This evening for a text we turn to the prophecy of Isaiah and chapter 60. Isaiah chapter 60. And the text, which may appear a little perplexing at first, is the eighth of the chapter. Isaiah 60 and verse 8. Who are these? but fly as a cloud and as the doves to their windows. Now in the latter part of the book of Isaiah, from chapter 40 to 66, there are two main themes. The first is Christ. And we read of him as the servant of the Lord in chapter 42, and 49, and 50, and 52, and of course 53. That last chapter being well known to us. But the other theme is the church. And we read of the church here in chapter 60, again in chapter 62, and again in chapter 66. So we can say that the general subject of these later chapters of Isaiah are about Christ and his church. Now the chapter before us is about the church. And I want us to just briefly look at the verses which lead up to the one I've chosen to preach on tonight. In the first verse, Christ is likened to the sun. That's the sun which is in the heavens, the sun which has arisen and has shown his light and glory. The Jewish church is addressed in these words, arise, shine, for thy light is come. Christ, of course, is the light of the world. No other was that light but Christ himself. And his coming into the world is likened in the New Testament to the dawning of a day, the rising of the sun upon us. The day spring from on high hath visited us. The second part of the verse says the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. And the Christ who has come to the Jewish church in fulfillment of God's purpose and his many promises is the Christ who manifests the glory of God. We read that in John chapter 1, the apostle reflecting on his own experience of Christ during his earthly ministry, he says this, we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And elsewhere, Paul says, we beheld the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So Christ has come as the son of righteousness, as the very glory of God, and the church is told to arise and shine The word arise is used because hitherto the people of the Jews have been in a very sad state. They've been in a dejected state. They thought that Messiah would never come. Now they are told to arise, to come out of that state of depression and to shine. which means that they enlightened themselves are to impart the light to others. How will they do that? Through the preaching of the gospel. And by coming to a better state and causing the light to shine from them, this they will do, by taking the gospel to the unconverted roundabout, even to the Gentiles, that they might rejoice in the light, even as they are in the light. Now, sinners naturally are in darkness. So the second verse reads. Darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people. The darkness is the darkness of ignorance of God, and it's the darkness of general unbelief. But now that is inexcusable, because the Savior has come. In all the glory of his person, the glory of his offices, and the glory of his relations to us, the people that sat in darkness have seen a great light. And they that dwell in the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Christ has come And this means that not only Jewish darkness can be removed, but Gentile darkness can be removed. Instead of ignorance, the knowledge of God. Instead of unbelief, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. A marvellous thing then will take place according to the third verse. and the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising." Through the recovery of the Jewish Church, through her preaching the gospel, as we read in Acts 2, And in the rest of the book of Acts, Christ's glory will be made known. And the great thing is this, the people shall come out of their darkness into the light. And through the witness of the gospel, the Gentile peoples, that is the non-Jews, they will turn to Christ and they will turn to his church. The Gentiles shall come to thy light, that is to Christ, who has come to them and is their light, and whom they have preached, thus again their light. And the Gentiles shall come to that light, shall turn to Christ, and kings, all kinds of people, small and the great, to the brightness of thy rising." It's a marvelous thing, but of course it found fulfillment in those early days of the gospel when Christ, even during his ministry, preached the Word of God to the Gentiles like the Syrophoenician woman. And the Greeks in John chapter 12 say to Philip, sir, we would see Jesus. It was happening even then. But in the great commission which Christ gave to the apostles, he said to them that repentance and forgiveness of sin should be preached in his name among all nations. And he commissioned them, according to Acts 1, there at the end of the 40 days before the ascension, that beginning at Jerusalem they should preach the gospel in Judea and in Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth. To what end? That the Gentiles might come to thy light, God in his mercy, desires that sinners outside the Jewish Church shall come to the light and kings to the brightness of the one who has risen upon Israel. Which brings us to the fourth verse. Lift up thine eyes round about and see. They gather themselves together, they come to thee. Thy son shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side." You see, all the time in which the Jews have waited for the messianic promise to be fulfilled, their eyes have been lowered, their eyes have been cast down, by reason of hope