Let us turn to this portion of
scripture that we've just read in Genesis chapter 9. I want to direct you to the words
that we have at the beginning of verse 27 and then again in
chapter 10 at verse 5. In Genesis 9 27 God shall enlarge
Japheth and he shall dwell in the tents
of Shem. And then concerning the descendants
of Japheth in verse 5 of chapter 10, by these were the isles of
the Gentiles divided in their lands, every one after his tongue,
after their families in their nations. Here of course we have the early history of the world. Events immediately after the
great universal flood, how that the earth is again to be peopled
by the descendants of this man Noah. The Lord of course preserved
Noah and his sons his own wife, his son's wife and we're told
in verse 19 of chapter 9 these are the three sons of Noah and
of them was the whole earth overspread but in these early chapters We
also have intimations of the coming of the gospel and how
the whole earth would also be overspread by the gospel of the
grace of God even immediately after this terrible judgment
that God had visited upon a wicked world. There was yet to be a
great day of grace that would come in the fullness of the time. And really the theme I want to
try to take up this evening is that of the calling of the Gentiles. The calling of the Gentile nations
spoken of there in verse 5 of chapter 10. Those words back in chapter 19 Verse 27 you will observe that
there's an alternative reading that appears in the margin, God
shall enlarge Japheth, it says the margin God shall persuade
Japheth and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem. And those are significant words
that I trust we will observe as we proceed a while tonight.
The calling then of the Gentiles is the theme and what we have
here is to be fulfilled and is fulfilled in the New Testament
Scriptures. So what I want to do is to divide
what I'm going to say into these two parts and say something with
regards to the promise of the gospel that is being spoken of,
and then in the second place to say something with regards
to the power of that gospel that God would overspread the world
with. First of all, the promise of
the gospel. Now, Observe again what we just
read. We're told in verse 18, And the
sons of Noah that went forth of the ark were Shem, and Ham,
and Japheth. Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah,
and of them was the whole earth over spreads. And subsequently
we learn that The Hebrews are of that line
of Shem. In chapter 11 and verse 10 we
have the various descendants or the generations of Shem. These
are the generations of Shem. It says, Shem was a hundred years
old and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood and then the
various generations follow. and we come to verse 26, and
Terah lived seventy years and begat Abram, Nahor and Harun. So, Abram is of the line of Shem,
the descendants of Abram are of that particular son. So, favored as we see in the
blessings that are pronounced by Noah upon his sons verse 26
he said blessed be the Lord God of Shem and Canaan shall be his
servant and then we read of Japheth and the words of the text that
I announced at the beginning God shall enlarge Japheth and
he shall dwell in the tents of Shem and as is often the case
in Holy Scripture the names that are given to these various individuals
are of some real significance and Japheth as a name simply
means the extender the extender he moves out and he extends to
the north and he extends to the west there in chapter 10 At verse 2, we read of the sons
of Japheth, Gomer, Magog, Madei, Japheth, and so forth. And then at verse 5, by these
were the Isles of the Gentiles, divided in their lands, every
one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations. and often times subsequently
in holy scripture we have mention of the isles of the jatiles when
we come to the ministry of the prophets for example in Zephaniah
chapter 2 and verse 11 we read of all the isles of the heathen all the
isles of the heathen, all these gentile heathen nations. And the promise of the gospel
is according to the prophetic ministry to go to these various
isles of the nations. We see it so strikingly for example
in the writings of the prophet Isaiah. And Isaiah is very much
the evangelical prophet. He has so much to say concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember the language that we
find for example in Isaiah 11 verse 10. He speaks of that day. And when we read of that day
in the prophetic scriptures it's speaking of the day of the Lord,
it's speaking of the last day. the Gospel day, in that day there
shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign of
the people to which shall the Gentiles seek and his rest shall
be glorious and it shall come to pass in that day that the
Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the
remnant of his people and it goes on, he shall set an ensign
for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather
together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the
earth." Now, true he's speaking there of Israel and he's speaking
of Judah, but he also, in the context there, certainly in verse
