Watchman Radio Hour

David Schult: Welcome to the Watchman Radio Hour. Coming to you from Portland, Oregon, here in the beautiful Northwest. This is David Schult, 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 is 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 49, and we'll begin to read in verse 5. Let us hear the word of God: "And now the Lord says—he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength—he says: It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."

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. 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.

The great mission of the church is to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth. This is the mission of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he is now in the process of doing through his church. This great mission was foretold by the Old Testament prophets. They looked ahead and saw the Messianic age and the work of the church.

Jesus carries out his work through his people. He is now reigning from heaven, and he leads and directs his church in this great mission of salvation to the ends of the earth. The work that we are called to do as the church is still to be done. There are nations that need to be won to Christ and nations that need to be re-won to Christ. Our mission continues. And though Satan resists the onward movement of the gospel and attacks the church in many ways, we must not give up but march forward in this great work.

Our text is Isaiah 49:6, which says, "He says: It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth." Jesus is to bring salvation to the ends of the earth. Some think our work is almost done and soon we will be taken away to be with the Lord. Yet this seems premature to believe.

Our mission is to bring salvation to the ends of the earth. There seems that there is much work yet to be done when only a small percentage of great nations like India and China now know Christ. Other nations have even smaller percentages of Christians. Also, there are great nations that once acknowledged Christ that have turned away from him as a people, and they need to be recovered for the gospel. There is so much work yet to be done that we must press forward and not give up.

It seems to me that the greater work is yet to be done. The kingdom of Satan will not win. The kingdom of God must advance. Our prayer must continually be that the church will grow and prosper and be a shining light in this world, that brighter days will yet come for her. Now let us see in the first place that Jesus would bring salvation for the Jews first. Again our verse says, verse 6 says, "He says it is a small thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept."

Jesus came to Israel first. Jesus came to Palestine first, for he was born there. He was born among the Jews, for he was a Jew. The beginning of the New Testament church was Jewish. All the apostles who started the New Testament church were Jews. Yet the Jews as a whole rejected Christ. In John 1:11, it says he came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Paul took the gospel to the Jews and was rejected and persecuted by most. Yet a remnant believed, and the New Testament church was born with Jewish origins.

Now, there will be further conversion of the Jews in the future, the Bible teaches. This doesn't mean that the Jews have been cast off forever. Jesus is still seeking them out, and his work among them is not yet finished. This is why Paul insisted that there would yet a time where all Israel would be saved. In Romans 11:25-27, he says, "I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins."

And so Paul did not give up on the mission to the Jews but believed the promises of the scriptures that one day the Jewish people as a whole would embrace Christ and come into the church. This conversion of Israel to Christ seems to be associated with a greater work among the Gentiles yet to come. In commenting on the fullness of the Gentiles mentioned in Romans 11:25, Iain Murray writes: "So in verse 25, it is not necessary to believe that fullness means anything more than a large addition of Gentiles, a multitude of the Gentiles, says Matthew Poole's Annotations, greater by far than was in the apostle's days. The verse says nothing which requires us to expect no further expansion of the kingdom of Christ thereafter. As a recent commentator writes, the fullness of the Gentiles denotes unprecedented blessing for them but does not exclude even greater blessing to follow."

The mission of the church to the Jews is still going on, and there is greater fruit yet to be seen among them. Now let us see in the second place that Jesus had a greater work to do; he would be a light to the Gentiles. Again, verse 6 says, "He says it is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."

The gospel would go out to many nations. In Isaiah 42:6, it says, "I the Lord have called you in righteousness. I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles." In Acts 13:47, Paul says, "For this is what the Lord has commanded us: I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth." Simeon, taking the baby Jesus in his arms, praised God and said, "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."

Jesus would take the gospel through his church to the Gentiles all over the world. Matthew Henry writes, "And therefore I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles. Many great and mighty nations by the gospel of Christ shall be brought to the knowledge and worship of the true God, that they mayest be my salvation, the author of that salvation which I have designed for lost man, and this to the end of the earth, to nations at the greatest distance. Hence Simeon learned to call Christ a light to lighten the Gentiles, and Saint Paul's exposition of this text is what we ought to abide by, and it serves for a key to the context. Acts 13:47: Therefore, says he, we turn to the Gentiles to preach the gospel to them because so has the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light to the Gentiles. In this the Redeemer was truly glorious. Though Israel was not gathered, the setting up of his kingdom in the Gentile world was more than his honor than if he had raised up all the tribes of Jacob. This promise is in part fulfilled already and will have a further accomplishment if that time be yet to come which the apostle speaks of, when the fullness of the Gentiles shall be brought in."

