In these studies, thinking about Jehovah's Servant, we have picked up really on two texts of Scripture. First of all, there at where you are at present, chapter 42, verse 1, where it says, behold my servant. So there is this exhortation here to consider this particular servant of Jehovah. Those words are repeated as well when you get through to Isaiah chapter 52, verse 13. It says there, likewise, behold, my servant shall deal prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. So there is this exhortation in the Scriptures to behold Him. In this particular book, and even in these chapters that are around chapter 40 and working on through into chapter 52, 53, there is this emphasis upon considering Jehovah's servant. And we started out by thinking about the need to behold Jehovah's servant. Because what is presented to us is the abject failure of Israel as the servant of the Lord. We have been pointing that out here in Isaiah 42. I'll draw your attention just to remind you of that, chapter 42, verse 19 and 20. For example, who is blind but my servant, or death as my messenger that I sent? Who is blind as he that is perfect, the idea of being completely provided for, and blind as the Lord's servant? This can't be the Lord that he's speaking about. could never be the Lord. None of those statements that are mentioned in that verse could ever apply to the Lord. We would be seriously out of order if we started to apply those words in any way to the Savior. But if we apply them to Israel as the original servant that the Lord took up to use, in verse 20 it goes on to say, seeing many things, but thou observest not So we even get the clue as to who the Lord is speaking about here, because it's the same individual that Isaiah is writing to. He says, seeing many things, but thou observest not. You're this servant, Isaiah is saying to the people. You see, but you don't understand. You hear about these things, but you have no understanding of them. So there was the abject failure. Lord's original servant. So another servant is needed, and then that brings us to consider here our Savior as He is set forth, because He is the one who is the other servant that we are told to behold. For example, if we go back now to verse 1 of this 42nd chapter, we started off thinking about the character of Jehovah's perfect servant. He's the one who is upheld, He is the one who is elected. He is the one in whom the Father delights. He is the one upon whom the Spirit rests, and rests without measure. So there was that fourfold description of His character that is given. And now we're coming on to think about His work, His conduct. And that brings us to this phrase that I want you to consider at the end of verse 1 of chapter 42, the conduct. of this servant of Jehovah. There's actually six points of reference that follows on here, the end of verse one down to the end of verse four. Now, whether we take them all individually over other communion services, I don't know, but I'm going to point out all six to you now. There's the one at the end of verse 1 that we're certainly going to dwell upon this morning. He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. The second one there in verse 2, he shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. And then verse 3, a bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench, is the third one. Number 4 there at the end of verse 3, he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. That's something different to what we're thinking about this morning now. There's another aspect of His conduct there, a fourth aspect given at the end of verse 3. And then into verse 4, He shall not fail nor be discouraged till He have set judgment in the earth. And then the last one there, the sixth one, the idols shall wait for His law. So there are six specific statements here that are made with regards to what Jehovah's Servant is going to do that you and I are called upon to consider. That's why we want to work our way through these statements, because these are the things that the Lord wants us to ponder about His Servant. It's not and there's a place for it. There may be particular things about the Savior that we particularly are drawn to think upon. There's no harm in that, no wrong in that. There may be even favorite things that we want to think about with regards to the Savior, but we must not ever overlook the fact oftentimes the Lord directly points out what it is we are to consider. There are certain things the Lord does not want us ever to miss. or even to pass over casually, but he would have us to ponder them. Because that's the idea of that word, behold. Stop here and consider. Stop here and view these things. Ponder these things. So in each one of these statements, there is something for us to ponder. So going back then to the first of these six statements, as you have it there at the end of verse 1, he's going to bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. Now surely that immediately has a very important interest to us. I take it we're Gentiles. I don't think any of us have Jewish ancestry, maybe, but I take it we're all Gentiles. So this is going to be of particular interest to us, the gospel coming to Gentiles. you and I would be included? The Bible calls this a great mystery, something that only is known by the revelation of God. Paul was called the apostle to the Gentiles, and he is the one who spoke about it. He listed many of those mysteries, not something mysterious and has an element of mystique about it. That's not the word. That's not how the Bible uses the word mystery. The Bible uses the word mystery, something that's only known by direct revelation. And here is something that the Bible is full of by way of direct revelation. The Lord tells us what He's going