Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1437
Delivered on Lord’s-Day Morning, October 6, 1878
“The Lord God which gathers the outcasts of Israel says, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.” Isaiah 56:8.
GOD’S work flow is that of gathering. There was a time when it was scattering. Man built the tower of Babel which was intended to be the center of unity, the armory of power and the seat of dominion from where some mighty Nimrod might sway his scepter over all the human race. But the Lord would not have it so. Infinite wisdom baffled finite ambition! Man’s center is not God’s center and, therefore, He confounded their language and scattered them into nations by which the whole earth has been inhabited.
Now the Lord is gathering together in one the children of God which are scattered abroad. His Son Jesus Christ has descended and dwelt among us, working out our redemption and now, exalted in the highest heavens, He is God’s appointed Center of His people! As Jacob said of old, “Unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.” The Lord has made Him to “stand for an ensign of the people, to Him shall the Gentiles seek and His rest shall be glorious.” The great promise given by the mouth of Isaiah is to be fulfilled under the Gospel dispensation—“I will gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see My Glory.”
Jesus has made both Jew and Gentile one, breaking down every wall of partition, so that there is neither barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all. The power and Grace of God are continually drawing men from all nations and kindred and tongues to the common hope, even the Atonement made by the death of our Lord Jesus, and to the common service, even to service under the one and only Lord of whom it is written, “One is your Master, even Christ; and all you are brethren.” This ingathering process is going on every day by the testimony of the Word of God and it is to be continued until the end of time!
I trust it will be carried on in our midst today. May the Lord put the magnet down among us and draw towards the loadstone of Jesus’ love all hearts made ready to feel its influence! It is my earnest hope that some who have never thought of being gathered to Christ may find themselves drawn towards Him today! May the mystic current of Divine Grace carry many of you away with its gentle force and bear you first to Jesus, who is Israel’s Prince, and then to His Church, which is the true Israel of God!
I. Under our first head we shall notice a point of considerable encouragement to those who seek the Lord. Note well THE INSTANCES MENTIONED—instances of gathering by the hand of the Lord who is described as, “The Lord God which gathers the outcasts of Israel.” Outcasts have been gathered and this is the token that others shall be gathered. I suppose Isaiah first alludes to the banished who had been carried away captive to Babylon and to all parts of the East, but who were at different times restored to their land.
The Israelites had been subject to many captivities. One tyrant after another invaded the country and carried them far away. But the Lord promised to gather them together and He did. The names of Ezra, Nehemiah and the like will remind you of the returning home from distant lands of various contingents of God’s host who marched through the deserts and passed through hostile nations till they reached the city of their God. Very marvelous were these restorations, for kings that knew not God were used by Him to accomplish His designs—even as He said of Cyrus—“I have raised him up in righteousness and I will direct all his ways: he shall build My city, and he shall let My captives go, not for price nor reward, says the Lord of Hosts.”
Now, God who brought His people out of Babylon can bring men out of sin! He who loosed captives from bondage can liberate spirits from despair! He who made the mighty tyrant relax his grip can cause Satan to loose his hold! And He who led His people by a way that they knew not till they came back to their land can lead the poor seeking sinner
through all the devious paths of doubt and fear—and bring him to rest in Jesus Christ. Let Israelites returning from Babylon preach the Gospel to us this morning! Let them proclaim to us the word of hope—“If we who were carried captive far off from Zion are brought back, so also will the Lord devise means that His banished be not expelled from
Him.”
But I prefer to use the text in reference to our Divine Lord and Master, seeing that to Him shall the gathering of the people be! When He was here below He gathered the outcasts of Israel by His ministry. Look at the group around Him and mark carefully those who press nearest to Him. You need not notice those scribes and Pharisees in the outer circle— they would gladly entrap Him in His speech—let us leave them to themselves and only notice those who stand so quietly, who listen so eagerly, whose tears flow so freely and whose hearts are so deeply touched! Who are these?