us see in the first place the current pessimistic view of the church. Christian escapism is what I call it. The book of Revelation presents a wonderful history of the church, showing out how it persists and endures and overcomes evil and is victorious in the end. Yet there are teachings today that take the church out of the book of Revelation in the early chapters and send it far away to heaven, leaving the world to the devil and his forces.

John F. Walvoord in his commentary on Revelation says that the church is out of the picture after chapter three of Revelation. All the tribulations that follow that chapter do not include the church. He writes, it seems that the church as the body of Christ is out of the picture. And saints who come to know the Lord in this spirit are described as saved Israelites or saved Gentiles, never by terms which are characteristic of the church, the body of Christ. Saints mentioned from this point on do not lose their racial background as is commonly done in referring to the church where Jew and Gentile are one in Christ.

At the beginning of chapter four then, the church may be considered as in heaven and not related to events which will take place on the earth in preparation for Christ's return in power and glory. The emphasis in so much of today's popular teaching is on a soon coming rapture to whisk the church out of this world. Gone are the teachings that saw the church as a mighty, victorious agency marching out into the world and winning it to Christ. This was the view of the pioneer missionaries of the 19th century, such as William Carey and David Livingstone.

They went out to win whole continents to Christ. David Livingstone wrote in his journal, A quiet audience today, the seed being sown, the least of all seeds now, but it will grow a mighty tree. It is as it were a small stone cut out of a mountain, but it will fill the whole earth. He that believeth shall not make haste. The dregs of heathenism still cleave fast to the minds of the majority. They have settled deep down into their souls and one century will not be sufficient to elevate them to the rank of Christians in Britain.

Our work and its fruits of cumulative we work towards another state of things. Missionaries in the midst of masses of heathenism seem like voices crying in the wilderness. Reformers before the Reformation. But future missionaries will see conversions follow every sermon. We are preparing the way for them. May they not forget the pioneers who worked in the thick gloom with few rays to cheer except such as flow from faith in God's promises. We work for a glorious future which we are not destined to see. We are only morning stars shining in the dark, but the glorious morn will break.

Today there are thousands of Christians in Africa. The church continues to grow there, showing that David Livingstone's work was not in vain and that his vision is coming true. Today we must get rid of our Christian escapism attitude and regain the vision of our forefathers. Then there's no long range view of the church in this age. We have bought into a teaching that tells us that the church is doomed in this age. There is no use. All we can do is to await the rapture to take us out of the way. Our attitude is that we will do what we can to reach the unreached in the time we have left before the rapture.

But the church will not succeed in its mission. The best we can do is to plant as many churches as we can among the unreached before the rapture comes. Yet there is no long range view of a bright future for the church and the success of its mission as the great pioneer missionaries of the past saw. And then let us see in the second place Isaiah's prophecy of a glorious future for the church. Again we read in verses one through three, Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples. But the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Began in Jerusalem. Jesus came to Israel at his first coming. He brought salvation to those who believed on him. He called out disciples to follow him. He sent the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost to empower his infant church in its mission. On the day of Pentecost, about 3,000 came to the Lord and thousands more would have come as the gospel spread and the church grew.

A seed was planted and that seed would grow and the church would continue. The light began to dawn in Jerusalem and that light has gone out into the world and continues to spread and will spread even more in the future. John Calvin in commenting on the words to thy brightness says, If one nation only had enjoyed the light, it would have been of no advantage to the rest. But so far as the doctrine of the gospel has been spread throughout the whole world, Judea has held out the light to the Gentiles, formerly blinded, in order to point out the way.

By making the brightness peculiar to a single nation, he shows that in no other way could the world be enlightened or come to share this benefit than by seeking light from that word which proceeded from the Jews and was heard at Jerusalem, where the lamp of the Lord was kindled and where the sun of righteousness arose, that from it he might diffuse his light to all the ends of the earth as we have formerly seen. Out of Zion shall go forth the law, as it says in Isaiah 2:3. There is therefore no light but from the doctrine of the prophets, so that they who withdraw from it falsely boast of walking in the light.

