Isaiah 49:12

GATHERED FROM AFAR
(Missionary Sermon.)

Isaiah 49:12. Behold there shall come from far, &c.

Whatever bearing this prophecy may have had upon the time of Isaiah, or the time immediately after him, it has an important bearing on the time of the Messiah and the course of His kingdom. The prophet sees multitudes coming into that kingdom from every quarter of the globe. Taking his position in Palestine, he mentions the north and west by name; the far country may be regarded as the south, beginning with Egypt, and running down to Southern Africa; while the east runs through Persia and India to China, which many expositors consider identical with Sinim.
The sentiment of the text is that the redeemed Church of Christ shall come from every part of the earth.

I. This sentiment is in accordance with the genius of the gospel

The gospel is in the world. It exerts an immense influence over the best portions of the human race; whose excellence, indeed, is directly owing to its influence. What is its nature? It is the manifestation of God’s love to man. It is not a mere declaration of the Divine existence and character, nor a mere exposition of human nature and its obligations. It. is a revelation of the Divine character in its relations to man. It unfolds the way in which God deals with human sinfulness. Instead of sweeping it away by sweeping man away, He provides salvation from sin and its doom. That provision consists in the incarnation of the Son of God’ who has obeyed the law and endured its curse for man. The good news is the proclamation of God’s forgiving mercy to as many as believe in Him, repenting of their sins; and the further proclamation that all needful influences and help will be supplied by the Holy Spirit for their complete regeneration and purification.
Now this is not a story likely to be concealed in the hearts of those who happen to know it. It is of such a nature that those who know it and have acted upon it instinctively desire to communicate it to others. Why?

1. Because it is true.
2. Because it redounds to the honour of its chief Personage, whom they have learned to love with supreme devotedness.
3. Because it is closely connected with the interests and destinies of the human race. Their participation of its blessing, their falling under its influence, has brought them into sympathy with the love of God to man, which, like a spark from the central fire of love, has fallen on their susceptibility and set it aflame. Men need the gospel, in life and in death; and the gospel inspires its recipients with the benevolence which cannot rest until the blessing has been universally received. Nor is it conceivable that He who provided the gospel should not desire men to avail themselves of its provisions; having prepared a home for the wanderers, He desires them to come into it.

II. This sentiment is in accordance with the spirit of prophecy

There is a marked difference between the Christian and Jewish dispensations. The Jews, with a narrow strip of territory, were separated from the nations. Their religion was intimately associated with their national life and being. It was given to them; adapted to them. No wonder that they became possessed of the idea that God never meant to bring other nations into His Church; that therefore they never sought the conversion of the heathen, nor welcomed the idea when it was propounded.

Yet in their own Scriptures there was abundant evidence that the time would come when God would both welcome and seek the heathen. Intimations in the earlier Scriptures. Isaiah prolific of passages. He dwells on the idea, delights in it as if he had already caught the spirit of that Gospel time whose advent he was inspired to predict. Our Lord distinctly enunciates the idea in terms almost similar to those of the text (Matthew 8:11; Matthew 24:14). Paul anticipates the coming in of the fulness of the Gentiles. His labours were conducted with that view. The assumption is everywhere that in the great future the gospel shall be universally prevalent.

III. This sentiment is in accordance with the course of events

Has the genius of the Gospel vindicated itself? Have the predictions of its attracting the heathen been verified? Take the history of the Church from the earliest time to the present. Its course has been one of steady advancement towards the point at which the predictions of its extension will be fully accomplished. During the apostolic age, although to a less extent than subsequently, the Gospel travelled north and south and east and west of Palestine. Beginning with a very small handful of Jews under persecution, before three hundred years were over it had made itself so felt that the Emperor of Rome found it his advantage to adopt it publicly. Through the centuries since, it has gradually covered a larger area. And the text is now in course of fulfilment. With a map in your hand, survey the parts of the earth in which the Gospel has been preached. You will find that it has planted its foot in every quarter, and that its converts are gathered from almost every land. China must not be overlooked. It is probably specially mentioned here. Christian missionaries of various names are attracting numbers of that multitudinous and remarkable people. As the completed fulfilment of the prophecy, there will be in heaven “a multitude which no man can number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, who will stand before the throne and before the Lamb.”
Two points may be mentioned as suggested by this subject:—

1. It recognises the brotherhood of man. For the purposes of this prophecy, every man must be regarded as belonging to one great family, equally capable of and needing redemption. God has put the highest honour on human nature by giving His dearest and best. Let not the most degraded be supposed beyond our reach. 2. It imposes a stupendous obligation on the Church. God works by means. Are we doing all in our power to help those who are labouring among the heathen?—J. Rawlinson.

CHINA FOR CHRIST

Isaiah 49:12. Behold these shall come from … the land of Sinim.

Most commentators are agreed that this refers to China. “The Arabians and other Asiatics called China Sin or Tchin; the Chinese had no special name for themselves, but either adopted that of the reigning dynasty or some high-sounding titles. This view of ‘Sinim’ suits the context which requires a people to be meant ‘from far,’ and distinct from those ‘from the north and from the west’ ” (Gesenius).