deferred, and by reason of their own sadness on the state of Israel. But now that the Messiah has come, for to this the prophecy points, lift up thine eyes. There is no need to be dejected and see. The Gentile peoples, they gather themselves together, that is, in very considerable numbers, and they come to thee. Strangely, they are called thy sons and thy daughters. The reason for this is that God has but one family now, Jew and Gentile. And these potential new converts, they are sons and daughters of the Jewish church. And they're coming together. And it is your task as a church, God says, to nourish them and to teach them. Thy son shall come from afar and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Verse five, then thou shalt see and flow together and thine heart shall fear and be enlarged. They will see what is taking place, unprecedented in the history of Judaism. The savior of the Jews is saving the Gentiles. And by the grace of God, these Gentiles are flowing into the church. Thine heart shall fear and be enlarged. The word for fear here means thy heart shall be awed at what is taking place. Thy heart shall be thrilled at the sight of the conversion of the heathen and be enlarged. Thy heart shall swell with joy and with gladness. Why? Because a multitude of people are turning to Christ and entering the church. Because the abundance of the sea, that means the people in the islands, and even in this island, in which we live, included here, the abundance of the sea shall be converted to thee, shall turn to the church through faith in Jesus Christ. and the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee." That is, the Gentiles in other countries, apart from these islands, in great numbers, in huge companies, forces here seems to be assumed by the translator to be armies, veritable armies of the Gentiles. shall be converted to thee and shall come unto thee. Verse six, the multitudes of camels shall cover thee, and the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah, and they from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and incense. They shall show forth the praises of the Lord. And verse seven, all the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee. The rams of Nebaoth shall minister to thee. They shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. From unexpected places the Gentiles shall come, believing. From Midian and from Ephah, Midian was the fourth son of Abraham and Keturah. And those descended from him were known as Ishmaelites, and associated with Arab peoples. Epha, the eldest son of Midian, and they inhabited the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. Arabians, and from Sheba, which is thought to be Ethiopia, They shall come. And we know that not only did the Queen of Sheba come to Solomon, but the Ethiopian of Aksait took the gospel back to Ethiopia. And a church was early established in that land, a Christian church. Flocks of Kedar, reference to the southern part of the desert of Arabia. Nebaioth, another son of Ishmael. What is in view here is that the people we now call Arabs and who have ever been hostile to the Jews, they will now be converted and they will be drawn to Christ and joined to the people they've despised hitherto. And thus the church shall be amazingly enlarged." Then in vision, the prophet sees a sight he can scarce take in, the text. Who are these? that fly as a cloud and as the doves to their windows. In his prophetic vision, Isaiah sees multitudes upon multitudes, so many and so thick, these vast hordes, that in his vision they appear to be like clouds, as doves flying in huge flocks, coming from everywhere, coming to Christ, coming to his church. He's amazed at the sight. Who are these? He says to God, who are these that fly as the doves to their windows? Well, the short answer, to his question. These are the future converts to Christ and to his church. These are the people who are coming to faith in the Messiah. These are those that are being brought into a state of salvation through the grace of God. But there are so many The sky is filled with them in my vision like clouds of heaven. Yes, and the future of the church is glorious, for they shall come from east and from west, from north and from south. Well then, my friends, looking at the words in their context now, let me just highlight three simple things. They're all in the text. First of all, let's look at the doves. Then we'll look at the clouds and the significance of that figure. And then we'll look at the windows and what that particularly means. First of all, the doves. Who are these that fly as the doves to the windows? The very fact that the prophet expresses surprise and wonder means that it's an amazing sight to see in a prophetic vision what is going to take place. and what the church is going to experience. And he can't take it in. He's been told many things, revealed to him in the earlier verses, and he is listened with increasing wonder. But then he has this sight of peoples from all over the world coming out of their native heathenism coming out of their sin and shame and misery and seeking the Lord and entering his church. Too much for him. Calls upon God, who are these? He says. It's such an astounding sight. If what our Lord says is true, and it truly is, that the angels rejoice in heaven over one sinner that repents, it's also true that the faithful on earth rejoice over the prospect of multiple conversion. It's a wonderful sight, but in a way, it is also an amazing sight. Considering