11 which we omitted, he speaks of all the other nations round
about Israel. And now this gospel, this news
concerning the one who is the root of Jesse and also the offspring
of Jesse, that this one is the one who is to be proclaimed amongst
all these various peoples. And we know from the New Testament
that they are not all Israel, that are of Israel. and that
he is not a Jew which is one outwardly and circumcision is
not that which is outward in the flesh but he is a Jew which
is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit
and not in the letter. And so when we read these things
in the Old Testament scriptures and we have mention of the various
nations and the Isles of the Gentiles and God gathering outcasts
and assembling those who were a dispersed people we are to
understand it in that spiritual sense. Again, look at the language
there at the beginning of Isaiah 11, it clearly is speaking of
the Lord Jesus, "...there shall come forth a rod out of the stem
of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots." Now, clearly the reference must be
to David and yet David had long since lived and died. when Isaiah
is ministering many hundreds of years after the kingship of
David. So, we are to understand and
interpret the language used there in Isaiah 11 in terms of the
Lord Jesus Christ, David's greatest son. And you remember how the
Lord himself takes up that in his own ministry when he challenges
the Pharisees. there at the end of Matthew 22. What think you of Christ? He
asks. Whose son is he? And the Pharisees know the answer
to that question. Who is the Christ? Who is the
Messiah? The son of David. And then the Lord says, And then
doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto
my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies
thy footstool. If David then called him Lord,
how is he his son? No man was able to ask him a
word, neither does any man from that day forward ask him any
more questions. He is David's son, yes, but he
is also David's Lord. And we see in those words of
Isaiah 11 those two natures of the Lord Jesus. It comes forth
right out of the stem of Jesse, and the branch that grows out
of his roots. All the two natures. He is that
one who is David's Lord. He is the eternal Son of God. He is God of God. Very God of
very God. Begotten, not made, in the language
of the Crees. but He is also the Son of David
according to the flesh. And that's what the Lord is saying
to the Pharisees there in Matthew 22. The Lord Jesus Christ is
that One. And what does it say in Isaiah
11.11? The islands of the sea. All this
ministry, this message of salvation is to go to the islands of the
sea. Again, the language, and we often
quote these words, Isaiah 42, Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth, I have put my spirit upon him,
he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not
fail, nor be discouraged, till, as set judgment in the earth
and the isles, shall wait for his law. Well, this all goes
back to the promise that is being made here to Jesus, the words
that are being spoken concerning this son of Noah. By these were
the eyes of the Gentiles divided in their lands, everyone after
his tongue, after their families, in their nations. And it is important that we We
grasp and we understand the significance of these things. Again, look
at the language of Isaiah 49. Listen, O Isles, unto me, and
hearken, ye people afar off. Time and again, as I say, in
Isaiah we have these references to the Isles and this message
of the Gospel concerning the Messiah going out to these various
peoples. Isaiah 60 verse 9, Surely the
isles shall wait for mine. These things are spoken of there
in Old Testament prophecy, but that was a mystery that was not
really grasped or understood by the children of Israel. And
it was not till the coming of the Messiah that then the mystery
began to be unfolded. And remember how it is Paul who
is called to be the apostle to the Gentiles, who unfolds that
great mystery when he writes, for example, in his epistle to
the Ephesians, there in Ephesians chapter 3. These are verses I'm
sure we're not unfamiliar with. Ephesians 3.5, he speaks of the
mystery, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons
of men. as it is now revealed unto his
holy apostles and prophets, as prophets of the New Testament,
by the Spirit, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of
the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the
gospel. And then again in chapter 2,
the previous chapter, he makes mention of the same truth, verse
11, Wherefore remember as he's writing to this Gentile church
at Ephesus, remember that you being in time past Gentiles in
the flesh, who are called on circumcision by that which is
called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that at
that time He's speaking of the days of the Old Testament, ye
were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and
without God in the world. But now in Christ, ye who sometimes
were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. And he goes
on, Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but
fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God."
