As we read through the Old Testament
scriptures, we run across names given to God's church, to God's
people that at first seem to be a little striking. Names sometimes
that identify something of God's work of grace for us, in us,
and with us for his glory. The church of God is called sought
out. That's a good name for sinners
saved by God's grace. God's church is called a city
not forsaken, never forsaken of God, though often it appears
we have been. In Isaiah, the 18th chapter,
God gives other names for his church. They're called a nation
scattered and peeled. scattered and peeled. That's the title of my message.
As surely as the Lord God has his elect in the four corners
of the earth, into which he has scattered them. Yes, scattered
we are in the four corners of the earth through the fall of
our father Adam. Scattered we are by our own iniquity,
transgression and sin. Scattered we are by persecution
through the ages, but all the while scattered by the hand of
God. For it was God's purpose from
everlasting to have a people called and saved by his grace
out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue, so that his
name is represented and honored in the salvation of peoples from
all over the earth. Surely as God has a people in
this world called his remnant a remnant according to the election
of grace Scattered in the four corners of the earth So surely
the Lord God will peel them out of the nation and gathered them
in the omnipotent arms of mercy, love, and grace unto himself
and unto heavenly glory. That's what Isaiah chapter 18
is all about. Now, while you're holding your
place at Isaiah 18, let me read you several oft-repeated promises
of God given in the Old Testament in this regard. If you'd like
to turn over to Ezekiel 34, I'll be working my way to that, and
then we'll look at Isaiah 18. Listen to God's promise. It is
an oft-repeated promise. The Lord thy God will turn thy
captivity and have compassion upon thee, and will return and
gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath
scattered thee. Hear the word of the Lord, O
ye nations. and declare it in the isles afar
off and say, he that scattered Israel will gather him. Hear the Lord, all nations, hear
his word, you isles of the sea, the most remote parts of the
world, hear God's word. He that scattered Israel will
gather him and will keep him as a shepherd doth his flock.
Thus saith the Lord God, although I have cast them far off from
among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the
countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the
countries where they shall come. Therefore say, thus saith the
Lord, I will even gather you from the people and assemble
you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and
I will give you the land of Israel, And I will bring you out from
the people and will gather you out of the countries wherein
you're scattered with a mighty hand, with a stretched out arm,
and with fury poured forth. I will accept you with your sweet
savor. I will bring you out from the
people and gather you out of the countries wherein you have
been scattered. And I will be sanctified in you
before the heathen. I'll gather you out of these
nations, this place and that, this corner and that. And as
I gather you, I will be sanctified. My name will be honored. My name will be magnified by
my grace upon you before the nations into which you're scattered. Thus saith the Lord, when I shall
have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they
are scattered and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen,
then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my
servant Jacob. Have you found Ezekiel 34? Listen
to this prophecy. It's all about the gathering
of these people scattered by God. Verse six. My sheep wandered
through all the mountains and upon every high hill. Yea, my
flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth and none
did search or seek after them. Nobody cared. Verse 11. For thus
saith the Lord God, behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep
and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his
flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered,
so will I seek out my sheep, and I will deliver them out of
all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark
day, and I will bring them out from the people. and gathered
them from the countries and will bring them to their own land
and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers and in
all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in
a good pasture and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their
fold be. There shall they lie down in
a good fold and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains
of Israel. I will feed my flock And I will
cause them to lie down, saith the Lord. I will seek that which
was lost and bring again that which was driven away and will
bind up that which was broken and will strengthen that which
was sick. But I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will
feed them with judgment. Verse 20. Therefore thus saith
the Lord God unto them, behold, I, even I will judge between
the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. Those that need
nothing and those that need everything. Because ye have thrust with side
and with the shoulder and pushed all the diseased with your horns
till ye have scattered them abroad. Therefore will I save my flock
and they shall no more be a prey And I will judge between cattle
and cattle, and I will set up one shepherd over them, and he
shall feed them, even my servant David." Of course, he's talking
about Christ, our good shepherd. He shall feed them, and he shall
be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their
God, and my servant David, a prince among them. I, the Lord, have
spoken it, and I will make with them a covenant of peace, and
will cause the evil beast to cease out of the land, and they
shall dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I
will make them in the places round about my hill a blessing. And I will cause the shower to
come down in his season. There shall be showers of blessing. Verse 28. And they shall no more
be a prey to the heathen. Neither shall the beast of the
land devour them. But they shall dwell safely and
none shall make them afraid. And I will raise up for them
a plant of renown. and they shall be no more consumed
with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen
anymore. Thus shall they know that I,
the Lord, their God, am with them, and that they, even the
house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord God. And ye, my
flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith
the Lord God. Now, let's read our text, Isaiah
chapter 18. Woe to the land shadowing with
wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, that sendeth ambassadors
by the sea, even in vessels a bow rushes upon the waters, saying,
Read that word saying and realize our translators put it in italics
because it appears that these who send these sailing from the
land beyond Ethiopia, these persecutors, God speaking to them. No, this
is not those persecutors saying go, but rather God speaking. You look at it again in a little
bit in Ezekiel 30 verse 9, the very same language is given.