the original state of these people, who are flying as doves now to the windows, it's an amazing sight. These were ignorant pagans. And now they're seeking the Lord. These were bent upon living without God. Now they're seeking the Lord. These believed that only the world mattered, its wealth, its honor and its pleasure, but now they are seeking God. These before were carnal and unspiritual, but now they're seeking God. They were entrenched in sin, submerged in iniquity, wallowing in their own shame, and now they are seeking God? It is incredible. And of course, being true, it is, for the Jewish church and for us in our day, most encouraging. Who are these that fly as a cloud and as the doves to their windows? Well, they're doves. There is a reference in the book of Uzziah to the people of Uzziah's day, and he calls them silly doves. That's where these people were to begin with. They were silly doves. They flew away from God, their resting place, and they left, therefore, safety and security. Like the prodigal who went into a far country, they flew away from him. Originally. Like silly doves, they wandered here and there, they tried this and that. They went along this road and went along that. Wondering about, blown about. They became totally lost. Silly doves. We read of pigeons and pigeon races who are released and are supposed to return to a certain place and something goes wrong and they fly thousands of miles away from where they should be. The sinner does the same. And yet, their flight path is beset with danger. To the literal doves, of course, there are hawks out there who see these silly doves as obvious prey. And the very lives of these creatures are threatened The doves, silly as they are, they can't defend themselves. They are so vulnerable. And they do the most stupid of things. Go into greater danger. They take no course to avert their ruin. They are heading for disaster. Yeah, all that's true of man in his natural state, but these doves have known something of the grace of God, and that they are not behaving as I've described, are they? Who are these, says the prophet? that fly as a cloud and as the doves to their windows. These particular doves almost appear to be instructed and somewhat changed. They're not acting as we would expect. They are fleeing to Christ, fleeing to the church. What's brought them to their senses? Well, I would say that in some way. They've been brought to see their flight path and they've been brought to see that they are in trouble and that they are likely to perish. The sinner is like that. The sinner has been convinced that he's off course and that he's heading for perdition. And that's made him do what he's never done before. It makes him turn to the Lord and desire to be part of his church. There's something in the scripture about the dove that occurs in a number of the prophets where it says, they shall mourn like doves. These doves, it's because of the plaintive sound that doves sometimes utter, sad and somewhat disconsolate. The mourning dove. These people that Isaiah sees in his vision have been convinced of their sin and their danger and they are mourning doves. They've been made sorrowful because of the conviction of sin, they have known repentance. And look at them now, flying to Christ, flying to the church. On the wings of faith and of hope, they are mounting up with Alarmed, it seems. Sorrowful over sin. Believing on the wings of faith. They are flying for refuge. They are flying for rest. Remember I, Psalm 55, Oh, that I had the wings of a dove, that I might fly away and be at rest. So say these people who are being drawn to Christ. We have the wings of a dove now, and we are seeking rest. They're not just a solitary little group. They're a great company. And they are flying with all speed. As doves, in earnest. Reset, as it were, as to direction. flying not to sin, but to Christ, not to the world, but to the church. It's grace and the power of God that have made silly doves wise doves and have turned them from a life of futility to a life of meaning and of purpose. Secondly, clouds. Who are these that fly as a cloud? The prophet looks upon these would-be converts and they are so numerous in his sight that they appear as a great cloud. You know it's a term that is used elsewhere in Hebrews 12, for example, seeing there, we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Just as a cloud is made up of multitudes of little drops of water, so he sees the cloud on the horizon coming towards him, and it's made up of a multitude of sinners who are looking for Christ. Why are they likened to clouds? Well, I'm sure in the first place because of how many there are. And together they make up the appearance of a great cloud. But there's possibly more in the figure than that. They fly as a cloud, as a cloud. They fly as a cloud. And what is it about the cloud, the cloud in the sky, when we see it moving across the great expanse? It's being moved by an exterior power. It's being moved Doves can know the same thing. When they catch the wind in their wings, they are born along as a cloud. So sinners turn to Christ and to his church. And what's the cause of it? It's the wind of the Holy Spirit. wind that bloweth where it listeth. Thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth. And the wind comes behind the cloud, carries it and bears it along behind the dove and sweeps it up and takes it in the way that it should go. So the Holy Spirit comes to the sinner and moves that sinner to Jesus Christ and to