In these words we have a promise of the conversion of China, the spiritual needs and claims of which the Churches of Christendom will do well to consider most prayerfully. Observe—
1. The population, extent, and religion of China, &c. Next to the Russian Empire, the Chinese Empire, including Mantchuria, Mon golia, and Thibet, is in extent of territory the largest in the world. China itself is one-third the size of Europe, seven times the size of France, and is equal to eleven of Great Britain and Ireland. The population is estimated at 400,000,000—twenty-two times the population of England; or more than one hundred and thirty times that of Scot land. Were all the subjects of the court of Pekin to march past a spectator at the rate of thirty miles a day, they would move on and on, day after day, week after week, month after month; and more than twenty-three and a half years would elapse before the last individual had passed by.

The number is inconceivable—the view is appalling. The daily mortality of China is 33,000! Think of it—a mortality which in less than three months exceeds the whole population of London;—which in a year and a half exceeds the total number of the inhabitants of England. The thought is overwhelming.

The State Religion is founded on the ethical and political maxims of the sage Confucius. His writings ignore the existence of a God and a future state, consisting mainly in the advocacy of what is expedient and useful and proper, &c. Various species of idolatry prevail—Taouism, Buddhism, ancestral worship, &c.

2. We cannot say that the amazing population of China has been altogether neglected by the Christian people of Europe and America. For some years the London Missionary Society, hoping against hope, and exhibiting a perseverance worthy of all imitation, sustained the only Mission in China, begun by the honoured Morrison in 1807. China can never again be isolated as heretofore. We have long prayed that China might be “open” to evangelical effort. Prayer has been answered; “the fields are white to the harvest,” but as yet “the labourers are few,” and bear no proportion to the magnitude even of the initiatory work which remains to be accomplished.
3. Among the obstacles which oppose themselves to Christian missions in China, may be mentioned—

(1.) The theocratic assumption of the imperial government.
(2.) The ignorance, immorality, conceit, and superstitiousness of the population.
(3.) The system of ancestral worship—a plausible custom, but one which is a most unequivocal form of idolatry, &c.
(4.) Sundry superstitions.
(5.) The opium traffic, which has created a most power [n] prejudice against us among the best men in the country. A Wesleyan missionary, writing home (in 1884) said, “It would interest the supporters of our society if they could hear the various objections the Chinese make on the one hand against abandoning old customs, and on the other, against becoming Christians. To give just one specimen of each kind. At the close of a service held some weeks ago at Fatshan, and when the congregation were requested to ask any questions they might wish on the address just delivered, or on the new religion generally, one man maintained very strongly that it would be wrong in him not to worship idols, for his parents had worshipped them before him. He must do as they did, or be unfilial. This reasoning (if such it may be called) was easily disposed of, but not to his satisfaction, for he still held to his point. Another man seemed, however, annoyed that nothing stronger could be urged against the Gospel, and, leaning forward, he touched the man—who was so afraid of being unfilial—on the shoulder, and said, ‘You will do no good arguing that way. I tell you what to do, you just ask the foreigner, Where does the opium come from?’ And with that he ran out of the chapel, and we saw him no more. Whether he thought he had really vanguished us, or he was afraid of being vanquished, I don’t know. I suppose his reasoning was something like this: ‘opium is from abroad, and is injurious; the Gospel is from abroad, and it is, ergo, injurious.’ Or, ‘The Gospel is not much good, or it would keep foreigners from hurting China; and if it has not made them good, why do they bring it here?’ Opium, the impure lives of foreigners, and brandy, are the staple objections against the Gospel, when none can be found against its doctrines and morals. If opium could be got rid of, and the lives of Europeans and Americans were at all in accordance with the Bible, I am persuaded that our work would make greater progress. But as it is, opium (grown in British territory) is eating out the very life of the nation, physically and morally, among both high and low, and the ungodly lives of foreigners cause the adorable name of Jesus to be every day blasphemed among the heathen.”

4. There are some advantages on the other hand. The press is a powerful instrument; and the circulation of the Scriptures and other books is furthered by the cheapness of printing and paper, so that the entire Bible can be sold for less than a shilling, and the New Testament for fourpence. One cheering sign of the times is the organised opposition to missionary teaching which has recently appeared; a proof that the new opinions are beginning to move the apparently inert masses of the Chinese population.

5. The ultimate conversion of China’s teeming millions to Christ. Unprecedented opportunities now offer for Christian enterprise. Success has attended the labours of the past—upwards of 20,000 Chinese are now in Christian communion in Protestant Churches. A vast preparatory work has been done in a much wider circle, opening the way for the missionary reaper. Many fields are white already unto harvest. Let the Churches of Christendom obey the imperative command of their Lord. “Go ye,” &c., and the stupendous work shall be accomplished in due time, for “Thus saith the Lord, behold, these shall come from the land of Sinim.” Blessed be God, they are coming and shall come, until the word of promise is completely fulfilled.
“Faith, mighty faith. the promise sees,
And looks to that alone;
Laughs at impossibilities,
And cries. It shall be done!”

—Alfred Tucker.