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Titus and the Grace That Trains Us

Be seated. Let's turn now to our New Testament reading which today is the second chapter of Titus and Paul writing this pastoral epistle to Titus instructing him on the Christian ministry that was to be conducted in Crete.

And here Paul is emphasizing to Titus that he needs to needed to teach sound doctrine within this church so that the people would become more holy.

Before God. Jason, thank you. Titus chapter 2, but as for you teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, workers at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands that the Word of God may not be reviled.

Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned so that an opponent may be put to shame having nothing evil to say about us.

Bond servants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything. They are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and unworldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Declare these things. Exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for the grace of God. We thank you that it has appeared, that it has brung salvation for all people, that it trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly in the present age.

And Lord, we do await for your return. We are so thankful, Lord, that we belong to you, that we are in your church. And Lord, we anxiously await the day of your return, that we might be with you. Lord, we ask now that as we continue to worship you through the sermon, through the preaching of your word, we pray, Lord, that we would be mindful of what it has to say.

Help us, Lord, to hear these truths. Take these truths, Lord, and implant them deep within our hearts. Help us, Lord, to live these truths in our day-to-day walk. We thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.

The Kingdom in John 12 and the Significance of the Greeks

Well, let's turn again to John chapter 12, as we work.

Through this fourth gospel. And we trust you have your Bibles in hand this morning, as we'll be referring to a great deal of Scripture as we address these matters before us in John 12, verse 20 and following.

I'm reading through the New Spurgeon Study Bible, Christian Standard Version this year, and I read this note from Charles Spurgeon this morning on our reading. God's thoughts are best delivered in God's words, and the more Scripture there is in our message, the more true, the more divine, and the more powerful it will be.

And I suspect Spurgeon would be pleased with the amount of Scripture that we cite today, because it's a bunch. But what is most important, of course, is that our Lord is pleased with his word that we set before us today.

So may God bless his word to our understanding, our contemplation, as well as to its employment in our lives. In John 12, we read of our Lord Jesus entering Jerusalem, the event which commences his Passion Week, the last week of his earthly ministry.

And of course, this week will conclude with his arrest, trials, crucifixion, burial, and his resurrection. And so our Lord's Passion Week begins here with John chapter 12, and culminates with John chapter 20.

So most of John's Gospel considers this last week of our Lord's earthly life. The last chapter of John, chapter 21, addresses his post-resurrection appearances. In the chapters before us, chapters 12 through 20, we have much recorded of our Lord's personal interaction with his disciples.

And he informed them quite significantly of his relationship with his father, as well as the relationship that exists and should exist between his followers. And we also have before us in these chapters, before us, information regarding the work and the person of the Holy Spirit.

There's more said about the Holy Spirit in these chapters before us in John's Gospel than in any other place of the Holy Scriptures. It's a very rich portion of God's Word. And even though today is our 73rd Lord's Day in John's Gospel, I suspect we're going to have to slow down a little bit in order to address what's before us.

It's quite amazing, quite rich. Now, with the opening of John 12, we considered the anointing of Jesus by Mary with view to his burial. But we pointed out that this anointing was not only preparing his body for burial, but it was an anointing with view to his enthronement as the promised king of Israel, who would inaugurate the long-anticipated kingdom of God.

And last Lord's Day, we considered John's account of the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as the king of Israel, and he's declared that specifically here in John 12, who is destined to reign over his kingdom.

His reign would begin upon his cross with his resurrection and exaltation. But from this beginning, his kingdom would expand, and in just a few decades, his kingdom would extend to the farthest points of the world, even the Roman Empire of the day.

Now, let me just assert, just what we've considered thus far, stated thus far, you might say, well this is, everybody knows this, it's pretty well accepted, but actually it is not. The view that we present with regard to the kingdom of our Lord Jesus being inaugurated through his death and his resurrection is not commonly believed and taught, but rather, most frequently in the evangelical world, the kingdom is regarded as not actually being inaugurated until his second coming.

And we find that just an atrocious understanding of the scriptures. Clearly, through the death, burial, resurrection of Christ, his ascension into heaven, he was enthroned, and the kingdom of God was inaugurated.