God says, go ye swift messengers to a nation scattered and peeled. The very ones the Ethiopians
and the Egyptians and the nations of the world had persecuted endlessly. God says, you go to that nation
scattered and peeled to a people terrible from their beginning
hitherto. A people who have been abused
and persecuted and maligned and misrepresented all their days
as a people. A nation meted out and trodden
down, whose land the rivers have spoiled. All ye inhabitants of
the world and dwellers on earth see ye, when he lifteth up an
incense on the mountains, and when he bloweth a trumpet Hear
ye, for so the Lord said unto me, I will take my rest, and
I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon
herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. For afore
the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is
ripening in the flower, What's he talking about? Well, this
is the time when you look at your crops and boy, it looks
promising. The grapes are ripening, things
are, oh, we're gonna have a good harvest this year. Everything's
promising. So it is at all times in God's
providence with his church. Now, this strikes me as something
we ought to get hold of. There are no days for God's church,
but promising days. No days for God's people, but
promising days. No days for God's elect, but
promising days. God is gathering and will gather
his harvest exactly according to his purpose. In those days
he shall cut off the sprigs with the pruning hooks, God will,
and take away and cut down the branches, not of his church,
not of his vine, but of those who oppose, of his foes and ours. They shall be left together under
the fowls of the mountains. and to the beast of the earth,
and the fowl shall summer upon them, and all the beast of the
earth shall winter upon them. This is exactly the judgment
God pronounced upon Babylon in Revelation 17 and 18. In that
time, when God comes to save, anytime God comes in mercy, the
present shall be brought unto the Lord of Hosts, the Lord of
Hosts of the people, scattered and peeled. The present, God
will bring to himself a present. What present? A people scattered
and peeled. And from a people terrible from
their beginning hitherto, who will he bring? A nation meted
out and trodden underfoot, whose land the rivers have spoiled
to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts. Mount Zion. Now let's look at three things
in these seven verses. Here's the first. In verses 1,
2, and 3, the Lord God sends his ambassadors into a hostile
world. God's servants, gospel preachers,
God's prophets, the apostles, preachers, pastors, God's church,
you and I who are God's, are sent by our God into a hostile
world. That was always the way it has
been. And that is the way it is today. And that is the way it will be
tomorrow. He sends us into a hostile world
to bombard the very gates of hell with the gospel. But he
sends his ambassadors among all nations to one specific nation. He sends them to one specific
nation. Look what he says. Woe to the
land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,
that sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes
upon the waters. They send their ambassadors to
persecute and destroy, just as Saul of Tarsus. But God says,
go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled. You go
among all nations, but go to a specific nation, to a people
terrible from their beginning hitherto, a nation meted out
and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled, a people
who have been spoiled by all nations. all ye inhabitants of
the world and dwellers on earth, see this, see ye when the Lord,
when he lifted up an incense on the mountains, and when he
bloweth the trumpet, hear ye. God has scattered a people through
all the nations and kindreds and families and tongues of this
world. God has scattered a people who
are Christ's seed, His elect, His remnant, chosen of Him in
everlasting love, redeemed by His Son at Calvary, a people
for whom He made the world, a people for whom He raises up nations
and puts down nations. And He sends us into this hostile
world to preach the gospel of His grace to that people. We're
not told what nation this is beyond the rivers of Egypt. So
it seems to me the prophet speaks of all nations of the world as
one nation in opposition to God and his holy nation. That indeed
is clearly taught us in scripture and that has been our experience.
