Turn with me again to Genesis
chapter 49 if you would. I know we've been in the book
of Genesis for a long time and we haven't stayed in this book
for the simple reason to say that we've been in this book
for over four years. But we endeavor, wherever we
open the scriptures to study, we endeavor to find Christ and
preach him from the text. I hope that that's what I've
prepared for you tonight. Last study, we looked at how
the 12 sons of Jacob very well picture us, both by nature and
also very well picture us in our redemption through Christ.
We saw that Reuben was the oldest son of Jacob and Leah, and he
represented the very best that Jacob could produce in and of
himself. In verse 3, we see that he was
Jacob's might, he was Jacob's strength, he was Jacob's dignity. He was a symbol of Jacob's power. But the best state of man, man
in his best state, the scripture says, is altogether vanity. The
best that we can produce is vanity at best. And that word vanity
means empty. It means unsatisfactory. In our
best state, we fall way short of the glory of God. And that's
no surprise to a child of God. We know we fall way short of
God's glory. And in verse 4, Reuben was said
to be unstable as water. That's what all of us are by
nature. Unstable as water. We're always gravitating downward. Always finding the least path
of resistance in our sin. Then in verses five through seven,
we're told of Jacob and Leah's second and third sons, Simeon
and Levi. And they continue the type of
the unregenerate man and woman. What we are, they picture very
well by nature. What we are by nature, they picture
very well. They were instruments of cruelty,
murderers at heart. You and I haven't, as far as
I know, none of you have murdered anyone, but we've sure hated
one in our heart without cause. They were full of self-will and
self-righteousness. My, that describes us so well
by nature. We always desire to take matters
into our own hands instead of trusting in the sovereign will,
purpose, and providence of God. Simply said, by nature we're
some messed up people. We need mercy in the worst way. We need God's grace, mercy, and
redemption. There's no hope for us at all
outside of Christ Jesus. And how we should thank and praise
God for our surety. That's what this message tonight
is about. Look at verse 8. Judah, this
comes to the fourth son of Leah and Jacob. Wow, my, what a picture
he is of Christ. Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren,
brethren shall praise. What a picture he is of Christ.
Judah was the surety who prevailed with his father Jacob. Judah
was the surety that interceded for Benjamin with Joseph. I think we'll clearly see the
picture in the type here. The verses before us tonight,
in all reality, are really not about Judah. They're about the
Lord Jesus Christ. And I like what Spurgeon called
him. Spurgeon called him Judah Jesus. As you know, the name
Judah means praise. Judah, thou whom thy brethren
shall praise. I think of what the writer of
Hebrews wrote when he said, for both he that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he, God,
Christ, is not ashamed to call them brethren. Isn't that an
encouraging thought that Christ would consider us his immediate
family, brethren, sisters, saying, I will declare thy name unto
my brethren in the midst of the church while I sing praise unto
thee. We can never, never praise Christ
our Savior too much. We can never adore, admire him
too much. That's what John said in the
book of Revelation chapter 5. I encourage you to read that
chapter. But he said, worthy is the lamb
that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory. It's just like he's on a roll.
We can't stop. and blessing, and every creature
which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and
such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying
blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto Him that sitteth
upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever. You know, some will praise Him
now, but all will praise Him later. Who will praise Him now? Why, it's His brethren. It's
His brethren. He whom thy brethren shall praise. That's who Judah is. Jesus Christ
is worthy to be praised. He's worthy to be praised first
because of who He is. He's God. I know many refer to
Him as the Son of God, and He is. But He is God the Son. He's the only Potentate. He's
the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And if God has shown
you that, dear friend, you are blessed above measure. And without
controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest
in the flesh. Who was? God was. God became
a man. God took on the form of a servant. And he was justified in the spirit,
seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, and believed on
in the world, and received up unto glory. God was manifest
in the flesh. Jesus Christ is worthy to be
praised because He's God. Christ is worthy to be praised
because He's holy. Being holy, God always does what's
right. And I know it's become a little
bit cliche, but He doesn't do things because they're right.
What He does is right because He does them. Hannah said it
best. She said, there's none holy as
the Lord. For there is none beside thee,
neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more so exceeding
proudly. Let not arrogance come out of
your mouth. Why? For the Lord is a God of
knowledge and by him actions are weighed. 1 Samuel 2 verses
two and three. Paul said, let every mouth be
stopped and all the world become guilty before God who is holy. Christ, thou art he whom thy
brethren shall praise. Let our mouths be stopped, friends,
with praise and adoration of ourselves. May our hearts be
enabled to be filled with the praise of our Savior. He is too holy to justify the
wicked, yet he's made his people holy and justified them. And
that's the beauty of the gospel. He's made me what I can never
be in and of myself. So who is it that praises Him?
