Turn to Genesis chapter 49. Genesis chapter 49. I'm just going to look at Judah
this morning. And in looking at Judah, we're
going to look at our greater Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Look in verse 8. Judah, thou
art he whom thy brethren shall praise. Thy hand shall be in
the neck of thine enemies. Thy father's children shall bow
down before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp. 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. 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, binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's
coat unto the choice vine. He washed his garments in wine,
and his clothes in the blood of grapes. His eyes shall be
red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. Now Judah, Judah
was the fourth son of Jacob. He was a man that was gifted
without doubt in speaking because he, he interceded. He's the one who interceded with
his father to let Benjamin go with him to Egypt. And then when
he was in Egypt, he interceded for Benjamin with Joseph over
that silver cup. He's a man that was gifted in
interceding. His name means praise. And this
is what got my attention is his name. The name of Judah means
praise. Now the lesson is about is not
about Judah himself, but it's about the Lord Jesus Christ,
the anti-type of Judah. The Lord Jesus Christ is worthy,
and I want us to see this this morning, how that he's worthy
of all praise, glory, and honor. There are a lot of things that
we can do too much of, a lot of things. But to worship and
to praise and to honor the Lord Jesus Christ, we can never do
too much of. We can never worship Him too
much. We can never love Him too much.
We can never give unto Him the glory and honor due unto His
name too much. We can never speak of Him too
much. He's worthy. He's worthy of our
praise. Listen in Revelation 5.12. Listen
to what they say in heaven. Same with a loud voice. Worthy
is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and
wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. That's
what they say of Him in heaven. He's worthy. Worthy is the Lamb. Now he says here in verse 8,
"...Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise." Jesus Christ is worthy of our
praise because of the uniqueness of His person. He's the God-man. He's God in human flesh. It is
written in 1 Timothy 3.16, and without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. God came into this world and
took upon Him flesh. God Almighty. The One who said,
let there be light. The One who created all things
became flesh. He was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory.
That man is God. And then we praise Him in the
beauty of His holiness. It is written in 1 Samuel 2 verse
2, There is none holy as the Lord. There is none beside Thee,
neither is there any rock like our God. There's none to be compared to
the Lord Jesus Christ who is our God. It is written in Isaiah 6, 3.
And one cried to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the
Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his
glory. Now you have to have different
eyes than the ones you were born with to see that. But if God
has given you eyes, if he's given me eyes of faith to see, we see
God's glory. in all that exists, don't we?
We see God's glory in all that exists. We do not ascribe any
part of creation, whether it's the creation we see or the creation
of a new creature in Christ Jesus, we do not ascribe any of that
to anyone else or anything else but God Himself. It belongs to
Him. All of it belongs to Him. All
the glory belongs to Him. And then he is to be praised
for his great work of redemption. You are purchased people. Think
about that. Give it sealer. Pause and think
about that. God has purchased you. God has
purchased me. I've been bought with a price.
You've been bought with a price. That's why the scripture says,
you're not your own. I'm glad I'm not my own. We've been bought with a price.
Listen to Galatians 3.13. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, be made a curse for us, for it is written,
Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. But Christ hath redeemed
us. He bought us. He's purchased
us. He's worthy to be praised because
of the great work of redemption. He has redeemed a people. Our
Lord did not make redemption a possibility, He made it an
absolute. And then He's to be praised for
His intercession for us. Listen here in Romans 8.34, Who
is He that condemneth? Who is He that can condemn you?
You who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Who is He that can condemn
you? It is Christ that died, He died
for you. He didn't just die, He died for
you. He died in your place, as your
substitute. It is Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also makes intercession for us. He not only died for us, He intercedes
for us. He said in one place, Father,
I know that you always hear me. Whatever he intercedes for us,
he is always heard. And he always gets what he prays
for, doesn't he? That's why he said, I pray not
for the world. If he had, he'd get it. He said, I pray for them
thou has given me. Thine they were and you gave
them to me. These are the ones I pray for. These are the ones
I intercede for. When you and I, we go throughout
the day, we go throughout our work, our business, whatever
it is we're doing, and our thoughts are on that and are not on Christ,
but you know his thoughts are never off of us. His thoughts are never off of
any of his children at any given time. Any given time, his thoughts
are never off of them. Always thinking of them. David
said, Thy thoughts to us cannot be reckoned up in order. The
Scripture says that the hairs of your very head, our Lord said
this, the very hairs of your head are numbered. We don't know that. We have no
idea how many hairs on our head. But the Lord can tell, He can
tell the very hairs of every one of His children how many
is on their head. And then He's to be praised for
He has conquered all our enemies. Romans 8, 33, Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? Now you know and I know we're
chargeable, aren't we? Well, you know and I know we
sin. I mean, every day I can be charged
with enough to send me to hell. Every day. And yet He says here,
"...who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?" He
has so completely redeemed and paid the price and removed our
sins that there is absolutely nothing that we can be charged
with. "...who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies." It
is God who justifies them. Now, if God justifies me, listen,
who can condemn me? Who's greater than God? Is there
any above God? Is there any who has authority
over God? He's the end. The old saying goes, the buck
stops here. It stops with Him. And if He says, justified, nothing
and no one can charge me. Nothing will stick. We praise our Lord for all that
He's done for us. As the song goes, praise Him,
praise Him, Jesus our blessed Redeemer. Praise Him, praise
Him. It says in Psalm 113, that we
are to praise Him from, listen, the rising of the sun until the
going down of the same. The Lord's name is to be praised.