And that's the emphasis that we're going to give today. That's what we have here in John chapter 12. And so with the remainder of John 12 that we'll begin to consider today, John 12 20 through the end of the chapter, verse 50, we have a formal conclusion to the public ministry of Jesus.

And in the verses that we will begin to consider today, verses 20 through 36, actually 26 I believe, we will consider the necessity and the certainty of our Lord's crucifixion, which resulted in his kingdom being inaugurated, which would allow the possibility, even the certainty, that his kingdom would include Gentile disciples throughout the world.

And what we want to show you is that this is a very significant turning point in the history of redemption that was declared throughout the Old Testament and is realized here with the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so here is John chapter 12, it is through verse 36, ok, John 12 20 through 36. Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast, and they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, Sir, we wish to see Jesus.

Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus. But Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone.

But if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it. He who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, let him follow me, and where I am there my servant will be also.

If anyone serves me, him my father will honor. Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father save me from this hour. But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. And then a voice came from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.

And therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said an angel has spoken to him. And Jesus answered and said, This voice did not come because of me, but for your sake.

Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I'm lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to me, or to myself. This he said signifying by what death he would die.

The people answered him. We've heard from the law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? And then Jesus said to them, A little while longer the light is with you.

Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. He who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light. These things Jesus spoke and departed and was hidden from them.

Now it's going to take a few weeks to get just through these verses, but we'll consider this passage through the outline that you have before us. Five divisions. First we have the desire and request of the Greeks in verses 20 and 21.

Secondly, Jesus speaks of the necessity of his cross in order to inaugurate and advance his kingdom. Thirdly, Jesus' appeal for help from his father to endure his cross. Fourthly, the father's purpose to glorify Jesus before the people through his cross.

And then fifth, Jesus exhorts those Jews who heard him to believe that which they had been taught and had witnessed regarding him. And so this passage is rich in content with implications and because of its richness, we'll only be permitted perhaps to address the first of these two points, first two points of these five today.

And we're in no hurry to get through this passage, for we desire again the richness of the meaning and understanding to be settled in our minds and our souls rather than a cursory or superficial consideration of this very, very important matter.

This is an important matter that distinguishes reformed Christians with a reformed emphasis and bent from those who are not. And so let's consider first of all verses 20 through 22, the desire and request of the Greeks.

We read in verse 20, a certain Greeks who wished to see Jesus. Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to the worship at the feast. Clearly they desired to meet with Jesus and perhaps interview him, converse with him.

And these Greeks are being commended really, now it's implied, but clearly there's a commendation of these Greeks because they desired to meet with Jesus. But they not only desired to see him of course, they made effort to see him.

And so they came to Philip, we wish to see Jesus. The fact is some will claim they desire to see Jesus, but they make no effort to do so. That's not how these Greeks were. They wish to see Jesus and they would take some steps to do so.

And so may we be earnest seekers of our Lord Jesus. Each of us should possess the desire to see Jesus as he is in truth, and each of us should make great effort to do so. Now in their seeking these Greeks approach one of Jesus's disciples, Philip.

And so we read in verses 21 and 22, they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, sir we wish to see Jesus. Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

Who were these Greeks? Very important question to answer. Some have proposed that they were Jews, in other words Jews from out in the Roman Empire, from the Greco-Roman world. In the first century there were Jews who were rather high and mighty in their own estimation, thinking they were the purest and most devout Jews in the world.

And it's because they were born and raised in Palestine, particularly Judea. They looked down on everybody else. And they are generally referred to as Palestinian Jews. But due to the diaspora, in other words the exile that took place in the 8th century BC, 6th century BC, Assyria, Babylon, there were Jews of course that were scattered throughout the world.

These were known as Hellenistic Jews, because they were greatly influenced by the Greek culture that had been spread throughout the entire known world by the by the exploits of Alexander the Great, who died in 322 BC.

And so their culture was not Palestinian in nature, but rather it was Hellenistic. It was Greek. They spoke Greek, was their primary language, and their culture was shaped largely in the Hellenistic world.

And although the Roman Empire had been the dominant political force in the world for nearly a hundred years, the language and culture of Greece remained predominant, again having been spread since the 4th century BC under Alexander.

And so there is quite a distinction, and frankly cultural animosity, between Palestinian Jews and Hellenistic Jews. They didn't get along. The Jewish synagogues of Jerusalem, and there are apparently hundreds of them, could be classified as either Palestinian or Hellenistic.

