Turn back in your Bibles to that
22nd Psalm this morning. Psalm 22. In Psalm 22, we hear cries from
the experiences of David. And I would imagine, and I certainly
know that it is my case, that many of these cries are the same
cries that believers in every age cry out. But more than that, what we hear
are the cries of the Messiah. These are even the very cries
of the cross. That's unmistakable. Look at
verse 1. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? You can read that same cry in
the New Testament coming from the lips of Christ as He hangs
there on the cross. Verse 6. But I am a worm and
no man, a reproach of men, and despise of the people. All they that see me laugh me
to scorn. They shoot out the lip, they
shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that He would deliver
him. Let Him deliver him. seeing he
delighted in Him." Those are the words of the Lord Jesus. And then if you look down in
verse 12, he says, "...many bulls have compassed me, strong bulls
of Bashan have beset me round, they gaped upon me with their
mouths as a ravening and a roaring lion, I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, it is melted
in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like
a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws, and thou hast brought
me into the dust of death, for dogs have compassed me the assembly
of the wicked have enclosed me, they pierced my hands and my
feet." And then if you look down in verse 18, they part my garments
among them and cast lots upon my vesture. We know that is the
suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then in verse 20, Deliver
my soul from the sword, my darling, from the power of the dog. Save
me from the lion's mouth, for thou hast heard me from the horns
of the unicorns. I will declare thy name unto
my brethren. In the midst of the congregation
will I praise thee." They have to be the words of the Lord's
Christ. But as we hear these words of
suffering, and even words of abandonment by God, and as we
see the very wickedness of man, and hear the God-man as he actually
praises God, we also hear God saying something also. In verse 23, he says, Ye that
fear the Lord, praise him. All ye the seed of Jacob, glorify
him and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. For he hath not despised nor
abhorred the afflictions of the afflicted, neither hath he hid
his face from him, but when he cried unto him he heard." You
think about that. He turned his head from his son. But these that he is describing
here, these who are called the afflicted and such, he says he
did not turn his head from them. May my praise shall be of thee
in the great congregation. I will pay my vows before them
that fear Him. The meek shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise the Lord that
seek Him. Your heart shall live forever." And we begin to see by the Lord's
own words not only the suffering of Christ, but the consequences
of his death. And we begin to hear not only
of his death, but the reward of his suffering, and the success,
and the victory, and the ramifications of what Christ did in his death. And God begins to say, not so
that he would know, but so that you and I would know. He begins
to speak to the Son the promises, these covenant promises to the
Mediator Son. And that is because of Christ's
obedience unto death, even the death of the cross. because God
has highly exalted him and accepted his work. Verse 27 says, All
the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all
the kindreds of the nations shall worship thee, for the kingdom
is the Lord's, And He is the Governor among the nations. He is the Lord Sovereign, the
King Eternal. All they that be fat upon the
earth shall eat and worship. All they that go down to the
dust shall bow before Him, and none can keep alive his own soul. But listen to what it says in
that thirtieth verse. A seed shall serve him. It shall be accounted to the
Lord for a generation. They shall come and shall declare
His righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that He hath
done this." You see, one of the things that
is stated so unmistakably clear here by God and stated as a consequence,
as a promise of God for what Christ will do. He gives this promise of a seed. He says a seed shall serve Him. Turn back. Hold your place there
and turn over to Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah chapter 53, and listen to what
Isaiah is led by the Spirit of God in verse 10 of Isaiah 53. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. It was God's purpose It was God's
will, it was His determinate counsel that these might take
their wicked hands and slay God's Christ. It was His will and purpose
that He have put him to grief and that He should make His soul
an offering for sin. And it was in order that he might
save his people in Jesus Christ, because it says, Yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days, and
the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand." They are given to Christ, and
he is assured of them as the reward of his suffering. They are described as a seed. What is this seed? Or rather,
I should say, who are these seeds? It says in our text that a seed