John Calvin writes, "Therefore, I have appointed thee to be a light of the Gentiles. He now adds that his labor will be efficacious not only among the people of Israel but likewise among the Gentiles. And so it actually happened. Moreover, when the preaching of the gospel produced hardly any good effect on the Jews and when Christ was obstinately rejected by them, the Gentiles were substituted in their room. And thus Christ was appointed a light of the Gentiles and his salvation was manifested to the very ends of the earth." The gospel, therefore, would not just go to a small nation of the Jews, but it would go to the whole world. This was God's great plan.

And then let us see that it was a glorious work. It would far exceed just saving one nation of people. E. J. Young writes, "The purpose is to show that the restoration of Israel is not a sufficiently great task for the servant. He is also to be a light to the Gentiles and God's salvation to the ends of the earth." Matthew Henry writes, "The gospel shall be glorious in the eyes of the world, and though it be not so in the eyes of the Jews, yet it shall be entertained by the nations. The Messiah seemed as if he had been primarily designed to bring Jacob back, but he is here told that it is comparatively but a small matter. A higher orb of honor than that and a larger sphere of usefulness are designed for him. It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob to the dignity and dominion they expect by the Messiah, and to restore the preserved of Israel and make them a flourishing church and state as formerly. Nay, considering what a little handful of people they are, it would be but a small matter in comparison for the Messiah to be the Savior of them only."

And John Calvin writes, "And he said it is a small matter. Isaiah proceeds still further and shows that the labor of Christ and of the whole church will be glorious not only before God but likewise before men. And although at first it appears to be vain and useless, yet the Lord will cause some fruit to spring from it contrary to the expectations of men. Already it was enough that our labor should be approved by God, but when he adds that it will not be unprofitable even in the eyes of men, this ought still more abundantly to comfort and more vehemently to excite us. Hence it follows that we ought to have good hopes of success, but that we ought to leave it to the disposal of God himself, that the blessing which he promises may be made manifest at the proper time, to whatever extent and in whatever manner he shall think proper." The Messiah would have a greater work to do than just a ministry to the Jews only. His ministry would go to the ends of the earth.

And then thirdly, let us see that Jesus would bring salvation to the whole world. Again our text says, "He says it is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth." He would go to the ends of the earth. His mission would be to the whole world, to the ends of the earth. His mission is carried out by his church, which is his missionary agency.

In Matthew 28:19 and 20, Jesus gave his final command to his disciples and through them to the church. He says, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always to the very end of the age." Jesus, therefore, gave a command to his church to carry the gospel to all the nations and make disciples of them. He promised his church that he would be with them until the very end of the age. The great commission is still in force and will be until Jesus returns at the end of this age. There is much work yet to be done; our mission is not nearly over.

E. J. Young writes, "The view that identifies the servant with Israel fails. Israel alone never was the instrument of the world's redemption. Paul's use of this verse in Acts 13:47 supports the identification of the servant as the Messiah and his people. When his people labor in his name, as Paul and Barnabas were doing, he works through them. And so Jesus through his church carries the gospel to the ends of the earth."

John Calvin writes, "The true meaning of the prophet is this: This work in itself indeed is magnificent and glorious, to raise up and restore the tribes of Israel which had fallen very low. For he will add the Gentiles to the Jews that they may be united as one people and may be acknowledged to belong to Christ. Nor does this passage relate to the rejection of the ancient people, but to the increase of the church that the Gentiles may be associated with the Jews in the unity of faith. It is true indeed that when the Jews revolted from the covenant, the Gentiles entered as it were into the place which they had left vacant, and thus their revolt was the reason why those who had formerly been aliens were admitted to be sons. But in this as well as in other passages, Isaiah foretells that the church will be greatly extended when the Gentile shall be received and united to the Jew in the unity of faith."

Calvin goes on to say, "A light of the Gentiles. Although by the word light is meant happiness or joy, yet the prophet, I have no doubt, directly refers to the doctrine of the gospel which enlightens souls and draws them out of darkness. He shows that this light which Christ shall bring will give salvation. In the same manner as Christ is called the way, the truth, and the life, because through the knowledge of the truth we obtain life, and so in this passage he is called the light and salvation of the Gentiles because he enlightens our minds by the doctrine of the gospel in order that he may lead us to salvation. Two things, therefore, ought to be remarked: First, that our eyes are opened by the doctrine of Christ, and secondly, that we who had perished are restored to life—or rather, life is restored to us." The mission of the church under Christ is to go to the ends of the earth with the gospel and to win the nations to the Lord.

