Good morning. Turn with me, if
you would, to Ephesians chapter 2. While you're turning, I have
a couple of announcements. We have a number of the congregation
that are out. Isaac and Claire's wedding, which
I understand just went real well yesterday. Luke told me that
the drive back, you lose an hour. We have a number of the congregation
traveling today, so if you keep them in prayer, I know we have
people traveling for the fourth kind of all over. And finally,
there is an updated church directory on the back table there in the
vestibule. On the glass table, there's three copies. So if you'll
check one of those copies, we made a few copies so there's
not a line all around one. If you'll just check your information
on that directory to make sure that it's correct. Typos are
real easy or things have been updated. Just make the change
right on the directory with the pen there if anything needs to
be changed. Ephesians chapter 2. And you
hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein
in time past he walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also
we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But
God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved
us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ. By grace ye are saved. He hath
quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised us up together,
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Then
in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For
by grace are you saved through faith. And that not of yourselves
is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. We stand together for call to worship. Page two of your bulletin. Come ye saints that fire and
wonder, Jesus matchless love adore. Sing for Sinai's awful
thunder, Shall upon thee burst no more. Sing, though sins are
black and large, Sing for Jesus by His dying. Set you free from every charge. Set you free from every charge. Sing those sins and carnal reason,
Pain would stop the joyful sound. Sing and count it highest reason,
For a saint to hold his tongue. Whose holy calling Your election
surely shows. Sing, nor fear a final failing,
Jesus' love no changes knows. Sing, for you shall heaven inherit,
Sing, and e'er the song be done. Sing, for He alone is worth it,
He our sins did all atone. Sing a love among God's people
in your heart when all alone. Sing to Father, Son, and Spirit,
one in three and three in one. Thank you. You may be seated. Turn now to page 46, 46 in our
red book. Oh, for a thousand tongues to
sing my great Redeemer's praise! The glories of my God and King,
the triumphs of His praise! My last grace is, Master and
my God, assist me to proclaim, to spread through all the earth
abroad the honors of thy name. Jesus, the name that charms our
fears, that bids our sorrows cease, His life and health and peace. He breaks the power of cancelled
sin. He sets the prisoner free. His blood can make the palace
clean, His blood availed for me. Hear Him, ye deaf, His praise
ye dumb, Your loosened tongues, Be blind, behold, your Savior
come, and leave me lame for joy. Glory to God, and praise and
love be ever, ever. Thy saints below and saints above,
The Church in earth and heaven. It's my pleasure this morning
to announce, for those of you that haven't met Aaron Greenleaf,
he's our speaker today. He brought a Christ-honoring,
God-glorifying Sunday School message. We look forward to the
message today as well. Aaron's from Todd's Road Grace
Church and isn't a stranger to many of us. We're just thrilled
to have you and Rob here. Rob, we're glad you're here with
us. We look forward to the message.
We're going to sing another song. Mike's going to have a special,
and then after the special, Aaron, if you'd come preach to us. And
before we do that, if we could pray together. Our Father, it's with reverence
and humility that we come before your throne, your almighty, spectacular,
glorious throne. And it's also with boldness in
Christ, in Christ, that we can come boldly before that throne,
that sovereign throne, that throne of justice. Make our petitions known and
request mercy for justice's sake because of Christ. We have much
to be thankful for. Thank you for this time that
we have together as a family, as a congregation. Thank you
for drawing us here today. Thank you for not leaving us
to ourselves. Thank you for not leaving us strangers, strangers
to grace, strangers to Christ, but rather making us children,
making us part of the body. We have much to be thankful for.
Words can't even begin. Thank you, Father. Thank you
for drawing us here at this time that we have together. We pray
that this time will be honoring to you and a worthwhile time. You've instructed us to make
our petitions known, and we do, Father. We pray for your will,
that in your will you heal those that are sick, that are undergoing
trial, and be with them, whatever that trial may be. Those that
are brokenhearted or cold of heart or wander, as we're so
prone to do, Father, that you be with us and keep us cleaving
only to you. only to you and always to you.
Let Christ's name be proclaimed here in spirit and in truth in
this place today. Be with our brother Aaron. Give
him liberty to deliver the message that you've laid on his heart.
