May God be pleased to bless us
together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
first book of the Chronicles, the fourth chapter, and we'll
read verses nine and 10. The first book of the Chronicles,
and chapter four, and reading verses nine and 10. and Jabez was more honourable
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 wouldst bless me
indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be
with me, and that thou wouldst keep me from evil. that it may
not grieve me, and God granted him that which he requested. These two verses that we read
in the Bible are the only verses that refer to this man Javis. We don't know really anything
more about him. And it's amazing really that
these verses are formed in this chapter, indeed in the chapters
of the early chapters in Chronicles, which really gives so many names. And yet there are these two wonderful
and beautiful verses and how important and significant they
are. And what a wonderful prayer it is. What a good thing if you
and I are able to imitate this desire, this true prayer of this
man of God. And we're told he called on the
God of Israel. Well, what a blessing that is.
He wasn't praying to a false God. He was praying to the true
God. And what a blessing for us today
if when we pray, And I hope we do all pray. We do all call on
the God of Israel. He is the everlasting God. He
is the one who created all things, that one who is the same yesterday
and today and forever. Well, may we have, therefore,
a right desire and come to a right God and not come as those Athenians
did, in the time of the Apostle Paul, who worshipped the unknown
God. O grant, Lord, that we today
may worship the true God, worship the God that quite clearly Jabez
was worshipping, the one who Jabez prays to. Now in this simple
prayer, and prayer should always be simple, We don't have to be
complicated. We want to use simple words in
our prayers. And so he asks for really four
things. And they are, of course, in one
sense, they're linked together. He makes these four statements,
these four requests. Firstly, I hope that thou willest
bless me indeed. Secondly, and enlarge my coast. thirdly and that thine hand might
be with me and that thou wouldest keep me from evil is the fourth
point that it may not grieve me and then we read this wonderful
truth and God granted him that which he requested granted him
that which he requested now it's a good thing therefore if we
come in a right way and desire that the Lord would indeed grant
to us those things that we request and that we may request them.
They may indeed be for our eternal good and for the benefit of our
souls and for indeed the honor and glory of our God. It would be a wonderful favor
if that is so. You know the Prophet Jeremiah
in the 45th chapter, it's only a short chapter and the last
verse, and he makes his statement, And seekest thou great things
for thyself, seek them not. For behold, I will bring evil
upon all flesh, saith the Lord, for thine life will I give unto
thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest. And that
would seem to me to be very clearly directed to temporal things in
our lives. And here, James is requesting
spiritual blessings. That doesn't mean to say the
Lord won't grant us great things in our natural life, but we are
not to really seek for it. We are to seek for spiritual
blessings. We are not to seek for earthly
prosperity. The Lord can give it. The Lord
does give it. It's in his gracious providence. But here we have then this statement,
O that thou wouldst bless me indeed. Well, you may have wondered
why I read the chapter in Exodus. that 12th chapter. Perhaps you
can't see any relevance to that chapter and to this prayer of
Jabez. Well there is a relevance and
it's a very important relevance and I'll tell you what it is.
He asks for this, O that thou wouldst bless me indeed. Well, we read in this chapter
that we read in Exodus, how the Lord indeed did bless his ancient
people. And the verse which I really
think in one sense summarizes the whole of that wonderful account
is found in the 23rd verse of that 12th chapter of Exodus.
And this is what it says, for the Lord will pass through to
smite the Egyptians And when he seeth the blood upon the lintel,
and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door,
and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to
smite you. Well, surely this desire to be
blessed indeed must centre really in the wonderful application
of the precious blood of Christ to our souls, to have shown to
us our need of a Saviour. These Israelites in their time
realized they needed a Deliverer. They didn't know, of course,
how it was to occur. the Lord very graciously instituted
this wonderful Passover and of course central to the Passover
was the lamb, the lamb slain, the lamb roast, the Israelites
partaking of it and most importantly the blood that was taken from
that lamb was to be placed on the doorposts and the lintels
without that blood there was no safety and it's exactly the
same today with our sins there is no safety unless you and i
are under the blood the blood of the lord jesus christ but
if we are then the truth is that we are blessed indeed There is
no greater blessing to know that the Lord Jesus Christ,
as truly the Lamb of God, has died for us upon that cross at
Calvary to atone for all our sins. So as we may pray like
this, O that thou wouldst bless me indeed. What a wonderful favour
it is if the Lord leads us to observe this wonderful Passover
and the significance of it and the vast importance of the shed
blood. You see, without shedding of
blood, as the Apostle tells us in the Hebrews, without shedding
of blood there is no forgiveness. And all of us need to be forgiven
of all our sins. and that is only accomplished
through the sin atoning death of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Well, says Jabez, O that thou
wouldst bless me indeed. Well, of course, we're not told
exactly what occurred, but we are told and God granted him
that which he requested. So what a good thing it is if
you and I are able to pray a prayer like this and it's very relevant
to notice that Jabez didn't go into details requesting certain
blessings he was willing to leave the issue with his God because
he knew that his God would grant him that blessing which he needed
And of course, the blessings that we all need are centered
in the sin atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing less than this will do.