to do among the Gentiles. And that includes you and me. And when we think, as highlighted, and we'll get there in a moment to Isaiah 45 and other portions, when we consider the absolute ungodliness of the Gentiles, their lack of knowledge that is emphasized in the Scriptures, that's one of the things, and that's what it says here the Lord is going to do. He's going to bring judgment to them, a people who know nothing of judgment. who know nothing of the gospel or the truth of God, but God is going to overrule in such a fashion that He's going to bring the gospel to these Gentiles, heathen Gentiles, ungodly Gentiles. But wonder of wonders, they're going to get to hear the gospel. This is what has been said before us. The first thing I want you to consider is that it is always the purpose of God to bless the Gentiles. It is no afterthought. It wasn't something that later on the Lord decided to do. He purposed from the very beginning of time that He was going to do a work among the Gentiles. Yes, He was going to have a peculiar people, the Jewish people, the descendants of Abraham through Isaac. They were going to be His people. They were going to be His servants. They were going to be given a work that they failed to do, but they were going to be chosen and commissioned, but they failed to be a witness for the Lord. it wasn't somehow that later on then the Lord decided, well, I'm going to take the gospel to the Gentiles. It was always the Lord's purpose, always the Lord's purpose that He would bless the Gentiles. We can go back to Abraham, for example, when the Lord called him out of Ur of the Chaldees, and then out of Haran and told him to come into the promised land, and that the Lord would make of him a great nation, that the Lord would bless him, the Lord would make his name great. But there was another element to what the Lord said to Abraham. I will bless thee, Genesis chapter 12, verse 3. I will bless thee. I will bless them that curse. I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curses thee. And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." Not just one family, not just his own family, through Isaac and then through Jacob and the twelve patriarchs. No, not just, not only them. They certainly were going to be blessed in a particular way, but the Lord said to Abraham, I'm calling you out, and I'm taking you into this land, and I'm taking you into this land for the purpose that in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Because we know that Christ was going to come from that family line, and He was going to die in the land of Israel. He was going to die in the very place the Lord had ordained, on the hill outside Jerusalem on a cross. And through that, there was going to be the blessing of all the families of the earth. It has always been That purpose was restated to Abraham in Genesis chapter 22 verse 18. It says, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice. In thy seed. Paul picks up on that thought in Genesis, or that's in Genesis, and he picks up on it in Galatians. And he actually focuses in on the fact that the Lord there in the Old Testament used the singular Thy seed, not thy seeds, not all the individuals that descended from Abraham through Isaac and through Jacob. No, the blessing wasn't in them. Blessing was going to be in one individual. It was going to be one individual that would be the means of blessing. Thy seed, Christ is that seed, the seed of the woman And that takes us then back to Genesis, to the very first gospel promise that was given to our first parents in Genesis 3 and verse 15. And there the seed of the woman was to bruise the head of the serpent. So there is always this line that runs through all of the purposes of God that's going to include the Gentiles. They are going to be reached with the gospel, not as an afterthought, but as part of that eternal, original purpose on which the Lord is going to save the people. Now, that's going to entail what we can call the stumbling of the Jews. In Romans chapter 11 and verse 11, it's written there by Paul, I say then, have they stumbled? Referring to the Jews. Have they stumbled that they should fall? Is there no way back for Israel? Is there no way back for the Jews? They've stumbled. That was evidently the case in Paul's day. They've stumbled. He doesn't set out to prove that they had stumbled. They most certainly had. They hadn't believed in Christ. They'd rejected Him. But he says, have they stumbled in such a fashion that they should fall, never recover? Is this fall fatal? God forbid, Paul says, God forbid that that would happen. That's contrary to the purposes of God. He hasn't cast Israel off entirely. He has caused them to stumble for a purpose, and he goes on to tell us what that purpose is in Romans 11, verse 11. But rather, through their fall, salvation has come unto the Gentiles. Oh, there's the purpose of their stumbling. Now, Israel is responsible for their own stumbling, as every individual is responsible for their Christ rejection. But there is a greater purpose of God. There are two parallel tracks that run through the Scriptures and run through all of life. One is the eternal purpose of God, and the other is the responsibility and accountability of each individual. There is a mystery about that. God determines who will be saved, yet every individual is accountable for rejecting Jesus Christ. We are finite. How do we reconcile that? I don't even try, because I've got a finite mind and I'm trying to understand the infinite. There are things I'm never going to reconcile. I don't see them as competing truths. I believe in a God who is sovereign, a God who is eternally purposed. all things that come to pass. He's going to save a people from among the Jews and from among the Gentiles, but