Good evening. Let's open tonight's
service with hymn number 222 in the hardback timbral 222,
There is a Fountain. Let's all stand together. There is a fountain filled with
blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that
flood lose all their guilty stains. Lose all their guilty stains. Lose all their guilty stains. And sinners plunged beneath that
flood Lose all their guilty stains. The dying thief rejoiced to see
that mountain in his day. And there may I, though vile
as he, wash all my sins away. Wash all my sins away. Wash all my sins away. And there may I, though vile
as he, wash all my sins away. Dear dying lamb, thy precious
blood shall never lose its power. Till all the ransomed Church
of God be saved to sin no more, be saved to sin no more, be saved
to sin no more. Then will all the ransomed Church
of God be saved to sin no more. E'er since, by faith, I saw the
stream, Thy flowing wounds apply. Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die. and shall be till I die, and
shall be till I die. Redeeming love has been my theme,
and shall be till I die. When this poor lisping, stammering
tongue Lies silent in the grave, And in a nobler, sweeter song,
I'll sing thy power to save. I'll sing thy power to save. I'll sing thy power to save. Then in a nobler, sweeter song
I'll sing thy power to save. Please be seated. Thank you, Tom. Let's open our
Bibles together to Revelation 22. Revelation 22. We just sang of that fountain, a fountain that sinners are plunged
in, a fountain of blood that washes away all our sins. There's
a river spoken of in our text tonight. Let's let's read it
together. Revelation chapter 22. And he showed me. And just pause there for just
a moment, because that's our hope tonight, that he will show
us. If he doesn't show us, we won't
see. Lord, we need for you to give us eyes to see and for you
to cause your word to be alive and reveal to us, thy dear son. And he showed me a pure river
of water of life. Clear as crystal, proceeding
out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, and in the midst
of the street of it, on either side of the river. And we're
on one side of the river now. One day we'll cross that River
Jordan and we'll be on the other side. But notice that the Tree
of Life is on both sides of the river. On either side of the river,
there was, or was there, the Tree of Life. which bear twelve
manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month. The leaves
of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall
be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall
be in it, and his servant shall serve him, and they shall see
his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there
shall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither
the light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and
they shall reign forever and ever. And he said unto me, these
sayings, let's don't misunderstand this word sayings. We use that
word to just refer to a saying. No, this is God's word. These
sayings are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy
prophets sent his angels to show unto his servants the things
which must, must, must shortly be done. John wrote these words 2000 years
ago. And if this was going to be shortly done then, how much
shorter it is now. Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the
sayings of the prophecies of this book. Let's pray together. Our heavenly father, we pray tonight that once again,
you would set our affections on things above where Christ
is seated at thy right hand. Father, we confess to you that
our affections, our interests, our thoughts, our hearts have
been on the things of this earth far, far too much. Lord, we come
here to this place that you might open the windows of heaven and
give us a look into glory and see our Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, seated and interceding on behalf of his church. Lord,
convince us again that these sayings are faithful and true,
that the promises of God are without repentance. Lord, that
you are faithful and that Christ has accomplished everything necessary
for these glorious promises to be made true in our lives. Father, we pray for Caleb and
Bobby and the girls as they prepare to travel to Pensacola, pray
for the brethren to Pennsylvania. Lord, we pray for the brethren
there that you would prepare their hearts and prepare Caleb
for the messages you'd have him preach Lord, that your church
would be edified, and that your lost sheep would be found, and
Lord, that you would be glorified. We ask it in Christ's name, amen. Let's stand together once again.
We'll sing hymn number eight in your spiral hymn book, number
eight. O Lord, our hearts and souls
aspire to lift up from this earthly mire. O may we think of heavenly
things and know the joy Thy presence brings. ? Lord, let us see the
Savior's face ? ? And let us taste of thy sweet grace ? ?