And be with us who listen, that the word may be received according
to your will. We pray this thankfully in Christ's
name and for his sake. Amen. You will locate your old school
hymnal. Old school hymnal. Page 154. I think you'll know
the song. It's Amazing Grace, but they've
got some different verses in the old school hymnal they don't
have in the Red Book. I wanted you to sing along with
me. We'll learn some of these new
verses. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. Was blind, but now I see. T'was grace that taught my heart
to fear, And grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed. Through many dangers, foils and
snares, I have already come. Tis grace hath brought We save
the star, and grace will lead me home. The Lord has promised good to
me. His word my hope secures. my shield and portion me as long
as life endures. Yea, when this flesh and heart
shall fail, and mortal life shall cease, I shall persist within
the veil. A life of joy and peace The world shall soon to ruin
go, the sun forbear to shine. I'll sing this by memory We've no less days to sing God's
praise than when we've first begun. Good morning, everybody. I'm
going to turn your Bibles to 1 Chronicles chapter 4. I want to take the time to thank
you all for having me and Rob. Everybody's always so warm and
inviting when we come here. It's good to see old friends
too. 1 Chronicles chapter 4. I want
you to pick up in verse 9. Verses 9 and 10 is going to be
our text for this morning. Verse 9. And Jabez was more honorable
than his brethren. And his mother called his name
Jabez, saying, Because I bear him with sorrow. And Jabez called
on the God of Israel, saying, O that thou 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. And God granted him that which
he requested. Now, if you know anything about
the book of First Chronicles, the first nine chapters are devoted
mainly to a genealogy. It is literally for nine chapters,
he begat him and he begat him and he begat him all the way
through. Except for here in chapter four,
where the scripture just pauses for a moment. It just stops in
the genealogy to mention this man Jabez and a prayer he offered
unto the Lord. And what's interesting is, This
is the only time in Scripture this man is mentioned. We actually
get very little information about him. It seems he comes from the
family that's in the verse up, which is the family of Ahariel.
We don't know anything about them. This man truly is a mystery. This is the only time he's mentioned.
What caught my attention in this passage of Scripture were the
last eight words here. Read them with me. And God granted him
that which he requested. Now I want to speak very simple
to you for a second. I want you to consider something
just for a moment. It's very, very simple. There really is a God in heaven. He really exists. As much as
this world would like to pretend He does not, He really does exist. There really is a God in heaven.
And He has many, many attributes. There's many things. We could
go on for days talking about His attributes. But I'm going to give you two
right now. Two of His attributes. Here's the first one. He is absolutely
and utterly sovereign. He is in control of everyone
and everything and every circumstance at all times and nothing happens
outside of His will and Him giving the go-ahead and Him moving the
pieces around. He is absolutely and utterly
sovereign in all things. He's sovereign. Here's the next
thing I want you to know about Him. He's omnipotent. What that means is
he is all powerful. In fact, he's the source of all
power, which means if there is another entity that has any power,
it is simply because the Lord gave him that power and he can
take it back whenever he wants. This is how powerful he is. For
the Lord to have a nemesis, to have a rival, to have an enemy
stand up against him, he has to empower that creature to stand
up against him. He has to give the creature that
power to stand up against him. And he does it for this reason,
simply so he can raise him up and he can smack him back down
so he can show everyone how powerful he is. This is exactly what he
did with Pharaoh. He said, for this cause I've
raised you up and I might make my power known. So everybody
knows that there's a God in Israel. I've raised you up and I'm going
to put you back down. He's absolutely sovereign. He's 100% omnipotent. He has all power. None can stay
his hand. Nobody can stop him. And nobody
has the right to say unto him, what doeth that? That's who he
is. Now, he really exists. This is who he is, he's sovereign,
and he's omnipotent. I want you to consider this for a moment.
He actually hears the prayers of his people. He is in the business of ruling
and reigning and doing everything for his own glory and for the
glory of his son. And while he's doing all that, when he hears
the cry of one of his people, he stops. Omniscience and omnipotence
stops, and it bends down and it lends an attentive ear to
the cry of one of his people. This is who he is. This is what
he does. He hears the cries of his people.
And this is the amazing part. He grants requests. He hears
the cries of his people, and he actually acts on that. Omnipotence
and sovereignty acts on that, and he actually grants requests.