every single individual is accountable themselves for how they deal with Jesus Christ and what they've done with Him. And they will be dealt with by God on that basis. There is a depth to that that you and I will not understand, but that's what the Bible reveals. Every individual is accountable. for what they do with Jesus Christ. And today, you are accountable, and I am accountable for what we do with Jesus Christ, and we will answer for that, irrespective of what God's ultimate purpose is in saving, as to who He will save and who He will not save. But He says, through Paul there in Romans 11, Yeah, they've stumbled. It's not fatal. No, no, the Lord will see to it that it's not fatal, but they've stumbled for a reason, and that is that you and I might be brought in. Through their fall, it says, salvation has come to the Gentiles. And then the Lord goes on to add another thought on that, for to provoke them to jealousy. Oh, it's not that we deserved it. It's not that we were better. It's not that you somehow can look down at the Jew and go, tut, tut, imagine them rejecting Jesus Christ. No. Why did the Lord permit them to stumble? Why did He bring salvation to the Gentiles? Because He's got an ultimate purpose with His original people. He says, I'm going to provoke you to jealousy. I'm going to provoke you to jealousy. by saving another people, by favoring another people, and bringing another people into the experience of the blessings of God. This is the Lord's continual purpose, original purpose and continual purpose. Now, that promise of a work among the Gentiles is very closely tied in with Jesus Christ in the New Testament. For example, in Acts 3, where we have the early church and their preaching and their witness, and in Acts 3, 26 and 27, it says, "'Ye are the children of the prophets, and the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, and in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you and turning away every one of you from His iniquities." Do you notice the line, unto you first? There's another purpose thereafter. That's why Paul always went into the synagogue to preach first of all. When he went on his missionary journeys, he was the apostle to the Gentiles. But we know the pattern that he followed. He always went to where there were Jews. He always went to the synagogue, or as in the case in Philippi, where they were meeting together down at the riverside. He always went to where the Jews were. He preached to them first. That's the pattern. Then he preached to the Gentiles. Because that's the purpose of God in these things. Turn over, please, a moment to Romans chapter 15. There's a lengthy portion here we're not going to read at all. But in Romans chapter 15, beginning at verse 8, Paul sets out some of these things that I have been highlighting to you. And he does it by quoting Scripture to support what he's saying. Earlier in the book of Romans, Paul asked that question, what saith the Scriptures? That was his pattern. He was a man of the book. He proved what it was that he believed and what he taught from the Bible, not from any learning that he had. His attitude was, what saith the Scriptures? And as we know, it ought always to be our way of working as well. What does the Bible say about it? And beginning there at Romans chapter 15 and verse 8, And right down to verse 16, but we're not going to read all of these verses, but there's a whole section here. He's underscoring this point. The gospel is going to the Gentiles. It has always been God's purpose to do so. We'll read a few verses at the start of this section. Romans 15 verse 8, now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the promises made unto the fathers. There's a starting point. As I say, Paul always started with the Jew. He always preached, first of all, to the Jew. But then he went on, verse 9, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy. As it is written, for this cause, I will confess to thee among the Gentiles and sing unto thy name. If you've got a margin in your Bible, it'll tell you that that quotation is taken from Psalm 18, verse 49. And then verse 10, and again. Oh, it's not just one scripture that he has to rely on for that. That would be sufficient if he only had one scripture. But he's got more. He says, and again, he says, rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. That's taken from Deuteronomy 32. Those words. He's not finished yet. Verse 11, and again. Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and laud him, all ye people. That's taken from Psalm 117. And still another one in verse 12. And again, Isaiah said, there shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles. In him shall the Gentiles trust. That's Isaiah chapter 11. So here's Paul stating this truth. And he said, here's Scripture after Scripture after Scripture. establishes this point. It has always been the Lord's purpose to bring Gentiles to Christ, that they may experience the glories of salvation. And here then is the wonder of this thought, because in Isaiah 42 and verse 1, this statement, he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. There is the thought here of those who have no knowledge at all of Christ are going to hear." You see, it wouldn't surprise us in a sense that the Lord would save among the Jews. They were a people who knew the Lord from the very beginning. Abraham, it was Abraham's descendants. The Lord revealed Himself unto Abraham. He spoke to Abraham. He spoke to Isaac, Jacob. He appeared to them in dreams and visions. They had the truth of God. to them was given the written Scriptures as well. It says that to them were committed the oracles of God. So they were a privileged people. Again, Paul in Romans goes on to list other privileges they had. They had the