March 3rd 2024 All Saints Sermon by Rev. Dr. Ed Hird

““Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion. Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that people may bring you the wealth of the nations— their kings led in triumphal procession. For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined. “The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the juniper, the fir and the cypress together, to adorn my sanctuary; and I will glorify the place for my feet. The children of your oppressors will come bowing before you; all who despise you will bow down at your feet and will call you the City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel. “Although you have been forsaken and hated, with no one traveling through, I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations. You will drink the milk of nations and be nursed at royal breasts. Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. Instead of bronze I will bring you gold, and silver in place of iron. Instead of wood I will bring you bronze, and iron in place of stones. I will make peace your governor and well-being your ruler. No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise. The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end. Then all your people will be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor. The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the Lord; in its time I will do this swiftly.””

Winston Churchill, in the midst of the London blitz, told the Brits that this was their finest hour. Isaiah 60 is similarly telling those of us who are grafted in the olive tree of Israel that this is our finest hour. Janice and I have been involved in a Monday to Friday zoom prayer meeting for Israel since the Oct 7^th massacre. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the release of the over 100 Jewish hostages still held in the tunnels by the Hamas terrorists.  Most of our favorite messianic friends have been involved, people like Pastors Giulio & Adam Gabeli, Marty Shoub, and Alan & Robin Gilman. I am praying that in the midst of increasing antisemitism that this will be the finest hour for the people of Israel, and that many will turn to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, revealed in his son Yeshua Mashiah, Jesus Christ.  I strongly believe that according to the Abrahamic covenant of Genesis 12, those who bless Israel will be blessed, blessed to be a blessing in the Messiah. Is it a mere coincidence that the nation of Israel bubbles with creativity and innovation, with over 6,000 recent inventions that other nations of the world are already benefiting from? Just think about Microsoft Windows, computer chips, instant messaging, cell phones, and many medical devices birthed in modern-day Israel.  God’s heart is that all nations on earth will be blessed through the Jewish Messiah, not just through Jewish technology.

Have you noticed how Isaiah 60:10 says that foreigners and their Kings will rebuild the open walls of Jerusalem on Mount Zion?  Vs 20 tells us that the everlasting Light of God will cause the days of sorrow to end.  The Jewish people have seen so many days of sorrow, sometimes from people who claim to be Christians. Historically, many gentile nations have often robbed the Jewish people rather than generously bring them the wealth of the nations.  Do you remember the first nation that robbed Israel and then blessed as they left?  Exodus 12:36 calls it the plundering of the Egyptians after four hundred years of slavery.  It is not rocket science to observe that nations that curse Israel and the Jewish people never do well, for as Jesus said in John 4:22, Salvation is of the Jews.

How many of you have a friend, family neighbour or colleague whom you would like to come to know Jesus personally? In the Jesus movement revival, we led countless people, including some of our Jewish friends, to Jesus, largely because we didn’t know any better.  Most of our Christian friends were hiding in the closet about their faith until the Jesus movement happened.  When Jewish people in Israel prophetically receive the wealth of the Nations, I am believing that this will include receiving what Romans 11:33 calls the depth of the riches of the wisdom and[i] knowledge of God! Paul tells us in Romans 11:25 that in the last days after the full number of the gentile nations have come in, there will be an end-times revival in which all Israel shall be saved. That is why we need to keep praying expectantly for our Jewish friends for a turning to the Lord and a removing of the veil. Do I hear an amen?

Both Bishop Peter and I have talked a lot about the Bible-based Chosen TV series, which is distributed first by Lionsgate Films on the large movie screen, and then on the Chosen App, YouTube, Prime, and Netflix. It first came out in 2017 and is now in its fourth of seven seasons. More than 600 million people already have watched the Chosen series. How many have watched any of it yet? What was your favorite episode?

New research reveals that roughly half of the viewers of The Chosen are not Christians. As mentioned last Sunday, the darkness out there is getting so gross that many of the unchurched are getting curious about Jesus the Light of the Nations. The research shows that Gen Z and younger, many who know nothing about Jesus and have never been to church, are loving the Chosen series. They can’t get enough of it. Here’s an advance tip: Season 5 of The Chosen will spotlight Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem for Holy Week. Season 6 and Season 7 will include the crucifixion and resurrection. You won’t want to miss it. How many of you are willing to check out the Chosen series? More importantly, are you willing to invite a friend or family member to watch a chosen episode with you? It is one of the easiest ways to do evangelism in this gospel-resistant culture.

How many of you love Isaiah? I deeply love Isaiah.  I am genetically related to Isaiah who is now four years old. His mom chose this name because the prophet Isaiah spoke about beauty for ashes, an anointing of joy for a spirit of heaviness. How many of you have met any of our grandchildren? If you have met Isaiah, you will never forget him. Our grandson Isaiah is full of life, bubbling over.