It's His brethren. Those whom God has conformed
to His image. Those whom God has made holy,
just, and righteous. Those whom Christ has satisfied
the holy justice of God for. Those whom He's not ashamed to
call brethren. Praising God is not just raising
your hands. Praising God is an expression
of respect, gratitude, approval, admiration. It's an act of worship. All praise the Lord. He's worthy
to be praised. Christ is worthy to be praised
because of His redemption. The bad news, for all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. But the good news is being
justified freely. Freely. Oh, that's a precious
word, isn't it? Freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth
to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare
His righteousness. That's what this is all about.
We're not here to talk about our righteousness. We have none,
it's filthy rags, but we're here to declare His righteousness
for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. To declare, I say at this time,
His righteousness. That's what we're gonna preach,
that's what we're gonna talk about, His perfect righteousness,
that He might be just and the justifier of them which believe
within Jesus. Friends, Christ has redeemed
us from the curse of the law. How? By being made a curse for
us. No other way to redeem us. He
had to be made a curse for us. And this was a real curse. This
is not the kind of curse we see on TV shows, the little voodoo
curses, nothing to all that. Cursed is everyone that continueth,
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. Oh, we're cursed. We cannot do what's required
of us. So we're cursed. Christ did for
us what we couldn't do for ourselves. And he was made a curse for us
that we might be redeemed. Paul, Peter, excuse me, said
we're not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold.
We can't buy this. We can't purchase this. We don't
deserve this. We don't merit this. We're redeemed
by the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and
without spot. Oh, is he not worthy of our praise? And fourthly, Christ is worthy
to be praised for his continual intercession for us. Judah seems
to have been the gifted one out of the 12 sons of Jacob and his
pleading prevailed with his father when all others were powerless.
You remember the story well. When the Lord of the land or
the Lord of Egypt who was Joseph, their brother, but they didn't
know it. His brothers failed to recognize him. And yet he
told them, you shall not see my face. Don't come back. Don't
come back to me for anything else except your brother Benjamin
be with you. So they went back home with the
word and their father Jacob absolutely refused to let Benjamin go back
to Egypt with them. But when all their corn was eaten
up and they must again go to buy more or die, It was Judah who persuaded Jacob
to let Benjamin go with them. You know, Reuben and Levi were
silent. They'd lost their rightful position
in the family due to their sin and their transgressions. And
Simeon, while he was held back in Egypt as a hostage by Joseph,
but Judah, He stepped up into the gap and His intercession
prevailed. And what a picture He is of Christ
our Lord. Friends, we are by nature like
those sinful sons of Jacob. We've offended our Father who's
in heaven. It's vain for us to even attempt
to approach God. Without a substitute, without
an intercessor, we can't approach Him. He's too holy, we're too
sinful. But Christ, our Judah, forever
intercedes for us. So much so that Paul said, who
is He that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea, rather
that is risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. I love what the beloved John
wrote. He said, my little children.
I like the thought of being one of God's little children, don't
you? I know you do, Lou. You're smiling right now. Love
the thought of being one of his little children. He said, these
things I write unto you that you sin not. But if any man sin,
oh, I'm glad he added that. If any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. Why He's so righteous? That that's
part of His name. Judah Jesus is worthy to be praised
for His power and His victory over our enemies. Again, look
at verse 8. He said, thy hand shall be in
the neck of thine enemies. Christ's enemies are made to
do his bidding whether they want to or not. If you get somebody
by the neck a certain way, you can make them bow pretty much
in whatever way you want to. You know, I'll try to give you
a little illustration here. When I was in high school and
played a little basketball, we had a playbook. And we learned
the plays from this playbook. And depending upon the position
that you played, in order for the play to work, you had to
be in a certain place. And many times, I missed my plays. And most of the time, We weren't
where we were supposed to be. And you couldn't get away with
it today. But when I was in school, I had a coach. And if you missed
your assignment, well, he'd grab you by the neck. And he'd just
get it right in a certain way. You know what I'm talking about.
And he could just about move you wherever he wanted to. And
he'd say, I told you, I want you right here. And you're like,
oh, OK. what I'm talking about here.
If you've ever watched any wildlife shows, the lion always gets its
prey by the neck, either to break it or by the throat to suffocate
it. When the lion gets their prey
by the neck, they got them. It's all over. It's all over. Jesus Christ has sovereignly
delivered us from all our enemies, friends. And with His hand in
their neck, He defeated sin. He put it away by the sacrifice
of Himself. Sin is totally defeated. The
wages of sin is death. Because our sin is gone, Paul
said that death no more hath dominion over us. Isn't that
great news? Christ defeated death in the
grave. The redeemed have eternal life.