You know what that's saying? From the time you get up out
of bed in the morning, and you go throughout the day, and the
time when the sun sets, you and I ought to be praising Him, giving Him the glory that's due
unto His name. Is that asking too much? To praise
our Creator, to praise our Redeemer, to praise our Savior, It is written in Psalm 22, 23,
"'Ye that fear the Lord, praise Him.'" And I know this, you that
fear the Lord, you will praise Him. If you really fear the Lord,
if you have a right fear of God, you'll praise Him. "'Ye that
fear the Lord, praise Him. O ye the seed of Jacob, glorify
Him.'" Do you believe God? Do you believe the Gospel? You
are the seed of Jacob. you are the promised seed of
Abraham. Therefore glorify him and fear
him, all ye the seed of Israel." And then he says here, Jacob
goes on to say, "...thy hand shall be in the neck of thine
enemies." This shows our Lord's power over all. Our Lord has many enemies, but
His hand is on the neck of His enemies, and they will do just
as He wills for them to do, whether they like it or not. They're
going to do just as He wills for them to do. He said, your
hand is on the neck of your enemies. Have you ever seen a lion catch
its prey? You can see anything, a wolf.
What do they go for? They go for the throat, don't
they? They go for the neck. They get them by the neck. That's
what he's saying. He says, you have your enemies
by the neck or by the throat. What can they do? Powerless. They're powerless. Thy father's
children, he says, shall bow down before thee. He shall have
the praise of all the redeemed. all of God's children shall be
made willing in the day of His power, and they will willingly
bow down and give Him the praise. But not only all of God's children
will praise Him, but every tongue is gonna confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Listen to Philippians
over here. I've got it marked. Let me see
where it's at. Philippians chapter... 2. Listen to verse 9-11. Listen
to this. 2. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee, willing and unwilling, every
knee should bow, of things in heaven, things in earth, and
things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." Every tongue
is going to confess, and every knee is going to bow and confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father,
whether they like it or not. Now some are going to be made
willing to do it, and those who are unwilling to do it are going
to do it anyway. They're going to confess anyway
that Jesus Christ is Lord, and they're going to do it to the
glory of God the Father. Thy hand shall be in the neck
of thine enemies, and thy father's children shall bow down before
thee. This is a prophecy that he's given of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the greater Judah. Judah, he says, is a lion's whelp. I thought of Isaiah 53. He shall grow up as a tender
plant. He came into this world, even though he's a lion of the
tribe of Judah, he came into this world as a babe. Laid him
in a manger. He grew up before the Lord. He's
a lion's wealth, but listen, no less a lion, but no less a
lion. This speaks of his strength from
his birth. He was born king. Where is he that is born king
of the Jews? He didn't become a king later
as he grew up. He was born king. Laying in that
manger is the king of Israel. He's the king. And he says here,
"'And from the prey, my son, thou art gone up.'" Our Lord
was the one victorious at Calvary. Not Satan, not men. Who was the real prey at Calvary?
It wasn't Christ. He was victorious. He was winning.
He was winning. He got the victory. He got the
victory. When he cried, "'It's finished!'