his people. May the wind is powerful and it's sovereign. And we notice about these doves, they're all going the same way. They're like a cloud in the aggregate. And the cloud is going in one direction. And when God deals with the sinner, he takes him in one way, the way of faith and the way of repentance. and the way to Christ and to salvation in Him. It's the Spirit that does that. Mysterious and wonderful as it is. The cloud is borne up on high. The doves are lifted up to the heavens by the power of mighty wind. And so the Spirit of God comes to the sinner and moves him into the way everlasting. And the sinner is carried along with all other sinners who are inquiring after Christ and they are seeking the things which are above. where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Now notice this, my friends. They fly as a cloud. There's not only the thought in this verb of the manner of their coming, they fly as a bird, but the haste with which they come. They fly as a cloud and as doves. Why do they fly like this? Why such speed? Because they have been regenerated and given spiritual life? Because they are aware of the issues? That if they don't reach a place of security, they perish en route? They fly! To Christ, the time is short. They don't know how much more time they have. They make haste to Christ to be numbered amongst his people. They have been convinced of the gravity of their state. These converts are sinners. And they have been convinced of the ability of Christ to save them. They are convinced sinners, but they are enlightened sinners. And by the grace of God, they have a desire to know Christ, forgiveness, acceptance, and hope in Him. They need shelter. They need refuge. They need rest. Therefore they are in earnest. And sinners who've known anything of the grace of God are like this. In their companies they may appear as clouds, but they are flying as doves. Now you and I have seen pigeons flying across the sky. Their wings flapping at great speed, as if they are in real haste. Doves fly in exactly the same way. So the sinner is making his way to Christ with all earnestness. And with great endeavor, he must not abort! He dare not fail! He must find peace. Who are these that fly as doves to their windows? The last word, doves, clouds, windows. The reference here is to the openings in the dovecots, or the dove houses, which is the end of their journey. What they seek, what they want. Now I've never known anything of the pigeon world myself, gamble with these things and these creatures. And of course, when their bird comes home and steps into the dovecot, then they might win a thousand pounds. So they delight to see the bird reaching its destination. First of all, the birds. huge profit to be made. The little openings or windows of the dovecots. Well, God has provided for all awakened, drawn, and moved sinners. He's provided for them a place of rest. And if, like the dove, we come, then we need not fear that we shall be turned away, for the windows are open. There is a reception ready for them, each and every one of them. into the window? Can they go through the opening? Do they have warrant to do that? Yes, they have warrant to do that. Just as we have warrant to believe in Christ and to rest in him, we have the warrant of the word of God. Whosoever believeth shall not perish, but shall have everlasting Life. It's but a step and they're safe. It's turning to Christ and we're saved. Saved in the Lord with everlasting salvation. Oh, the relief of getting to the window for the weary dove. The relief of getting to the window before, before the bird of prey falls upon them, before the storm breaks over them and they are buffeted and thrown upon the wings of the hurricane. Oh, the joy of reaching their destination. coming to Christ, gathered with his people. They fly as doves to their windows. The great truth behind this verse, my friends, is that if you're here listening to me tonight and you're not converted, you must do something. You can't just sit and say, well, if it happens to me, it's well, and if it doesn't, too bad. You must do something. You must move with desire, with prayer, with faith to Christ and to salvation in Him. You must fly! And because you are doves, if you say, well, I can't fly, that's the trouble, then try it. And you will find, as you begin to believe, you will draw near to him in faith. But one thing you can't do, and that's stay where you are, lost and perishing. You must fly. And you must fly to Christ. And if you do, there will be no resistance to you. There will be no reluctance to receive you. The windows are there. You can enter in. You can find him. and find peace in him and from that moment on you will never ever again be homeless. Come unto me and I will give you rest and ye shall find rest for your souls. I see a cloud of people. Even today, a cloud of inquirers, a cloud of seekers. Look at them. Look at them in their unity and in their strength. To whom are they flying? Where are they going? To Christ for salvation. Who are these? Are you among them? Are you moving? Are you seeking the Lord? Are you coming home? It's the greatest flight of your life. The most important thing you will ever do, flee for refuge to Jesus Christ. Who are these that fly as a cloud and as doves to their windows? God grant that when the prophet says who, He discovers that we are there in the midst of them, seeking the Savior and wanting one thing of Him, refuge. Refuge and peace. What a text it is. The Lord bless it to us. Amen.