It doesn't matter whether you're talking about the American democracy
Are you talking about the communist rule of the former Soviet Union? Are you talking about the harsh
dictatorship in North Korea? All the nations of the world
have always been and always shall be opposed to God and his church,
opposed to God and his gospel. Yes, there are peoples in places
of high power, as we saw this morning, even in the household
and under the rule of Claudius Caesar. Mighty, mighty men among
those peoples who are born of God and called by his grace.
He has his people scattered everywhere, but the nations of the world
are opposed to us. The nations of the world are
opposed to God and opposed to the gospel of His grace. His
church, the Israel of God, is the nation to which we are sent.
And the Lord God commands, go swift, messengers. Hold your
hands here and turn back to Isaiah 6. Isaiah 6, verse 9. He said, go, tell this people. Hear ye indeed, but understand
not. See ye indeed, but perceive not.
Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy. Shut their eyes, lest they see
with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with
their heart, and convert and be healed. Then said I, Lord,
how long? How long am I supposed to do
this? And he answered, until the cities be wasted without
inhabitant, and the houses without men, and the land be utterly
desolate. God sends us his messengers into
the world. He sends his messengers for a
twofold purpose. He sends his messengers to his
holy nation, his Israel, his elect, a people scattered whom
he shall peel from the nations of the earth. but he sends us
also with a message to be heard by the nations. So we preach
the gospel of God's grace to all men. But as we preach the
gospel of God's grace to all men, our object is the salvation
of his sheep, the salvation of God's elect. To those who refuse
to hear, the message is always a message of judgment. by which
God fills up their wrath, and they fill up their wrath, by
which God Almighty brings them under judgment by the gospel.
Hold your hands here in Isaiah, and turn to the book of Obadiah.
Obadiah. If the world, or the great enemy
of our souls, comes to distress God's elect, when God chastens
them, and he does, The Lord sees and avenges the quarrel of his
people even when we know it not. Though the Lord corrects his
own and uses wicked men to correct them, they shall not. Though
he brings down, they bring down, God will bring up. And they shall
not hinder. Obadiah chapter one, verse eight.
Shall not I in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy the wise
men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau. And
thy mighty men, O teman, shall be dismayed to the end, that
every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.
For thy violence against thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover
thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever. In the day that thou
stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried
away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates
and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. You profess to be your brothers,
but you're not. But thou shouldest not have looked
on the day of thy brother. in the day that he became a stranger. Neither shouldst thou have rejoiced
over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction.
Neither shouldst thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. Thou shouldst not have entered
into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity. Yea,
thou shouldst not have looked on their affliction in the day
of their calamity. nor have laid hands on their
substance in the day of their calamity. Neither shouldst thou
have stood in the crossway to cut off those of his that did
escape. Neither shouldst thou have delivered
up those of his that did remain in the day of his distress. For
the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen. As thou hast
done, it shall be done unto thee. Thy reward shall return upon
thine own head. For as ye have drunk upon my
holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually. Yea,
they shall drink and shall swallow down and they shall be as though
they had not been. but upon Mount Zion shall be
deliverance, and there shall be holiness, and the house of
Jacob shall possess their possessions, and the house of Jacob shall
be afire, and the house of Joseph aflame, and the house of Esau
for stubble, and they shall kindle in them and devour them, and
there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau, for the
Lord has spoken it. Verse 19. and they of the South
shall possess the Mount of Esau, and they of the plain, the Philistines,
and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of
Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead, and the captivity of
this host of the children of Israel shall possess the Canaanites,
even unto Zarephath, and the captivity of Jerusalem, which
is in Shepharad shall possess the cities of the South. and
saviors shall come on Mount Zion to judge the Mount Esau and the
kingdom shall be the Lord's. God's ambassadors are sent into
the nation. to proclaim the gospel of God's
grace, but sent for the comfort of Jerusalem, to speak to the
heart of Jerusalem, sent for the salvation of God's elect,
to call out God's elect. And as God's elect are called
out, we are sent into the nations of the world to preach the gospel.