So much so that Paul said, O death, where is thy sting? O grave,
where is thy victory? Oh, he defeated Satan. Satan
has no power or no authority over the redeemed of the Lord.
I recently read a story that Mr. Spurgeon often told that
is, I think, fitting in reference to this verse and to the victories
of Christ. It goes something like this.
I wrote it down because I didn't want to mess it up. But he said,
"'Twas one dark night when the great shepherd was watching his
flock, that he heard a roaring which told him that the old lion
of the pit was about to leap into the fold to rend his sheep
to pieces." The shepherd said, the hour has come when I, the
good shepherd who loves his sheep, will stand to take on their great
adversary. The time has now come for me
to lay down my life for the sheep. And when the great shepherd hears
the next great roar, the adversary springs forth upon the fold,
but the great shepherd stands waiting, intervening, and takes
the blow himself. And he wrestles with the lion
as his back is ripped to shreds by the sharp and deadly claws
of the enemy. And the great shepherd is wounded
in his hands and in his feet and in his side. And in this
desperate struggle continues, as he continues, his sweat as
it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Oh, it was a dreadful fight,
which had been foreseen and ordained by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God before the foundation of the world. And
in the end, the great shepherd with his own hands, as did Samson,
rent the lion as if it had been a kid and cried, it is finished. And it was then that he himself
fell prostrate over his foe, and giving up the ghost, he himself
died, but only to rise again and live forever in everlasting
triumph. And in that dreadful combat,
his hand was indeed in the neck of his enemy. And he went to
glory, leading captivity captive to forever make intercession
for his sheep." I like that story. That's a true story. I bring
attention to the words of Peter who said, be sober, be vigilant,
because your adversary is a roaring lion. You know, we sometimes
read over those little words like that, but Peter said he
was as a roaring lion. He walks about seeking whom he
may devour. Our enemy is as a roaring lion,
and he roars against us loudly. But he has been declawed, he's
been defamed, and he's been defeated by the true line of the tribe
of Judah. All the prophecy of Jacob here
was fulfilled in David, who was also the tribe of Judah. Matter
of fact, I was amazed, just didn't have the time to write them all
down, but through the history, how the tribe of Judah played
a prominent part in the history of Israel. But the prophecy of
Jacob was fulfilled, and David, who was also of the tribe of
Judah, and he, David, made prophetic utterance himself of Christ,
and said, Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies,
that I might destroy them that hate me. Psalm 1840. You know,
in a day where God has said to love everyone, when you consider
how much God the Father loved his beloved son, God the son. You cannot dismiss how much God
must hate those who hate his beloved son and who hate him
without a cause. That thought really hits home
when we consider the fact that we ourselves were once enemies
of Christ. God is going to make all Christ's
enemies his footstool. How so, you might ask? He's going
to take some by the neck, and He's going to cast them into
outer darkness, where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And others, He's going to take by the neck and lead them to
the throne of grace, where they may boldly enter and obtain mercy
and fine grace. Oh, did you hear those words?
Obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need, Hebrews
4.16. And it's those who gladly submit and rest at his feet as
his footstool. For if when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God, how? By the death of his son. Much
more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Saved,
fully saved, completely saved. Oh, Larry, you were correct in
your interpretation of this verse, my friend. Truly, the king's
heart is in the hand of the Lord, and he turneth it, whether so
ever he will, as the rivers of water. Every heart is in his
hand for him to do with as he will. How blessed is the fact
that God will have mercy on whom He'll have mercy, and He'll have
compassion on whom He'll have compassion. For what's in us
that would cause Him to be mindful of any sinner? The fact that
He would have mercy on anyone is mercy and grace in itself.
And the sad fact that there are many who deny and hate Christ
for His sovereign right. His sovereign right to have mercy
on whom He will. But that great truth is the believer's
very confidence and hope. Maybe He'll have mercy on me.
That's what the child of God says. Why, He'll have mercy on
some. Maybe He'll have mercy on me.
Oh my. For it's then that we know that
it's not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy." Oh, I tell you, Larry Perryman, if
you and I cannot do anything to save ourselves, and we can't,
If salvation is of the Lord and Him alone, then may we rejoice,
rejoice because salvation is of the Lord. And you and I can
do nothing to cause it, merit it, earn it, purchase it, secure
it. And if that's so, and it is,
then we can do nothing to lose it. That's the greatest news
this sinner ever heard. I can't do anything to lose it.