They were all Jews, but they were divided into these two parties. They didn't cooperate with one another. And even after the early church had begun, and the early Christians of course were Jewish Christians, they still remained in these rather distinct groups.

And so there were Palestinian Jewish Christians, and there were Hellenistic Jewish Christians. And they had their problems. In fact, it's reflected for us in the book of Acts, Acts chapter 6 verse 1, and we see these two groups here among Christians.

Now in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists. Now these are Christians, but they are Hebrew Jewish Christians, Palestinian Jewish Christians, and Hellenistic Jewish Christians, largely shaped by the Greek culture.

And the reason was their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the Twelve, the apostles, summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, it is not desirable that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables.

Therefore brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.

And the same pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith in the Holy Spirit, and Philip, not the same Philip in John 12, a different Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles.

And when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. And then the Word of God spread, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.

And so this problem arose because the Hellenistic Jewish Christians believed that their widows were not being cared for to the same degree as the widows of the Hebrews, that is the Palestinian Jewish Christians.

And interestingly, the apostles told the people, the church, you call out, you identify some men, devout, faithful men, whom we may put in charge, the apostles said. And they chose seven men. Interestingly, all seven men had Greek names.

So all seven were probably of this Hellenistic Christian Jewish group. They were the ones who thought their widows were being neglected. They selected seven of them and put them in charge of the distribution, showing to what extent and effort they were attempting to resolve this problem.

And of course these men are commonly believed to have been the first men chosen to serve in the office of deacon in the church. And so there are those who argue that these Greeks in John chapter 12, 21, 20, 21, 22, who desired to see Jesus were Hellenistic Jews, and that's why they're named Greeks.

However, this would be a wrong identification of these men. It's apparent that these men were Gentiles, not Jews. Why were they not called Gentiles, but rather called Greeks? Well, all Gentiles in the Hellenistic world of the Roman Empire would refer to it as Greeks, because they spoke Greek as their primary language, and their culture was Greek.

And so the term Greek is the same term as Gentile, frankly. Now there were indeed Gentiles who had become Jewish proselytes in the first century. They were not large in number, but there were some Gentiles who had become Jews, basically.

They became Jewish proselytes. They were not really treated as full-fledged Jews by the Jews. They were regarded as almost Jews, and they'd be allowed onto the Temple Mount when they would come to Jerusalem to worship, but they could only go as far as the court of the Gentiles.

They couldn't go into the inner court. These Greeks that we're talking about here in John 12 were probably Gentile God-fearers, but not necessarily proselytes to Judaism. And so of these Greeks, Donald Carson rightly wrote, it's possible they were proselytes, fully fledged converts to Judaism who would have been permitted to worship with the Jews, but this cannot be inferred from the text, since other Gentiles who are said to have gone up to worship could not possibly be proselytes.

The Ethiopian eunuch, because he was a eunuch, wouldn't have been allowed to worship in the temple. Like Cornelius, Acts chapter 10, or the centurion who loved the Jews and built them a synagogue, Luke 7, such Greeks admired much of what they saw in Judaism without becoming official converts, and sometimes attended the great Jewish festivals at Jerusalem where they were admitted to the court of the Gentiles.

Entrance to the inner courts was forbidden on pain of death to all Gentiles save proselytes. Warning notices were posted on the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, that separated the inner courts from the court of the Gentiles.

And so these Greeks of John 12, 21 were Gentiles. And really the way John presents them in John 12, verse 20, they're set in contrast to the Pharisees. As one wrote, enough for us to know that they, the Greeks, showed more interest in Christ than Caiaphas and all his companions.

And so they're really being shown in a favorable light. The Pharisees were frustrated, envious, and angry at the influence and popularity of Jesus, but these Greeks were drawn to Jesus, they wished to see him.

But it's important that we understand that these Greeks mentioned in John 12, verse 20, really in some way represent all the Gentiles of the world who would later become Christians. Therefore these few verses of John 12, 20, and 21 signal one of the greatest turning points in the history of redemption.

Gentiles were going to come into the kingdom where before they were excluded. That's what's being portrayed for us here in John chapter 12. And just in advance of what we're saying here, they wished to see Jesus.