As you know, All Saints is currently doing a five-week Lenten sermon series on Isaiah entitled “Arise and Shine, All Saints.”  The New Testament quotes the book of Isaiah 71 times.  Isaiah is the most Christian, in Hebrew, the most messianic book in the Old Testament, which Jewish people call the Tenach.  How many of you know what the term Tenach stands for?  It is an acronym for the three section of the Old Testament: 1) Torah (Law, the first five book), 2) Neviʾim (Prophets), and 3) Ketuvim (Writings, or the rest of the Old Testament).

Isaiah 2:5, as quoted by 1 John 1:9, calls us to walk in the light of the Lord”. Isaiah 5:20 warns woke people, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness.” Isaiah 7:14, as quoted by Matthew 1:22, prophesies that a virgin will give birth to God’s son, one of his names which is Immanuel, God with us. Isaiah 9:1, as quoted by Matthew 4:15, calls Jesus a light in darkness. Isaiah 9:6 prophesies that Jesus the Messiah will come as a baby. I love the beauty of the King James Version which Handel’s Messiah drew upon “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 11:1, as quoted in Luke 1:31-33, calls Jesus the root of Jesse, King David’s father. Isaiah 28:16, as quoted in Matthew 21:42-44, calls Jesus the rejected Corner Stone. Isaiah 29:18 & 35:5, as quoted in Matthew 11:5, prophesied that Jesus would cause the deaf to hear and the blind to see. Isaiah 40:3-5, as quoted by all four Gospels, predicted the coming of John the Baptist who would prepare the way for Jesus the Messiah. Isaiah 42:1-4, as quoted by Matthew 12:18-21, prophesied that Jesus the Messiah would be gentle and not crush the broken.  

The strongest and longest OT prophecies about Jesus are found in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53, which is never read nowadays in the synagogues.  Many of my messianic Jewish friends have come to know Jesus, who they call Yeshua, by reading Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53. There was a Jewish person who was first shown Isaiah 53 and asked who it was talking about.  He said, “Well, it’s obviously about Jesus. But I don’t trust your New Testament.”  He was then amazed to discover that this was not from the New Testament but the Old Testament.

Have you noticed that Isaiah 60 keeps telling us in verses 3, 5 to 6, 11 (even in Isaiah 66:12-13) that those coming to the Light of Jesus will bring the Wealth of the Nations? The King James Version called this the Wealth of the Gentiles. In Hebrew, it is called the wealth of the Goyim. In 140 places, the KJV translates the term goyim as the heathen. The words ‘heathen’ and ‘nation’ are often interchangeable in the KJV, as in 1 Chronicles 16:24 “Declare his glory among the heathen, his marvelous works among all nations.” This is where we get the word ‘ethnic’ from (ethnos in the Greek). To be called heathen did not mean that you were uncivilized, just not Jewish. Those of us who are not Jewish and love Jesus are actually Christian heathens.

Now when business people, economists and politicians hear the term Wealth of the Nations, what person and book comes to mind? Adam Smith’s 1776 book Wealth of the Nations. How many of you have ever read Wealth of the Nations? How many of you have ever taken a course of economic? I want to invite you up for a little dialogue.

In 1776, Smith’s second book The Wealth of the Nations was so popular that he became known as the Father of Economics and the Father of Capitalism.  For some people today, Capitalism has become a negative word associated with Scrooge-like greed and cutthroat business practices. Karl Marx blamed capitalism for all the world’s ills.

Most people have no idea that Adam Smith was a devout Christian economist. In his two books, including his lesser-known book The Theory of Moral Sentiments, God was mentioned a total of 403 times. Biblical economics is based on our being faithful stewards, realizing that all things come from God, and of his own have we given him (1 Chronicles 29:14).  Stewardship in the Greek is the same word as economics (oikonomos, manager of the oikos, the house). Smith wanted everyone to earn a decent living, saying ‘No society can surely be flourishing and happy of which the far greater of the members are poor and miserable.’  Smith observed how God transforms private interest into public good by his invisible sovereign hand.

Born in 1723 in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, Adam Smith never knew his father who had died five months before his birth.  Smith regularly attended the local church with his devout mother Margaret. His strong Christian faith is often ignored or minimized by modern economists.  You cannot really understand Adam Smith without appreciating his 1759 book The Theory of Moral Sentiments:

He said: “As to love our neighbour as we love ourselves is the great law of Christianity, so it is the great precept of nature to love ourselves only as we love our neighbour, or what comes to the same thing, as our neighbour is capable of loving us.”

Adam Smith was not just a philosopher and economist.  He was also an early psychologist and sociologist who served at Glasgow University as Professor of Moral Philosophy. He was such an academic rock star in Glasgow that the university bookstore even sold a bust of his head what he was still alive! Smith was fascinated about what made people tick, especially how emotions/sentiments affected our life choices and ethical decisions.

With most of his students training to become ordained clergy, he taught them extensively about natural theology, how God our creator impacted our natural world:

…every part of nature, when attentively surveyed, equally demonstrates the providential care of its Author, and we may admire the wisdom and goodness of God, even in the weakness and folly of man.

