“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” Isaiah lx. 1.
1 Our Saviour said to the woman of Samaria, “The hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.” [John iv. 21.] And upon today’s Festival I may say to you in His words on another occasion, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” This day we commemorate the opening of the door of faith to the Gentiles, the extension of the Church of God through all lands, whereas, before Christ’s coming, it had been confined to one nation only. This dissemination of the Truth throughout the world had been the subject of prophecy. “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.” [Isa. liv. 2, 3.] In these words the Church is addressed as Catholic, which is the distinguishing title of the Christian Church, as contrasted with the Jewish. The Christian Church is so constituted as to be able to spread itself out in its separate branches into all regions of the earth; so that in every nation there may be found a representative and an offshoot of the sacred and gifted Society, set up once for all by our Lord after His resurrection.
This characteristic blessing of the Church of Christ, its Catholic nature, is a frequent subject of rejoicing with St. Paul, who was the chief instrument of its propagation. In one Epistle he speaks of Gentiles being “fellow heirs” with the Jews, “and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the Gospel.” In another he enlarges on “the mystery now made manifest to the saints,” viz. “Christ among the Gentiles, the hope of glory.” [Eph. iii. 6. Col. i. 26, 27.]
The day on which we commemorate this gracious appointment of God’s Providence, is called the Epiphany, or bright manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles; being the day on which the wise men came from the East under guidance of a star, to worship Him, and thus became the first-fruits of the heathen world. The name is explained by the words of the text, which occur in one of the lessons selected for today’s service, and in which the Church is addressed. “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising … Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified.” [Isa. lx. 1-3, 21.]
That this and other similar prophecies had their measure of fulfilment when Christ came, we all know; when His Church, built upon the Apostles and Prophets, wonderfully branched out from Jerusalem as a centre into the heathen world round about, and gathering into it men of all ranks, languages, and characters, moulded them upon one pattern, the pattern of their Saviour, in truth and righteousness. Thus the prophecies concerning the Church were fulfilled at that time in two respects, as regards its sanctity and its Catholicity.
It is often asked, have these prophecies had then and since their perfect accomplishment? Or are we to expect a more complete Christianizing of the world than has hitherto been vouchsafed it? And it is usual at the present day to acquiesce in the latter alternative, as if the inspired predictions certainly meant more than has yet been realized.
Now so much, I think, is plain on the face of them, that the Gospel is to be preached in all lands, before the end comes: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” [Matt. xxiv. 14.] Whether it has been thus preached is a question of fact, which must be determined, not from the prophecy, but from history; and there we may leave it. But as to the other expectation, that a time of greater purity is in store for the Church, that is not easily to be granted. The very words of Christ just quoted, so far from speaking of the Gospel as tending to the conversion of the world at large, when preached in it, describe it only as a witness unto all the Gentiles, as if the many would not obey it. And this intimation runs parallel to St. Paul’s account of the Jewish Church, as realizing faith and obedience only in a residue out of the whole people; and is further illustrated by St. John’s language in the Apocalypse, who speaks of the “redeemed from among men” being but a remnant, “the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb.” [Rom. xi. 5. Rev. xiv. 4.]