Now, I recognize that sometimes the answer is no. And that's
a blessing. One of two things is true. Either
what we've asked for is not good for us, or it's not going to
happen right now. It's going to be later on. Many times we're
met with silence, but that is a blessing in and of itself.
But this is God, who exists, who is sovereign, who is omnipotent.
He actually hears the prayers of his people, and he actually
grants requests. Now, if you or I need a stronger
motivation to pray, I don't think I can find one than what I just
gave you right there. I have four thoughts on this
thing of prayer. I think you can identify with this. These
are things I want concerning prayer. The first one is found
here. I want you to look at Ezekiel chapter 36. Ezekiel chapter 36. When we read this passage of
scripture, I want you to notice two phrases. The first phrase
is this, I will. Second phrase is this, ye shall. Verse 25, Ezekiel chapter 36. Then will I sprinkle clean water
upon you, and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness, and
from all your idols will I cleanse you. Now, is there any confusion
about who's going to do the cleansing here? And is there any confusion
about what's going to happen when he cleanses? Ye shall. Ye
shall be clean. You see, the Lord never tries
to do anything. He simply imposes his will. And the object on which
he imposes his will It responds with its shout. That's the way
it is. Look at verse 26. A new heart
also will I give you. And a new spirit will I put within
you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh.
And I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit
within you. And cause you to walk in my statutes. And ye shall
keep my judgments and do them. He's going to give a new heart.
He's going to take out that stony heart of flesh. And here's what
you're going to do. You're going to walk in his statutes and keep his
judgments and do them. He will and he shall, he's imposing
his will. Verse 28, and he shall dwell
on the land that I gave to your fathers and he shall be my people
and I will be your God. I will also save you from all
your uncleanness and I will call for the corn and I will increase
it and lay no famine upon you. Who's going to do the saving?
He says, I will. And what will we be? Home safe. Now look over here in verse 37. Thus saith the Lord God, I will
yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it
for them. I will increase them with men
like a flock. Now everything the Lord is going
to do for you and he is going to do for me. Now we can use
two phrases here interchangeably, what he has done and what he
will do. Because everything with him is without time. As soon
as he purposes it, it is. He does not change, therefore
his purposes cannot change. And no one can stop him. So whatever
he has purposed in eternity past, it's already done. He's the lamb
slain before the foundation of the world. The salvation of all
God's elect were accomplished before there was ever a sinner.
Everything he's going to do for us, he's going to cause us to
ask for it. So here's the first thing I want.
I want the Lord to lay on my heart, to cause me to ask for
those things. that he is going to do for me.
Let's cut to the chase. What is it that you're going
to do for me, cause me to ask for those things that I'm not
asking for for those things. And if you think about it concerning
this thing of salvation, the believer's life is spent asking
for things that he already has. Now I want you to think about
your daily prayer. I'm going to share what I'm on with you.
Every day I ask for mercy. I am a guilty sinner and from
a holy and sovereign God with a perfect sense of justice and
what I need is for him to withhold from me what I rightfully deserve.
Have mercy upon me." Now, if a man begs for mercy, if a man
ever finds himself as a guilty sinner before a holy and just
God, worthy of punishment and nothing more, did that come naturally?
It takes mercy to cry for mercy. Lord, save me. Save me from myself,
save me from my sins, and save me from you. Your perfect sense
of justice must be honored. Save me. Do it all. Do it all
by yourself. Don't leave anything undone.
Don't leave anything up to me, because if you do, it won't get
done, because I can't. Save me. Save me by your grace. Save me
for Christ's sake. Who prays that prayer? Does a
natural man pray that prayer? Believers' life is spent asking
for those things. that the Lord has already gone for. Second
thing, I want to be heard. The public and the Pharisee were
in the temple. So the Pharisee stood and he prayed thus with
himself. His prayers didn't go any higher
than the ceiling. I don't want that. I want the Lord to actually
bend down and lend that ear of omnipotence and hear my cry.
And he does. He hears every one of his people. But to understand
why, you have to understand the gospel. Now, Jonathan prayed
just a minute ago. When he prayed, it was some variant
of this, I forget which one it was, he asked these things in
Christ's name. For Christ's sake, we ask these
things. Now, we do that at Todd's Road.
Before every message, a man gets up, he reads the scripture and
he prays, and all the prayers end with some variant of that.