covenants and the promises. They had the fathers and so on, the adoption. They had many privileges. So in a sense, it's no surprise that they would be the Lord's people and that they would hear the gospel. But what is surprising is that those who have no knowledge would come to hear. And that brings you and me in, heathen Gentiles, worshiping idols. And remember, before the gospel ever came to our shores, that's what we were doing. Our forefathers were worshiping idols. They were engaged in idolatry until the gospel came to our shores. If you go there to chapter 45 where we were reading, for a moment. And it starts off here with this wonderful direction that the Lord is going to bring about in this man's life, this man called Cyrus. And I've explained what it is in reference to how that he was going to capture the city of Babylon that was at that time the greatest power then in the world that had superseded the Assyrians and the Egyptians Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, and his successors were the power in the earth, the great head of gold. If you think of Daniel's image, thou art this head of gold, Nebuchadnezzar. God hath given unto thee all the kingdoms of the earth. But God was going to overthrow the Babylonians. And here's the man who was going to lead the armies of the Medes and Persians. And here's how the Lord was going to bring about the capture of that great city of Babylon. How could it ever be captured? It was such a magnificent city, walled and defended. It had a weak point. Part of the weak point was the river that ran through it and the gates that were locked to keep people from going in underneath the walls along the riverbed. But the Lord says, all of this is going to be open to you. And it was all left open that night. And it's one of the great mysteries, in a sense, in history. How did the city of Babylon get captured that night when it was so well defended? But God was their enemy that night, as it tells us here. As you work your way down through this, the rest of this chapter, we go on then to learn other things that God is going to do about the Gentiles or among the Gentiles. He speaks here about His greatness. And you can go down through that chapter again and underscore those times where it's emphasized, I am the Lord, and there is no God beside me. There is no Savior beside me. And if Gentiles are ever going to be saved, they're going to have to come to know this Savior, because there's no other Savior. There's no other way of salvation. There's not one or two or three different ways to be saved. There's not one way for the Jews to be saved and another way for those that have no knowledge. There's only one way of salvation. That's the great motivation, Christian, for missionary work across the world even today. Why should we support missionary work? Why should we send out missionaries? Why should we pray for missionaries? There's only one way of salvation. And there's people who are never half, not half privileged. They haven't got a fraction of our privileges. There's those today in the world, and they still haven't got a page of Scripture in their language. Not a page of it, not a verse of it do they have in their language. Go and read Trinitarian Bible Society. They have it actually, well they had on their website, the nations, the languages that still have no copies of the Scriptures. Those people will never be saved unless somebody goes and tells them, and you and I have that responsibility. The church of Jesus Christ has that responsibility to take the gospel to the nations. It's nobody else's responsibility. It's ours. It's ours. It's our calling. It's our commission. We are to go and take the gospel. You're to take the gospel across your street to your neighbor, or across the road, or up the road, or down the road, whatever. You're to take it to your neighbor, but we're to take it to the ends of the earth as well. Isn't there mention? That great text, we know it so well because of its connection with Spurgeon. In Isaiah 45, verse 22, look unto me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth. Who are the ends of the earth but the Gentiles? As I say, we know this text so well because this was the text that Spurgeon was quoted the morning he got converted. That wintry, snowy morning in Colchester when he couldn't get to his normal place of worship, and he went into a little church, little chapel. I've been in that place, and there's a plaque on the wall that says, near to this spot set sea at Spurgeon the morning he was converted. And the minister didn't turn up because he couldn't get there because of the snow And one of the deacons got up and he could barely speak, but he read this verse and he looked down and he says, young man, you look thoroughly miserable. Look on to Jesus Christ and be saved. Spurgeon said that night, that day I looked. So this text has got a remarkable connection with Spurgeon, but let's not miss, let's not miss the whole point of it here. The gospel is being preached to the nations. Look unto me, and be ye saved." Who? The Jews? The people in Israel? The people in Jerusalem? No, the ends of the earth. The ends of the earth, that's you and me. Oh, we might think the ends of the earth are somewhere else today, far away, although nowhere is really all that far away now in modern travel. But once it was, you and I were the ends of the earth, and didn't know, and our forefathers didn't hear. They had no knowledge of these things. Look unto me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth. For I am God, and there's none else. There's no other Savior. There's no other way of salvation. And Christian, never let us forget the responsibility we have to evangelize. I know we're going down. You could nearly walk to Ballyduff from