Watchman Radio Hour

Announcer: Welcome to the Watchman Radio Hour. Coming to you from Portland, Oregon here in the beautiful Northwest. This is David Shaltier 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 Dotson to bring you this week's message from God's Word.

Alex Dodson: Isaiah looks ahead and sees a day when the nations will come into the church. God had his plan. He had called Cyrus to bring Israel back from captivity to their homeland to rebuild the city and the temple.

Verse 12 of Isaiah 45 says, I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness. I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free but not for a price or reward, says the Lord Almighty. God would call Cyrus to bring his people back to their land for a purpose.

In verses five and six it says, I will strengthen you talking to Cyrus. Though you have not acknowledged me so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting, men may know. There is none besides me. I am the Lord and there is no other. God called Cyrus for a purpose that men all over the world might know the true God.

The Jews would return to Israel. They would rebuild, rebuild the city and the temple and they would prepare themselves for the coming of the Messiah in the future. This was God's plan. This was why he raised up Cyrus. God has a plan and he will carry it out. His ultimate plan was to prepare the way for the coming of Christ into the world. Through the coming of Christ, salvation would be offered to the nations. And people from all over the world would come into the people of God.

Isaiah 45:14 says, this is what the Lord says. The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush and those tall Sabians, they will come over to you and will be yours. They will trudge behind you coming over to you in chains and they will bow down before you and plead with you saying, surely God is with you. And there is no other. There is no other God.

The nations will come into the church to worship the true God. God is now addressing his church and telling them of what would come about in the future. These Gentile nations would come to her and want to know the one true God.

This is a prophecy of the gospel age when the gospel would go out to the whole world and all nations would be invited into the people of God. Jesus gave the great commission to his disciples and through them to the church in Matthew 28, 19 and 20 where he said, 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 am with you always to the very end of the age.

Our mission today as the church is to go into all the world and win the nations to Christ. This is God's plan and he has called us as his church to go as his ambassadors to the nations and bring them in. And when we go the peoples will want to come. This is Isaiah's promise here. They will come over to you and be yours. They will know that God is with you and they will want to know that God. We must believe that.

Paul knew this. He knew they would come and be carried. And he carried the gospel to those who had never heard it. And they did come just as Isaiah promised in Romans 15:21 and 22 Paul says, it has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known. So that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. Rather as it is written, those who were not told about him will see and those who have not heard will understand. This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.

Paul's priority was to reach the unreached with the gospel to carry the gospel to the nations and this should be our priority as well in our day. Our mission is not done. We are still under orders to carry the gospel to the nations and win them to Christ.

Let us see in the first place today that the nations will come into the church. Verse 14 of Isaiah 45 which is our text says, this is what the Lord says. The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush and those tall Sabians, they will come over to you and be yours. This is a prophecy of the gospel age. It was God's plan to bring the nations into the church. Paul, people from all over the world.

Egypt, Ethiopia or Cush, the Sabians would come over to her representing the nations and people groups of the world. The Lord is addressing the church or Israel. John Gill writes, thus saith the Lord. The following words are said not to Cyrus nor to Christ, but to the church as the feminine pronouns show. In the Geneva Bible in note 2 on verse 14 it says, whereas before they were enemies, they shall now honor thee. And thou shalt rule them which was accomplished in the time of Christ.

Psalm 72 paints a glorious picture of the Messiah in the coming gospel age. In verses 8 through 11 it says, he will rule from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. The desert tribes will bow before him. And his enemies will lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores will bring tribute to him. The kings of Sheba and Seba will present him gifts and all kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him.

John Gill writes, the labor of Egypt and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabians, men of stature shall come over unto thee. A prophecy of the conversion of many in these nations, who should join themselves to the churches of Christ formed among them and make use of their riches got by merchandise, labor and industry for the support of the interests of religion. And had its accomplishment in part in the first times of the gospel which was brought into Egypt as it is said by the evangelist Mark. And by which no doubt many were converted and formed into a church state and others joined them. The Ethiopian eunuch baptized by Philip carried it into his country, where it also met with success was embraced and professed as it will be more so in the latter day. When the kings of Seba and Sheba shall offer gifts to Christ and bring their riches into the church.

The same with the Sabians here who are said to be men of stature, that is, of a large and tall stature, as the men of Seba are said to be by other authors or men of measure. The Targum renders it men of merchandise. Who use measures in trade and business and they shall be thine, give themselves to the church, become members of it and submit to the rule, its rule and discipline.

Again, we must see that Egypt, Ethiopia or Cush and Sabians are representative of all the nations. There will come a time when the nations of the world will come into the church. Edward J. Young writes, the heathen or the Gentile nations are mentioned not so much for themselves but as representatives of the Gentile world. Their conquest is spiritual in nature and they come to Israel in Jesus Christ.

Cali and Dalitz write, Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba are the nations that we meet with in other passages where the inheritance of the nations is promised to the church. And John Calvin in referring to the restoration unto Cyrus writes, but as that restoration was only the prelude to that which was accomplished by Christ. So likewise the homage which foreign nations rendered to the people of God was only the beginning of that homage which various nations rendered to the church of God after Christ had been revealed to the world.