They got a hold of Philip. Philip got his brother Andrew. They went to Jesus. They said, there's some Greeks here that want to see you, Jesus. And then Jesus immediately said, the hour has come. I've got to go to the cross.

I've got to die in order to bring in this mass of Gentiles into the kingdom. That's what is being declared here in John chapter 12. Very important. So the Old Testament prophets had declared clearly and frequently that when the promised King of Israel, the son of David, inaugurated the Messianic kingdom, that not only a remnant of Jewish people would become citizens of this kingdom, but a great number of Gentiles would also become kingdom citizens.

And these Greeks who wished to see Jesus signal that not only the Messianic kingdom would soon be inaugurated, but it would experience tremendous expansion throughout the Gentile world. God was about to do a great world-impacting work which would be accomplished through the death of Jesus Christ on his cross.

This is an important turning point in the Bible, the history of redemption. Now again, what we are asserting here is not popularly or broadly taught. What's commonly taught is that Jesus was basically offering an earthly millennium to the Jews, but because they rejected him and crucified him, God's offer of the kingdom was withdrawn and postponed until the second coming.

We are saying, no, not at all, but rather the crucifixion of Jesus Christ actually brought about the enthronement of King Jesus, the inauguration of the promised Messianic kingdom in the Old Testament.

And that's what we have played out here in John chapter 12. Very, very important matter. So let's consider some Old Testament passages. And again, those that have that other position would argue that nowhere in the Old Testament is the kingdom of God in this church age prophesied.

And I want to show you where it's prophesied everywhere in the Old Testament. And so let's consider some Old Testament passages. And we could go all the way back to Abraham, back in the book of Genesis.

Of course, Abraham himself was a Gentile, wasn't he? He was brought out of Mesopotamia, called of God. And to him, of course, through him came the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. But he was a pagan when God called him a Gentile.

He was first, of course, called Abram when God came to him. Later, he was renamed Abraham, and that itself was significant. But Abram was a Gentile whom God called forth from Mesopotamia, the Gentile world, to come to Canaan.

And it was to Abram that God came and to whom God gave his covenantal promises. And God declared that through Abram, God would bring his blessing upon all the Gentiles of the earth. And so we read of God's initial promise in Genesis chapter 12, verse 1 and following.

God said to Abram, get out of your country from your family and from your father's house. Now that would have been in the region of ancient Babel. From the nations, you get out of there and you come to a land that I will show you.

I'll make you a great nation. I will bless you. I'll make your name great. You shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you. I will curse them who curses you. And then this statement concludes that promise, covenantal promise.

And in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed. In other words, Gentiles would be blessed through Abraham. And so here, therefore, in God's initial commitment to Abram, he made reference to the Gentile nations.

They were all the families of the earth, and they would be blessed due to God's blessing of Abram. Later, God again appeared to Abram, giving more detail of his plan and purposes through him. So we read in Genesis 17, when Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, said to him, I am almighty God.

Walk before me and be blameless, and I'll make my covenant between me and you, and you will multiply you exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, as for me, behold, my covenant is with you.

And notice, you shall be a father of many nations. Those are Gentiles. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be called Abraham. That's what Abraham means. You're a father of many nations.

He renamed him. I'll make you exceedingly fruitful, and I'll make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I'll establish my covenant between me and you, and your descendants after you, and their generations, for an everlasting covenant to be God to you, and to your descendants after you.

And here in the text, his descendants also include the Gentiles, don't they? These nations will come forth from you. Here again, we see God intended Abraham to be the father, or the spiritual progenitor, of not just his own physical descendants, but that he would be the spiritual father of the nations, of the world.

That would be, you know, believers that come into the kingdom. The Apostle Paul would later quote the words of God here, making a declaration of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ to Gentiles. And so in Romans 4, Paul reasoned, therefore it is a faith, that is, we're justified by God's grace through faith alone.

It's through faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed. And what he means by all the seed is Jew and Gentile believers alike. All the seed, we're all the seed of Abraham, we who are spiritual children of Abraham.

And not only to those who are of the law, in other words, of the flesh, physical descendants of Abraham, but also to those who are the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. And then he quotes Genesis, as it's written, I've made you a father of many nations.

