Well, as we quickly approach
the beginning of another new year, I'm once again taken back
at the brevity of life. The Bible asks this question,
what is our life? And then immediately the answer
is given. It's even a vapor that appeared
for a little time and then vanish it away. To those of you that
have lived a few years on this earth now know that to be so.
Job said, man that is born of woman is a few days and full
of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower
and is cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow and
continueth not. And I very often take the words
of David to be my own. He said, Lord, make me to know
mine end and the measure of my days, what it is that I may know
how frail I am. Have you seen how frail you are? "'Behold, thou hast made my days
as a handbreadth, "'and mine ages as nothing before thee.
"'Verily, every man whose best state "'is altogether vanity.'"
So again, being reminded of the brevity of life and the frailty
we as human beings have, I have given a great deal of thought
as to what I could give you this morning from the Word of God
that would encourage you for not only the upcoming year, but
as well, the rest of your life. Our days are in his hands and
it's appointed unto men once to die and then the judgment.
And I'm not much on New Year's resolutions. I don't know that
I've ever kept one of them, but it just reiterates to my own
mind that we don't put any confidence in ourselves, do we? And in my
65 years, soon to be 66, I've learned this much. All my confidence
is in the Lord who loved me and gave himself for me. I want to
tell you about a man in the scripture that you may have never heard
of before. His name is Jabez. If you would turn with me to
the Old Testament book of First Chronicles chapter four, 1 and
2 Samuel, and then 1 and 2 Kings. And then you'll find right after
that 1 Chronicles. 1 Chronicles 4. I'll give you
a moment to find that. 1 Chronicles 4, and we'll begin
reading in verse nine. While you're turning, let me
say that this whole chapter is given to the listing of the chronological
descendants of Judah. But in verse nine, the Holy Spirit
inspires the writer, many who think to be the prophet Ezra,
to pause and say something about one man in particular. And that
man is Jabez. Verse nine reads, and Jabez was
more honorable than his brethren. And his mother called his name
Jabez, saying, because I bear him with sorrow. the name Jabez,
sorrowful. The first sentence in verse 10
says, and Jabez called on the God of Israel. And then notice
the last sentence of that verse. It says, and God granted him,
that being Jabez, that which he requested. This man, Jabez,
had his prayer answered. God granted Jabez his request. Oh, the God, would grant us and
enable us to pray to Him who loved us and gave Himself for
us. Jabez was more honorable than
all these others mentioned. And as you can see, the names
go on and on in this chapter. But I believe he's found to be
more honorable because he was more prayerful than his brethren. And in verse 10, we find four
petitions that Jabez's prayer consisted of. I make this prayer
my prayer for you and for me as we enter into this year 2022.
And I ask that the Lord may be pleased to grant us this request. Four things I want us to look
at found in verse 10. 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. Now,
I first want to point out who it was that Jabez cried out to. He cried out to and he petitioned
the one and the only true God, the God of Israel. This speaks
of God in the heavens. He who had done whatsoever he
had pleased. He is a sovereign, almighty God. And he has the power and the
ability to grant requests. And Jabez called on the God of
Israel. Did you see that? Not a God,
not some God, but the God. There's only one God, only one. The sovereign God of heaven and
earth. And I hear many today speak of God, but he doesn't
resemble the God of this Bible. This is the God that Isaiah spoke
of when he said, but the Lord's hand is not shortened. And it's
not. It says that the Lord's hand
is not shortened that it cannot save and neither is his ear heavy
that it cannot hear. So it's very important for each
of us to know that God says and delivers sinners for one reason. You know what that reason is?