And then let us say that this salvation is to the whole world. Today we are called as the church to carry the gospel to the whole world, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth. We yet have a greater work to do; our mission is not accomplished. We need to keep God's great vision in view. We can find that vision in Malachi 1:11, which says, "My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name because my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord Almighty." This is God's plan. He wants his name to be great among the nations. He wants people all over the world to come and worship him. He has a great vision, and we need that vision too.

David Brainerd was a missionary to the American Indians in the 1740s. He was young, he wasn't in very good health, and he died young. Yet he gave his life to carry out the mission of our Lord to reach the unreached with the gospel. He wrote to a friend: "I would not change my present mission for any other business in the whole world. God has of late given me great freedom and fervency in prayer when I have been so weak and feeble that my nature seemed as if it would speedily dissolve. I feel as if my all was lost and I was undone for this world if the poor heathen may not be converted. It would be very refreshing to me to see you here in the desert, especially in my weak, disconsolate hours, but I think I could be content never to see you or any of my friends again in this world if God would bless my labors here to the conversion of the poor Indians."

God did bless his work. A great revival broke out among the tribes that he was preaching to. Samuel B. Halliday writes about the revival that broke out among the Indians in New Jersey in August of 1745. He says, "Now began his great year. How his worn face must have shone as after his wearisome journey he gathered the waiting flock for whom he had cried to God incessantly for many miles together and set before them the love and compassion of the Lord. It was surprising, he says, how their hearts seemed to be pierced with the tender and melting invitations of the gospel when there was not a word of terror spoken to them. After the first week of daily meetings, on August the 8th, at the close of a discourse on the parable of the supper, Brainerd began to speak more particularly to one and another whom he saw under much concern.

The power of God, he says, seemed to descend upon the assembly like a mighty rushing wind and with astonishing energy bore down all before it. I stood amazed at the influence which seized the audience almost universally and could compare it to nothing more aptly than the force of a mighty torrent or swelling deluge that with its unsupportable weight and pressure bears down and sweeps before it whatever comes in its way. Almost all persons of all ages were bowed down with concern together. Old men and women who had been drunken wretches for many years, and some little children not more than six or seven years of age, appeared in distress for their souls as well as persons of middle age. They were praying and crying for mercy in every part of the house and many outside the door. Their concern was so great that none seemed to take any notice of those about him, but each prayed freely for himself. He thought this had a near resemblance to the day of God's power mentioned in Joshua 10:14. I never saw one like it, a day wherein I am persuaded the Lord did much to destroy the kingdom of darkness among this people."

Brainerd goes on to tell how God worked in the heart of an Indian woman. He wrote, "A young Indian woman, who I believe never knew before that she even had a soul, hearing that there was something strange among the Indians, came laughing and mocking to see what was the matter. Before I had concluded my discourse, she was so convinced of her sin and misery that she seemed like one pierced through with a dart and cried out incessantly. After service, she lay on the ground for hours, praying earnestly, taking no notice of any who spoke to her. I hearkened to what she said and perceived the burden of her prayer to be: Have mercy on me, oh God, and help me to give you my heart. This she continued praying incessantly for hours together. This was indeed a day of God's power and seemed enough to convince an atheist of the true importance and power of his word."

Halliday writes concerning the results of the revival, "The testimony is strong to the solid character and results of the work. The sorrow and joy were, with few exceptions, evidently genuine and unaffected. Still more remarkable were the practical and enduring results in changed lives, in the abandonment not only of pagan superstition and practices but of evil passions and habits common to sinful humanity, of impurity, dishonesty, violence, hatred, and even their most easily besetting sin of drunkenness. The reformation was general and springing from the internal influence of divine truths upon their hearts, not from any external restraint."

God honored the faithful preaching of his word among these unreached people, and he continues to do that today. And he will honor his word wherever it is preached and taught faithfully. That we must believe. We must do all we can to get the gospel out to the unreached. David Brainerd gave his life to reach the American Indians with the gospel because he knew they were unreached and needed Christ. Today we must carry the gospel to the whole world. We must win nations and peoples to Christ. This is our mission under him.

The gospel comes to you today. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. That gospel is in your hearing today. May God touch your heart, and may you at once repent of your sins and come to Jesus Christ for salvation.

Our Father in heaven, we pray for the furtherance of the gospel all over the world. We thank you for David Brainerd and his faith and commitment to you and giving his life to reach these Indians with the gospel. We thank you that you blessed his efforts and you sent a mighty revival among them. And I pray that you will send a mighty revival today and that multitudes would come to know Christ and turn from their sin and rebellion and turn to him. And we ask these things in Christ's name, amen.

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David Schult: 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-R-A-D-I-O.org. www.watchmanradio.org.