Let us turn again to God's Word,
directing you to words that we find in Genesis chapter 49. In the 49th chapter of the book of Genesis, here we read of our dying Jacob blesses his 12
sons The opening verse is Jacob called
unto his sons and said gather yourselves together that I may
tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together and
hear you sons of Jacob and hearken unto Israel your father. And then we read of how he speaks
to these various children, his sons. And I want this morning
to direct you in particular to the words that he speaks to God
in verse 19. God, a true, shall overcome him,
but he shall overcome at the last. Considering then God as
the overcomer, you will Remember how in that portion that we read
back in chapter 30, we see that this child Gad was in fact the
son of Leah's maid Zilpah. We finished our reading there
with the record of the sons that were born to that maid of Leah,
one of them being Gad. spoken of in verses 10 and 11
of that 30th chapter. And the name Gad literally means
a troop. Zilpah was persuaded that she
wouldn't just have this one son, but there would be another, a
troop coming. And it is Gad that is being spoken
of here in the words of our text this morning, a troop. God a
troop shall overcome him, but he shall overcome at the last. You know how significant names
are. in Holy Scripture, the names
that parents often give to their children. They say a great deal
with regards to maybe the circumstance of the child's birth, or they
might be a prophecy of those things that will befall that
child in his later life. Well, here we have this particular
son called Gad, whose name means a troop. And the Gadites, they
were certainly very valiant men. They were warlike, and they needed
to be. They dwelled with the Reubenites
and half of the tribe of Manasseh, as we see later in the book of
Numbers, chapter 32. You can read there in those opening
verses how that two and a half tribes desired that they might
have their inheritance on the eastern side of the river Jordan. They were not wanting to have
their inheritance in that land of promise on the west side of
the Jordan. But they were tribes that had
a great deal of cattle and they felt that the country on the
eastern side of the river was good for their livestock. And so they desired that they
might come into their possession on that particular side of the
Jordan. As I say, we have the record
there in the opening part of Numbers chapter 32. but they
find themselves therefore amongst enemies of Israel in 1st Chronicles
5 for example and verse 11 were taught how the children of Gad
brought over against them, that is, the Reubenites in the land
of Bashan and Salchah, where they're living, they're exposed
to the Ammonites and the Moabites and these ancient enemies of
Israel. They needed them very much to
be a warrior-like people, and so they were. They were very
valiant men. We read in that 5th chapter of
1st Chronicles how they made war with the Agorites and others. And so you see the significance
of this name. As Jacob comes to bless his son
Gad, he says, a troop shall overcome him, but he shall overcome at
the last. Though they are engaged in conflicts
and warfares, they shall eventually prevail. Well, that's something
of, as it were, the historical setting and the literalness of
the interpretation that we're to put on this particular blessing. Going back to the beginning of
the chapter, it's interesting, in the very first verse, Jacob
speaks of the last days. He called unto his sons and said,
Gather yourselves together that I may tell you that which shall
befall you in the last days. The last days in the Old Testament
ultimately as a reference not so much to ethnic Israel but
to God's spiritual Israel. And God's spiritual Israel of
course is the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. when we read of
the last days, we are to think in terms of this day, the Gospel
day. Paul reminds us of that particular
truth, that whatsoever things were written aforetime were written
for our learning, that we through faith and patience of the Scriptures
might have hope. All those things that are written
in the Old Testament, We are to seek to find some instruction
and some profit from our consideration of these things. Again Paul says
these things happened unto them for examples. and that it is
for our learning upon whom the ends of the world are come, upon
whom the ends of the world, the last days, are come. And so,
as we come to consider the text here in Genesis 49, 19, this
morning, I want us to consider something of the spiritual significance
that we can find in these words, this blessing that Jacob, or Israel, is pronouncing
upon his son Gad. Gad, a troop, shall overcome
him, but he shall overcome at the last. And I divide what I
say into two principal sections. First of all, to consider the
overcomers. Who were those who were overcoming
Gad? and then secondly to consider
how ultimately he overcomes all these opponents and all these
enemies. Their overcomers, those who were
the overcomers of the people of God, the people of the Lord. God, a troop, shall overcome
him. A troop, that indicates to us
that there are many enemies of the people of God. And so it
is, there are infernal foes, there are external foes, and
