Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Psalm 22 and the last verse,
verse 31. They shall come and shall declare
his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath
done this. Psalm 22 and verse 31. It is very evident that though
this is a psalm of David, yet it is speaking in prophecy of
the crucifixion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We would
remember that this psalm was penned 1000 years before our Lord. And so the words that
are spoken here in the opening of this psalm are echoed in the
accounts in the Gospels. In the Gospel according to Matthew,
chapter 27, we read of the sufferings of our Lord upon the cross. and read of how that he cried
out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? That is in
the 46th verse, and this psalm begins, my God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? We read in verse eight of this
psalm, of those that shook the hand, that said he trusted on
the Lord that he would deliver him, let him deliver him, seeing
he delighted in him. And we read in Matthew 27 and
verse 42, The elders, the scribes, saying
He saved others, Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel,
let Him come down from the cross and we will believe Him. He trusted
in God, let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him. For He said,
I am the Son of God. And in this account, the thieves
also, which were crucified with Him, cast the same in His teeth. In the account that we have in
the psalm here, in verse 14, all my bones are out of joint. It is a picture, solemn picture,
of the terrible death of crucifixion. As in verse 16, the assembly
of the wicked having closed me, they pierced my hands and my
feet. And verse 17, I may tell all
my bones, they look and stare upon me. When the soldiers came
to break the legs of those that were crucified to hasten their
death, they found that the Lord was already dead. Therefore they
did not break his bones, but broke the legs of the thieves
each side of him. So what was written here? was
fulfilled there upon the cross. And so we read in verse 18, they
part my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture. And we read of that in verse
35 of Matthew 27. And they crucified him and parted
his garments, casting lots that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by the prophet. They parted my garments among
them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots, and sitting down
they watched him there." And we find that this psalm, written
so many years before our Lord came to this world and before
he suffered this The terrible death upon the cross, described
it in the very details that we have said before you, in the
words of our Lord, in the things that the soldiers did, in the
things that those that walked by did and what they said. It points to the Lord Jesus Christ,
He who was delivered by the determinate counsel and full knowledge of
God. and was taken and by wicked hands
crucified and slain. We see the purposes of God here. It does not excuse the wickedness
of man, but it does show that the wickedness of man was turned
about for good and that the Lord brought from that wickedness
the redemption of the people of God. through what they did
to the Lord. We would see the Lord's hand,
the Lord's work, and the Lord overruling the wickedness of
man. We should never sin that grace
might abound, but we should always see that the Lord is in control
in this world and in all that happens. And I often find where
There are those that stumble at what is permitted and what
happens in this world. The best thing is to look to
Calvary and to see what happened there, to see there what wicked
men were permitted to do, what was ordered, what was the outcome. The only place where sin was
put away and the sacrifice made was there at Calvary in the midst
of this rabble, and all that they said and all that they did,
a pure, spotless, holy sacrifice was being offered, acceptable
unto God. And it is an answer to many,
many questions that may arise in believers
and unbelievers' hearts as they view the Lord in control here. But our text brings all that
is set forth here of our Lord's sufferings to bear upon a people,
that this was not done for God's sake alone, but for the benefit
of a people. It was indeed for the honor and
glory of God, but it is for the salvation of a people. And we're told in verse 30, a
seed or a people shall serve him. It shall be accounted to
the Lord for a generation. We read in Psalm 78 of the generations,
those generation to come might know them, even the children
which should be born, that should arise and declare them to their
children. And verse eight, they might not
be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation. So
it is speaking of a generation as in way we would understand
it, the grandfathers, to the fathers, to the children, to
the grandchildren, each generation, but it's spoken of here as those
from every generation, God's children in all the history of the world
shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation or one generation
of those that praise him, serve him, a seed shall serve him. And so the words of our text,
when it begins, they shall come, it is referring to that seed
that shall serve him, to a people that shall be born. They shall come and shall declare
his righteousness, unto a people that shall be born, that he hath
done this. I want to speak then with the
Lord's help, three points. Firstly, they shall come and
declare. Secondly, their message that
is set before us here, they shall declare his righteousness and
that he hath done this. And then thirdly, their heroes,
shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born. But firstly they shall come and
declare, and there's two ways that we may look at this, really
this is applying to the whole of the sea, the whole of believers,
a people that shall come and shall declare. Whenever the Lord
saves a people, then he puts in their mouth to declare the
wondrous works of God. You've only got to read in the
accounts in the gospels of our Lord, and when he revealed himself
to sinners, when he healed them, when he cured them, when he showed
himself to them so that they believed who he was, then immediately,
even though sometimes they were charged to hold their peace,