For Christ's sake. That's the reason. I have a high
priest who takes my prayers to God. And that high priest is
none other than God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's
for his sake that God grants my request. James explained that
men and women have not, have not because they ask not. And
when they ask, they receive not because they ask amiss. They
ask for the reason to consume their request upon their lust. Most of the time, men and women
pray for material, temporal things instead of spiritual, eternal
things. God's word here declares that
Jabez was more honorable than his brethren. The Lord Jesus
said, this people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth and
they honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And we've got a lot of people
saying, Lord, Lord today, just like those did in the day of
judgment. But then they followed that up with, haven't we? Haven't
we done this? Haven't we done that? Haven't
we done many wonderful works? And the Lord said unto them,
very specifically, depart from me ye that work iniquity. Your works of your so-called
righteousness are works of iniquity. He said, I never knew you. We
pray unto the God of Israel. Jabez drew nigh with his heart. And because of that, he was found
more honorable." Now that word called there in verse 10 means
cried. His name, as we've already established,
meant sorrowful. You know, the wise man Solomon
said concerning our sin, sorrow is better than laughter. And
it most certainly is. And as you know, Solomon's father,
King David, David the Psalmist, He said, it was good for me that
I've been afflicted, that I might learn, that I might learn thy
statutes, that being God's appointments. Have you seen that it's good
for you when God afflicts you, when God sends trouble? One who
never sees their sin and never sees their need will never cry
out to God for help. The Lord was very specific about
that. Those who are well have no need
of a physician. We live in a day of spiritual
self-sufficiency. Those who shall mourn over their
sin, cry out over their sin and their inability shall be comforted. For whosoever shall call, cry
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Now that's what the
word of God says. And we have no reason to doubt
it and every reason to believe it. And I remind you that that
verse in Romans 10, 13 doesn't say, if the elect shall call
upon the name of the Lord, doesn't say that at all. "'If the elect
shall call upon the name of the Lord, "'they shall be saved,'
but it says, "'Whosoever shall call.'" And I love that word.
I don't know why folks think that those who believe in election
and in the sovereignty of God hate that word, whosoever. I
love that word. You know why? Because I am a
whosoever, and so are you. Whosoever shall call, and whoever
does call is the elect of God. Now I want you to look again
very closely at verse 10. And Jabez called on the God of
Israel saying, oh, that thou wouldest bless me indeed. Now those two words there, oh
that, in my Bible's marginal reference is said to mean if
thou wilt. Lord, if thou wilt bless me indeed. This request for blessing from
Jabez and every request for blessing for that matter is given at the
Lord's discretion. We need to learn that. God is
a sovereign God. He blesses according to His discretion. The Lord doesn't have to bless
us. God is not required to bless us. Christ said, is it not lawful? Is it not right for me to do
what I will with my own? Well, you better believe it is.
God said, this is my glory. I'll be gracious to whom I'll
be gracious and I'll show mercy on whom I'll show mercy. God's
not obligated to bless us. Why do people think that? We
live in such an entitled world today. God's not obligated to
bless us. God's not required to answer
our prayers. God does what he pleases. Our
God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He hath
pleased. Whatsoever the Lord pleased.
Can you finish that verse? Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did He. The Lord does what He pleases.
He does it in heaven and in earth and in the seas and in all deep
places. Men and women better learn who God is. Men and women
better learn how to pray. In Luke chapter 18, two men went
up to the temple to pray. You remember that story. One
was a Pharisee and one was a publican. The Pharisee that went into the
temple, he didn't know how to pray. The scripture, matter of
fact, says he prayed thus with himself. In other words, he prayed
just to hear himself talk. I hear a lot of men pray that
way. They pray these long flowery prayers, and God didn't hear
them. They just pray in order to hear themselves talk. But
God didn't hear this Pharisee. He prayed, God, I thank you.
I'm not like other men. I'm glad that I'm not like other
men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as that publican
standing there in the back. He talked about all that he did,
but not the publican. He stood far off. He wouldn't
even so much as lift his eyes unto heaven, he smote upon his
breast in sorrow, saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner
that I am. That's the kind of prayer of
God here. That's a man that God heard, that's a man that received
mercy, that's a man that went home to his house justified,
for he that exalts himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted. I love that story in Matthew
chapter eight of that leper that came to Christ. And behold, there
came a leper and worshiped him saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou
can makes me clean. This man fell down before the
Lord in sorrow. He was dying. He was in bad,
bad shape. He was a leper. Luke's account
says that he was full of leprosy. He's in the ending stages of
this horrible disease. Leprosy in scripture, as you
know, is a very accurate picture of sin. While leprosy to the
non-observing eye is at first unnoticeable, it begins with
a small spot or discoloration, and it gives no cause for warning,
but in the end, it brings terrible results. So it is with sin. Sin brings the same result as
leprosy, and that's certain death. Leprosy, secondly, is highly
contagious. So is sin. We were all born with
this inward corruption called sin. Wherefore, as by one man
sin entered into the world and death by sin, so death passed
upon all men for that all have sinned. Leprosy actually began
with little or no pain. A man could have leprosy and
not even know that he had it. Only in its later stages do these
painful effects come to full fruition. Sin too is so subtle
that at first we're unconscious of it. No wonder it's called
the deceitfulness of sin. It's not until the Spirit of
God begins to convict the carrier of the disease that the leprosy
of sin is made conscious of its crippling work. Leprosy spreads
rapidly. The study of leprosy reveals
that it begins with small spots and discolorations of the skin,
but it rapidly increases in size until the whole body is affected. And it's the same with sin. What
a picture leprosy is, the outward effect and result is due to an
inward cause. Paul said, I know that in me,
that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, Romans 7, 18.