May open ears thy glories hear ? ? And may we smell thy fragrance
near ? Be pleased to open heaven's door, And on our heads thy blessings
pour, All wretched poor and needy we. Where can we go if not to
Thee? O may this day be blessed the
most That Jesus Christ becomes the host to feed our souls with
living bread, and with our souls enjoy to end. Please be seated. Will you open your Bibles with
me to Judges chapter 10. Judges chapter 10. We're reminded again tonight
of how the Apostle John concluded his gospel account when he said,
these have been written, that you might believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might
have life through his name. That applies to everything that
God has written in his word, doesn't it? And it certainly
applies to these to these judges. One thing we've seen clearly
over the past couple months is how these judges point us to
Christ and how they represent the Lord Jesus Christ as he judges
his people and stands as judge over this world. We look at a
judge now by the name of Jair. Jair's name means he enlightens. He enlightens. Jair had 30 sons
who rode on 30 asses and were governors of 30 cities. And I've
titled this message, the sons of God, because these 30 sons
of Jair, just like the, just like the 70 sons of Gideon represent
the people of God. They represent the church and
the honor. And, um, the nobility that they
have as sons of the King. I've titled this message, The
Sons of God. What a glorious privilege believers
have as the children of God, the sons and daughters of God.
John in chapter 3 of 1 John said, behold, what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the
sons of God. He went on to say the world knoweth
us not because it knew him not. And he in the next verse he says
it does not it does not yet appear what we shall be but we know
we know that when he shall appear we shall see him as he is and
be made like him what a glorious hope and truth and privilege
it is for the believer to see themselves as a child of god
a son of the king noble and royal Scripture says that God has made
us to be kings and priests unto our God. We're of the family
of God. You say, well, preacher, I thought
we were mercy beggars. I thought we were sinners. I
thought that we were dogs. And my response to you would
be, yes, and both are true, as long as we're in this world and
as long as we have two natures. As long as we're carrying this
body of death with us, we're going to be dead dog, mercy beggar
sinners. And at the very same time. at
the very same time. That's exactly what Paul was
saying when he closes Romans chapter seven with, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of death, and
then opens chapter eight with, there is now therefore no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. You see, both are true. Both
are true because we have two natures. Here's the paradox that
only the believer can identify with. Only the child of God,
only the new birth, Christ in you, your hope of glory reveals
to you how wretched and sinful your old man still remains. And
yet your hope is that you have a perfect righteousness in Christ
and that he loves you with a perfect love and that you have a right
you have a right by virtue of adoption of the privileges and
the inheritance of the saints as the people of God. So we don't
live in this ho-hum world of depression over our sin. We come
as sinners to the Lord and he makes us saints. We're sinners
and saints at the same time, aren't we? So, 30 sons representing here the church
of God, receiving their inheritance from their father. Look at verse
three. And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel 20 and two
years. And he had 30 sons that rode
on 30 ascots, and they had 30 cities, which are called Havoth-Jeir
unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead. And Jeir died
and was buried in Canaan. Havoth-Jeir, the cities of Jeir. This judge gave to his 30 sons,
30 ascots, and they rode around on them as noble sons of the
judge of Israel. And he put them in charge of
30 different cities. And they reigned by virtue of
their inheritance that they were given to by their father. Here's a picture of the church
of God, the sons of God. Colossians chapter one, verse
12 says, giving thanks to our father, which hath made us meet,
which hath made us meet. He's made us, he's made us part of the inheritance
of the saints. We have this, we are, to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints by virtue of our union with Christ. That's what
we had our meat from, isn't it? We're not talking about M-E-A-T,
we're talking about M-E-E-T. We're made meat, we're made possible
and capable and true in Christ to be the sons of God. I mentioned this Sunday, and
I'm so encouraged to think about it again, that Christ is not
spoken of in the scriptures as a single individual. He's always
spoken of, first of all, in terms of his relationship with the
Father. You've seen me, you've seen the
Father. I've come to do my Father's work. The words that I speak
are not my words, but the words that the Father has given me. The second person of the triune
Godhead is in union, in perfect union with his heavenly Father.