Because when God looks at this ranch, He sees His own beloved
Son. That's just how close we are
and our union is. Oh, I tell you folks, we're blessed
people. So what do we do? This is exactly
what we do. We look unto Jesus. the author
and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God." We just keep
looking to Him. Every single time I begin to doubt my salvation,
all I need to do is to look to Him. And I know that God is satisfied
with His beloved Son. Again, verse eight, Judah, thou
art he whom thy brethren shall praise. Thy hand shall be in
the neck of thine enemies, and thy father's children shall bow
down before thee. Who's gonna bow down before Christ?
Who's gonna praise and worship him forever? Those that have
been taken by the neck. Those that have been led to his
throne of grace. Those who have obtained mercy
and found grace in time of need. Those who were there bowed down
before Him as King, who are they? Well, they're the Father's children.
Isn't that what it says? They are the elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ. And I'm telling you another one
of the glories of Judah was his lion-like power. I just love, I almost read the
whole chapter of Revelation 5, I should have, but read it. in your leisure. But in verse
9, Jacob said, Judah is a lion's whelp, which is a young lion.
We talked about it briefly last time. But he says, from the prey,
my son, thou art gone up. He stooped down. He couched as
a lion, and as an old lion, who shall rouse him up? You see,
as a young lion, he has gone up and he rent his prey in pieces. Sin, death, and hell, he's torn
asunder. We've already discussed that. And now we see him as a mighty,
full-grown lion, one who is couched. You ever seen even a house cat
couch? They're ready to pounce, if need
be, on those who provoke them to anger. You watched some of
the films of the lions. They crouch. But this mighty
lion, who at the same time as resting. Actually, that word
crouched in the Hebrew means resting. I found that very interesting. He's resting in His power and
His success. Christ is as a mighty lion, as
the lion of the tribe of Judah. He's resting in His power and
His success without executing wrath, judgment, and justice
on those whom He has satisfied that have Him on their side.
Have you ever seen those nature shows on TV? A satisfied lion
that's full? He's full and he's resting. Why,
that prey, his prey, normally the ones that he would attack,
they can walk right in front of him and he just kind of looks
at them. Why? Because he's full and he's satisfied. He's resting in what's already
been accomplished. When the king of the jungle is
resting, then all the other creatures who would normally be his prey
can rest. Oh, friends, our great lion of
the tribe of Judah, he stooped down. He humbled himself. He
became a man. He made himself of no reputation. He took on the form of a servant.
I never grow tired of hearing that. Never grow tired of hearing
it. Why? Because he became obedient
unto death. even the death of the cross.
And when he was finished doing what God sent him to do, he said,
it's finished. It's finished. And because of
that, those for whom he died can rest. That phrase he stooped
down in verse 9 in the actual Hebrew language means he bent
his knee. Jesus Christ bent His knee to
God's will, God's purpose, and God's providence in the saving
of those that God gave Him to redeem before the foundation
of the world. And it's finished. It's accomplished. Who among His elect shall rouse
Him up? Judah is compared not to a raging
lion, not to a lion who is violent and rampant and devouring, but
as a peaceful, resting, satisfied lion who is not roused. Oh my. Christ's great strength
is the mighty God and Savior is King, he sat down at the right
hand of God. He's at ease. He's at ease. His work's accomplished. The
salvation of his people's finished. Who can or will dare to rouse
him up? Who could stand before him if
he was angry? His power's not made known to
us to induce fear, but to ensure peace. His power's not made to
promote war, but to prevent it. We bow to him because of who
he is. And I leave you with this thought,
what perpetual sovereignty, the scepter, verse 10. The scepter
shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his
feet until Shiloh come. And unto him shall the gathering
of the people be." This is so full of the gospel. Jesus Christ
will forever reign. His kingdom on earth often seemed
to be in jeopardy. But it has never been overthrown
and it never will be. The scepter, that's a symbol
of sovereignty. You've seen the kings hold them
in their hand. It shall not depart from Jesus
Christ. In the days of the martyrs, they
did horrible things to God's people. They sewed Christians
up in the skins of wild animals and then cast them to wild dogs
to devour. Can you imagine? They drug them
at the heels of horses. They burned them at the stake. It is believed that Paul was
beheaded. Peter was crucified upside down. Andrew was also crucified. Thomas
supposedly died by the spears of soldiers. James died at the
hands of King Agrippa. They all met violent deaths. It's believed that James was
stoned and then clubbed to death. I wonder if these things went
on today, how many folks would still profess Christ as their
Lord and Savior? Well, I know the answer to that.