Calvin goes on to explain how the nations Isaiah mentioned are representatives of all the nations of the world. He writes, now under the name of Egypt, Ethiopia and the Sabians who flourished at that time, he includes also the rest of the nations. It is as if he had said, you are now oppressed by the tyranny of foreign nations. But the time shall one day come when they shall be subject to you. This was not immediately fulfilled but only at the time when Christ by his coming subdued their flinty and hitherto untamable hearts so that they mildly submitted to the yoke that was laid upon them. But the Lord redeemed his people from Babylon in order that he might preserve some church till the coming of Christ, to whose authority all nations should be subject. Therefore we need not wonder if the prophet when speaking of the return of the people directs his discourse at the same time to God's end and design and makes it to be one redemption.

J. A. Alexander of Old Princeton writes concerning Egypt and Ethiopia. In both cases they are normal as Hitzig well observes by way of sample for the heathen or Gentile world. Alexander confirms that the Lord is addressing the church or Israel. He says, the ancient church are chosen people. He goes on to say concerning who the Lord is addressing there here. The feminine pronouns of the common text may be referred either to captivity, exiles in verse 13 or to my city in the same verse or to the congregation of Israel. In all which cases the real object of address is still substantially the same, the ancient church are chosen people.

Here we have a prophecy directed to the church at that time but also to the church of the future that a time was coming. When the Gentile nations would come into the church. The fulfillment of this prophecy came when Jesus arrived issuing in the gospel age and its fulfillment continues to this very day as the gospel goes out to the peoples of the world.

And then there are more prophecies of the nations coming into the church. Habakkuk 2:14 says, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Archibald Alexander, the founding professor of Princeton wrote, prophecy leads us to believe that many ages of the world are still future and that the most glorious period of the church is yet to come. When the gospel shall not only be preached to all nations but shall be embraced by all. When the earth shall be full of the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea.

One day Egypt will come to the Lord and not only Egypt but many Gentile nations. We see this from Isaiah's prophecy. In Isaiah 19, verse beginning to read in verse 16 where it says, in that day, the Egyptians will be like women. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the Lord Almighty raises against them. And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians. Everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified because of what the Lord Almighty is planning against them. In that day five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord Almighty. One of them will be called the city of destruction or Heliopolis, city of the sun. In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt. And a monument to the Lord at its border. It will be a sign and witness to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt.

When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender and he will rescue them. And so the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians. And in that day they will acknowledge the Lord. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings. They will make vows to the Lord and keep them. And the Lord will strike Egypt with a plague and he will strike them and then he will heal them. And they will turn to the Lord and he will respond to their pleas and heal them. And in that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together and in that day Israel will be the third along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them saying, blessed be Egypt my people.

Assyria my handy work and Israel my inheritance. Revelation 21 describes the church in the latter days which will be its most glorious period. In verse 24 it says, the nation will walk the nations. Well, walk by its light. And the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. And on no day will its gates ever be shut for there will be no night there and the glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.

The prophets saw the nations coming into the church. Jesus commanded his disciples to make disciples of all the nations. And this is our mission yet today. Let us see in the second place that they will come voluntarily. Again our text says, the products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush and those tall Sabians, they will come over to you and will be yours. They will trudge behind you coming over to you in chains and they will bow down before you and plead with you saying, surely God is with you and there is no other God. There is no other God.

They will come over to the church. They will come because they want to come. God will draw them by his spirit and word. And as Isaiah 49 verse 22 and following it says, this is what the sovereign Lord says, see, I will beckon to the Gentiles. I will lift up my banner to the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders. Kings will be your foster fathers and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground and they will lick the dust at your feet.

Then you will know that I am the Lord. Those who hope in me will not be disappointed. It would be like in First Corinthians 14:24 and 25 when the unbelievers heard the word of God being proclaimed. It says, but if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, foretelling the word of God, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. And so he will fall down and worship God exclaiming, God is really among you.

No one forces them to come. Calvin Dalych writes, we must therefore suppose that they put chains upon themselves voluntarily and of their own accord and thus offer themselves spontaneously to the church to be henceforth as subjects and slaves. Whilst the labor of Egypt, the production of its labor and the trade of Ethiopia, the riches acquired by trade are mentioned. In the case of Seba, the Sabians, the prophecy looks at the tall and handsome tribe itself. These would place themselves at the service of the church with their invincible strength.

Matthew Henry writes, but this promise was to have its full accomplishment in the gospel church when the Gentiles shall become obedient by word and deed to the faith of Christ as willing captives to the church, glad to wear her chains when an infidel beholding the public worship of Christians shall on himself convinced that God is with them of a truth and shall say to join himself to them. And when those that had been of the synagogue of Satan shall come and worship before the church's feet and be made to know that God has loved her. And the kings of the earth and the nations shall bring their glory into the gospel Jerusalem.