From Jerusalem the gospel light went forth and that light continues to shine and the nations will look to that light more in the future. Isaiah forecast a bright future. Verse three says, Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Nations will come to her light. Verse four he says, Lift up your eyes and look about you. All assemble and come to you. Your sons are coming from afar and your daughters are carried on the arm. And then you will look and be radiant. Your heart will throb and swell with joy.

The wealth on the seas will be brought to you. To you, the riches of the nations will come. Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord. All Kedar flocks will be gathered to you. The rams of Nebaioth will serve you. They will be accepted as offerings on my altar and I will adorn my glorious temple. Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests? Surely the islands look to me in the lead of the ships of Tarshish, bringing your sons from afar.

A. J. Young writes when Isaiah speaks, the earth is still enshrouded in darkness, there being only the morning star, the divine promises. But when Christ came, the sun arose and light broke forth. This light of salvation will draw the nations unto it. And therein lies the reason why Zion is glorious. Zion becomes light for the nations, for she is the light of the world and that through her the true light, even Jesus Christ, shines forth. It is not Zion's light in her own right, for her own light was darkness, but it is the light that her Lord gives her.

In Matthew Henry writes, it shall be very large. When the Jews were settled again in their own land after their captivity, many of the people of the land joined themselves to them. But it does not appear that there ever was any such numerous accession to them as would answer the fullness of this prophecy. And therefore we must conclude that this looks further that the bringing of the Gentiles into the gospel church, not their flocking to one particular place, though under that type it is here described, there is no place now that is the center of the church's unity, but the promise respects their flocking to Christ and coming by faith and hope and holy love into that society which is incorporated by the charter of his gospel and of the unity of which he only is the center, that family which is named from him.

The gospel church is expressly called Zion in Jerusalem. And under that notion, all believers are said to come to it. For it says in Hebrews 12:22, you have come unto Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem which serves for a key to this prophecy. Rather than a gloomy future in this age, Isaiah forecasts a bright future for the church. And we need to learn from him. Thirdly, we need to get a better vision of the church. Again our text says, Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples. But the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Let us see God's plan for the church. She is to be a light to the nations. God blesses the church and shines upon her so that she can be a light to the peoples of the world. A J. Young writes not only nations, but also kings, the heads of nations will walk with respect to the brightness of Zion's arising.

Isaiah probably mentions kings to show that not merely the common people, but even those of high rank will come to the saving knowledge of the truth. Zion is conceived as rising and in rising is shedding brightness. Calvin beautifully remarks, he alludes to the dawn. For as in For as the morning star begins the day in one quarter only of heaven and immediately the sun enlightens the whole world, so the day break was first in Judea, from which the light arose and was after diffused throughout the whole world. For there is no corner of the earth which the Lord is not enlightened by this light.

Matthew Henry writes, it is here promised, number one, that the church shall be enlightened and shown upon. And number two, that it shall be enlarged and great additions made to it to join in the service of God. Now this has some reference to the peaceable and prosperous condition which the Jews were sometimes in after their return out of captivity into their own land. But it certainly looks further and was to have its full accomplishment in the kingdom of the Messiah, the enlargement of that kingdom by the bringing in of the Gentiles into it and the spiritual blessings in heavenly things by Christ Jesus with which it should be enriched and all these earnest of eternal joy and glory.

God's plans for the church is glorious. He would shine his light upon her and she would be a light to the nations. She would be a light in the midst of darkness and the nations will see her light and come to it. God's plan is for the church to proclaim the gospel to the nations and by so doing she will be a light to the world. God will build his spiritual temple, bringing people from all over the world into that temple. Verse seven says, all Kedar flocks will be gathered to you. The rams of Nebaioth will serve you and they will be accepted as offerings on my altar and I will adorn my glorious temple.

