Let's take our Bibles. I want
you to turn to the book of 1 Chronicles. 1 Chronicles. If you're going back,
if you find Samuel and then Kings, keep going toward the middle
of the Bible and you'll come to Chronicles. 1 Chronicles Chapter
4. First Chronicles, Chapter 4. And I'd like to read verses 9
and 10. And Jabez was more honorable
than his brethren. And his mother called his name
Jabez, saying, because I bear him with sorrow. And Jabez called
on the God of Israel, saying, O that thou wouldest bless me
indeed, and enlarge my coast, that thine hand might be with
me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not
grieve me. And God granted him that which
he requested. Let's pray together. Our Father, this evening we call
upon your holy name and we thank you and bless and praise you
for who you are. Lord, we ask you, would you bless
the service tonight? Bless it to our understanding.
I pray that you would have mercy upon us here at Katie. I pray
you'd forgive us where we failed you. For Christ's sake, amen. The book of Chronicles, if you
start reading through the book of Chronicles, the lineage the posterity of
Judah. These names, and this one begat
this one, and his son's name was this, and his name... I was
just looking, just prior to verse 9, if you were looking at 1 Chronicles
4, this is the blessed, and I know this, I know that the lineage,
these names that were put down here, moved upon by the Spirit
of God to give understanding. of God's knowledge of his people,
who they are, I know you. But listen to how these scriptures
go. Verse 7, the sons of Helah were
Zerath and Jezor and Ethan, and Chaz, Begat, Anub, and Zobiba,
and the families of Aharhel, the son of Haram, And Jabez was
more honorable than his brethren. His mother called his name Jabez,
saying, because I bear him with sorrow. And Jabez called on the
God of Israel, saying, oh, that thou wouldest bless me indeed,
and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me,
and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve
me. And God granted him that which
he requested. And Chilub, the brother of Shua,
begat Mehar. which was the father of Eshton. As I was reading that, I was
arrested. My heart was arrested. In that
verse 9, verse 10. No explanation, no need for any
explanation by the Spirit of God. Why? Those two verses were
put in the midst of that genealogy. But nonetheless, there was a
man named Jabez. Nowhere else in all of scripture
is this man mentioned. This is the only place two verses
of scripture The Lord Jesus Christ told a group of Jews that sought
to slay him, John 5.39, search the scriptures, for in them you
think you have eternal life, and they are they that testify
of me. He was talking about the Old
Testament. He was talking about the scriptures, the Old Testament.
You search the scriptures, and he said they testify of me. Now, I know this. what has been
said in the very midst of all of that genealogy. And you go
back, you just flip back and look at 1 Chronicles. Look at
1. Just look at chapter 2. Just look at chapter 3. I'm telling
you that it's just name, after name, after name, after name,
after name, and right here, verse 9 and 10. You search the Scriptures,
and in them you think you have life, And they are they that
testify of me. I know this. If we see the Lord
Jesus Christ in these two verses, then we see right. We see that
which the Spirit of God has set forth. Now I just want us to
notice just a few things about this man Jabez. And I've entitled
this Jabez, a type of Christ. Now here's what the word of God
says, and Jabez was more honorable than his brethren. This man Jabez
that I mentioned, there's no other place, nothing is said. He said his mama bore him in
sorrow and named him Sorrowful. Jabez. That's what Jabez means.