there are internal foes to the to the child of God, to the believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why doesn't the Apostle remind
us of that great enemy, even Satan himself? We wrestle not
against flesh and blood, says Paul, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places. So the devil
is constantly walking about seeking whom he may devour. There is
that great infernal foe, that fallen angel, who would seek
to usurp the place of God himself. And we're not to be those who
are ignorant of his devices, or how often he comes with his
temptations, how he seeks to ensnare the child of God, how
he will draw the believer out of that narrow way. How will
He set His snares and His traps? The Lord Jesus could say, the
Prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in mind. But when
the Prince of this world cometh, alas, He finds so much in us,
so much in our fallen nature. Oh, are we not those who are
by nature carnal, and He comes and He assaults us? and he entraps
us and we're ashamed when we sin and then he turns accuser
he will shut our mouths when we want to come and make our
confessions and acknowledge our sins he will tell us how can
we sincerely come before God when we've been those who have
fallen so many times into these sins he is the accuser of the
brethren accusing them day and night before God oh there is
that terrible infernal But then there are those external foes. There is that world all about
us that lies in wickedness. And so we have the exhortation
of John that we're not to love the world. Love not the world.
He says neither the things that are in the world or that is in
the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and
the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world. and the world's last and the
manner of it, it all fades away all these temporal things they
are but for a moment, it is the eternal it is the unseen things
that are the eternal things we're not to love this this fallen
world that lies in wickedness we're to be transformed by the
renewing of our minds knowing what that will of the Lord is
or there are foes all about us. Our hearts so often want to run
after the world and the ways of this wicked world. And the
devil comes, as I said, and he finds so much that he can take
advantage of with us. And then we think of the words
that we sometimes sing in the hymn concerning the believer
from sinner and from saint. He meets with many a blow. His
own bad heart creates him smart which none but God can know,
from sinner and from saint. Or there are those who make a
profession of religion and yet they're not the true children
of God. And how often the real believer
is tormented by these who seem to be friends and yet really
at heart they're foes to the truth. It is a strange course
that the Christian has to walk and he does at times feel that
there's a troop against him. There's so many against him and
he feels himself to be so much alone like a sparrow upon the
housetop. That is the path that the people
of God have to walk. Infernal foes, external foes. But then in a sense that that
is worse of all those internal foes. Was it not Ralph Erskine
who said, all that I had not of myself, the greatest enemy
of all, myself, my own wicked, unbelieving heart. His own bad
heart creates him smart, which none but God can know how the
believer is made to feel these things. We have that record in
scripture as God saw that the wickedness of man was great in
the earth. It says, and every imagination
of the thought of his heart was evil continually. Every imagination
of the thought of his heart. That's your heart, that's my
heart by nature. The heart deceitful above all
things. and desperately wicked. Who can
know it? Oh, I, the Lord, search the hearts.
I try the reins. There's so much within that causes
the child of God to be ashamed. This is the troop that seems
that it will all together overcome the child of God. Out of the heart, says the Lord
Jesus, proceeds every manner of evil. It's not those things
that go into our mouths, it's those things that proceed out
of our hearts. There, in the Gospel, the Lord
is rebuking those scribes and Pharisees who were finding fault
with his disciples because they were not going through the ritual
washings after they'd been to market. And the Lord says it's
not what goes into the mouth and enters into the belly that
defiles. No, it's those things that come
from within, out of the hearts of men. Our fallen nature. How we're those who were conceived
in sin and shapen in iniquity. The awful doctrine of the sinner's
total depravity. And how all this seems to overcome
us. Why we sang the hymn just now,
strange hymn in some ways, and yet what truth is expressed there
by John Kent in that hymn 298. I wonder sometimes if these hymns
are altogether suitable for public worship and yet there's so much
truth and in the truth so much comfort. We have that verse for
like God by a troop overcome they fall through the workings
of sin yet glory they not in their shame that mourn their
defilement within. Oh, it is that sin which so easily
besets, that is so grievous to the child of God. We cry out
with the psalmists, Iniquities prevail against me. That's what
David says, he felt it. The man after God's own heart.