the heart, the mind, the conscience, the spirit, the soul, and body
are equally poisoned by our spiritual leprosy called sin. Leprosy was
loathsome, detestable, rotting flesh, sores that oozed, that
scabbed and cracked, oh my cartilage and nerves exposed, appendages
half gone. It was not uncommon to see a
man with his nose missing or an ear missing, bones showing
through the flesh that had rotted away. That's disgusting, brother
David. No more disgusting and loathsome
than sin is in the eyes of a thrice holy God. Leprosy was often accompanied
by blindness, causing the affected one to grope in darkness and
cry, unclean, unclean. And again, is this not an accurate
picture of the sinner? David said in Psalm 38 verse
seven, for my loins are filled with a loathsome disease as there's
no soundness in my flesh. Sin is loathsome, detestable. No matter how horrific and repulsive
the leper looked to another, our sin is even more despicable
to God. As detestable as leprosy was,
it doesn't begin to compare to our sin. Leprosy also brought
forth banishment. According to the Levitical law,
no leper was allowed to remain in the congregation of Israel.
Sin causes alienation. Did you know that? Sin has alienated
us from the life of God through the ignorance that's in us. Ephesians
4, 18. Only the work of redemption by
the Lord Jesus Christ for the sinner will bring nigh the sinner
who was once far off, as scripture says, alienated from God, without
God, without hope in this world, by their spiritual leprosy. And
leprosy was naturally incurable. The cure of this disease was
beyond all human aid, and it was fatal as we've already established. No cure for, not by man. And
sin is naturally incurable. There's no human remedy for sin,
none. Death is the wages of sin, and
unless a miracle of God's grace be done to the chosen sinner,
eternal death is for certain. Now this man that came to the
Lord was full of leprosy, but his concern for healing of this
horrific disease was not if the Lord could heal him, His concern
was if the Lord would heal him. You see, the Lord is able to
do exceeding abundantly above all that we could think or ask.
He can. This leper came and said, Lord,
if you will, you can heal me. I know you can. Have you heard
of the Lord Jesus? Have you heard what he can do
for leprosy ridden sinner? Is he willing? Thank God he is. Jabez, that's exactly what he's
saying. Lord God of Israel, if you will,
if you would be pleased, bless me indeed. Now let's don't skip
over that word indeed too quickly. Men and women today say, God,
I'll let you save me. God, I've decided to let you
have your way. God, I've willed to give you
my heart. You know, that kind of talk is offensive to God.
Is God dependent upon us to let him save us? Perish the thought. Now I want to ask you a very
serious question. I've asked myself this. I can
truly say yes to it. If the Lord sent you to hell,
is he still worthy of your worship? This leper didn't know what the
Lord Jesus would do. Maybe he would heal him. Maybe
he wouldn't. but he still worshiped him. That's what Job said, though
he, God, slain me, yet will I trust him. He's worthy to be worshiped. The first of the four requests
that Jabez makes unto the Lord God of Israel is, oh, that if
you will, I beg that thou wouldest bless me indeed. And when Jabez
says bless me indeed, what he's saying there is bless me as only
you can bless me. Bless me as only you, the God
of heaven, the sovereign God of heaven and earth, the one
who spoke the worlds into existence. Bless me as only you can bless
me. You know, there's nothing comparable
to God's blessings. It's not our prayer that saves
us, but the grace of God that prompts this. If you pray for
help, God's already given you life. It's the choice of God
that appoints it. Christ said, you've not chosen
me, but I've chosen you. It's the bounty of God that provides
the blessing. Our faithfulness to God doesn't
provide it. It's not our faith that blesses
us, it's Christ's faithfulness to us that does. Those whom God
blesses are blessed indeed. It's wonderful to be blessed
by our parents. I wanted to please my parents.