Sorrowful. Named him that. But concerning
this man, nothing is said of his family, nothing is said of
his daddy, doesn't say where he was born, doesn't say when
he died, but do we not see in the mystery of this man Jabez,
our great Melchizedek? The Lord Jesus Christ himself,
I truly believe, who met with Abraham after the slaughter of
the kings, Here's what the scripture says of this priest, Hebrews
7, 3. Without father, without mother,
without descent, that is pedigree, having neither beginning of days,
didn't say when he was born, nor end of life, when he died,
but made like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest continually. There's Jabez, just a picture
of our great high priest the true Melchizedek, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And Jabez, the scripture says
in verse 9, was more honorable than his brethren. There was
a little something given as far as honorable. I read it, I'll
just read this to you. It was in 1 Samuel chapter 9
in verse 6 and it was talking about the prophet Samuel. Samuel was the prophet in the
land and before Saul was actually anointed king. Now Samuel had
been told by the Lord to anoint Saul king, but Saul didn't know
it. He was out, he was looking for
some animals that were lost that belonged to his daddy. And he
came to this place and they were going to go home because he was
afraid his dad would start worrying about him and his companion with
him. He said, well, let's just ask
somebody in this town, maybe if there's a prophet, a seer
that we can talk to, ask them. So they met some maidens. and
ask them about it. And this is what the maidens
said concerning the prophet Samuel. Behold now there is in this city
a man of God and he is an honorable man. All that he saith surely
cometh to pass. Surely cometh to pass. What an
epitaph. She said there's a man of God
here. One of the Lord's men. And what this man saith, surely
cometh to pass. I was thinking, oh, that the
Lord might give me a heart to preach God's Word and staying
true to the Scriptures, true to God's Word. Everything I say
concerning God's Word surely cometh to pass. But this man,
Samuel, He was said to be an honorable man. A man that had
some honor about him. What was it? He was God's man.
He was a man of God. Jabez is said to be more honorable
than his brethren. More honorable. Now we're not
told in what way, humanly speaking. I know Jabez was a man. He was
a real man. I don't know in what way he was
more honorable except to say concerning his walk, I'm about
to look at his prayer here, but his walk, his piety, his humility
before God, his submission to the Lord, his walk, but oh that
we might behold him who is our great Jabez, the Lord Jesus Christ,
the one that is truly more honorable than his brethren. We're his
brethren. He said, you're my friends. Made himself likened
to his brethren. But listen to what the scriptures
has to say about the Lord Jesus Christ, one of whom Jabez is
a type. Hebrews 3, 1 to 4, wherefore,
holy brethren, were takers of the heavenly calling. Consider
the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus,
who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses
was faithful in all his house. For this man, Lord Jesus, the
God-man, was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch
as he who hath builted the house hath more honor than the house. We have our honor in him, but
he has more honor than we. Obviously, he built the house.
We're the house, he built it. He's the great Jabez, the one
who has more honor than his brethren. Philippians 2.9 says, wherefore
God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which
is above every name. Scripture says that this man,
Jabez, back in 1 Chronicles 4.9, more honorable than his brother
and his mother, called his name Jabez, saying, because I bear
him with sorrow. Again, we're not told what the
extent was of her sorrow. Obviously it was more than the
normal, I guess I could say it like that, sorrow of childbearing. All I know about it is what scripture
says. You mothers know more about this
than I do. But the sorrow that was born,
that is experienced in childbirth. But this mother had a boy named
Jabez and she called him sorrowful. because I bear him with sorrow. I don't know what her situation
was, I don't know what his situation was, but I know what his name
sets forth. It sets forth and causes us to
remember truly the man of sorrows. The Lord Jesus Himself. The One
who is acquainted with grief, despised and rejected of men
for the glory of His Father and for the good of His people. I
don't know. We cannot enter in to the sorrows
that He bore. We cannot enter into the grief
that he sustained. The one who hath borne our griefs,
carried our sorrows, the one that was smitten of God and afflicted,
wounded, that is that word wounded for our transgressions, tormented,
bruised for our iniquities, and by whose stripes we are healed. I don't know the depth of Jabez,
the human man, but I know what the scripture has to say about
the great Jabez, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one of whom Jabez
is a type, concerning him, truly a man of sorrows. And the scripture
says back in our passage, verse 10, Jabez called on the God of
Israel, saying, O that thou wouldest bless me indeed and enlarge my
coast." This man called upon the God
of covenant mercy. When it says he called on the
God of Israel, He's calling upon the God of the true Israel. He's
calling upon the covenant God, the electing God of all grace
and mercy, the one who has mercy and compassion on whomsoever
He will. And He said, O that thou wouldest
bless Me indeed and enlarge My coast. Now we've got to understand
exactly what's being said there. The word coast there, I looked
it up. Territory. Territory enclosed. An enclosed territory. A limit. The set bounds about. He's talking about a piece of
property that is his, but it's got bounds to it. It's a territory enclosed. Every time I saw something it
was talking about, in my mind I was thinking of a fenced in
area, but a territory enclosed, a limit, a set bounds. Oh that thou wouldest enlarge
my coast. But then the word enlarge here. It's almost like if it's a territory
enclosed, are we talking about making it bigger? The word enlarged
does not mean what we would think of as being enlarged. The word
enlarged means bring in, continue, gather, and nourish. So what
he's actually saying is, oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed
and gather. and nourish and bring in and
continue my enclosed territory, the boundary. Do we not behold
again the Lord Jesus Christ, our great intercessor, praying,
interceding for his territory enclosed. I was listening to a message
the other day by Brother Don Fortner, and he was telling me
that years ago, somebody told Brother Henry, they said, you
know, what you preaching? What you're preaching, you're
just saying that just a handful is going to be saved. Brother Henry said, that's right.