they still declared and still told what they saw now in the
Lord Jesus Christ. They spoke of his glory, they
praised his name, and so it was fulfilled then, in a literal
sense, when our Lord was upon earth, that they should come
and should declare With the heart man believeth, but with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation. And joined with this seed that
serves him, joined with those that come, there is this declaring,
this speaking of his glory and testifying of what he hath done
come, or ye that fear God, and I will tell what he hath done
for my soul. And it is to the honour and glory
of God. The Lord said, if these should
hold their peace as they cry down, Hosanna to him that cometh
in the name of the Lord, these very stones should cry out. Such was the effect upon them
that they could not but speak of the things which they had
seen and heard. That was the words of the apostles
when the scribes, the elders, charged them to preach and to
speak no more in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. They said
they couldn't but do this. So this applies to all that The
Lord reveals himself too, and it is the way that he gets glory
and honour throughout the world. There is a confession and a showing
forth of his praise. David, a man after God's own
heart, delighted in Psalms to show forth the praise of God,
very much a part of the worship of God. these people have I formed
for myself, they shall show forth my praise, and in his temple
everyone does speak of his glory. But he especially does also speak
of the ministers of the gospel, they shall come and shall declare The Lord has promised that there
shall be a succession of ministers of the gospel. Very often those
that newly come to the faith, when they feel it so much upon
them, what has been revealed to them and what the Lord has
done for them, many feel that desire to preach and to set forth
the gospel Word of God. The Word does caution, it says,
not a novice, or that is, not one newly come to the faith. Not everyone that is called,
every man that is called, the Scriptures are very clear that
the office is for the man to teach and to preach, and is not
everyone that is called to that office and that work. It is a
separate calling than the calling by grace. But what the Lord has
made clear is that there shall be a succession of those that
are called to that office and given the graces, abilities,
the opening and the door of utterance to declare these things. And really this is the work of
the ministry, Preaching of the gospel is a declaration, a declaration
of the truths of God. Preaching is the authoritative
declaration because our charge is to preach the word and to
be instant in season and out of season. And that's very hard
sometimes for a minister of the gospel when he struggles to find
a text, when he's not in the spirit, when he feels far off,
when he feels weary and tired, and yet he is exhorted to be
instant in that calling the Lord has called him to. And so it
is a wonderful promise and we can look back over the history,
well the history here of the church here, some 240 years,
and I'm the 10th pastor here. Yes, there has been several years,
40, 50 years or so, where it's been pastorless, but there has
been a continuous ministry here. And we can look back over many
of our churches, and there's a succession of ministers, and
it is a great encouragement to see the younger generation being
raised up, and where the Lord has taken home some of his aid
saints, there are those that are younger that are doing this
same thing. They're declaring, they shall
come and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born
that he had done this. The great work is a declaration
of those things that are revealed in the Word of God. When Philip spoke to the eunuch,
he declared unto him, beginning at the same scripture, he preached
unto him, Jesus, and set forth these things that are foretold
here. So this is a wonderful promise. We are yet, though it is promised,
exhorted to pray the Lord of the harvest that he would send
forth more labourers into the harvest, and not just declare
us, but to be labourers, labour in word and in doctrine, and
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth. And it is a labour, it is a work,
and the desire is that we might divide it in a right way, in
a way that will be owned and blessed by the Lord. The Lord
gave the word, great was the company of them that published
it. And wherever the Lord is raising
up one and preparing one for that work, that they shall come,
it shall be in his time and in his way, it shall be done by
the Lord and that one shall be made willing, though they may
be like Moses, very willing at the first, but then after 40
years has gone by, and then the time is right for them to go
forth a lot more backward, feeling their own insufficiency and weakness. And yet this is the Lord's work
and the Lord's provision for his church and for his people. We think of what is revealed
to us in Paul's epistle to the Romans and chapter 10. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call
on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they
believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. And so the Lord promises, They
shall come and shall declare. So secondly, I want to consider
their message, what they shall declare. It's one thing to declare
something, but what is it that is actually declared? And we are told here that it
is his righteousness and that he hath done this." Well we said
in our introduction what a very vivid and exact description we
have in this psalm of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. So
our text is pointing to a declaration of the crucifixion. It is no
wonder the Apostle Paul says to the Corinthians, I determine
to know nothing among you saved Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He was to preach Christ. He was to preach what He had
done and what He had accomplished at Calvary, that He hath done
this. The whole Old Testament pointed
to what Christ should do, what He should accomplish. Jerusalem. The gospel message to the end
of the world is summarized in this, that He hath done this. And there it implies that what
is done, what was done at Calvary, is as our Lord said, it is finished. A finished work of redemption,