Iniquities prevail against me. Oh, as for our transgressions,
I will purge them away. or there is a purgatory. There
is the purging of that precious blood of the Lord Jesus to purge
the conscience from all these dead works. But now we see in
Scripture the experiences of the people of God, how these
things are unfolded, unfolded in what we read concerning the
Apostle. Think of that wonderful seventh
chapter of Romans, what a comforting chapter it is. I know that in
me, he says, that is, in my flesh there dwelleth no good thing.
Here are the internal foes. All wretched man that I am, you
shall deliver me from the body of this death. How Paul is brought
to cry out against himself, but crying out against himself, he
sees that all his salvation is only in the Lord Jesus, I thank
God, he says. through Jesus Christ our Lord. There are then these various
foes that would, as it were, overcome the spiritual Gaddites. God a troop shall overcome him. But you know whilst there is
that fallen nature within that that is born of the flesh
is flesh. Yet there is also in the believer
that seed, that seed of the grace of God, that new nature, that
new man. And what does John say? We read
there in the final chapter of that first general epistle, but
in chapter 3, And verse 9, John says, Whosoever is born of God
doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he
cannot sin, because he is born of God. How do we square that
with the language of the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 7? Where
Paul is lamenting what he is as a sinner, and yet John is
saying that the man who is born of God doth not commit sin. But
look at exactly what John is saying. He says, it is at seed. His seed remaineth in him. He
cannot sin because he is born of God. It is not that new nature
you see. That new nature doesn't sin.
That new nature is fighting against sin. How the flesh fights against
the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary
to one another. And he cannot do the thing that
he would. Sinning is not the believer's
natural way of life, we might say. The Puritan Thomas Goodwin
says believers are bunglers at sinning. That's what believers
are. They don't want to be sinned.
They're not good sinners in that sense. Or they sin often. But how it grieves them that
they're overcome and overcome principally because of that sin
that is yet within their fallen nature. these ended overcome
poor spiritual gaddots. But let us turn in the second
place to say something with regards to the way in which they ultimately
are the ones that overcome. But, it says, he shall overcome
at the last. There are two parts to the text.
We dwelt on that opening part, but turning now to the comfort
of what he said in the second part of the verse. God shall
overcome at the last. Paul says, now in all these things,
in all these things, in all this conflict with sight and with
the world, with self, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through Him that loved us. And when we come right to
the end of Holy Scripture, there in the book of the Revelation,
in Revelation 21 and verse 7, He that overcometh shall inherit
all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. Amongst the very last promises
that God gives to His children, we have that wonderful promise
to those who overcome or they will prove that God is their
God and they are truly the children of God. He that overcometh shall
inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my
son. He shall overcome at the last. And I want to mention some five
ways in which the believer does ultimately overcome. Five ways. First of all, how does the believer
overcome? It is by the Word of God. It
is by the Word of God. In Revelation 12, 11, they overcame
him, that is, the devil, by the words of their testimony, it
says. that's how they overcome this
great wicked adversary who is only seeking to destroy them
who is there at the very beginning of creation when God makes man
in his image and after his likeness how the devil is the great hater
of God and he will immediately attack this creature that God
has made in his own likeness but how is he overcome? All this
wicked one is overcome by the word of their testimony, it says.