For Christ's sake, we ask these things. In his name, we ask these
things. Why does he say that? Is that a magic formula? Is that
a good saying? No. It's because of this, because
of John 16, 23. The Lord said, verily, verily, I say unto you,
whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you."
Now what does that mean, to ask in his name? When the disciples
ask the Lord to teach us to pray, how did he tell them to begin?
He said, you begin with our Father which art in heaven. Don't pray
as a me. Don't pray as an individual.
You pray as a we, confessing your union with the Lord Jesus
Christ. And this is our hope. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
mediator, our great high priest. And he takes our prayers as feeble
and as sinful and as self-serving as they are, and he presents
them before his father. And the father hears those prayers,
and they have a sweet-smelling savor to his father because of
who brings them. Because his son, in whom he is
well-pleased, he brings them, and he lends them an ear for
Christ's sake. Now, that's our hope and our
prayer. But this is also our hope and salvation. That the
Lord Jesus Christ is my great high priest. He is my mediator.
Now understand this. You and I cannot come into the
presence of God the Father on our own. Not and live. Now you
can ask King Uzziah. King Uzziah came into the temple.
He decided, I'm the king. I don't need a priest. I can
offer incense on my own. He bypassed the priest. He came
before God. The Lord smote him right there
with leprosy. He died shortly after that. And that is a simple
teaching. That you and I are sinners. We cannot come into
the presence of the Father on our own, not in lieu. We cannot
be accepted. We must have a great high priest.
We must have someone who has power with God, a mediator, a
go-between, that makes intercession for us. And this is our hope,
that Lord Jesus Christ goes to His Father. Because of our union
with Him, we go to in Him. And all the favor, and all the
love, and all the respect that the Father shows His Son, He
shows to His people that were in Him, because of who He is
and what He did. Now Jabez in this story is preeminently
a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, our mediator. I want to show
you that. Turn back to 1 Chronicles 4 and look at verse 1. Chapter 4 verse 1 begins with
the sons of Judah. Now chapter 4 is a genealogy
of the tribe of Judah. That includes Jabez. Who else
was from the tribe of Judah? The Lord Jesus Christ. He is
from the kingly tribe, the ruling tribe, the tribe of Judah. Go
to verse 9. And Jabez was more honorable
than his brethren. Jabez is a type of the Lord Jesus
Christ. There is one who is more honorable than his brethren.
Now, the elect are the brethren of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
I quoted this in Sunday School, but I'm going to do it again. Well,
we'll talk about it in any case. We are his brethren, his younger
brethren, all conformed to his image. That's who we are. And
we are honorable to the Father because we are in Christ. But
understand this, there is one who had to earn that honor. That
honor is bestowed upon us. We have that honor in Christ,
but somebody had to earn that honor. The Lord Jesus Christ
earned that honor. When he walked on this earth, when he kept God's
holy law completely, when he put away the sins of his people
and actually accomplished their salvation, he earned that honor.
And so he is more honorable than his brethren. This is Christ.
Keep on reading in verse 9. And Jabez was more honorable
than his brethren. And his mother called his name
Jabez, saying, because I bear him with sorrow. Lord Jesus Christ
was the man of sorrows. In what respect? He came to his
own, his own accepted or not. But it's much worse than that,
much worse than that. In Gethsemane's garden, the sins of all God's
elect were made to be the Lord Jesus Christ. They were placed
on him. He bore those sins in his body and they actually became
his. Now, if there's anything that I am truly sorrowful about,
it is the fact that I am not very sorry about sin, if I'm
being honest. It does not affect me the way
it should. I do not see it for what it really is. When you have
that new man, that new man is going to wrestle with that old
man. And there is some sorrow for sin, but I'm used to it.
I have lived this entire life for close to 37 years as a sinner,
and I'm used to it. And if there's a chief sorrow
I have is that I am not very sorry about my sin. I was born
this way. I'm used to it. This man knew
no sin. He had no sin. He did no sin.