The New Testament talks about a spiritual temple that is being built. In Ephesians 2:19-22 it says, consequently you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together become a dwelling in which God lives by his spirit. That spiritual temple was begun in the early church and continues to be built.

The building is not finished, much yet to be done. God has a plan for the nations and that plan includes the church preaching the gospel to the peoples of the world to lead them to Christ. Andrew Fuller writes of the young William Carey, He says I knew Carey when he made shoes for the maintenance of his family. Yet even then his mind had received an evangelical stamp and his heart burned incessantly with desire for the salvation of the heathen. Even then he had drawn out a map of the world with sheets of paper pasted together, besmeared with shoemakers wax and the moral state of every nation depicted with his pen.

Even then he was constantly talking with his brethren on the practicability of introducing the gospel in all nations. Carey had a plan. He had God's plan to carry the gospel to the nations of the world. Carey preached his great sermon that launched the modern missionary movement. On May 31st, 1792 he used as his text Isaiah 54:2-3 which wasn't addressed to Zion or to the church. Beginning in verse one it says, Sing, oh barren woman, you who never bore a child, burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor, because more of the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband, says the Lord.

Enlarge the place of your tent. Stretch your tent curtains wide. Do not hold back. Lengthen your cords. Strengthen your stakes, for you will spread out to the right and to the left and your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. Carey called on the church of his day to reach out with the gospel to the nations to bring them to Christ. He showed that God had a plan for the nations. God had a plan for the church to expand and bring in many peoples into its bosom. We ought to pray for her success today.

We need to be praying for the success of the church in our day. Instead of giving up and awaiting an any moment rapture, we need to pray for the advance of the kingdom of God in this world. In Isaiah 62:6-7 it says, I have posted watchmen on your walls, oh Jerusalem. They will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth. We should pray and ask the Lord to establish his church and make her the praise of the earth.

We should not rest day or night, but continue to pray until the church accomplishes its mission in this world. Isaiah prophesied the success of the kingdom of God in this world. In Isaiah 2:1-4 it says, in the last days the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as chief among the mountains. It will be raised above the hills and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths.

The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Here Isaiah gives us the vision of the church reaching all the nations with the gospel and being successful. It all began in Jerusalem and it will continue into the future. It's not over yet. God has a plan for the church and for the nations and he is working out his plan.

We must believe that. We must get a vision for God's plan for this world. The church has a mission. We must not give up, but press forward. The Lord will return one day, but not until the church is carried out her mission. We look forward to the coming of the Lord. Yet we must not forsake the mission that he has given his church in this world. Pray for the furtherance of the gospel all over the world. Pray for the success of Zion. But what about you today? Has the light of the gospel shone upon you?

Even now the Holy Spirit may be piercing your heart with the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Know that Jesus came and died for your sins and he calls upon you now to repent once and receive him as your savior and Lord. Come into the church of the Lord Jesus Christ and be a part of his temple. Come to Christ today. Our Father in heaven, we do pray for the furtherance of the gospel all over the world. We pray that multitudes will come to know Christ before he comes again. We pray for the glory of the church in the future.

We pray that the nations will be drawn into the church, that kings will come into the church. We pray for the glory of Zion. We pray for the furtherance of the gospel in our age and day. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

David Shuldt: We hope this week's broadcast has been a blessing to you. If you have any questions about Mr. Dodson's message, please write us. You may email us at info@watchmanradio.org. Our mailing address is Watchman Radio Ministries International, Post Office Box 13251, Portland, Oregon 97213. That's Watchman Radio Ministries International, Post Office Box 13251, Portland, Oregon 97213. You may listen to this broadcast at any time on the internet at www.oneplace.com. In the list of ministries, just select the Watchman Radio hour. This week 's program and previous programs are always available there for listening. Our web address is www.watchmanradio.org. That's w a t c h m e n radio.org.

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