shall serve Him. Look back in Psalm 89. Psalm
89 says in verse 3 and verse 4. I have made a covenant
with my Chosen. He's talking here not only about
Christ, His Chosen, but those that He chose in Christ. He says, I have sworn unto David
my servant, and that's certainly a reference to Christ, saying,
thy seed Will I establish forever and build up thy throne to all
generations? He said, I'll establish your
seed. Look down in verse 27 of Psalm
89. God says of His Son, also I will make him my firstborn
higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for
him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to
endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven." If his
children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments, if they
break my statues and keep not my commandments, then will I
visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with
stripes. Nevertheless, my lovingkindness
will I not utterly take from him? nor suffer my faithfulness
to fail. My covenant will I not break,
nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn
by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall
endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me." God made a covenant with His
Son, and He says that in that covenant, because of who Christ
is and because of how He fulfills all the requirements of that
covenant, His seed shall endure forever. And it is in just this same way
that Isaiah calls the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Son, the Child,
Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God. He also refers to Him as
the Everlasting Father. So these seed He describes here
as a generation of men and women that he calls his children, or
his offspring, his very spiritual posterity. Let me read again
in Isaiah 53. In the 8th verse, it says, he
was taken from prison and from judgment, and who shall declare
his generation?" In other words, the question naturally is, if
he is taken before it appears that he fathers any children
naturally, if he goes from this world, who will declare, or who
will be his generation, his posterity? But what men and women by nature,
by spiritual blindness, do not know, it is by His death. It is by His suffering on this
cross. This is the way that these people
are made manifest. This is how they are begotten
of God. It is through His death that
they all have life. eternal life. And that's what this means when
he speaks of a seed serving him. Isaiah says, Who shall declare
his generation? For he was cut off out of the
land of the living. But God immediately puts on the
heels of that For the transgression of my people was he stricken."
You see, this seed is this generation, or people, or these children,
as it is used often in Scripture, such as in Matthew 22. It says
they asked Christ, Master Moses said, if a man die having no
children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up seed unto
his brethren. What is that? Children of his
brother or unto his brother. In Genesis it says this, And
the Lord said unto Abram, After that lot was separated from him,
lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art
northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land
which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever."
To his posterity. And I will make thy seed as the
dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of
the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered." His people,
his descendants, his children, if you will. And the promise
here is that Jesus Christ, that this One who is none less than
the Messiah, He shall never lack or be without a seed. He shall
never be without this posterity or this generation. There will
always be a people to perpetuate His worship and be used to advance
His kingdom. There never will be a time when
there is not a people to praise God. There will never be a time
when there are not some scattered on this earth to worship the
true Jesus Christ, to worship Him in spirit and in truth. And no matter how, it seems that
everything good and moral and truthful and right And every
principle according to the Word of God seems to ebb at this hour. There are those who still worship
the Lord Jesus Christ. There still is a seed that serves
Him. There are still those who proclaim
the gospel in which He gets all the glory. And all of these together
over all the ages as one, he calls a generation or a seed,
not Jew only or Gentile, but a people out of every nation,
kindred, tongue, and tribe, and they all together make up his
seed. There is no accident. There is
no if. There is no contingency plan. There is no possibility that
it will not be so. God has said this, the One who
rules over all and does everything according to His own will. And He says this of the one that
is beloved to Him, His own Son. He says, a seed. shall serve
Him." When you read about the Lord
Jesus Christ over in the book of Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews
is directed by the Spirit of God to make reference to the
very words of the Christ Himself when He says in Hebrews 2, and
again, I will put my trust in Him And again, behold, I and
the children which God hath given me." It doesn't matter when it
is. It doesn't matter where it is.