We all need to know the Lamb of God. Personally, we all need
to know the Lord Jesus Christ, who take you the way, the sin
of the world. and to know the Lord Jesus Christ
that has indeed taken away our sin. Well, what a mercy then
to have that true desire tonight and to pray. Very simple words,
aren't they? Our children, our young people
can understand such a statement as this. Oh thou wilt bless me
Indeed, and I understand that the word really bless is to mark
or to consecrate with blood. This is to be the covenant, the
great and glorious covenant of the grace of God to bless us
with this wonderful evidence that Lord Jesus Christ did shed
his sin atoning blood because of his great love toward us. Oh, amazing love, amazing grace. They're joined together, aren't
they? And wonderful mercy. We've sung of tonight, the mercy
of God. And really, if you analyse this
prayer, that Jabe is praying to his God, it all culminates
in mercy. The Lord will hear his prayer
and grant him the request that he will be merciful James and
grant him his requests and he did and God granted him that which
he requested because that which he requested in a spiritual way
would be for his eternal good and not only that it would also
be for the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ as he would
be directed to the wonder of this sacrifice which was offered
up on this Passover day and of course not only on the Passover
day as we know because there was the continual burnt sacrifice
morning and evening the lamb taken and slain, the bloodshed
and the offering made, the sacrifice made, a continual picture for
Israelites to look to the Lord Jesus Christ and may it be to all of us today a blessed
and a perpetual figure for us to look to the cenotonic sacrifice
of our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ. And if that is so, then
such a petition would indeed have been granted. O that thou
wouldst bless me indeed. Well, I hope we may understand
a little reason then why we read that twelfth chapter in the book
of Exodus. So the first point here is a
very significant and a very important one. O that thou wouldst bless
me indeed. And then he asks, he says, and
enlarge my coast. Yes, he wanted the Lord to come
and enlarge his coast. You might say, well, what does
that mean? Well, I believe it really means this, to give him
greater spiritual possessions, greater spiritual blessings,
greater evidence of God's love toward him. greater evidence
of God's grace toward him, of God's unmerited favor towards
him. What a blessing it is then to
have our coast enlarged. Jabez designed it, Jabez has
granted it. What a mercy if we're given grace
to pray and to believe. that what we pray for is right
and is in accordance with God's wonderful divine purpose for
us. I thought that we may be enlarged
spiritually and we may know the wonderful favor and blessing
of God. We may have the wonderful evidence
of his love to such unworthy sinners and to know more of his
love yes the hymn writer says on such love my soul would still
ponder love so great so ripped so free say was thus in holy
wonder why oh god such love to me now our coast will be enlarged
if the blessed spirit of god shows us that it is because of
his sovereign love toward us, not something that you and I
could ever deserve. We are sinners of the earth.
We are black sinners of the earth. We're undeserving of any favor. And we're certainly not worthy
of any love. Yet, you see, the Lord loves
his people, loves his people. What a mercy then to have our
coast indeed enlarged and we might say our possessions enlarged
because it is a possession to possess the love of Christ which
passeth knowledge yes it's beyond the things of time because it
is an eternal blessing and you and
i cannot beat eternal blessings we may look and expect natural
blessings in this world when they're all good and we should
be very thankful to God for them but the vital things are of course
eternal blessings and to know that love of Christ which passeth
knowledge because it is outside of ourselves is that which comes
very gloriously and touches the heart and indeed melts the heart
and indeed lifts us up above the vanities of this time. And we can view the love of God
toward us as so great, so wonderful, that the Lord Jesus Christ willingly
came into this sinful world to save and to redeem our souls
was because of his love toward us. He loved the people. My friends, what a mercy if you
and I have the evidence that God has loved us. As Jeremiah
says, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, and therefore
with loving kindness have I drawn thee. Well, the love of God. Well, friends, that's so glorious
and so wonderful. And it's not that we loved God.