These things then are intimated here right at the beginning of
Scripture in the book of Genesis. They're spoken of in the ministry
of the prophets such as Isaiah, but these things are not to be
revealed fully until Christ comes. and then we have the ministry
of those who were the Lord's apostles and his prophets. There is an illiteral fulfillment
of these truths. But thinking of the Isles and
those lands are far off we can also think in terms of a more
spiritual fulfillment of such works How does the Prophet Isaiah
speak there in chapter 45? He speaks as that one who is
the mouthpiece of God and he says, Look unto me and be ye
saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God's and there is none
else. Those who are at the ends of
the earth, literally that's the Gentile nations, those of the
Isles. but surely spiritually is it not those who feel themselves
to be at a great distance from God when the Lord begins to deal
with his people when the Lord begins to teach his people and
they realize what their condition is by nature as sinners and they
are those who are in a state of alienation from God, they
are enemies of God and they are children of wrath even as others,
they feel it This is how the Lord deals with His people. They
feel what it is to be separated from God. They're sinned. Your
iniquities have separated between you and your God. Your sins have
hid His face from you. And we see that that's the experience
of the godly. It's the experience of the prophet,
for example. There in Psalm 61, hear my cry,
O God. Attend unto my prayer from the
end of the earth. Will I cry unto thee when my
heart is overwhelmed? Lead me to the rock that is higher
than I. He feels himself to be at the
ends of the earth. These are the very ones that
the Lord God is pleased to call to himself. Again in the words of the Psalms,
Psalm 98 verse 2, The Lord hath made known his salvation. His
righteousness has been openly showed in the sight of the heathen.
He has remembered His mercy and His truth toward the house of
Israel. All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our
God." Oh, and we feel ourselves to be in that awful state and
it seems sometimes as if the heavens are as brass and our
prayers do not enter into the ears of the Lord God who surveys
us. and we're aware of our many offences and our sins, yet, if
there is our comfort, God's salvation reaches to the ends of the earth,
wherever we are in our own peculiar feelings. The promise is that
the Gospel is to be preached to the ends of the earth, even
to these who are the descendants of Japheth. God shall enlarge
Japheth. He shall dwell in the tents of
Sheol." As we see in Romans 11, Israel is to be cut off and the
Gentiles are to be brought in. And that's the day in which we
live in. This is the great day of the Gospel. There is promised
end of these things right at the beginning, but now turning
in the second place to the power of this gospel, the power of
this gospel, the way in which the Lord actually saves these
sinners of the Gentiles. And that's why I referred you
to the alternative reading that we have
in the margin in verse 27, God shall persuade Japheth God shall
persuade the Jacobites, or enlarge is the way the translators have
rendered it in the text, but you'll see that the word is obviously
one that is very full and rich in meaning. But God persuades
his people. and is that not so much the power
of the gospel? Now I know that there are those
who like to refer to themselves as being reformed in their doctrine
and they often speak of the need for the preaching to be persuasive
preaching they speak in terms of a universal
offer of salvation and how the preacher is to try to persuade
all those people of the sound of the gospel that there is that
that is available for them a universal offer arguments are to be brought
forward to convince them of what they are and what their needs
are evangelistic arguments, evangelistic preaching we certainly often
hear much of these things But then, do we not have to remember
this, that the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit
of God? Their foolishness to him neither can he know them
because they are spiritually disturbed. So how can a man who
is in that native darkness ever be persuaded of anything? Again, think of the language
of Paul in Romans 8-7, the carnal mind, he says. That's just a
natural mind, the minds that we're all born with. The carnal
mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to the Lord
of God, neither indeed can be. So is it really the responsibility
of the preacher to persuade the sinner? Is it not rather the
work of God to persuade the sinner? And I think of the words that
we have in Galatians. These words immediately came