And he gave up the ghost, and he was buried, and he rose again
the third day, and he ascended on high. And what does it say
when he ascended on high? He led captivity captive. He ruled and overruled all of
principalities and powers. Oh, he said, from the prey, my
son, thou art gone up. risen victorious. When they thought
they had got him, he rose victorious from the grave. I just quoted a little bit of
it in Colossians 2.15. And having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it. He made a show of them openly. It's very clear who won. It's
very clear who got the victory, the Lord Jesus Christ. It says
in 1 Peter 3.22, "...who is gone into heaven and is on the right
hand of God, angels and authorities and powers being made subject
unto him. All the angelic hosts, not just
the elect angels, but the fallen angels, Satan, all principalities,
all powers on this earth, every leader on this earth, every leader
in a community, everyone is subject to the Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone. There's not someone over in a
town or even another country that's out of control. It's under his control. angels,
authorities, powers being made subject unto Him. But it speaks here of Him, it
says He stooped down. He stooped down. Listen, in order
for Him to become victorious, in order for Him to redeem us,
the first thing He had to do was come into this world. He
had to stoop down and become like unto us, bone of our bone
and flesh of our flesh. He had to stoop down. What condescending
grace! It says in Philippians 2.5, Let
this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. This mind,
this attitude, this spirit, this spirit, this attitude, who being
in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation, He did not try to get a reputation.
How many times did he perform a miracle or cast out a demon
and he said, don't tell anybody? How many times did he do something
and he said, don't tell no one? Because he didn't come into this
world to get a reputation. He came to die. He came to die. He made himself with no reputation.
Now that's a hard thing to do for us. It was not a hard thing
to do for him. It's a hard thing to do to try
not to give yourself a reputation. Made himself with no reputation,
took upon him the form of a servant. He who is God became a servant
and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Now, let this mind be in you. Let this same attitude that was
in him be in you. He stooped down. Seeing that
our Lord stooped down, we should have no problem stooping down.
We should have no problem with that. And it says, He couched
as a lion and as an old lion, who shall rouse Him up? In other
words, who shall challenge Him? Who shall challenge our Lord?
In any area, who shall challenge Him? But it says here, he couched
as a lion, as an old lion. Remember, he's a lion's whelp,
and now he's the old lion. He's the child born. He's also now the son given. He's the ancient of day, as well
as the infinite of days. He was an infinite one time,
but he's also the ancient of days. He's the old lion. Who shall challenge Him?" He's
God. And like an old lion, He patiently
waits until it's time to pounce. Who will frighten the King of
glory? Then He says here in verse 10,
the scepter, the sovereignty. That's what he's speaking of
here. The sovereignty, the power, and the dominion shall not depart
from Judah. This is where the Jews get their
name from, Judah, the Jews. It shall not depart from Judah,
nor a lawgiver, authority, judgment, government, shall not depart
from Judah, or a lawgiver, between his feet, until Shallow comes. and unto him shall the gathering
of the people be." Here's a prophecy that the scepter would not depart
from Judah until the Lord Jesus Christ came. Now, he says, so Shiloh comes.
Here's what Shiloh means. First of all, it means sent.
Christ said, The Father sent me. He is the sent one. It also means son. He is the
Son of God. It also means the one to whom
it belongs. All things belong to Him. It
all belongs to Him. It also means peace is prosperous. He shall divide the spoil with
the strong. He's prosperous. In Isaiah 53. He shall be prosperous. He'll
divide the spoil with the strong. The Lord Jesus Christ is all
these. He's our Shallow Prince of Peace. The Sent One. the son of God, the one to whom
it all belongs. He's shallow. Binding his foal
into the vine and his asses cold into the choice vine. You remember
when Christ came into town, when he rode into town, he rode into
town on the foal of an ass. And then there in John 15, he
said, I am the vine. I'm the vine, you're the branches.
I'm the vine." All this is prophecy being fulfilled of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And it says, "...He washed His
garments in wine, and His clothes in the blood of grapes." This
has to do with His crucifixion. Our Lord was crucified. His blood was shed. It was shed. And his eyes shall be red with
wine, and his teeth white with milk." Someone said this concerning
this, his eyes shall be red with wine, says he was intoxicated
with the wrath of God. He was consumed with the wrath
of God. God's wrath was taken out on
him. He was, someone said, he was
intoxicated with the wrath of God, yet he remained spotless,
the Lamb of God, and his teeth white as milk. He remained spotless. He who was made to be sin for
us, he who knew no sin was made to be sin for us. Now, that's
too deep for me. That's too deep for me to try
to explain and dissect. That's deep. He was made to be
sin for me, yet at the same time, He was a spotless Lamb of God. He knew no sin. He knew no sin. Yet He was made to be sin for
me. Only God, now listen, only God can make such a transaction.
Only God can do that. Judah. His name means praise. And truly
our greater Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ, deserves from the rising
of the sun to the setting of the sun, He deserves our praise
day by day until He takes us home.