But it all depends on whose hand you're talking about. His hand. His hand. There's a number that
no man can number, except God. The Lord knows those that are
His. God has a people. And He knows every one of them.
And every one of them belongs to Him. And they are a territory
enclosed. They're the elect. They're the
bride. And he's going to have them. He said, I know my sheep. He said, I call my sheep. They hear my voice. They follow
me. Told those Pharisees, he said,
you believe not? You're not my sheep. Here's the man Jabez praying
as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, that thou wouldest bless
me. I wanted to check. when Jacob,
remember that when Jacob was wrestling with a man, the Lord
Jesus. And the man told Jacob, he said,
let me go. And Jacob said, I can't. I can't let you go, not unless
you bless me. You bless me. I want your blessing. I want your blessing. What's your name, Jacob? Not
anymore. Israel. That's what Jabez says. Oh, that
thou wouldest bless me indeed and gather my territory enclosed. That's the ones that the Lord
Jesus Christ in his high priestly prayer that we're going through
on Sundays, that's who he was praying for. His coast, his elect,
his bride, He's chosen. God's chosen people. I'm thinking about that. He's
praying for them. Who is he praying for? Well,
the Lord Jesus Christ was praying this way. John 17, 1 and 2. These words speak. Jesus lifted
up his eyes to heaven, said, Father, the hours come glorify
thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee, as thou hast given
him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou hast given him." That's his territory enclosed. That's the limit set. That's
his people. What he's saying in verse 9,
I pray for them, He knows who they are. I pray not for the
world, but for them which thou hast given me. They are thine. Father, they're yours. You gave
them to me. They're mine. You gave them to me. I pray for
them. Jabez said, oh, that thou wouldest
bless me indeed. Gather my people, gather my coast. And then he says, and that thine
hand might be with me. You know, just put your marker
right there in 1 Chronicles. Turn over to Psalm 40. That thine hand may be with me. Psalm chapter 40 is a beautiful psalm. And it's
totally, without a doubt, these are the words of the Lord Jesus
Christ. There can be no doubt about it. Just verse 7, Psalm 40 verse
7. Just absolutely, verse 8, absolutely
assures it. Then said I, lo, I come in the
volume of the book it's written to me. I delight to do thy will,
O my God, yea, thy law is within my heart. No believer is going
to doubt whose words those are. That's the Lord's, that's the
Lord's. Same one speaking says, over in the last, let's see, verse 12, Psalm 40. Innumerable evils compass me
about. Mine iniquities taken hold upon
me so that I'm not able to look up. They're more than the hairs
of mine head. Therefore, my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver
me. O Lord, make haste to help me. Let them be ashamed and confounded
together that seek after my soul to destroy it. Let them be driven
backward and put to shame that wish me evil. Let them be desolate
for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, let all those
that seek thee rejoice. Be glad in thee, but such as
love thy salvation, say continually, the Lord be magnified. But I
am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me. Thou art my
help and my deliverer. Make no tarrying, O my God."
Somebody say, you mean the Lord Jesus Christ would say that?