that their sin was put away by the sacrifice of Himself. There
the wrath-appeasing sacrifice, propitiation for our sins was
offered, that there the law was satisfied, that there Satan's
head was bruised, the seed of the woman, the promised seed,
our Lord Jesus Christ, His heel was bruised, but there He set
His people free and delivered them, If the Son shall make you
free, you shall be free indeed. And to give assurance of that,
He hath raised Him from the dead. We have an empty tomb, that that
sacrifice was accepted. A risen Saviour, a living Saviour,
a work that was set forth in all the types and all the shadows
of the Old Testament, but accomplished there in that which was done. on the cross by our Lord Jesus
Christ. Again and again in those scripture
accounts in the gospels, we read that it might be fulfilled that
was written by the prophet. And it's not just here in this
psalm, it is in other psalms as well. Particularly we think
of Psalm 69, where we have again a very clear description of not
only our Lord's work on earth, the seal of thine house hath
eaten me up, but we have also again the description of the
crucifixion. Reproach hath broken my heart,
I am full of heaviness, I look for some to take pity, but there
was none, and for comforters, but I found none, They gave me
also gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar
to drink. And they did. That is what they
did to our Lord upon the cross. And so the psalmist, he bears
the same witness in that psalm. We have the same in Isaiah 53,
where we have the description of what Christ endured and bore
in his body on the tree. And so this message of salvation
that is declared is what Christ hath done. That is what a poor
sinner rests upon, not by deeds of righteousness which I have
done, But it is what Christ has done, that is what we remember. And later on this evening, in
the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, it is to show forth the Lord's
death till he come. It is a setting forth of what
he hath done. Baptism, believers' baptism,
buried with him, risen again in newness of life, his setting
forth what he hath done. It is centering the hopes, the
expectations of the people of God to one person, to one place,
to one work, to one time, and to what was accomplished there. If your sins, my sins are put
away, they'll put away there at Calvary. Really, it's a great
mercy. The scriptures are so clear in
this, For when the devil attempts to turn aside to this or to that,
to get involved in this controversy or that controversy or this question
or that question, the declaration of the gospel brings back again
and again to Calvary. Don't lose sight of your Lord. Don't lose sight of what was
accomplished there. Let that be your hope, the one
thing needful, and that be what shall hold you fast and save
your soul of faith in what Christ hath done. But we have another,
not just what he hath done, but shall declare his righteousness. We read in Jeremiah that this
is the name we're with, he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. And in the same prophecy, some
chapters later, this is the name wherewith she shall be called,
that is the Church of God, the Lord our righteousness. By nature
we have no righteousness of our own. Scriptures declare that
all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. No man doeth good
and sinneth not. We have all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Our righteousnesses, which is
our best works, our good works, are spoken of as those filthy
rags. Not our bad deeds, but our good
deeds. And yet the Lord Jesus Christ,
His righteousness, His deeds, His life, was perfect, sinless,
spotless, no unrighteousness in him, and his righteousness
is to be declared. There's two aspects of that righteousness. If the Lord was not righteous,
if he was not holy and not spotless, then he would not be fitted to
bear away his people's sin and to suffer in their place. If
there was any sin upon him, he must be the spotless lamb. And so he must have a righteousness
that was his own, as the God-man, that should fit and qualify him
to offer the sacrifice that he did. And so even before it is
that shall be declared that he hath done this, it shall be declared
that he before he did this, before he offered, he was found in his
temptations, that Satan could not lay anything upon him, not
like he could on Adam in the first. And he had the declaration
of his father, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. We have his righteousness in
all his life, spotless life. He was just, as was typified
with the offerings of the Old Testament, that the Lamb had
to be without blemish and without spot. The second aspect is that
it is that righteousness that His people need to fit them to
stand before God. This is to be imputed to every
believer, and while it is the blood of Christ that puts away
their sin, it is the righteousness of Christ that is imputed to
them by which they shall stand faultless before God's throne. It is he instead of me is seen
when I approach to God, the hymn writer says. And in the Song
of Solomon, we read that I am black, yet comely. Our Lord spoke of the vital need
of a wedding garment that we might appear in the presence
of God. And so it is too. declare his
righteousness in that way. A complete provision for sinners,
a complete provision to save from hell and save to heaven,
to save unto the uttermost all that shall come unto God by him. And this is the declaration,
this is the gospel, the good news of salvation for sinners. The debt is paid and all your
evil deeds are to be covered and have Christ's righteousness
as your righteousness, and that is the hope, that is the comfort
of the people of God, that their sins are put away and they shall
look forward to the coming of the Lord, and to look forward
to Him coming without fear, knowing that they shall stand in Christ's
righteousness. They shall come and shall declare
his righteousness unto a people that shall be born that he hath
done this. Their last point is their hearers. And spoken are they that shall
come and declare, and we have spoken of their message, but
what about their hearers? Our text says, unto a people
that shall be born. Again, we look at this in two
ways. We spoke this morning that those