But he's also spoken of as the head of the body of Christ. And no more than your body can
survive separated from its head or vice versa. The Lord Jesus
Christ is spoken of as the head of the body of Christ. the nobility and the holiness
and the righteousness that the believer
has in union with the head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the federal head. He is our covenant head, and
he's our seminal head. We are the seed of the tree in
him. And he is the seed in us. I spoken of as the vine and the
branches. We saw that Sunday in the parable
that was given in chapter nine about the trees and how the branch
must be in union with the vine in order to have life. And I
am the vine and you are the branches. You are the branches and as the
branch cannot live apart from the vine, neither can you live
apart from me. And so we, we see Christ not spoken of as an
individual person, but spoken of in his relationship first
with his father and then with his church. He's spoken of, he's
spoken of as the bridegroom and we as the bride. And so the two
flesh have become one and no man ever hated his own body,
but loved it and nourished it. And so the Lord, the church,
we have this, we have this perfect union with the Lord Jesus Christ. And by virtue of our adoption,
we have the inheritance of the 30 sons and the 30 cults and
the 30 cities and all the, all the royal, nobility that's expressed
by those things. The Lord Jesus Christ is called
the good shepherd and we the sheep and the sheep of his flock
and my sheep hear my voice and they do follow me. And the sheep
can't live apart from the shepherd. He calls them by name. And what
a glorious picture we have of Christ and his church. called the sons and the daughters
of the kingdom of God. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
called our elder brother. And he said, no longer do I call
you my servants, but I call you my friends. For a servant knoweth
not what his master doeth. But I've revealed to you what
I'm doing. The sons of God, believers are
the children of God. They, they have a right into
the entrance of God Almighty. We see this in the picture of
Esther and Ahasuerus, the king. Esther, remember, is afraid to
go in and she hasn't been summoned to come in, but she says, I've
got to go. I've got to go into the king. And we know that Esther is a
picture of Christ going before the father, but she's also a
picture of, like I said, whatever's true of Christ with those trees
that we looked at Sunday is true of this church. And so we say,
if I die, I die, but I've got to go in. And he reaches out
the golden scepter and he says, up to half of my kingdom is yours.
Ask me for whatever you want. And it's yours. That's what we
have. with the Lord Jesus Christ as
our light bearer, as our Jair. And we being the 30 sons of him
riding on 30 asses and given 30 cities, he reaches out his
golden scepter and he says, ask for whatever you will and up
to half my kingdom. We call the family of God, princes
and kings and daughters of Zion. How many glorious pictures the
Lord has given us. And here we have the similitude of the number
30. There's 30 sons here riding on
30 asses assigned to 30 cities. And it's a picture of honor and
nobility of the church. I've made you a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, a peculiar people. Yes, we are sinners in need of
mercy and grace all the time. But at the same time, at the
same time, we are the children of God. Behold, John said, behold,
look at this, look at this, what matter of love the Father hath
bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. What
a glorious privilege. This is the picture here. I made you to be a peculiar people. Here's the the picture of Pharaoh
and Joseph. And we know that Joseph's a glorious
picture of Christ. And the Pharaoh is a picture
of God, the father. And the father said, go to my
son. He's got the keys to the storehouse. And whatever he says,
you know, you do. But Joseph is also a picture
of us. Where God has made us in Christ to have access to the
to the storehouse of his grace and his bread and his life and
his person. The Lord told to, Pharaoh said,
put a ring on him, put the king's ring on his finger. He's got
the authority of the king. Did not the Lord Jesus Christ
say to the disciples, I give unto you the keys of the kingdom
of heaven. And whatsoever you bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever you loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven. Now let that heretic over there
in Rome wear a big gold key on his neck and call himself the
vicar of the church. It's not true. The keys to the
kingdom of the heaven of God is the gospel. And that's what
we're preaching right now. We're preaching the gospel of
God's free grace and the finished work of Christ. And we have the
keys. And those who are loosed by this
gospel will be loosed in heaven. And those who are bound by it
and bound up, they can't receive it, they'll be bound out of heaven. This is what the Lord's done
for his church. Matthew. Chapter two, let's turn
there for just a moment. Matthew chapter two. I want us to remember tonight
who God says we are. I really think that we see this
worked out in our children. People become what they are told
they are. I mean, that just happens, doesn't
it? Whoever, whatever the most significant person in your life
tells you you are, especially, particularly as a child, is what
you end up kind of fulfilling that prophecy, don't you? Because
you value the opinion of that person so much. Well, here, who's
the most significant person in the believer's life? Is it not
the Lord? What is he telling us about ourselves? Who we are? Look at Matthew chapter
two at verse six. And thou, Bethlehem, in the land
of Judah, art not thou the least among the princes of Judah? For
out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel. Now, Bethlehem is the house of
bread. And it's a picture of the church.