It doesn't matter what it seems to be as far as time and trends
are concerned, regardless. This is going to stand. This
is going to be true. These people, all the objects
of His mercy, every one of them will be brought to serve Him
as His seed. Turn over to Romans chapter 11. Romans chapter 11. Here were
all these Jews. a people on the earth that God
had identified with outwardly for many, many ages. And Christ had come into this
world, and the great majority of them had turned their backs
on Him, participated in that crucifixion of Him. And so Paul
answers the question by first asking the question. Romans 11,
I say then, Have God cast away His people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite of
the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. He's talking about
what he was here in his natural birth. He said, I am a Jew. But that doesn't mean that God
has cast off all these Jews any more than He's cast off all these
Gentiles, because He's brought me to be saved by His grace. God hath not cast away His people
which He foreknew. What ye not, or don't you see
or remember what the Scripture saith unto Elijah? How that he
maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have
killed thy prophets and digged down thine altars, and I am left
alone, and they seek my life." And I dare say that every true
gospel people, preacher at this hour has said or felt the same
thing. And every true believer now and
in every age has at some point looking out to how everything
seems to be going in this world. They have every one stated something
similar to this. I alone am left and they are
trying to get me." Well, what did God answer him? He said, I've reserved unto myself
7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. He said that's what he said in
Elijah's day when Elijah thought that. When there were 850 of
the prophets of Baal and the prophets of grove who stood against
the one man who preached the gospel and that one whole that
one handful of people who believe the God of the Bible? And I sure love what he says
next. at this present time. There is
also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no
more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be
of works, then it is no more grace, otherwise work is no more
work. Can it be that in Paul's day
when all this Judaism was trying to come back into the New Testament
churches, in the book of Acts and such, could it be that he
could say that even though this was taking place, that this gospel
of grace, of salvation by grace in Jesus Christ, that it was
even at that very time being received by some because there
was still that remnant? that seed according to the election
of grace. Absolutely. And God tells us through this
22nd Psalm, He says, in contrast to what Christ heard and saw
from those who crucified Him, Christ will also and for all
eternity hear from His throne. He's not going back to that cross.
But He will hear from His throne the words of love and praise
from that people that He redeemed and saved from their sin by the
sacrifice of His own blood. He's going to look in some faces,
and they're going to reflect back to Him His own glory. He is going to listen from His
throne and from that high and lofty throne. He is going to
hear even on this earth those who speak back to Him the very
words that He spoke. And He will see His glory in
them. He'll see His manifested victory
and success in thee. He'll see the travail of His
soul. He'll see these seeds, look at
them, and He'll be satisfied. He'll be contented. He'll be
glad. It says that for what? The joy
that was set before Him. He endured the sufferings of
the cross. You can mark it down, a seed
shall serve Him. Well, how will they serve Him?
Look back here in Psalm chapter 22 down at that 31st verse. What is that first phrase there
in verse 31? It says, they shall come. Did you know that many times
in the Bible, when it is spoken of that men and women are brought
to believe on Christ and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, that
they are described as coming from somewhere. He said, they'll come. They'll
come. That means that they're going
to leave something. When Abraham was saved by God,
He brought him out of the land of Ur of the Chaldees, left all
of his life, his history, and all such things behind him. He brought him out of Ur of the
Chaldees, all that idolatry. His father even actually made
idols. But he came. He left probably shrines and
and fancy worship places, so-called. He departed all of that history
of his family and of his religion. He left all that behind, and
he went out and lived in tents in the desert, but he worshipped
God. He served the Lord Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, Christ said,
He saw my day and He was glad. He wasn't sad that he left Ur
of the Chaldees. He wasn't sad that he left all
that death behind him and all that error. He saw Christ and
he was glad, absolutely glad. They shall come. They're going
to leave. They're going to forsake something.