And this is our Lord's promise. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. We're sent as God's ambassadors
to lift up the ensign, Christ Jesus the Lord, to blow the gospel
trumpet to a nation scattered, a nation meted out, measured
exactly in its dimensions by God's purpose, by God's decree,
and by God's election. A nation peeled. chastened by
the hand of God, chastened all their days by God's hand, peeled
among the nations and peeled from the nations. And they come
and blow the trumpet of jubilee. And God says, hear ye the trumpet
sound. And I told you, you'll see this
exact same thing given in Ezekiel chapter 30. Ezekiel 30 in verse
nine. And that day shall messengers
go forth from me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians
afraid. And great pain shall come upon
them as in the day of Egypt, for lo, it cometh. God's ambassadors
go proclaiming the word. sounding the jubilee trumpet
of the gospel, lifting up Christ the ensign upon God's holy hill
of Zion, preaching repentance and remission of sins. Not the
possibility of it, but the accomplishment of it by Jesus Christ the Redeemer. And all who hear and believe
these are God's scattered ones, peeled from the nations, And
all who oppose the message, all who stop their ears and refuse
to hear bring upon themselves the judgment of God. Now look
at verses four, five, and six. Here the Lord God eases himself of his adversaries
and declares that he will take his rest or find his rest. Christ for his church his dwelling
place for so the Lord said unto me I will take my rest and I will consider in my dwelling
place like a clear heat upon the herbs and like a cloud of
dew in the heat of harvest the sweet sweet calm and blessedness
after such times God says I'll I'll take my rest. My rest in
my holy hill Zion. My rest in my darling son. I will take my rest and be at
ease. For afore the harvest, when the
bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower,
he shall both cut off the sprigs. God will meet the nations with
judgment, with pruning hooks, and you will take away and cut
down the branches. They shall be left together into
the fowls of the mountains and to the beast of the earth. And
the fowl shall summer upon them and all the beast of the earth
shall winter upon them. God's rest is Christ the Lord. His dwelling place is his church. God says, this is what I'm doing.
I'm taking my rest and I'm dwelling with my people. And wherever
my people are scattered, I will peel them from the nations and
I will dwell with them. Let's read about this rest one
more time in the fourth chapter of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter four. God said, those who believe not
shall not enter into my rest. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 1, Let
us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into
his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto
us was the gospel preached as well as unto them, but the word
preached did not profit them. How come? How come? Why is it that some hear the
word and profit by it and others don't? Why is it that some folks
who hear the word and their hearts are blessed, their hearts are
exposed, their sins exposed, their unbelief is rebuked, and
they profit by the word, and others hear the word and you
may well pour water on a rock. How come? Because the word preached
did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that
heard it. For we which have believed do
enter into rest, as he said. As I have sworn in my wrath that
they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished
from the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place
of the seventh day, oh this wise. And God did rest the seventh
day from all his works. The seventh day was the perfection
and completion of God's creation. Jesus Christ crucified, accepted,
risen again, seated on the right hand of God is the perfection
of God's work of the new creation. This is his rest. Seeing therefore, verse five,
and in this place again, if they shall enter into my rest, seeing
therefore it remaineth that some, isn't that a wonderful word,
must enter therein. Some must enter into God's own
rest, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in
because of unbelief. Again, he limiteth a certain
day, saying in David, Today, after so long a time, it is said,
Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if
Jesus, Joshua, had given them rest, then would he not afterward
have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest
to the people of God. Christ Jesus is the blessed Sabbath
rest of God and his people. For he that has entered into
his rest, he also has ceased from his own works as God did
from his. Come, come to Christ, come to
Christ. I call sinners everywhere, everywhere. I call sinners in all that I
write and all that I preach, come to Christ, come to Christ.