But what is the word of their testimony? Well, look at what
it says in Revelation 1 and verse 9. It's the word of God, it's
the testimony of Jesus Christ. The word of God, the testimony
of Jesus Christ. always to look to the Lord Jesus
Christ and remember how the Lord himself when he was assaulted
by the devil and we have that record in the Gospels of his
temptations immediately after his baptising how he is led of
the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of Satan and how
Satan comes at him again and again and again and again and
ultimately he does leave him but he leaves him only for a
little season and the Lord can say to his own disciples later
in the gospel ye are they which have continued with me in my
temptations all friends he was tempted in all points like as
we are yet without sin he knew what sort of temptations were
this is why he is that one who is so sympathetic a high priest
He can fail for His people. But how does the Lord Jesus resist
the temptations of the devil? Well, we have it there in Matthew
chapter 4, when at the beginning He is led of the Spirit into
the wilderness to be tempted. And three times we find Him replying
with that expression, It is written. It is written. It is written
again. Oh, he overcomes the devil by
the word of his testimony. He overcomes by the word of truth. And what is the Scripture? It's
that vital part of the believer's armor. Here we are in Ephesians
6 and Paul speaks of the believer's warfare, wrestling not against
flesh and blood, but principalities and powers and the rulers of
the darkness of this world. And what is that great weapon
that he is to use in that conflict with Satan? It's the sword of
the Spirit, says Paul. The sword of the Spirit which
is the Word of God. Oh, friends, are we those who
are familiar with the Word of God? Are our eyes and our hearts
in the Word of God? We want to know the Word of God.
We want to find here food for our souls, but more than that
we want to arm ourselves against the assaults of Satan. How can
we resist him? We are not to be ignorant of
his devices yet, but how can we know of Satan? How can we
answer Satan? We have to come to the Word of
God. And we have to take hold of that great sword of the Spirit
of God in order to slay that adversary. John again in that
remarkable first general epistle. It is, I've read it so often
over these past weeks, that letter, the truth that John brings out
time and again in that part of Holy Scripture. There in chapter
2 in verse 14 he says, I have written unto you young men, because
you are strong And the Word of God abideth in you, and ye have
overcome the wicked one. That's how they overcame, those
young men. The Word of God was abiding in them. It was by the
Word of God just as it was with the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
Now what is the purpose of the Word of God? The Word of God
is of course to us a a revelation of God. It's a special revelation. God has revealed himself, we
say, in his works, be it the work of creation, be it the work
of providence. All of these things have a voice.
There's a general revelation all about us. The heavens declare
his glory, the firmament showeth his handiwork, says the Psalmist.
Day unto day uttereth voice, night unto night showeth knowledge.
All these things in nature they speak, it's God's revelation.
And Paul tells us there in Romans, therefore men are without any
excuse, so they have not the Word of God. Oh, but thank God
He has given us something special here in Holy Scripture. He has
revealed to us here not so much His power and His greatness and
His glory, but He has revealed here His mercy, His grace, His
love to sinners. The Bible is a revelation of
God. That's the purpose of Scripture. That we might know God. But not
only to know God, here in Scripture we also learn the truth concerning
man. We learn the truth concerning
ourselves. Man was made in God's image,
created after God's likeness, So when we come to read the Bible,
which is a revelation of God, it's like a mirror, and we should
see ourselves reflected in the page of Holy Scripture. But what
do we see? Oh, we see how far short we have
fallen of the glory of God. We see that man is not now in
that image. That image has been defaced,
defiled. We learn the truth of our sins.