They're going to leave behind their own way that is only a
way unto death. They're going to leave their
own old imagined righteousness as filthy rags cast them off
like a garment. They're going to leave their
works and their own will and their false religion and what
they thought was right about God. They're just going to come. If you ever come somewhere, you're
going to leave something behind. That's right. Well, I want to
take these things with me. No, you've got to leave them
behind. Straight is that gate, and narrow is that way that leads
to life. And broad is that way that leads
to destruction, that way that you get to carry all these other
things with you other than Jesus Christ. That leads to destruction. You see, that's what repentance
is about. Repentance is a rejecting. Repentance
is a renunciation of all those false, foolish notions that you
had about God and how you thought people went to heaven and who
you thought God saved and what you thought about God and who
He is and what He did. That's a leaving all those things. They're going to come. They're
described as a generation that seek Him. This is the generation of them
that seek Him, that seek His face. In Isaiah 43, He says, Fear not,
for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the
east, and gather them from the west. I will say to the north,
give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from
afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth." And when God speaks in the actual
fulfillment of that promise, this will take place, if it's
you or if it's me. There I was, a preacher, standing
in the pulpit, pastor. You mean I'm going to have to
count all before the Lord revealing Himself to me as nothing? You mean I'm going to have to
leave behind all my Sunday school record and my little pen list
and all that kind of stuff and depart from that?" He said, they'll
all come. They'll count it as nothing.
Moses esteemed the riches of Egypt as nothing that he might possess that great
riches in the Lord Jesus Christ. He'll say to the West. He'll
say to the East. He'll say to the North. He'll
say to the South. Give them up! They've got to
come to Me. Just like He said to Pharaoh,
empower, let My people go. Did He? He's a type of the devil,
you know. They had to come. They had to
leave something behind. And not only will they leave
something behind, they shall come, and they will come to Jesus
Christ by God-given faith. They won't just come to another
theological possession. That's like moving from one form
of blindness to another form of blindness. It's like moving
from, as we say, out of the frying pan into the fire. They'll come. They'll all come to the Lord
Jesus Christ. They'll come to Christ. And to
come to Christ is to believe on Him, not just in Him. It is to trust in Him alone. It is to rely on the work of
one outside of ourselves without any regard to our own feelings
and especially our own doings. We're going to leave it behind
and come to Him. And it's not to come down an
aisle, and it's not to come through a puddle of water, or a pool
of water, or a bucket of water. It's to come to the Lord Jesus
Christ, which is to come to Him as He is declared to be in this
book. He said in John 6, no man can
come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him,
and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the
prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore
that hath heard and learned of the Father comes unto me. Well, over here today, there
may be 20 who come down the aisle. They've not come to Christ. They've
never been taught of God. Over here, there are all these
people moving at the invitational hymn at the end of the service.
They've not been taught of God, and therefore, they've not come
to Christ. God teaches His people by His
gospel. He teaches them and leads them
by the way of truth. And He says here, they'll all
be taught of God, and everyone who's learned of Him, they'll
come to the Lord Jesus Christ. They won't come to the church
thinking they have hope in the church. They won't rest in something
that they're told to do in order that they might have hope in
that. They'll come unto Him that they might have rest for their
souls. How will it be known that these
truly serve Him and have come unto Him? Look back at verse
31 again. They shall come and shall declare
His righteousness. Whose righteousness? His. Not theirs, His. Jeremiah said, in His days, Judah
shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is the
name whereby He shall be called, the name whereby she shall be
called, the Lord our Righteous. What is righteousness? It is
simply whatever and everything that is required to be accepted,
received, and blessed by God. And He is the Lord, our righteousness. The seed, they all come to Christ
And they all declare His righteousness. You listen to religion and religious
people in our day, you ask them what their hope of salvation
is, and immediately they begin to tell you about what they did.
I was with Betty yesterday in New Bern, and I went outside
and I was in earshot of a public park, and they were having some
kind of thing. I could hear music. Here where they play a little
bit of music, and here a young person would stand up there and
supposedly give their testimony. And I just sat there and listened.
I did this. I did that. I saw this. I felt this. And not one time
was there any declaration of His righteousness. You listen to sermons in our
day, they'll tell you how to live a good life, tell you how
to have a happy family. These young people were standing
up there saying, if you want to know how to be happy, if you
want to know how to feel fulfilled, you know, Christ is everything
except what the Bible says He is. The only righteousness there
is. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel, Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation
to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to
the Greek, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to fact." I declare His righteousness.
by saying that the only way that God can be just and at the same
time justify, which is to declare righteous a sinner, is in Jesus
Christ through His cross death. There is no righteousness outside
of Him. You can call it by whatever name
you want. You can make it appear to be
produced in the sinner if you want to, but it is still of no
avail but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul said, For He hath made Him
to be sin for us who knew no sin, He made him what? To be sin for us, this one who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him. He's the only righteousness there
is. He is dead. Paul says again in 1 Corinthians,
but of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto
us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption,
that according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. A seed shall come to him. and
you will know them by this, they will declare His righteousness."