here. We're going to evangelize not all that far away, but we have a responsibility even beyond that. Never mind Newton Abbey and there's thousands around us. We've got a responsibility to the world. The Christian church has got a responsibility to evangelize the lost wherever they are. Let us always be a missionary-minded people. Let us always be a missionary-minded people. And therefore, it's encouraging when missionaries are prayed for in our prayer meetings. It's encouraging when missionary boxes come in, and there's a substantial total that's in them for the support of missionaries, and our deputation offerings on a monthly basis, whatever it is that it's going to support. Let us always be missionary-minded. Because the Lord has called us to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. We're not to start picking and choosing. Who the Lord saves is His business. That's His inscrutable business. The secret things belong unto the Lord our God. Deuteronomy 29, 29 says, to us belong the revealed things. And His revealed will, you and I evangelize. Whether it's your family, whether it's your neighbor, whether it's strangers round about us here, or whether it's the ends of the earth, we evangelize. We're called upon to evangelize. But I want you to go back a few verses there. Look at verse 20 here of Isaiah 45. Assemble yourselves and come near to gather ye that are escaped of the nations. They have no knowledge. Here's the very point. We're told the Lord is going to bring judgment. He's going to bring judgment. He's going to bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. Why? Because they know nothing. It tells you here. They have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image that pray unto a God that cannot save. Do you ever think of some of those tribes in Africa that worship their dead ancestors and set up relics, bones sometimes, of their dead ancestors and worship them? Do you ever think about people? And they're convinced that it's right. They're convinced this is the thing to do, to worship dead ancestors and pray to them and seek to appease these gods. They know not. They have no knowledge. They're doing it out of ignorance, because nobody's told them otherwise. And they think they've believed the lie. They have no knowledge of these things. That's what the Lord is telling us here. And He's saying, assemble yourselves. Come drawn here, ye that are escaped of the nations that have no knowledge. Verse 21, "'Tell ye, bring them near. Yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the Lord, that there is no God else beside me, a just God and a Savior? There is none else beside me.'" That's what they need to hear. They need to be told. There's no Savior but Jesus Christ. There's no Savior but Jesus Christ. Turn back please to Psalm 147 and verses 19 and 20 in that psalm. It's the psalm that, it's one of those psalms, praise ye the Lord. The Lord is to be praised for who He is, but for what He's done. For example, in verse 12, "'Praise ye the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise thy God, O Zion! For He has strengthened the bars of thy gates. He hath blessed thy children within thee.'" But then as you come down to the last two verses, Psalm 147, verse 19, "'He showeth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. Here are the people who are privileged, who have been told. And in verse 20, it says, He hath not dealt so with any nation. Israel are a unique nation as to how God has dealt them. All the nations of the earth, there's not another nation like Israel, and how God has dealt with that nation, and the knowledge that God has given to that nation, and yes, the accountability. We're thinking about that on a Sunday evening recently. The accountability that there will be for what God has done to that nation. But look at the rest of verse 20, Psalm 147. He says, he's not dealt so with any nation. Now thinking about the nations, and as for his judgments, they have not known him. All of these other nations, here's the reality. They don't know the Lord. They don't know His judgments. That's the very word. That's the very thing it says in Isaiah 42 now that the Lord is going to do. He's going to bring judgment to the nations, to the Gentiles. And there's the psalm telling us they don't have judgment. They know none of these things. They don't know that there's only one Savior. They don't know there's only one God. They're heathen. They're idol worshipers. They're polytheists, worshiping many gods, and they don't know there is but one God and there is but one Savior. You and I need to tell them that. That's our responsibility to tell them, and it's the purpose of the Lord that that truth is told across the world to the Gentiles. Very quickly to conclude here with a few thoughts. Remember what Simeon said when he picked up the infant Christ in the temple that day? He was only days old, and yet that man knew so much. He knew that the time had come for the Messiah to appear. The Lord had given him assurance he wasn't going to die until he would see Him with his own eyes. But in Luke's Gospel, Chapter 2, Here's what Simeon said, "'Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people. A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.'" A light to lighten the Gentiles. That's what he said about that infant Christ. a light to lighten the Gentiles. And Christian, we're coming today to remember that light. We've come to know about Him, even though we dwelt in heathen darkness. Simeon was quoting Isaiah 42 there. It's the sixth verse. The end of the sixth verse is the quotation that he was taking up. I the Lord have called thee in righteousness and will hold thine hand and will keep thee and give thee for a covenant of the people for a light of the