And the Lord's saying, out of you, Bethlehem. He's not just
talking about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ physically
in this world coming through the city of Bethlehem. That's
the fulfillment of prophecy, but it's a spiritual picture.
Because the Lord is being birthed as the people of God are being
birthed through the preaching of the gospel out of Bethlehem. And are you not the least among
all the tribes? I mean, look at you. Look how
small and insignificant you are. And yet the Lord says, do not
despise the day of small things. I'm gonna get glory to myself
by bringing out of Bethlehem, out of all the tribes of Judah,
the governor that's gonna rule my people. Just as Nebuchadnezzar made Daniel
ruler over his nation. The Lord has made his church
to rule in this world through the preaching of the gospel.
The world considers ruling to be something that's done through
earthly, worldly means, whether it be wealth or power or whatever, we understand that
it's the gospel that rules the world. Isaiah chapter 32, verse one
says, behold, a kingdom shall reign in righteousness and princes
shall rule in judgment. Now that's a prophecy to the
church. A kingdom, the kingdom of God,
not a kingdom of this world. This world takes no notice of
the kingdom of God. And those are in the kingdom
of God take no notice of the kingdoms of this world. A kingdom
shall reign in righteousness and princes shall rule in judgment. The evidence that we are the
people of God is that we make righteous judgments about the
truth. about righteousness and truth
and error in the gospel. God has given us this understanding. Which brings us back to Jair's
name. Jair's name means enlightenment. And Paul put it like this, for
God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath
shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. We
were translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom
of light. There was a time when we couldn't see. We had no understanding
of who we were or who God was or what the truth was. The Lord
takes his 30 sons and he puts them on 30 asses and he gives
them 30 cities and he makes them noble. He makes them the sons
of God and he gives them authority and judgment. Here's the here's
the church. And here's the other half of
that. Listen to the next verse in 2 Corinthians 4, but we have
this treasure in earthen vessels that the glory and the power
and the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. Not of us. So we have both things
true at the same time. The Lord has shined in our hearts
the light of the gospel. And he goes on to say that the
God of this world has blinded the eyes of them who refuse to
believe. They will not believe the gospel,
they will not come, they will not bow. And Satan has blinded
the eyes of them which believe not. Now, what Paul's making
reference to here in 2 Corinthians is what happened in Genesis 1,
when the world was without form and void and darkness was upon
the face of the deep. And God said, let there be light. And the light straightened everything
out. Light has come into the world,
the Lord told Nicodemus in John 3, but men love darkness rather
than light because their deeds are evil. They that are of the truth, they
come to the light. That they might be made manifest,
that they was wrought of God, but they that hate the light,
they flee from the light. Why? Because it reveals them
for what they are. So here we have Jair, out of
whom comes light, picturing the Lord Jesus Christ. coming into
this world saying, I am the light of the world. We are born into
this world spiritually blind. We don't know God. We don't know
ourselves. We don't know what God requires. And the light of the gospel through
the preaching of the word of God shines in our hearts in the
face of the Lord Jesus Christ. And God turns the lights on.
And all of a sudden you see, you see the foolishness of the
world and the wisdom of the world is made foolish in the, in the
hearts of God's people. Translated us out of darkness
into his marvelous light. Let's turn to that passage a
second, 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2. The Lord has come, in verse eight,
as a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, even to them that
stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto they were also appointed.
Now, this word disobedient means they won't believe. They just
will not bow. They will not believe. And before
the light of the gospel shone in our hearts, we would not believe.
Now we can't not believe. God says it, we just believe
it. We can't, we can't refuse God. Made us the children of
God. Look at the next verse. But you
are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a
peculiar people. Some of us are more peculiar
than others, but that's not really what that word means. It means
purchased. It means purchased, a purchased
people. We've been bought with a price,
the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's made us
kings and priests in the family of God. 30 sons of Jair riding
on 30 asses and given 30 cities that you should show forth the
praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous
light. There was a time we were groping
in the dark, not knowing anything and not knowing how to get there,
not knowing where we were, where we were going. Now we have the
light of the gospel as the children of God. And we can see, we can
see. We see the truth of who God is
and what he requires and how sinful we are. And yet we see
too that this passage of scripture refers to the church. The 30
sons of Jair, the one who enlightens the heart of his people, causes
these 30 sons to ride on 30 asses and reign over 30 cities. We just read in Revelation chapter
20 at the beginning of the service, how that in heaven, there will
be no more sun, nor moon, no stars, for the son of God will
be the light thereof. What a glorious truth. He is
the light. Notice where Jair is from, a
Gileadite. The word Gilead translated means
a rocky region. And we understand what that rock
pictures. It's a desert place. And if we're gonna get water
in a rocky region, the Lord's gonna have to open up a rock.