Their mouths will be full of this gospel of His righteousness. Their hearts will rest in the
promises of that gospel that God has made us the very righteousness
of God in Christ. Let me show you something. Turn
over to 1 John. Now, this isn't exactly what
I would call, you know, we have these seminars on how to win
friends and influence people. But this isn't really something
that you would include in a seminar of how to win preachers and influence
preachers. But I want you to listen to it.
1 John chapter 3. And look down
in the 9th verse. Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot
sin, because he is born of God." You talk about opening up a can
of sardines. So many make this say that there's
some part of a sinner that cannot sin because God has put His seed
in him. I don't believe that's what that
says. And I don't believe that's what it says in light of the
whole of Scripture. And I don't believe that's what
it says in the light of the context I don't believe that's what it
says in the light of what this same apostle, in using that same
word, says elsewhere. The word seed here is the word
sperma. And it's used about 42 times
in the New Testament, many of them by this very same writer
of Scripture, And thirty-seven times that word is used as offspring, children, posterity. I'll give you some examples.
And I'll use the same author, John, the beloved John. John
7. He says, Hath not the Scripture
said that Christ cometh of the seed of David? In the lineage, in the posterity,
in the heritage of David? John 8. They answered him, We
be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to anyone. Same word.
All right? John 8 again. He says, I know
that you are Abraham's seed, but you seek to kill me because
my Word has no place in you. And then you remember also John
is the one the Spirit of God used to write the revelation
of Jesus Christ. Here it is again. And the dragon
was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant
of her seed. which keep the commandments of
God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." John uses it to speak of both
physical children and spiritual children, these descendants. Thinking about it in that light,
praying that God will give us some understanding Look back
at that ninth verse again. Whosoever is born of God. Now, I believe that there is
a birth of God or being born of God in two senses. One that
most recognize, I'm sure, which is regeneration or the new birth. But in a greater and overall
sense, which is beyond our experience and before our experience, we
are born of God in the sense that He made us the seed of Jesus
Christ, His reward, His family, His offspring,
His posterity and descendants. Whosoever is born of God does
not commit sin. Now, if that's regeneration,
evidently it's also teaching sinless perfection. And I know that can't be. Do you commit sin? Are you a
believer in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you commit sin? Oh, I do. Well, they say, well, he doesn't
practice sin. Oh, me, I think that makes it
worse, Bill. That seems like all our practice,
sin. So what does that mean? Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed, whose seed? The seed of Christ. They remain
in him. You see that? Sure I sinned. Sure Paul sinned. Sure Peter
sinned. John sinned. James sinned. We
all sinned. But in God's sight, they do not sin. As a matter of fact, in God's
sight, since they have been Christ's seed, since they have been made
the righteousness of God in Him, He has never sinned in His sin.
That's not to say we don't sin. That's not to say we're not sinners. But He blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in Christ Jesus as those righteous in Him, loved
in Him, chosen in Him, redeemed by Him, made this righteousness
of God in Him. For his seed remaineth in him,
and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." Look back at verse 5. And you know that he was manifested to take
away our sins, and in him. is no sin. Is that right? If it's not right, you and I
don't have a hope of any kind. If you look back in verse 4,
it says, Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law. For sin is the transgression
of the law. What did Paul say in Romans 10?
That Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. He always has been for His people. They will declare His righteousness. They are every one without sin. They do not commit sin before
God because in Him there is no sin, and his seed
remain in him." That doesn't change the fact that we are to
live according to God's Word. As a matter of fact, this is
the only motivation there is that will produce it. God's child, remains in God. And in Christ, he cannot sin,
because he is Christ's offspring. All Christ's children are perfect,
righteous, holy in his sight. You say, well, they don't look
like it to me. Well, you're not the look that counts. That's the way he sees them.