Gentiles." That's what Simeon was quoting when he took up that infant Christ and uttered those words. You and I have come to consider the light. My time is running on. I have a list of verses in Isaiah, in these chapters here, around where we are, that underscores this thought about the light coming to the Gentiles. And this is you and me. That's why I said this should be of great interest to us because here's the Lord promising. Remember, what are we? Six hundred years before Christ ever came, Isaiah wrote, And here He is writing these words, that the Lord is going to bring judgment to the Gentiles. You and I are going to hear this. Our nation is going to hear this, or the nations of the earth in general are going to hear this. And we are among those nations. I'll take a few. Let's try and keep them in order. Isaiah 49. Let's go there. Isaiah 49, verse 22. As I say, they're all around this same portion here in Isaiah where we're called upon to behold Jehovah's servant. And here's what we're to behold about him. He's going to reach out into the Gentile nations. Isaiah 49, 22. Thus saith the Lord God, behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles and set my standard to the people. And they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. We'll maybe get to this another time as to the extent of this, where they're actually going to bring the Jews as well. But let's just take the first bit of that verse, verse 22, Isaiah 49, 22. Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles. I'll set up my standard to the people. Yeah, there's going to be a time when the Lord's going to set up His standard and lift up His hand against them, against the Gentile nations. but He's also going to lift up His hand to them to save them. You think, it's a line I can't pursue this morning, but you think about how often in the Scriptures it talks about the Lord's mighty hand outstretched to save. That's how you and I are saved. The Lord reached out and saved us. We were floundering, perishing, and the Lord reached out His hand. and took a hold of us and saved us." Well, here's the Lord said, I'm going to stretch out my hand to a perishing people. I'm going to reach out to them. They're ungodly. They don't know the truth. They're rebellious. They're practicing all kinds of sin. As Paul tells us in Romans 1, when he talks about the Gentiles, they're this people, he says, but I'm going to reach out my hand to them. You know, it doesn't matter how great a sinner anybody is, the Lord can save them. That's the glorious truth of the gospel. It's not the sinfulness of sin that hinders anybody from being saved, because the Lord has saved the Gentiles. That's proof enough. They were an ungodly, wicked, sinful people, and yet the Lord says, I'm going to put out my hand to them to save them. I'm going to bring them up out of perishing waters. They're going to be mine. Let's go over to Isaiah 60. Isaiah 60. Let's read from verse 1. Arise, shine, for thy light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon thee. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people. But the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see all they gather themselves. Together they come to thee. Thy son shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side." I'm of the opinion that this is ultimately to be fulfilled, but let's leave that aside for a moment. Let's just take the opening thought that's here. Darkness prevailing? Verse 2, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people. Here again is the Gentiles in ignorance. They know nothing of God's judgments. But the Lord says, I'm going to arise as a light to them. They're going to come. They're going to seek this light. I, and they're going to bring your sons and daughters with them too, is the ultimate promise. It has always been God's purpose in Christ. to bring the light of the gospel to the Gentiles. And you and I are among that privileged people to whom that light has been brought. Why England? Why Ireland? Why Europe? Why the Macedonian call to Paul to come over into Europe? Why not Africa? Why not the far-flung corners of Asia? Why did the Lord not send a Macedonian call to Paul to go there? He was the apostle of the Gentiles and they're Gentiles. Why Europe? Why you? Why me? Do you see how much we owe Christ and His mercy that we ever heard? Or we would be like China or Nepal when you hear some of the reports from the missionaries there. have been in that work. Our country could have been in that darkness still, but for the fact the light of the gospel has come to us. Does that not humble us? Does that not make you thankful today? Because we are not deserving of this. There's other verses. If you want to look them yourself, Isaiah 61, 6 and 9, Isaiah 66, 19, Look up some of those as well in your own time if you're interested in pursuing. In fact, take down a concordance or look it up in your phone reference to the Gentiles in Isaiah and look at, just ponder some of those verses and see what the Lord has said He will do. And I know there's a debate whether He's fulfilled it in the past or whether He'll do it in the future. Leave that aside for now. Just notice the times that the Gentiles are mentioned, and you and I are there. Praise the Lord for that. Let's bow in prayer. Our Father, bless these things as we have pondered them. We thank Thee for our Savior. He is a mighty Savior. He's the only Savior. And Lord, what we owe to Thee, we do not really know. But we certainly take up the words of that hymn writer, teach me what it meaneth, the cross uplifted high. Be with us as we tarry. Be with those who would take their leave of us now after we sing a few verses. Be with us as we gather around this table. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.