I wanted to have my parents' blessing. It's wonderful to be
blessed by others. So humbling when someone does
something kind for you, but only God can bless with authority. Only God's blessings are always
effectual. Our blessings to one another
fall short, but not His. No, He that created the world
can bless you indeed. My prayer for you and me is that
the Lord Jesus bless us indeed as only He can bless. You know,
who received the true blessing of God? That poor beggar Lazarus
or that rich man who fared sumptuously? Maybe I should ask it this way.
Who received the spiritual eternal blessing? Was it not the beggar
Lazarus? Both men died. The beggar was
carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man lifted up
his eyes in hell. Who was blessed? The rich man
cried, send Lazarus that he may dip his finger in water and cool
my tongue. I'm tormented in this flame."
And you remember what Abraham said? Abraham said, all your
life you received good things, but Lazarus evil things, but
now he's comforted and you're tormented. That beggar named
Lazarus was blessed indeed. In Ephesians chapter one, Paul
talks about the true spiritual blessings that every child of
God has. Blessed be the God and father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who had blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Only God can bless
us with spiritual blessings. Only God can bless us with life
eternal and perfect righteousness. And all of these spiritual blessings
are in Christ Jesus, no other place. According as He had chosen
us in Him, Christ, before the foundation of the world, before
you and I had done anything good or anything evil, that the purpose
of God, according to election might stand. If God had not chosen
us first, we would have never chosen Him. Paul went on to say
that we should be holy. You know what that is? That's
sanctification. That's God setting a sinner apart
and making them as holy as Christ himself is. We're made holy. And then Paul goes on to say
that we should be without blame before him in love. That's justification. Such a blessing indeed, having
predestinated us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will." Friends,
that's salvation. These are spiritual blessings.
They're only found in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You can't
provide them for yourself. Not sanctification, not justification,
not salvation. Jesus Christ has made unto us
wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
That's who we need to get to. That's who we need to trust in.
That's being blessed indeed. To the praise and the glory of
His grace wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved. What
a blessing that is. Christ is God's beloved in whom
we have redemption through His blood. Now listen, in order for
you to be saved, God Himself had to become a man and shed
His blood in order to save you from your sin. That's being blessed
indeed. What a blessing the forgiveness
of sin is, especially when we see that it was the blood of
God that redeemed us and put our sin away. These are spiritual,
eternal blessings. They come only from God. And
that's what it is to be blessed indeed. Now, the second request
that Jabez made was that the Lord enlarge his coast. Do you see that? Now, Jabez is
thought by many Bible historians to be among those who went into
the land of Canaan, the land of promise with Joshua, who had
a portion of land assigned to him. It wouldn't be out of order
for him to ask the Lord to give him ample room to dwell. Lord,
enlarge our coast. But I believe that he's asking
here for much more than that. I believe he's asking the Lord
here to enlarge the coast of his narrow heart. What is a coast? Well, a coast is a boundary.
Coasts are limitations. Jabez is saying, I've got some
boundaries. Because of my sin nature, I've
got limitations. Lord, enlarge these boundaries
and these limitations. Enlarge my coast. not enlarge
my bank account, not enlarge my home, but enlarge my ability
to love and trust you. Friends, you and I have limitations.
Our abilities are limited. By nature, we can't believe.
We can't repent. We will not come to Christ. Lord,
expand our boundaries. Take away our limitations and
enlarge our love to others. Enlarge our joy, our peace, our
ability to forgive. I need enlargement there. I need
great help in that area. Enlarge our humility, our meekness,
our gentleness. Expand our esteem for others. Expand our faithfulness and our
zeal and our servitude. Enlarge our thoughtfulness. Lord,
enlarge our coast. That's my prayer for you and
that's my prayer for me. Thirdly, Jabez prayed, let thy
hand be with me. Jabez here is asking the Lord
for his presence. Lord, I need your presence. I
need your presence on the cross as my substitute and my sacrifice
for sin. I need your presence before the
holy law of God doing for me what I cannot do for myself.