And that's what glorification is about. He's going to make
them just like His Son. Whatever that means. One thing
I'm sure of, it means they'll be without sin actually, totally. Who are they? They're those who
are in Christ. They're those who are justified
before God by His blood. They're those who believe on
Christ, because as He is, so are we in this world. And they're also called Abraham's
seed in this sense. They're the ones to whom this
promise is given, and they're the ones who believe on Jesus
Christ. All right? Go back to Psalm 22
again for a minute. What does it say in verse 31?
They shall come, they shall declare His righteousness, and they'll
declare this, that He's done this. This is the Lord's doings. And
He's marvelous in all He does, and that's why He gets all the
glory. They'll declare that He's done
this. They'll declare what He has done
for them. They'll declare, as Christ did,
it's finished. Salvation is not something you
help God with or agree to. Salvation is something that God's
done for you in Jesus Christ. And it's just like Paul writes
in Romans 9, just quoting Isaiah, he said, except the Lord of the
Sabbath hath left us a seed, we'd have been as Sodom and been
made like unto Gomorrah. Why was Lot delivered out of
Sodom? Well, because he exercised his free will? No. The angel
had to take hold of him and drag him out of Sodom literally. Was
it because he looked and he saw far off what was going to happen?
No. He was as dumb and blind to it as anybody else had God
not sent his angels in there to warn him. And we'd be just like every descendant
of Sodom and Gomorrah, those who were destroyed in the flood
and people who perished and gone to hell for ages and ages and
shall do so. But for the fact. that maybe
God has done something for us. Has He done anything for you? He's
done it all or He's done nothing. Peter said, you are a chosen
generation. Well, what in the world does
a chosen generation do? What does a royal priesthood
do? What does a holy nation and a
peculiar people do? They show forth the praises of
Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. They confess before men God's
grace to them. All of grace. Nothing else. They
confess the grace of the Father in having chosen them. The grace
of the Son in coming to die in their place as their substitute
and Redeemer, shedding His blood to pay their awful sin debt that
was there. The grace of the Holy Spirit
that called them out of their darkness into the light of Christ. They declare salvation is of
the Lord. The psalmist is led by the Spirit,
and he says, and they'll declare this unto a people that shall
be born. They're going to go out. In their
daily conversations with men, family members and such, they're
going to tell them that the Lord has done this. They're going to tell them what
Christ came into this world to do and did. How that He saved
this people from their sins by His shed blood. And they're going
to obey the command to go and preach the gospel to every creature. I don't know who these seed are.
I just know how they'll be. They'll bear this testimony to
a people that shall be born. In Psalm 48 it says, walk about
Zion, and go round about her, and tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider
her palaces. that ye may tell it to the generation
following. For this is our God forever and
ever. He will be our guide even unto
death." Zion is likened to a city and
to a people. And of that city, it says, the
Lord shall count when he writeth up the people, that this man
was born there." This man was born there. This man was born
there. This woman was born there. They were born of God. I always like to ask people where
they're from. You know, we live in an area
where there's such a diverse people with so many backgrounds.
I've always been curious, you know, where did you actually
come from? And you'll ask all the Lord's
people, where'd you come from? I come from that city called
Zion. I'm a descendant of that king
of Zion. I saved all together, all his
mercies bestowed upon me. I was like old Mephibosheth.
I was down in Lodabar, the land of no pasture. I was in a bad
family by nature. But he said, you go and fetch
him and bring him, because he's going to eat bread at my table
like one of the kings. He's one of my seed. God says to his son in another
psalm, thy people, your seed, shall be willing in the day of
your power." And all his people are. Christ's words to Nicodemus,
you remember he said, you must be born again. Most people take
that as Nicodemus being told simply of what he had need of,
which he surely did in the sense of regeneration, but I believe
it's more than that. It was because of this, because
God had loved him with an everlasting love and chosen him. And because
the Lord Jesus Christ, in the exemplification of that love,
came into this world and shed his blood for him, died in his
place, put all his sins away, satisfied divine justice on his
behalf. And now that justice says also,
you must be born again. I believe He was. Turn over to Isaiah 54, and I'll
try to hush. Isaiah 54. Look down at verse
13. I don't know how many times God is saying
this to His Son. All throughout the Old Testament.