It's interesting, in the very opening sentence of his great
work on the Christian Institutes, Calvin declares that there are
two principal branches to knowledge. The knowledge of God and the
knowledge of ourselves. Those are the two principal things
that we need to know. to know God and to know ourselves. And then Calvin goes on of course
throughout that great work of the Reformation to unfold what
he has declared in the first sentence. Read the first sentence
and then see what follows. The Word of God gives us a knowledge
of God. And how do we overcome? How do
we overcome our adversaries? I said by the Word of God, but
we overcome by this, the knowledge of God. The knowledge of God. Not just to know the Bible and
to be able to quote verses of Scripture, but to know Him who
is the author of the book. To know Him who is revealing
Himself here in Holy Scripture. That's how we overcome. Daniel
says the people that do know their God shall be strong and
do exploits all friends are we those who know God all we say
we know God we say we believe in the doctrine of God we believe
in the absolute sovereignty of God but do we live our lives
in the light of that knowledge I think I've mentioned this before
because many of you remember our late dear friend Sidney Norton
I always remember when I first came down to Southampton, an
assistant pastor there at Spring Row in Southampton with David
Fountain. And he knew Sidney Norton when he was an undergraduate
at Oxford and he worshipped David Fountain out at that church in
Summertown where Mr Norton was. And David Fountain said this
to me, He said, you know, when I first met Sidney Norton, I
met a man who was living the sovereignty of God. That was
the impression that was made. He said he lived. He lived his
life in the knowledge of the sovereignty of God. And if I
had an impression, all Sidney Norton knew is God. This is how
we overcome by that knowledge of God. The Lord Jesus says,
again in the Revelation, to him that overcometh will I grant
to sit in my throne, even as I overcame and am set in my Father's
throne. Oh, it's that knowledge of God,
that knowledge of God ultimately revealing himself in the Lord
Jesus. Life eternal. Remember the words
of the Lord in his prayer there in the 17th chapter of John,
he says this is life eternal. that they might know they the
only true God and Jesus Christ whom they were sent. It's only
in Christ that we can really know God, there's no knowledge
of God apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at
any time, the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the
Father. He has declared Him. Oh, it's Christ, He is the image
of the invisible God. Why? All this revelation that
we have in Holy Scripture, all the Old Testament is leading
up and leading up to this, the coming of our God and Savior,
even the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. How do these spiritual Gaddites
overcome all the set themselves against them or they have the
the Word of God and by the Word of God they have that knowledge
of God and you see it's not just it's not just an intellectual
thing it's not just knowing these things with our minds it's knowing God in such a way
that all our trust and all our faith and all our confidence
centers only in Him, it's faith It's overcoming by faith. And
what is that faith? It's looking. Oh, it's looking
onto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
It's looking to Him as that one who is the great overcomer, that
one who is able to overcome all our enemies, to subdue all our
sins, to deliver us from all our unbelief. Oh, are you ever
beset by those awful, atheistic, unbelieving thoughts? You know,
many gracious men have suffered with that, the devil assaulting
them, causing them to question everything. Have you ever been
assaulted by Satan in that sense? He seeks to destroy our faith. We're not to be satisfied with
a religion of doubts and fears. There's no comfort there. or
we want faith, we want that assurance of faith, we desire to know that
full assurance of faith. Whatsoever is born of God overcometh
the world. And this is the victory that
overcometh the world, even our faith. We just read those words
when we read that fifth chapter in John's first general epistle. Or that the Lord would impress
the truth of that Scripture upon my heart and upon yours. Whatsoever
is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory
that overcometh the world, even our faith, my faith, your faith,
or that faith that is of the operation of God. And again, when Paul is dealing
with the Believers' spiritual conflict there in Ephesians chapter
6 and in times past we've looked at that remarkable armor that
the Lord God himself has provided for his children. I mentioned
just now that sword, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word
of God, but also what does he speak of? The shield of faith. Ephesians 6.16 taking the shield
of faith, wherewith ye shall quench all the fiery darks of
the wicked." Well, we need that faith, that faith of God's elect, that
faith that is the gift of God. It's not something we can give
ourselves, not something we can work up in our own hearts. No,
it's faith of the operation of God. It's a gracious gift of
God. But how we need it, again with
regards to our resisting all the assaults of the wicked one,
Peter says, "...whom resists steadfast in the faith." Who
are we? Those who are designed to be
steadfast and persevering in the faith. We have that wonderful
11th chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, the names of those
men and women in the Old Testament who were favoured with that remarkable
grace of faith. And as the Apostle draws to the
end of that chapter, he has to acknowledge why the time would
fail me, he says. to tell of Gideon, and of Barak,
of Samson, and of Jephthah, of David also, and Samuel, and of
the prophets. Why are there such a great multitude,
as he goes on to say? We are compassed about, he says,
with a great cloud of witnesses. He can't name them all. But then
he does say this, who through faith, speaking of all of them,
who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained
promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence
of fire, escaped the edge of the sword out of weakness, were
made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies
of the aliens. Women received their dead, raised
to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting
deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. Others
had trial of cruel mockings and scourging. Jame wore over of
bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sworn
asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword." And so he goes
on. These are all the mighty deeds
of faith. How do these spiritual Gaddites
overcome their enemies? He shall overcome at the last,
it's by faith. And who is the object of faith?