The rod of God's justice through the hand of Moses is gonna have
to smite that rock so that rivers of water can flow out of the
rock. Here's where Gilead was, this is where Jair was from.
He's from Gilead, a rocky place. But we find in that rocky place
a lot of different rocks, don't we? The prophet speaks of that
rock that is higher than me. And a rock under which they find
safety and shadows from the heat of the sun. And the rock that
the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. God has
made him the cornerstone of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who builds on this rock, his church, and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. Those who are taken captive by
Satan and sin will be brought out. They will be brought out,
every one of them. And they won't go back. They
can't go back. Why? Because they're the sons
of Jair. and they are reigning over 30
cities and riding on 30 asses. The Lord, turn with me to Jeremiah chapter
eight, Jeremiah chapter eight. Verse 20, this is a rocky region. This is Gilead. This is where the Lord takes
away our earthly comforts and our earthly fruitfulness and
causes us to hide under the shadow of that rock. Look what he says
in verse 20 of Jeremiah chapter eight. The harvest is past, the
summer is ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter
of my people, am I hurt? I am black, astonishment hath
taken hold on me. What a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ on the cross. Jeremiah is speaking prophetically
of Christ. He said, for the hurt of my daughter,
I am hurt. Did He not bear our sins in His
body upon that tree? Did God not make Him sin who
knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God
in Him? For the hurt of my daughter, I am hurt. Which father or mother
would not take away any pain that their child had if they
could? Well, the Lord Jesus Christ could
and He did. He did. For the hurt of my daughter,
I am hurt. They were. They were not saved. They were in a desert place where
the harvest was passed and the summer has ended. And for the
hurt of my daughter and my people, I am hurt. I am black." And that
word black in the Bible is a picture of separation and lostness and,
well, it's a pit. It's a pit. And here's the blackness
of that took place between heaven and earth when the Lord bore
our sins on the cross. And our Lord crying out as he
was cast into that pit of blackness, my God, my God, whyst thou forsaken
me? Is there's no balm in Gilead?
Now the balm is the medication. And the Lord said, I did not
come for the righteous, for sinners. The whale need not a physician.
Those who are in Gilead, in that rocky region, they need the balm
of Gilead. They need Jair to shine his light
in their hearts. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is
there no physician there? Why then is not the health of
the daughter of my people recovered? The people of God, the sons and
daughters of God, they have the balm of Gilead. They've got Jeor,
the one through whom and from whom comes light and life. He calls them unto himself. And
notice that Jeor was the judge of Israel. He didn't judge the
Midianites or the Ishmaelites or the Babylonians. He judged Israel. And Romans
chapter 11 says, and all Israel shall be saved. And not all them
that are of Israel are of Israel. The prince is, what does Israel
mean? It means prince. It means prince. Jacob, here
we've got, again, we've got the two natures. Jacob goes by Jacob
and his descendants go by the sons of Jacob. And Jacob means
supplanter. And that's where we are in our
old man. And God touches him and leaves
him with a limp and changes his name. Changes his name to Israel,
a prince who has power with God. can come into the very presence
of the heavenly Father with boldness, a throne of grace to find help
in their time of need. Both are true. Jair lived in
Gilead and he judged Israel. And this word judge means to
rule or to govern or to make judgments. And we bow to the
rule and to the government and to the judgments of the Lord
Jesus Christ as his sons and daughters. We have to respond to whatever
he says, to amen. Amen, Lord. You're right. I'm wrong. Always. Always. This word judge also means to
plead. And so these judges are pleading
the cause of Israel to their heavenly father. And it's not
what the Lord Jesus Christ does as our intercessor, as our elder
brother. Does the Bible not describe him
as seated at the right hand of the majesty on high, ever living
to make intercession for us? His prayers, His intercession.