Especially here in the book of Isaiah. He says in verse 13 of
Isaiah 54, "...and all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace
of thy children." Everybody's wanting peace. The Lord's children
will have peace. They've already got it. Some
of them have not yet had it revealed to them, but they're going to
have peace. Look at this 17th verse. No weapon that is formed
against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise
against thee in judgment thou shalt contend. This is the heritage
of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of
me, saith the Lord. Service of the Lord, that's that
seed that will serve him. An old writer said, has that
promise failed in its accomplishments? A seed shall serve him. Does
not the Lord Jesus Christ still reign at God's right hand full
of gifts and grace? And has He not promised to be
with His church and people even to the end of the world? Thus,
though it is perfectly true that the great bulk of mankind follow
after shadows, yet there are a few whose souls are really
intent upon substance. If there are those who are given
up to believe a lie, there are those that love the truth. And
if there are those who worship they know not what, there is
still the true circumcision who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice
in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Now, it looks bad out there to
me. And if anything has happened, all this political, economic,
scramble that's gone on for the last year seems to manifest it
even worse than I thought. But a seed shall serve Him. In this day and on this actual
day today, somewhere, Someone. Because God chose them. Christ
died for them. The Holy Spirit has called them. They will serve Christ. They
will praise Him. They will follow Him and worship
Him and attribute all their salvation to Him. They'll glorify Him. Somewhere. If this world stands tomorrow,
it will happen also. If in political turmoil all the
rights and liberties we have had for so long are swept away
by the rule of those who would not have us to have them, that
they might rule over us. Somewhere. Someone. Even if they have to seal their
testimony with their own blood, they will serve Him. And there is no man that is free.
There is no woman that is free in any sense except those who
are the bondservants of Jesus Somewhere, someone's going to
serve Him. And I thought as I was trying
to prepare this, Lord, I sure hope I'm one of them. I want to serve You. And I know
what men call serving, God's not serving you at all. I pray that God would grant that
it might also be you. Everyone who's heard this this
morning, may it be this assembly. It's going to be somebody. And may God in His sovereign
grace, His power, bring another voice today. to join in and confess that Christ
is all. What must I do to be saved? The
doing's been done. All that remains is to believe
in it. The seed will serve Him. They'll come to Him. They'll
leave all that stuff. A friend of mine I was telling
them about being in a restaurant one time years ago and this little
baby in a high chair was just gnawing on a chicken bone or
something like that. You know how your kids will be
quiet for a few minutes at that age. You'll be glad to just give
them a chocolate bar or a chicken leg or whatever. Just let them
gnaw on it and be quiet for a while. Well, it got time to go. And
they did everything they could to coach that child. Put it away. Put it down. Let's clean up and
go." No success. And the waitress walked over
and she said, I'll take care of this. She went and came back. She held out a lollipop. And
down went the chicken bone. God reveals to you something
better than what you've got. You will lay hold of Christ. I think that's the most marvelous
statement. A seed shall serve him. Sometimes when there's a small
number here, I get awful discouraged. I hope
God will seal this to my heart. A seed shall serve him. It may not be you. It may not
be me. but a seed will serve the Lord
Jesus Christ. Worship Him. Declare His Gospel. Pray to Him. Sing the praises of Him who loved
us and gave Himself for us. Father, this day we thank You for your blessed, sure promises, all of which are yes and amen
in Jesus Christ, not only to Him, but to all those who are
in Him. Bring us to come to you. to confess and declare your righteousness. Bring us to bear witness to the
truth that you have done it, done it all, and help us to declare it to
a people that shall be born. Honor yourself. Call out your
people. All for the glory of Your name. For we pray in Christ, Amen.