Smith was struck by the miraculous order of God’s good universe. He called the universe God’s machine, designed to produce at all times the greatest quantity of happiness in us. Romans 8:28 reminds us how all things work together for the good. 

Since he was fatherless, Smith deeply appreciated that God was indeed our heavenly Father. He commented that ‘the very suspicion of a fatherless world must be the most melancholy of all reflections’, leaving us with nothing but endless misery and wretchedness.

All the economic prosperity in the world, said Smith, can never remove the dreadful gloominess of a world without God our Father.  Smith taught that with this conviction of a benevolent heavenly Father, all the sorrow of an afflicting adversity can never dry up our joy. Smith, who sometimes suffered from depression, knew that because he was not cosmically alone, he had reason to keep going. After experiencing academic burnout, he left Glasgow University, serving as a European tutor for Henry Scott, the future Duke of Buccleuch and his brother. While in Paris, he became friends to Voltaire and the French physiocrat economists, led by Dr. Francois Quesnay, the Royal Physician to King Louis XV. After the tragic death of Henry Scott’s younger brother, Smith returned home, never to visit Europe again.

Let me ask you a question: Who first brought the wealth of the nations to Israel as predicted in Isaiah 60? None other than the wise men who brought their three gifts to Jesus the Messiah of gold, myrrh, and incense. Haggai 2:7 says that the gold and silver belong to the Lord.  My scientist brother-in-law had a great bumper sticker “Wise Men Still Seek Him.”  Isaiah 60 Vs 5 prophetically said “Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.” Where did we get the idea that the wise men came on camels? From Isaiah 60.  Where did we get the idea that the wise men or magis were kings? From Isaiah 60 vs. 3 and 11.  And also in the prophecy of Psalm 72:10-11, it says “May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring tribute to him. May the kings of Sheba and Seba present him gifts. May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him.”

What reason did Isaiah 60 give that the wise men came to visit Jesus?  The darkness became so gross that they were drawn to the light.  Have you noticed in 2024 that the darkness is getting pretty gross? I am believing that many unchurched people in 2024 will be so grossed out by the extreme darkness in BC that they will come to this glorious Lighthouse in Crescent Beach.  We the people of the light need to be ready to welcome them with open arms. These lost, broken people will not come to the light already cleaned up and fixed. 

According to Matthew 2:2, what led the wise men to that perfect light? (the Star of wonder, Star of night) That reminds me of a song.

We three kings of orient are

Bearing gifts we traverse afar

Field and fountain

Moor and mountain

Following yonder star

O star of wonder, star of night

Star with royal beauty bright

Westward leading, still proceeding

Guide us to thy perfect light

Glorious now behold Him arise

King and God and Sacrifice

Al-le-lu-ia, al-le-lu-ia

Heaven to earth replies

O star of wonder, star of night

Star with royal beauty bright

Westward leading, still proceeding

Guide us to thy perfect light

Did the wise men visit Jesus at his birth? Not likely. Likely over 40 days later. Perhaps a year or two later.  Do you know, by the way, why the wise men were late for Christmas?  Being men, they wouldn’t ask directions. 

How many wise men does the bible say came to Jesus? It doesn’t say. It just said three gifts. Their names were not likely Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. 

What was the final thing the wise men did after they gave Jesus the wealth of the nations?  They worshipped him.  Did you know that the JW New World Translation bible wipes out any references to worshipping Jesus, retranslating proskuneo as merely obeisance, whatever that means? How many of you believe that Jesus the King of the nations is worthy of worship and adoration? That reminds me of a chorus: O come let us adore Him

O come let us adore him

O come let us adore Him

Christ, the Lord

Why do we have an offering of our tithes and sacrificial offerings each Sunday in our worship service? Because Jesus is worthy of our worship, worthy of receiving the wealth of the nations. Do I hear an Amen?

Jesus, in sixteen out of the thirty-eight recorded parables, spoke about stewardship.  As we seek first God’s Kingdom, our needs will be met.  (Matthew 6:33) Jesus tells us in Luke 16: 11 “if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” Money is small potatoes in God’s eyes. The true wealth of the nations is about love, forgiveness, justice, and God’s Word.

Abundant living depends on abundant giving.  Jesus taught that it is better to give than receive (Acts 20:35).  Tithing our first 10% to God and then giving sacrificially expresses the truth that God the King owns it all, and we are his Kingdom caretakers.  E. Stanley Jones told the story of a poverty-stricken boy named Colgate who met a steamboat captain who encouraged him to give his heart to Jesus and give one tenth of all he made to God.  The boy promised both, and through his Colgate Toothpaste Company, ended up giving millions to serving others.

What might happen to Canada in 2024 if we chose to lay the wealth of the nations at the feet of Jesus’ unshakable Kingdom?

Let us sing the first verse of All to Jesus I surrender song, as our prayer to Jesus.