John Gill writes, they shall come after thee. Follow the church and its pastors as they have them for examples. The Targum is they shall walk after thy word. Be directed, guided and governed by the church. And then he writes, in chains they shall come over. Being subdued and conquered by the grace of God. Shall come in the chains of efficacious grace, drawn with the cords of love and bands of a man. And yet shall come willingly being made willing in the day of the power of divine grace upon their souls. And then he says, and they shall fall down unto thee. They shall make supplication unto thee. This is not to be understood of religious worship and invocation such as is made to God who only is the object of adoration and prayer in that sense but is only expressive of their profound veneration and respect for the church of God. Beseeching that it would receive them into the unworthy of its communion.

And then John Calvin writes, in chains they shall pass over. When he says that the Israelites shall be victorious over all the nations. This depends on the mutual relation between the head and the members. Because the only begotten son of God unites to himself those who believe in him so that they are one with him. It frequently happens that what belongs to him is attributed to the church which is his body and fullness.

In Ephesians 1:22 it says, and God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church which is the body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. John Calvin again says, in this sense also government is ascribed to the church. Not so as to obscure by haughty rule the glory of her head or even to claim the authority which belongs to him or in other words so as to have anything separate from her head. But because the preaching of the gospel which is which is committed to her is the spiritual scepter of Christ by which he displays his power. In this respect no man can bow down submissively before Christ without also obeying the church so far as the obedience of faith is joined to the ministry of doctrine. Yet so that Christ their head alone reigns and alone exercises his authority. In the gospel age, the nations will come to Christ voluntarily in that they will come because they want to and they will be drawn willingly by the Holy Spirit into Christ's church.

And then let us see in the third place that they will come to know the one true God. Our text says, they will bow down before you and plead with you saying, surely God is with you and there is no other. There is no other God.

They have a desire to know the one true God. These nations of people want to know the one true God. They are seeking him. In Zechariah 8:23 it says, this is what the Lord Almighty says, in those days 10 men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, let us go with you because we have heard that God is with you. These peoples want to come into the church because the one true God is worshipped there and they want to come to know him.

The message of the gospel is that there is only one true God. Isaiah 45 verse 5 says, I am the Lord and there is no other. Apart from me there is no God. Verse 6 says, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of the setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the Lord and there is no other. Verse 21 says, declare what is to be. Present it. Let them take counsel together who foretold this long ago. Who declared it from the distant past. Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no God apart from me. A righteous God and a savior. There is none but me. In verse 22 says, turn to me and be saved. All you ends of the earth. For I am God and there is no other.

John Giel writing says on this passage saying, surely God is in thee and there is none else. There is no God. Induced thus to come to the church. And show all this respect under her from this consideration that God is in the midst of her of a truth. Her name being Jehovah Shama. The Lord is there. There he grants his presence. Here his word is preached and ordinances administered. And here the converts flock in hope of enjoying the same blessings also. Being fully satisfied there is no other God but in Zion.

John Calvin writes, surely God is in thee. He relates what will be said by those who shall make respectful entreaties to the church. They will acknowledge that God is in her. And then he writes, and there is none besides God. He explains the manner in which foreign nations shall be subject to the Jews. That is by acknowledging that there is no other God than he whom the Jews worshipped. If it be objected that this was nothing has nothing to do with the Jews, who are now alienated from the church. I reply, Calvin says, the gospel nevertheless proceeded from them and was diffused throughout the whole world and thus we acknowledge Jerusalem to be the fountain from which pure doctrine flowed.

And then Calvin says, the meaning may be thus summed up. They who formerly were haughty and with lofty brow despised the church shall now submit to her. When it shall be known that she is the sanctuary of the one true God.

John Dixon in commenting on Psalm 26 says, here we arrive at the fundamental equation of mission. The driving force behind all our efforts to bring the news of the one true Lord to our friends and neighbors. If there is one Lord to whom all people belong and owe their allegiance, the people of that Lord must promote this reality everywhere. Monotheism and mission are intimately related. The existence of just one God makes our mission to the many essential.

In John 14:6 it says, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. In Acts 4:12 it says, salvation is found in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven given to men which by which we must be saved.

So today we invite you to come to the one true God. To come to Jesus Christ. We invite you to come into his church where he is proclaimed and worshipped. There is salvation in no one else. Again in Isaiah 45:22 it says, turn to me and be saved. All you ends of the earth. For I am God and there is no other. Come to me, he says. Come to Christ. Come to Christ. There is no other savior. There is no other God. Come to Christ and we invite you to come today, whoever you are. We invite you to come to Christ whether you're young or old.

Whether you're educated or not so educated. Whether you're rich or poor. Whatever race you come from. Makes no difference. God is no respecter of persons. He invites all wherever you are and whatever you're doing to come to to worship the one true God who is only in Jesus Christ. Come now and pray this prayer of commitment with me. Dear Lord Jesus, I recognize that you are the one true God. I recognize that you are the one and only savior. And I come to you today and I accept you into my heart and my life. I accept you as my Lord and my savior. Help me, oh Lord, to follow you always. Amen.

Our Father in heaven. We pray for the furtherance of the gospel all over the world. We pray that multitudes throughout the nations will come to Christ. That all nations will come to Christ. In his name we pray. Amen.

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