to my mind this morning, pondering these things. What does Paul
say there in Galatians 1.10? He says, For do I now persuade
men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For
if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of God. I
was very taken with Luther's understanding of that particular
verse because Luther understands it as referring to preaching
and this is how he interprets it for now preach I man's doctrine
or God's and he goes on neither do we seek the favor of men by
our doctrine we condemn man's free will, man's strength, man's
wisdom, and man's righteousness. That's how Luther understands
what Paul is saying with regards to his own ministry. He's not
supporting this notion, this idea, that it's the preacher's
task to gather together all his arguments
and to convince the man sitting in the pew by force of argument
that this is the truth of the gospel. That's not the way in
which the Protestant Reformer understands persuasion. I know in 2 Corinthians 5 and
11 Paul says, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade. That persuasion, as Luther says,
is not seeking the favor of men, seeking to suggest to man that he has any
ability in himself to respond to the gospel. No, what does
the gospel say? Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. It is the Lord God Himself who
must persuade the sinner, who must do the work. It is written
in the prophets, they shall be all taught of God. Every man
therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh
unto me, says the Lord Jesus Christ. It's God who does the
teaching, it's God who does the persuading. And the preacher
reminds the sinner of his complete and his utter impotence, his
inability, he has to be brought to the end of himself. again
Moses says something similar does he not? thou turnest man
to destruction and sayest return you children of men that's how
God works in the soul of the sinner he brings that man to
the end of himself out of destruction he can do nothing he is complete
he is out of dependence he is upon God and upon the grace of
God how does God teach then? He persuades men. How does He
persuade? He enlarges the hearts of men. What is man's heart by
nature? Our hearts are so shut up to
what we are. Our hearts are so straightened
in the sin of unbelief. What must God do? God must come
and He must actually renew our hearts. God shall enlarge Japheth. He enlarges Japheth's heart out
by giving Japheth a new heart. A new heart also will I give
thee. A new spirit will I put within thee. I will take away
the stony heart out of thy flesh. And I will give thee a heart
of flesh. And isn't this how the ministry
of the apostles comes through to those who were so favoured
to hear that preaching? When Paul writes to the Thessalonians
he tells them clearly our gospel came not unto you in word only
but in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. Oh this is the gospel I am not
ashamed says Paul of the gospel of Christ. It is the power of
God unto salvation to everyone that believeth to the Jew first
and also to the Greek also to the Gentile there is to be that
calling of the Gentiles. There's the promise of it. It's promised here at the beginning,
in the early chapters of Genesis. And he comes in the fullness
of God's time. And what is it when he comes?
He comes with all that gracious power. and authority that belongs
only to the Lord God himself. As Joseph Ion says, the only
gospel we can own sets Jesus Christ upon the throne, proclaims
salvation fallen for her, obtained on Calvary's rugged throne. All
that was accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ must be brought
home and applied by that gracious, powerful ministry of God the
Holy Spirit. God shall enlarge Jacob, shall
persuade Jacob, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem. Those you see spoken of later
in that fifth verse of the following chapter, by these were the Isles
of the Gentiles divided in their lands, everyone after his time,
after their families, in their nations. And the Gospel is to
go therefore to the ends of the earth. And thank God that Gospel
comes even to us. However we might feel in our
souls even this night, we still live. Thank God in this day,
the day of grace, the acceptable time, the day of salvation. Oh God grant then that we might
know something of the blessings of that everlasting Gospel. Now
before we pray, let us sing our second praise in the hymn 285, the tune Blockley 304. O for a heart to seek my God,
encouraged by his gracious word to view my Saviour all complete
and lie submissive at his feet. Pity thy poor, dejected few. Our souls revive, our strength
renew. Collect thy scattered flock once
more, and open wide the gospel door." 285.