that are saved they are born twice. Those that are lost, they are
only born once. Cyrus was born several hundred
years before he was born. The prophet named him and he
was born and raised up as the one that should take Babylon
and then lead the, or cause the children of Israel to come out
of captivity and return to their own land, already named, already
known in the purposes of God, and in God's time brought into
this world. Parents, native place and time,
all appointed were by Him, and all that have been born into
this world have been born at a time appointed by God, in the
place appointed, to the parents appointed, and especially his
people have been chosen in him from the foundation of the world,
and the Lord has appointed when they should come into this world. And it is vital if we are to
be amongst that number in heaven, that we are conceived and we
are born into this world, we have a first birth. We believe,
of course, those that die in the womb, that they still have
a soul, they are still as is counted amongst the people, but
here is a people that has been born that can be declared to
and spoken the truth to. And so, a people that shall be
born. As much as there are to be ministers,
there is to be a generation. And this is another reason why
we read Psalm 78, because it is specifically set forth there,
a generation to come might know them, even the children which
should be born, who should arise and declare them to their children,
And we think of in Acts, the promise is unto you and your
children, even as many as the Lord thy God shall call. And that brings the second birth
into view. The birth which is the new birth,
the spiritual birth. By nature, we are born dead in
sin. but that second birth, it quickens. And from darkness to light, from
ignorance to knowledge, from death to life, spiritual death
to spiritual life, a people are born unto a people that shall
be born. The Lord has set that time and
place where he will quicken a people into life. Our Lord was so emphatic
to Nicodemus, he must be born again. I do like the shells and
wills of scripture, where we read, not unto a people that
may be born, but shall be born. He has decreed the very place
where he would show triumphant grace, and the beginning of God's
work. He which hath begun a good work
in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. And it is
then declared and is not put in this way, though of course
the word is preached to believers that they might feed upon the
Lord, be strengthened in his way, but it is a declaration
unto a people that shall be born. I mean, look at this in that
way that those that are dead, the word is still preached to
them. And we think of the vision that
Ezekiel had with the dry bones, and God said to him that he was
to prophesy to these bones that were very dry and scattered,
and that as he prophesied, they came together, And then when
they came together, there was no breath in them, he had to
continue prophesying. And then they had breath put
in them, they stood up. And it is as we read in Romans
10, through the preaching of the gospel, through the foolishness
of preaching, that God has ordained men to be saved. And why is not
that it is foolish in itself, but when you think about it,
just a declaration of the truths of God before dead sinners, and
the Lord is pleased to use that to raise into life. When the
Lord came to the grave of Lazarus, he called and said, Lazarus,
come forth. He didn't say, Lazarus, wake
up or rise from the dead and then ascertain he was alive and
then give him the command to come forth, it was the one command
to come forth and that gave him life and brought him forth. Like when the Lord cured the
man with the withered hand, he commanded that he stretch forth
his hand The man didn't say, Lord, I cannot stretch forth
my hand because it is withered. You heal my hand, and I'll stretch
it forth. He stretched forth his hand,
and in the very doing of that, he proved the healing of it.
With the 10 lepers that came to him, and they said, Lord,
have mercy upon us. He said to them, go and show
yourselves to the priest. Though there was only one return
to give thanks unto God, yet they did all go. They didn't
turn round to the Lord and say, Lord, do you not know, the only
reason why you go and show yourself to the priest is when you are
cured, and we're lepers, we can't go to the priest. But as they
went, they were cured. And so it is in God's ordering
that under the declaration of Christ's righteousness and what
he had done, that a people that shall be born are born, they
are born again of the Spirit. And the Lord blesses that word
sovereignly and quickens into life through the Word of God. And again with John 3, our Lord
says that that quickening is the Spirit's work, and is likened
unto the wind, though knowest not whence it came, or whether
it goeth, so is every one that is born of the Spirit. It is
not done in great demonstration and great show, but quietly,
gently, is the dew that falls from heaven, instilling life
and quickening into life. It's a beautiful promise, that
wherever the Lord sends forth his servants, that there will
also be hearers. And not only hearers, but there
are a people that shall be born. There's a great encouragement
wherever the Lord sends his servants, sends pastors, establishes churches,
that there's an expectation that, as was said to Paul when he went
from one city to another, especially when he came to Corinth, that
I have much people here. The Lord knows where his people
are and he sends his servants where he
has those that are to be born. And it should give us that encouragement
and to plead before the Lord that we might be amongst that
people, that we might hear his voice and hear that declaration
and through that be born again of his spirit. And then we still
hear that word because it's through that word that we grow and feed. Except you eat the flesh and
drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you. So we have here those that declare
this work, their message, and also those that hear it and we
may say the benefit, the blessing that they receive under that
hearing that they are born again and quickened through the word
of the Lord. May the Lord number us amongst
the people described in this verse in whichever way the Lord
may see fit by the Lord at his blessing.
Amen.