Enter into God's rest. And this is how you do it. He that is entered into his rest,
he also hath ceased from his own works as God did from his. What did God do on the first
Sabbath day? He quit working. And what is
it the sinners do when they come to God by faith in Christ? They
quit trying to justify themselves. They quit trying to make themselves
righteous. They rest in Christ. We don't. Let us therefore, verse 11, let
us therefore labor, labor to enter into that rest. You see,
works religion, self-righteousness, it's just something that sticks
to us and we have to constantly fight against it as God did from
his. lest any man fall after the same
example of unbelief. For the word of God, this book,
is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the biting asunder of soul and spirit, and of joints
and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest
in God's sight. but all things are naked and
opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Seeing then
that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens,
Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For
we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we
are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly
to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. Believe and live forever. Believe and obtain rest. Believe and enter into life everlasting. Now, back here in Isaiah 18,
verse seven. Here Isaiah tells us that God's
people, when he gathers them shall be a present brought to
God himself brought to the Lord Jesus Christ himself by his own
omnipotent, almighty, irresistible arm of saving grace, a people
scattered and peeled. In that time shall the present,
isn't that a wonderful word, the present, the present, the
present, God takes such things as we are. God takes such things as I am. Sinners, polluted, vile, corrupt
beyond imagination. Chosen, washed in the blood of
Christ, made the righteousness of God in him, sanctified by
his grace, and makes us a present to himself. A present to himself. Who doesn't
delight in a present? Not gag gifts intended to poke
fun, but a present. I've never received a gift from
anyone that didn't delight me. But God makes us a present to
himself. The present shall be brought
unto the Lord of hosts. What presence? Of a people scattered
and peeled. He just peels them out of nations,
one at a time. From a people terrible from their
beginning hitherto. A nation, this people scattered
and peeled, measured out by God, but trodden underfoot of men,
whose land the rivers have spoiled, nation that shall spoil those
who spoil them, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts,
the Mount Zion." God comes to the scattered ones. He sends Philip to an Ethiopian. and sends the Ethiopian back
to Ethiopia. And Ethiopia becomes a place
where multitudes are called out by God's grace. He sends another
man here, another man there, and God raises up a people for
himself, a people scattered in those nations, peeled by his
hand. And when he sends the preaching
of the gospel, when he lifts up the ensign upon his holy hill
of Zion, When the gospel trumpet is blown and the sinner hears,
hears the voice of God in his word, God peels them off. And the peeling. Oh, the peeling. If you could hear the voice of an apple when
you Pull one off the tree and you reach in, you pull out your
pocket knife. I just got to pull this out because
some places you're not allowed to have them. And you start to peel
it. What do you reckon he'd say?
Cut some more. Oh no. What are you doing? Stop! The peeling is never pleasant
in the process, never. when God comes to sinners in
His grace, He brings them down. He abases them. He humbles them. He strips them. He wounds them. He lays them low in the dust
before Him, peeling them from the nations. Men who thought
they were good, noble, like Solitarius. I was alive without the law once,
and then God showed me what the commandment said. And the commandment
came, sin revived, and I died. Suddenly, I found myself without
hope before God. Oh, what a blessed thing it is
to run across a man, a woman, who's been made by the Word of
God and by the Spirit of God to know that he has no hope before
God. God sent me just to you. That's
the reason I came here, just for you. Because those whom God
peels from the nations, to whom he speaks in judgment, he speaks
in mercy, giving them life and faith in Christ the Lord. My
dear friend, Brother Harry Graham, often said to me, he said, Don,
son, I was about 35 years younger than him, I was just a boy. And
he said, if you could see what's going on inside a man when God
begins to deal with him, you'd think to yourself, I wouldn't
treat a mad dog like that. Because God's ways are not our
ways. And our ways are not his ways. We don't control how God
works. God who scattered his people. nations, and when He's finished
peeling them, He will present them. God our Savior will present
us at last before the throne of His glory,
holy and without blame, and without
blemish, in the perfection of His righteousness, and we shall
forever be the dwelling place of our God. Oh, what wondrous
grace. How blessed we are to know that
he who shall destroy all evil, his kingdom rules from the river
to the end of the earth, from sea to sea. And this is what
he's doing. He's gathering a nation scattered. peeling them out for Himself. Oh, everything is so promising.
In the darkest days, when the news seems horrible, oh, what
promise, what's going on? The Lord is gathering the people
whom He scattered, peeling them from the nations, and soon will
present them thoughtless before the presence of His glory with
exceeding joy. Amen.