He's pleading our cause, presenting Himself as our righteousness,
and His bloody sacrifice is our justification before God. Father,
forgive them. They know not what they do. These
are my children. This is my body. This is my bride. These are my 30 sons and 30 daughters
riding upon 30 asses. The word 30 in the Bible, the
number 30 in the Bible is a number of nobility and honor. If we
think of it in terms of three and 10, three is a picture of
God, our God. It's three persons, God, the
Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit. And these three
are one and they all agree. And whenever you see L-O-R-D
in capital letters in the Old Testament, that's Jehovah. That's
not just a reference to God the Father or God the Son or God
the Holy Spirit. It's a reference to the Godhead,
the glorious triune Godhead. And there's the number three.
And the number 10, we know what that's a picture of. It's a picture
of the law. It's the perfect righteousness
of God in the law of God. And Isaiah put it like this,
and he, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall make the law honorable. And that's what he did. He became
the end of the law for righteousness. He fulfilled all the demands
of God's holy law. He made it honorable. So this
number 30 is a number for honor. In Numbers chapter four, a Levite
could not serve in the tabernacle as a priest until he turned 30
years old. He wasn't noble enough. He didn't
have the respect. He didn't have the honor until
he was 30 years old. That same thing is true of John
the Baptist, who at 30 years old went out into the wilderness
and began to preach. And it's so gloriously true of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Not that he didn't have the honor.
but he was honored in his nobility at the age of 30. Our Lord was
sold for 30 shekels of silver. And if you go to Exodus chapter
21, when the Lord is giving to the children of Israel the law,
he says, if one man's ox kills another man's servant, then the
man who owns the ox has to pay the man who owned the servant
30 shekels of silver. Now that was a high price for
a slave. Most were not worth that. But the Lord was saying
to them, number one, I'm not going to let you debate the value
of a slave after they're dead. They're going to all be worth
the highest value. And it's a, it's a, it's a number
of nobility for the, for the owner, for that slave who was
killed. And the ox is a picture of, is a beast of burden, is
a picture of the law. Was it not the law that killed
the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross? When the law of God saw that
the Lord was bearing something that didn't measure up to the
law, the sins of his people, The sword of God's justice executed
righteousness and justice against Christ. And so the ox killed
the servant and the owner of the servant was to be paid. Isn't
that what, isn't that what, well, look at, let's go to Zachariah.
Zachariah, I want you to see this. Judas agreed for 30 pieces
of silver. 30 shekels of silver. Zechariah
chapter 11, look at this verse. Zechariah chapter 11. There is
a voice of the howling of the shepherds
for their glory is spoiled. A voice of the roaring of young
lions for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. This is the glory
of, and the pride of Jordan was spoiled on Calvary's cross. He
was put to death. Look at verse 12 in this same
chapter, verses 12 and 13. And I said unto them, if you
think good, give me my price. And if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price,
30 pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, cast
it unto the potter, a goodly price that I was prized at of
them. And I took the 30 pieces of silver
and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord." Now,
who's the potter? God's the potter. Those 30 pieces of silver were
being cast as the honorable, noble value of a slave to God
the Father. Didn't do anything for Judas.
but it fulfilled the prophecy that Zechariah made. And it tells
us of the nobility of Christ, again, by this number 30. And
so when judges, when God calls out Jair, the one who gives light,
and he gives him 30 sons who rides on 30 asses and gives them
nobility over 30 cities, you see, this is the picture going
all the way through scripture. We don't have to go outside of
the book of Judges to see the significance of the ass. Turn
with me. If you're in the book of Judges,
go back with me to Judges chapter 5. Judges chapter 5. Look at
verse 9 in Judges chapter 5. My heart is toward the governors
of Israel. Now Deborah is speaking. She's
speaking for God. My heart is toward the governors
of Israel. Jair made his 30 sons a picture
of the church. with their honor and their nobility
of the sons of God by virtue of their inheritance. He gave
them 30 cities and they rode on 30 asses. And he's saying
to them, my heart is toward the governor. He made them governors
over these cities. My heart is towards the governors
of Israel that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless
ye the Lord. Speak ye that ride on white asses,
ye that sit in judgment and walk by the way. Speak. You're a child of the King. God
has revealed the truth to you. You're riding with honor and
nobility on these white asses. We see that in the fulfillment
of the Lord Jesus Christ riding upon a colt and an ass of the
colt of an ass of its fold on the day of on his triumphal entry. When they went in, they all cried,
Hosanna, glory to God in the highest. And, you know, somebody said,
well, you know, it wasn't Mary, doesn't the Bible say that Mary
was riding on a colt when they were going before the Lord? Yeah, and there's one reason
why Mary was on a colt, because of what was in her womb. That's why. "'cause a who was
in her womb." The Lord. You see, this is a picture. You're
in Judges. Look at Judges chapter 12. We're
gonna get to this judge in the next few weeks, but look at Judges
chapter 12 at verse 14. And he, this is speaking of another
judge, Abdon, and he had 40 sons and 30 nephews that rode on three
score and 10 ass colts. And he judged Israel eight years.