In the presence of him whom he believed, God, who gives life to the dead, calls those things which do not exist as though they did, who contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations.

According to what was spoken, so shall your descendants be. We could have launched off from here and showed how Paul argued, Abraham is your father, and if you're a believer in Christ, you are just as Isaac was, you are a child of promise, and therefore you are an inheritor of God's promises to Abraham.

God's promises don't come to Abraham because they're your physical descendants, ethnic Jews, but because you're spiritual descendants, you have the same faith as Abraham had faith, and therefore you have the same promises that are assured to you and to me.

And so from the earliest days when God had called Abraham to live in faith before him, there is hope held forth for the salvation of the Gentile nations. Well, let's get forward several hundred years, and there we read God constituted Israel as a nation at Mount Sinai after bringing them out of Egypt, and God entered a covenant relationship with ethnic Jews, the physical descendants of Abraham, the people of Israel as his unique and special people, and thereby distinguished them from all the Gentiles, all the nations of the world, and when God did so, established that covenant with Israel, he promised he would favor Israel, his people, setting them apart and distinct from the Gentile nations.

Here's God's word to Israel, Moses went up to God, Mount Sinai, the Lord called him from the mountain saying, thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, tell the children of Israel, you have seen what I did to the Egyptians, how I bore you on eagle's wings, brought you out to myself, in other words by grace, now therefore if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, and here it is, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people, the Jewish people, above all Gentile people, God would show his favor to them, for all the earth is mine, and you should be to me a kingdom, this is to physical Israel, physical descendants of Abraham, Jewish people, you should be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, and these are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel, and so there at Sinai, God set Israel apart, I'll favor you, I'm not going to favor those Gentiles, I'm going to favor you and you alone, and I will continue to do so as long as you keep my laws, this is basically what God told Israel on that occasion, 40 years later of course it was repeated in Deuteronomy chapter 7, Moses declared to his people, for you are a holy people to the Lord your God, the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Jewish people, Israel was a favored nation, God purposed to bless that nation, not the Gentiles, but that nation, God regarded Israel, the nation as his son, that he brought out of Egypt, to give his inheritance of the promised land, he purposed to exalt his son Israel, who was to honor his father, to whom God would give the nations as an inheritance, God said to Pharaoh, thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, as a result of this special relationship with God, of God with Israel as a nation, through much of the Old Testament history, the Gentiles of the world were excluded from the place of God's blessing, God purposed to show his favor upon his people Israel, which he did not purpose to do for the Gentile nations, they were excluded from the household of God, but even through the history of the people of Israel as God's unique and chosen people, they were called to be a witness of the nature and ways of the true God to the nations of the world, they were to be a kingdom of priests to declare the glory of God to the Gentile nations, God declared to them, you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, and so they were to make known the glory of God to the Gentile nations of the world, and this great purpose of God may be seen in Solomon's dedication of the Jewish temple that took place hundreds of years later, around 1000 BC, Solomon pronounced these words, moreover concerning a foreigner, that would be a Gentile, who is not of your people Israel, but has come from a far country for the sake of your great name and your mighty hand, your outstretched arm, when they come and pray in this temple, the Jewish temple, the court of the Gentiles, then hear from heaven, it's a prayer to God, your dwelling place, and do according to all which the foreigner calls to you, why, here's a purpose clause, so that all peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by your name, again a promise held forth for Gentiles, of course we read in Old Testament history, Israel is God's son, failed miserably in bringing the nations to the place in which they would glorify God, because of their sin, Israel's sin, the Apostle Paul declared that they had actually led the Gentiles to blaspheme God, rather than glorify God, Paul wrote, for the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, he was talking about the Jews, it was in God's purpose therefore to raise up his faithful son Jesus Christ, to replace his unfaithful son Israel, and his faithful son Jesus Christ would accomplish what Israel failed to do, to bring forth the glory of God to the Gentile nations, Jesus Christ is the true Israel, the nation of Israel was the unfaithful Israel, the nation of Israel was the unfaithful vine, Jesus Christ is the true vine, and he would accomplish what the nation of Israel failed to do, and again what we have before us in John chapter 12 is a description and declaration of this great work of our Savior, taking the glory of God to the Gentiles, Jesus Christ would bring forth glory to the Gentiles