but that he loved us. You see, every grace and every
favor emanates from God. We don't say, well, I, of course,
merited this and I deserve this. No, we didn't. It's because he
loved us, loved us first. And then to have our coast enlarged,
to know more and more of the grace of God, we should never
never reach an end to that we should never reach an end of
course knowing the love of God we should never come to an end
of knowing the grace of God and I'm sure you young people know
grace is the free unmerited favor of God the favor of God that
comes and touches our hearts the favor of God which does us
eternal good the grace of God And it's the grace of God which
causes us to call upon his name. How wonderful, isn't it? The
words that John Newton was able to write. And he was able to
write it from a personal experience. And may you and I be able to
speak these things from a personal experience. He tells us so familiar
words, amazing grace, how sweet the sound. that saved a wretch
like me. I once was lost, but now am found. His grace has set me free. Now, John Newton was a sinner,
so are we. We're no better than John Newton. And he knew, as his and the coast was enlarged, was
able to write such beautiful words. And so, as we may desire
that our coast that might be enlarged, that our spiritual
possessions might be enlarged, we may know more of the grace
of God, that grace which watched over us in the day we were born,
preserved us in our young years, perhaps preserved us in our youthful
years, in our teenage years, and washed over us. Perhaps we
were stopped doing things. There were those situations which
developed so we weren't able to carry out our desires. What
was it? The grace of God. the wonderful grace of God and
surely this is something to be thankful for and it is an enlargement
of our coast. What a mercy then to observe
the grace of God and not only then but as we go on through
life the grace of God toward us individually, spiritually
and naturally. Most importantly, spiritually,
to show us our need of a saviour and then direct us to the saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ. It is indeed His grace and His
grace alone. What a wonderful blessing and
what a favour. And of course it goes on more
than that, doesn't it? The grace of God is unmerited favor in
being with us in our school days, in helping us in our exams, being
with us perhaps as we might go to college or university and
being round about us then, and then helping us as we go to work
and granting us jobs. It's all because of the grace
of God. And we should never think that
we deserve any position, we deserved any
job but to recognize it is and was the grace of God then also
we can move on to thinking the provision of husbands and wives
is the grace of God and there's a wonderful favor if that is
so you young people remember that we have a God who
can enlarge your coast in this way and can make a wonderful provision
for you in a godly husband and a godly wife then commit thy
way unto the Lord trust also in him and he will bring it to
pass lean not to your own understanding come like this and enlarge my
coast grant me gracious possessions grant me greater Evidence then
of God's mercy toward us. Oh, mercy is welcome news indeed
to those who guilty stand. And it's a good thing to have
this revealed to us. As we think of these words here,
enlarge my coast to recognize the Lord shows to us his mercy. We'll never fathom the depth
of his mercy toward us. And it would be a great blessing
if God gives us some evidence of it, this wonderful possession
of His mercy. And it is indeed. welcome news
to those who guilty stand. And so surely we can come in
with this word and say, Oh, that thou would enlarge my coast. Yes, that thou will grant me
greater spiritual possessions and evidence of God's love and
grace and mercy towards me. And then the third point is this
bodily man, James, he says, and that thine hand might be with
me. Well, what a concern that is
surely to the true church of God. It was the concern of Moses. If thy presence go not with me,
carry me not up hence, that thine hand might be with me and of
course he was wonderfully blessed with that assurance my presence
shall go with thee and i will give thee rest well in our lives
day by day we need to have the desire indeed
that the hand of the lord would indeed be with us and the hand
of the lord would indeed bless us and that we would not be left
to ourselves. You see, when Joshua indeed needed
to know that the Lord was with him and the Lord would be with
him when Moses was to be taken from him, he needed to know that
God was going to be with him. And Moses was able to speak the
words in the first chapter of Joshua. And we can read the fifth
verse. This is what is written. There
shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days
of thy life, as I was with Moses. So I will be with thee. I will not fail thee, nor forsake
thee. Be strong and of a good courage,
for unto this people shall divide for inheritance the land which
I swear unto their fathers to give them, and that thine hand
might be with thee." You might think, well, of course, Joshua,
he needed a wonderful promise like that. Well, so do we today
in our little lives. And we should recognize that
our kind and gracious God doesn't forget us doesn't pass us by
but he hears our prayer and therefore may we be able to come just like
Moses did just like Joshua did that thine hand might be with
me if thy presence go not with me oh we need God to be with
us in all our life remember We read in the Proverbs, there is
a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof for