So these ass cults are a picture of, they all point to what the
Lord Jesus Christ did when he came in his royalty and his nobility
and his honor riding upon that cult. And now we see that the
sons of Jair and the sons of Abdom are all riding. And the
judges and Deborah and the governors, they're riding on asses. A picture
of honor. One more, look at Genesis chapter
49. Look at Genesis chapter 49. Jacob is pronouncing his blessings
at the end of his life on his 12 sons. And we know the Lord
Jesus Christ is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. So look what
Jacob says about Judah in Genesis chapter 49, beginning at verse
eight. Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren
shall praise. Thy hand shall be in the neck
of thine enemies. Thy father's children shall bow
down before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp. From
the prey, my son, thou art gone up. He stooped down, he couched
as a lion and as an old lion. Who shall rise him up? The scepter
shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his
feet until Shiloh come, and until him shall the gathering of the
people be, or unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice
vine, he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the
blood of grapes. So our Lord comes riding in his
triumphal entry. We think, you know, riding on
a donkey would be a picture of humility, but it's a picture
of honor. It's a picture of honor, not
humility, nobility in the Bible. So these sons of Jair riding
on 30 asses and being given 30 cities. What is the picture of? They're
governors now of 30 different cities. Child of God, you have an understanding
that the world doesn't have. You hear the foolishness of the
world, and you've got some discernment. You really do. You know, the
Lord rebuked the church at Corinth because they were taking one
another to the law outside of the church. And the Lord said
to them, here's what he said. He said, if you've got a dispute
between two brethren, take the youngest, most immature, most
spiritually fresh believer and they can make better judgments
than the world's judges can make. And the Lord wasn't using hyperbole
there. He was saying, what do the judges
of this world know about truth? You reign over these cities and
over this world. And no man judges you, you judge
the truth. And the Lord said to them in
Corinth, in 1 Corinthians chapter six, he said, do you not know
that you're gonna judge the world and the angels? You've got judgment
and power and authority as the children of God that this world
knows nothing about. You see the truth and the honor
and you don't have to be intimidated or judged by any man. Why? Because light has shined
in your heart, in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know
who God is. You know what men are. You know
who it is that redeems sinners and makes them right with God
and adopts them into the family of God. There's 30 of them. And they're all riding on asses
and they're all governors over cities. The sons of God. Behold, behold, take a look at
this. What manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us, us of all people, little old us, that
we should be called the sons of God. What an amazing thing. What an amazing thing. Dead dog, sinful mercy beggars? Yeah. Children of kings? Yes. Yes. Our heavenly father, thank you
for your word. Thank you for this picture of Christ and his
church. Lord, we pray that your Holy
Spirit would cause us to meditate on this glorious truth and to
to find our fellowship and our hope in coming boldly before
the throne of grace, knowing that our heavenly father receives
us for Christ's sake. For it's in his name we ask it,
amen. 46, in the spiral hymnal, let's stand,
46. Eternal love, electing grace
Secured for me in heaven a place Chosen from all eternity The
Son of God by blood bought me The Spirit came in sovereign
power At the exact appointed hour Revealing Christ, creating
faith My soul He quickened from its death Now I rejoice in sovereign
grace. My sovereign God shall have my
praise. Praise God for grace. Praise God for grace. Sovereign, eternal, saving grace.