Why the Lord Jesus? It's not their faith. Their faith might be weak as
if weakness were made strong. It's the object. Look unto me
and be ye saved. To all the ends of the earth
I am God. and there is none else. Oh, it's that looking unto Jesus. Again, I remind you of what we
read in our reading earlier there in 1 John. In chapter 5 and verse
5, Who is he that overcometh the world? He that believeth
that Jesus is the Son of God. That's how we overcome. It's
that One in whom we trust, even the Lord Jesus, that One who
is very God of very God. All begotten, not made of one
substance with the Father, the Eternal Son. That One that God
has laid help upon. He has laid help upon One who
is mighty and able to save to the uttermost all that come to
God. when we come by the Lord Jesus
Christ that blessed object of our faith or the person of the
Lord Jesus the person of the Lord Jesus
he is as I said that one who is the image of the invisible
God what does he say to to Philip there in John 14, have I been
so long time with ye, yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. O sayest thou then, show us the
Father. Why the Lord Jesus is that one who is in the Father,
in the bosom of the Father. When we think of the person of
the Lord Jesus, there's the object of our fight and the work of
the Lord Jesus. all that great work that He accomplished
here upon the earth. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sends forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law. That's His
great work, the work of redemption, to satisfy all the demands of
that Holy Lord of God, to pay the ransom price that the law
which is a revelation of God in all His holiness and righteousness
and justice that law must be satisfied the soul that sinneth
it shall die and Christ dies for the unjust to bring sinners
to God it's overcoming by faith that faith in the person and
work of the Lord Jesus how do these spiritual Gaddites overcome?
by the Word of God by the knowledge of God, by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and by faith in all that the
Lord Jesus Christ is and all that the Lord Jesus Christ has
done. And then finally they overcome by prayer. Oh friends, what is this great
privilege that God has appointed and afforded us to pry, to enter
in within the veil, to know that boldness at access with confidence
that is by the faith of Jesus Christ. And we're constantly
exhorted to prayer there in the epistles of the Apostle, Praying
always, he says, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit
and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication
for all saints. That's how he concludes Ephesians
6, having spoken of all that spiritual armour. Praying always,
with all prayer, he says. The Lord says, Watch and pray
that ye enter not into temptation. That's how we resist the devil,
by watching, by praying. And you know these Gadites, back in the Old
Testament, this tribe of Gad, I've made reference already to
1 Chronicles 5, where we see the Gadites in conflict against
the Hagarites. And what do we read there in
verse 20? We're told how God cried to God in the battle and
He was entreated of them because they put their trust in Him.
Or they prayed and they were entreated of God. Why? Because
their trust was in Him. Their trust was in Him. Think
of Jehoshaphat again in warfare against the enemies of Judah. We have no might against this
great company that cometh against us, he says, but our eyes are
unto thee. Our eyes are unto thee. Is that
where we're looking? Or this is how we overcome, when
we look to the Lord, looking unto Jesus. God's a troop shall
overcome him, but he shall overcome at the last. or that God would
grant to us in that fight, that overcoming fight, He that shall
endure to the end. The sign shall be saved. Amen.