Absolutely. These are the words out of Psalm
chapter 40. of the blessed Savior, be quick,
help me, deliver me, keep me from the evil. Back in Chronicles
4.10, and that thine hand might be with
me. Here he was expressing the sorrow
the humility of his soul when he offered himself an offering
before his father, that sweet smelling savor of obedience,
humbling himself, made himself answerable. He said that thine
hand might be with me and that thou wouldest keep me from evil. There's no doubt every believer,
I can understand a believer praying to keep me from evil. Now here is the Lord Jesus Christ,
He knew no sin. He was without sin, made Himself
answerable, made sin But he was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners in his own transgressions. Made himself answerable. But
I want you to look at what we just read again. That thou wouldest keep me from
evil. If your Bible has italicized
words in it, look at the word me. It's italicized. The word, number
one, was not in the original. Here's what it said, and that
thou wouldest keep from evil. The same ones that he was praying
for, that the Father would enlarge his coast. Praying for them,
that thou wouldest keep from evil his people His elect, John
17, 15, listen to this, I pray not that thou shouldest take
them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from
evil. David prayed this, Psalm 19,
13, keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins. Proud, arrogant, You know, there's
an old man that's still here. We were born in sin, conceived
in sin. In regeneration, sin is dethroned. I will remove the stone. You
remember that in Ezekiel 36? I'll give you a new heart and
remove that stone of flesh. Dethrone it. The old nature is
still there. It doesn't have dominion anymore. Sin shall not have dominion over
you. It's been dethroned. But that
old nature is still there. That old nature of evil. And
our Father is prayed to by the Lord Jesus Christ and He said,
I'm not praying that you take them out of the world. I mean,
God's people are the salt of the earth. We're the salt of
the earth. We live in this world, as long
as He allows us to be here, as witnesses unto Him. This is through
the church that the Gospels preached, that God's going to call out
His elect. We don't know who they are. We're here for His
glory and our good. But we're not of it. We're in
the world, not of the world. And he's praying, keep them from
evil. So here's our great Jabez saying, keep from evil. But even if we consider the me,
keep me from evil. Still talking about his people. Saul, Saul. Why persecutest thou me?" Me. Who was Saul persecuting? God's
people. So when he was praying, when
Jabez was praying, we consider that as the great Jabez, our
Lord Jesus Christ. Keep from evil then, but when
he said, you can also say, keep me from evil, talking about them,
his body. Then he said, that it may not
grieve me. The first time the word grieve
or grieved is used in the scripture was concerning when God looked
upon the sons of men back in Genesis chapter 6. And he saw that every imagination
of the thoughts of men was evil, only evil, continually. That's all they ever thought.
That's all they ever did. That's all they ever thought.
Rebellion against God. And here's what the scripture
says, And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth,
and it grieved him at his heart. It grieved him. Repented means
a change of mind, and God doesn't change. Grieved means to pain, to anger,
to pierce the heart. And God Almighty is not one moved
by emotional things that He did not know about. He knew. But these words are words that
are set forth to us that we might understand something of how God
will deal with men providentially. Though the Lord never changes
His mind, He may change the way that we
see His providence move. We don't know the ways of the
Lord, but the way that He deals with us may appear to be to man's
thinking that God changed and He never changed. The scripture
says that He made man and man began to multiply from Adam and
now it's all the way to Noah. I think it was six generations.
And how many people there were in the earth, I don't know how
many there were. The earth populated. And it grieved God because of
man's rebellion. That's the wording of Scripture.
It pained, it angered, it pierced the heart. He was grieved and
dealt with man in judgment because he was grieved. Noah though, but Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. And God showed mercy to Noah,
to his wife, his three sons, their wives, and those animals.
And that ark spared them. But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. The only man mentioned that God
showed mercy to, and the others for Noah's sake, God was grieved
and dealt with them in judgment. Grieved. He was grieved. Jabez
said, that thou would enlarge my coast, that thine hand might
be with me, that thou wouldest keep from evil, that it may not
grieve me. Keep from evil those that you've
given me. Keep them from evil. Keep them
from the dominion of sin. Keep them from rebelling against
you. that I may not be grieved, that
judgment be not shown them. That's what he said. That I be
not grieved, that judgment might not be spewed out upon them. And the scripture says, and God
granted him that which he requested. The reason concerning the Lord Jesus Christ,
of whom Jabez was a type, he only asks in accordance with
God's will. That which he asks, he asks according
to God's covenant, God's mercy. He's God. He knows the mind of
God because he is God. Jabez. a type of Christ. These scriptures were they that
testify of me. Oh, the beauty of beholding a
picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. If that was just a man that lived
hundred and hundred and hundred years ago, just history. But being a picture of Christ,
we behold the beauty of our Lord who has everlastingly loved his
people. Lord bless these words to our heart, for Christ's sake.