and they would rejoice in his glory, certain Greeks came, we want to see Jesus, it's now time that I'm lifted up, I'm glorified, because unless I die life isn't going to spread forth, you know as a vast harvest of grain, and so his crucifixion, in his crucifixion he saw the kingdom greatly expanding throughout the world, but it was later in the Old Testament record upon God's judgment of Israel for having broken its covenant with him, that God may know quite clearly of his promise to include Gentiles into the coming kingdom, the messianic kingdom that God had promised, and so in Isaiah's prophecy of the coming messianic kingdom, the prophet declared these words, and in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, alright, Jesse of course was from whom David was descended and the Messiah was the son of David, and so here you have from David's family a root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people for the Gentiles shall seek him, this is the king of Israel and Gentiles are seeking him, and his resting place shall be glorious, and then later in Isaiah 42 we read of the prophecy of Jesus Christ the servant of the Lord, behold my servant whom I uphold, my elect one in whom my soul delights, I put my spirit upon him, and here's the promise, he will bring forth justice to the Gentiles, he's not just a savior of Jews, a Jewish remnant, but of Gentiles, he'll not cry out, nor raise in his voice, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street, a bruised breed, he'll not break, smoking flecks, he'll not quench, direct verse quoted in the Gospels applied to Jesus, and he'll bring forth justice for truth, he'll not fail nor be discouraged, till he has established justice in the earth, the world, and the coastlands, around the Mediterranean region, that's where Gentiles live, the coastlands will wait for his law, in other words he will be their king, and he will govern them and lead them, and they willingly submit to him and obey him, and then further down in Isaiah 42, 6 and 7, God the Father has declared this promise to his son, I the Lord have called you, this is prophetic of Jesus, I've called you Jesus in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house, and so God prophetically told his son Jesus, you will be a light to the Gentiles, the kingdom of Jesus Christ, the messianic kingdom, the kingdom promised to Israel would encompass the world, and Gentiles would come and submit to his authority, one more passage we'll cite, and this is Isaiah 52, 7 through 15, just before in going into the fourth servant song, that is so well known in Isaiah 52 and 53, here it begins with this verse quoted by Paul, which he applies to preachers of the gospel in this New Testament age, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, that's the gospel, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, your God reigns, your watchman shall lift up their voices, with their voices they shall sing together, for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord brings back Zion, break forth into joy, sing together you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people, he's redeemed Jerusalem, the Lord has made his holy arm, and then verse 10 it reads, in the eyes of all the nations, there are the Gentiles, in all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God, and that's what we have in this church age, throughout the entire world, we Gentiles, most of us, there's a few Jewish people here, most of us have seen this because we are the realization and fulfillment of these prophecies of Zion, and then the word comes, it's a challenge for exile to leave Babylon and return to Zion, and of course the message is to come out of the world for us, we're called to depart out of Babylon, the book of Revelation, and flee to our heavenly Zion, depart, depart, go out from there, touch no unclean thing, go out from the midst of her, be clean, Paul quotes those to the church at Corinth, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord, and I will be a father unto you, you who bear the vessels of the Lord, for you shall not go out with haste, nor go out by flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard, it's going to be an easy thing coming out, he's going to see to it that he saves us from bondage, behold my servant, that's Jesus, shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled very high, in other words he's king, he's the Lord, just as many were astonished at you, so his visage, his appearance, was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of man, and then we have this promise in verse 15 of Isaiah 52, so shall he sprinkle many nations, those of the Gentiles, flowing out of his crucifixion, kings shall shut their mouths at him, for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider, and so here we read of the servant of God, even Jesus Christ, who begins to reign over his kingdom, it was through and due to his suffering unto death that he began to reign, he was exalted and extolled very high, and news of what he had done, and the fact that God had enthroned him as king would be proclaimed throughout the entire world, in the eyes of all the nations, all the ends of the earth, Gentiles shall see the salvation of our God, this gospel or good news would be carried by God-called preachers, again Paul quoted this passage in Romans 10, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings the gospel, the good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion your God reigns, and that's our announcement today, our God reigns through Jesus Christ, the kingdom, the long-promised kingdom of the Old Testament, the Jewish messianic kingdom, as it is experiencing present reality, Jesus Christ of Lord of Lords and King of Kings.