All his brethren, every single one of them would, nothing shall
ever prevail to shake the church from their allegiance to their
King. Why? Because his scepter shall not
depart from him. In all these trials, they were
more than conquerors through Him who loved them. More than
conquerors of them whom He gave Himself for. And they, through
His grace, endured all these things for His sake. Neither
tribulation, nor distress, nor persecution, nor famine, nor
nakedness, nor peril, nor sword could separate them from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Where's the love
of God? It's in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Christ's kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. Jacob said there's no
law giver from between his feet. See, Jesus Christ is not under
the law, friends. He's the law giver. There's no
other law giver with whom we have to do. And he fulfilled
his own law that he might satisfy God's holy justice against his
elect who had offended their God. We preach Christ crucified. Why? Because substitution is
the message. This is the divine magnet, so
to speak, that draws God's people to Him. Christ said, if He'd
be lifted up from the earth, as He was on the cross, He said,
I'll draw all God's people unto myself. John 12, 32. Our only hope of redemption is
to trust in the righteous work that Christ has done for us.
And again, verse 10, until Shiloh come, and to him shall the gathering
of the people be. Well, have you figured out yet
who Shiloh is? Yeah, I bet you can figure it
out. Shiloh means the sent one. It
means the son. He's the Son of God and He's
the Son of Man. He, Shiloh means He to whom it
belongs. He to whom what belongs? Everything,
everything. All glory, all power, all honor,
all redemption, all blessings. We just read it in Revelation
5. Shiloh means the peace giver.
unto him shall the gathering of the people be." Do you see
that? No man, no woman, no sinner comes to the Father, but by Him. And in verse 11, Jacob has a
very singular vision of Judas King. Look at these words, they
need very little explanation. Binding his foal unto the vine,
and his ass's coat unto the choice vine. Yes, it's he, the very
same one of whom the prophet wrote, Behold, thy King cometh
unto thee, meek and sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the foal
of an ass. This is none other than Christ. He's the King. But He doesn't
go down to Egypt on horses. No, He's meek and He's lowly
and He's content to ride upon that that coaxed us in his triumphal
entry into Jerusalem. And of course here, the mention
of the vine and the choice vine turns our thoughts to Christ's
most instructive parable of the vine and the branches. I am the vine, you are the branches.
He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth
much fruit. For without me, without me, you
can do nothing. And Jacob's next words seem so
very typical. He washed his garments in wine,
and his clothes in the blood of grapes. Christ went to Gethsemane's
garden, and there the blood of grapes was upon the true vine.
This no doubt refers to the bloody sweat that came from every pore
of his sacred body. Oh, I'm telling you, friends,
so much so that his garments appear as though they'd been
washed in wine. And then you consider, after
that terrible bloodbath, how does he look upon Calvary's cross? Jacob's prophecy claims his eyes
shall be red with wine and his teeth white with milk. His eyes
were red with wine, but it was the red wine of his own precious
blood that flowed from his thorn-crowned brow, flowed into his eyes that
looked upon compassion upon the ones for whom he died. And His
white teeth here seem to suggest the spotless purity of the Son
of God, even when He who knew no sin was made to be sin for
us, that He might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
And oh, how we should praise our blessed Savior in surety,
who's still the fairest of the fair, even when His face was
marred, His visage was so marred that He didn't even resemble
a man. Oh, He's still beautiful, fair in the eyes of His beloved. So, let's humbly bow before Him. Let us gratefully adore Him. It's our reasonable thing to
do, our reasonable service. When we remember that He humbled
Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross, what does that mean? That means He died the death
that you and I should have died. But that wasn't the end of Him.
He was buried and the third day He rose again and after a tarrying
while with His disciples, He ascended to the Father and to
our Father. He ascended to His God and to
our God. I have to add that because of
what He did, He is our Father, He is our God. And He, the Lion
of the tribe of Judah, He's coming back again to glorify His saints
and to be admired and praised by all who believe in Him. Trust me, friends, truly Christ
is He whom all His brethren, all God's elect children, all
the redeemed of the Lord will praise now and forevermore. He's
worthy of our praise. Rejoice, dear believer, the Lion
of the tribe of Judah has prevailed to open up the Book of Life.
He's taken the Book out of the right hand of Him that's set
upon the throne. What does that mean? That means
He's God. Equal with God in every way. And He's redeemed us to
God by His own blood. And He's made unto us He's made
unto us our God, kings and priests, and we shall reign on the new
earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Well, what are His brethren gonna
do? What are the Father's children gonna do? Again, verse eight.
And as His brethren and as His Father's children, we shall bow
down before Him. That's what we're gonna do. We're
gonna bow before Him, now and forever. Oh, may God enable us
by His grace do so.