Lord, I need your presence before God so that I can come boldly
into His throne of grace to find mercy and help in time of need. Are you in need of mercy? Are
you in need of help? Are you in need? I need His presence. Lord, I need Your presence on
the day of judgment as my mediator and my advocate before God. I
need someone to stand in my place and to plead my cause before
the Holy Judge of heaven and earth. I need that. Oh, I need
Lord enlarge my coast. Teresa and I got a new puppy
a little over a year ago. That little dog follows Teresa
everywhere she goes. At first, I was a bit jealous,
but I've gotten over it. Teresa is her master. Why? She
ought to be. She feeds her. She gives her
water. She takes her outside. She cleans
up after her. And that dog is totally dependent
on Teresa. And when Teresa leaves the house,
that little dog will sit right there at the door that she goes
out, and it'll just wait, sitting there just looking at the door,
like, when's she coming back? Teresa is that little dog's life.
That dog lives to be in Teresa's presence. Now let me tell you,
I want that to be said of me. I'm a dog. Like Mephibosheth,
I'm a dead dog sinner. The Lord is my master. He feeds
me. He gives me the water of life
to drink. He provides my every need. He rescued me from the
clutches of death. Lord, I am a dog. Let your presence
be with me, the dog that I am, that I might follow you all the
days of my life. Lord, I'm just a dog, but let
me eat the crumbs from your table. presence be with me, that I might
follow you all the days of my life." Then the last thing that
Jabez requested of the Lord is that God would keep him from
evil, that it may not grieve him. Now what Jabez is saying
here is don't let me be tempted with evil. He's presupposing
something of his own nature here. Jabez is praying that God lead
him not into temptation. Why? Because he knows. He knows
this much about himself, that if God lead him into temptation,
he will fail and he will fall. And so will we. Our Lord, when
teaching his disciples how to pray, said, and lead us not into
temptation. Pray this way. Ask God not to
lead you into temptation, but to deliver you from evil. The
time for us to cry out to God is before we're tempted. Why? Because a true believer knows
that they're weak and frail. Teach me, Lord, to see my own
frailty, my own inability. That's a good prayer. That's
a good prayer. Maybe the Lord will answer that
prayer. There's no safety for the soul
except under the shadow of his wings. I think I told you that
story about a big storm brewing up in Rocky Mount, Virginia one
time. Paul and Mindy Mahan had a small
little farm there, and they had chickens. The storm came, and
they looked all over for the chickens, and finally they found
the mother hen, but the little chicks were gone. And they picked
that hen up, and as they did, those little chicks fell out
from beneath her wings. Lord, keep me under the shadow
of your wings." No wonder our Lord said, watch and pray that
you enter not into temptation. You see, friends, the spirit
is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak. And that's why the Lord
Jesus came into the world. For what the law could not do
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and foreseeing Are you listening?
Condemned sin in the flesh. The law was weak through the
flesh because this flesh couldn't keep it. If Christ doesn't save
me, I won't be saved. If Christ doesn't keep me, I
won't be kept. And I just love the last line
in this verse. It's stated with such a matter
of fact and certainty. Look at it. The Lord granted
him, that being Jabez, that which he requested. When has any humble
soul ever cried unto God in vain? It's my prayer for you and for
me. that is Jabez called upon the
God of Israel, the God, not a God, not some God, not the God of
our imagination, not the God that we've conjured up who we
think to be altogether one like ourselves, but the God, the only
true and living God that He, that we may pray to Him that
He grants our request. He can, He's certainly able.
He certainly seems to be willing. May the Lord of heaven and earth
enlarge our coast. May He bless us indeed as only
He can bless us. May the Lord enable us to comprehend
with all the saints the length and the breadth and the depth
and the height and to know the love of Christ, which passes
all understanding. That's my prayer for you. That's
my prayer for me. May God's hand and his presence
always be with us, keeping us from temptation and delivering
us from evil. And I tell you this, you can
be assured of this fact, that for Christ's sake, God hears
our prayers, God answers our prayers, and God grants us what
we request of him. Lord, make it so for your glory,
for our good, and for Christ's sake. Amen.