the ways of death. Let us not go in that way that
seems right. But let us pray to our God, his
hand would be with us. Because if God before us, who
can be against us? The good hand of God, the Lord
takes us by our hand and leads us and directs us through life. We want God to be with us right
through our life and to bring us at last home to glory that
thine hand might be with me. No one else's hand will be adequate. No one else's hand will be sufficient. May we indeed have that desire
and that ability to come graciously and humbly and put our hand in
the hand of our blessed Saviour that he will lead us on He will
never leave us nor forsake us, that thine hand might be with
me. Well, we don't want to go our
own path, do we? We want to walk in that way which
the Lord has ordained for us, that way which will be for our
spiritual good and will be for the honour and glory of our God. Oh, then that thy hand might
be with me. And then the fourth thing he
says, and that now would is to keep me from evil. Well, we have those glorious
words, don't we? From the Saviour himself in the
Lord's prayer when he said, lead us not into temptation and deliver
us from evil. It's a good prayer. It's a good
prayer to pray every day. When I was young, we used to
pray that every day at school. Sadly, it's not prayed very often
nowadays, but it is indeed a good prayer. Leave me not into temptation
and deliver me from evil. And so here Javis comes and prays
these words many years before the blessed Savior came and taught
his disciples that prayer, which we refer to as the Lord's Prayer. And that would is keep me from
evil, that it may not grieve me, that's a good thing isn't
it if we are able to realize this truth that we don't want
to be grieved sometimes that's people aren't grieved about evil
they're happy to be led into evil they're happy to do evil
and it doesn't grieve them the lord gives us a tender conscience
if god gives us a god-fearing conscience then you see if we
do find ourselves evil things to realize God is with us because
it grieves us well far better then to be kept from evil than
to be left to evil which then grieves us let us seek for grace
to turn away from evil that we may indeed have that strength
to resist the devil You know, the devil is very active to direct
us into evil ways, right from the day of Genesis when Adam
and Eve were tempted of the devil. My friends, the devil's great
aim still is to deceive the church of God, to tempt us and to do
those things which are evil. But may we have that grace and
know the mercy of God that we may be kept from evil, that we
may know the Lord of God is round about us, as a wall of fire,
as a hedge. Let us not be found breaking
through that hedge that may recognize that God has placed a hedge around
us to keep us. Thou wouldst keep me from evil. You see, it's a very personal
thing. All these things are personal.
You see, they might be with me. And thou wouldst keep me from
evil, that it may not grieve me. Well, it's a wonderful thing,
isn't it, to have these blessings set before us. And, you know,
the psalmist in the fourth psalm, the first verse, he speaks like
this and he says, hear me, just like Javis, hear me when I call,
O God of my righteousness. And he says, Thou hast enlarged
me when I was in distress. Have mercy upon me and hear my
prayer. You see, these are real prayers. These are prayers of God's people. They're not just mere words,
just going through a motion of words, but it emanates from our
heart. Hear me when I call, O God of
my righteousness. Thou hast enlarged me when I
was in distress. Have mercy upon me and hear my
prayer. Well, we know these prayers of
the psalmist and this prayer of James was indeed answered
and God granted him that which he requested. Then perhaps just
one final quotation from the first epistle of John and the
fifth chapter in the 14th and 15th verses. And this is the
confidence that we have in him. What a mercy if we have confidence. it would seem so clear here that
Jabez had confidence in his God because the answer is in God
granted him that which he requested so he prayed in faith nothing
wavering and this is the confidence that we have in him that if we
ask anything according to his will. This, of course, is so
important and so vital. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thine be done. If we ask anything according
to his will, anything according to his will will be for his honour
and glory and for our eternal good. According to his will,
he heareth us. Have mercy, our great God. The eternal God, the ruler of
the universe, graciously hears us. And if we know that he hears
us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that
we desire of him. Well, John could, of course,
speak from personal experience. And it's a great thing if you
and I today could also speak from personal experience we're
able to confirm that this request of Jabez was a wonderful request
and although perhaps we may not have received all the answers
that we expected and all that we perhaps wanted yet may we
walk humbly before our God and continue to pray to him that
God who does hear and answer prayer, and that God who has
wonderfully said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Wherefore, we may boldly say,
the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man can
do unto me. And so Jabez called on the God
of Israel, none else, saying, O that thou wouldst bless me
indeed, enlarge my coast, my hand might be with me, thou wouldst
keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me, and God granted
him that which he requested. Amen.