He thought no sin. He was spotless lamb, blameless, and he was made
sin. He is the only one who truly
knows how bad sin really is. This holy one who knew no sin,
he was made the sin of his people. That's his first sorrow. And
here's his second sorrow. On that cross, when he was suffering
and dying as a sinner's substitute, those sins being laid upon him,
them being his own, he did not have his father's smile. He did
not have his father's blessing. The entire time he walked on
this earth, in constant communion with his father, constantly having
the favor of his father. His father was well pleased with
him at all times. But now he's found sin on him. And his father
turns his back on him. He forsakes him. And there is
nothing but wrath falling down upon him. The wrath that was
reserved for everyone to be elected, fell upon Christ. That is the
sorrow he knew in this world. He's more honorable than his
brethren. He's a man of sorrows. And this is it. Jabez made a
prayer to the Lord. And the last eight words again
in verse 10. And God granted him that which he requested. Lord Jesus Christ, our great
high priest, our mediator. He goes to his father and he
makes intercession for everyone for whom he died. And he demands
the salvation of all God's elect. He's not going there making a
request. He makes a demand because what he is asking for, he has
earned. This is not a favor he's asking. No, he's asking to get
what he has earned. He shows his father the scars
in his hands. in his feet, and he raises his
shirt and shows him the spear mark in his side. He said, give
me what I have earned. And the father always has the
same thing to say, yes. I'm satisfied. I'm going to give
you exactly what you've earned. They're all saved. They have
to be. I find a home. Now, third thing I want in prayer. I want the Lord's will to be
done. and I want to be given the grace to bow to his will,
whatever it may be. This is my constant prayer. Lord, whatever
your will is, cause my will to fall right in line with that.
Whatever it is, whatever you love, cause me to love that.
Whatever you hate, cause me to hate that. Whatever you do, make me fine
with that, because you're on your throne, you're ruling and
reigning, you're doing what's right, what's best, what's fair. You're
doing it to glorify yourself, and you're doing it for my good.
Make me fine with whatever you do. I want your will to be done,
and I want to be given the grace to bow to it, whatever it may
be. Cause my will to align right up in yours. But this teaches
us something about how we should come to Christ. And if you look
at your text, look at verse 10. Jabez actually intimates this.
And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, O that thou wouldest
bless me indeed. Now, if you have a marginal reading
there, look over there. It says, if thou wilt. Jabez's prayer is all based on
this. Lord, your will be done in everything. May your will
be done. Now there's another man who came to the Lord in a
similar manner. Turn over to Matthew chapter 8. You'll be familiar with him. Matthew chapter 8 and verse 1.
This is the Lord Jesus Christ that's referencing. When he was come down from the
mountain, great multitudes followed him. And behold, there came a
leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou can
make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand
and touched him, saying, I will be thou clean. And immediately,
his leprosy was cleansed. Now, we can learn a lot from
this man concerning how we come to Christ. Number one, in Luke's
account, it says that this man was full of leprosy. And that
means he did not have a patch of clean skin on him anywhere.
From the top of his head to the sole of his foot, it was nothing
but leprosy through and through. And that was it. And that's a
great type of sin. Now, let's boil this down. When
is a man going to come to Christ and beg for mercy? When he's
called. Well, you know when he's going
to come and he's going to beg mercy? It is only until he's
a sinner from the top of his head to the sole of his foot,
and there's not a patch of clean skin on him anywhere. As long
as we've got just the smallest patch of clean skin, something
spotless, even the smallest centimeter of it, it will drive us to the
law, and we will hang all our hopes of salvation on that little
patch of clean skin. It's until the Lord reveals to
you, reveals to me, that we are nothing but sin, the top of our
head to the sole of our foot. Then we'll come begging mercy.
And that's it. Paul said this. said, I know
whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is able to
keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. You
know what used to give me trouble with that? That I committed unto
him. Have I committed enough? Am I
committing enough? Have I done that? Let's make
this real simple. You know when you're going to
commit to Christ? Lock, stock and barrel when you're going
to commit to Christ. It's very simple. It's when you've got nowhere else to go
and no one else to turn to. Until he's everything, until
you're either going to have Christ, and he's going to accomplish
your salvation, or you're going to die in your sins. Until that's it,
he won't come to Christ. But until that's it, and you've
got nowhere else to go, and no one else to turn to, commitment
becomes easy. Come to Christ or die. That's it. This man was
full of leprosy. This man worshipped the Lord
prior to the Lord doing anything for him. He came to the Lord,
and he said, you're the Lord. And he fell down, and he worshipped.
And the Lord did not render judgment. He did not say, I'm gonna make
you clean, don't worry. He simply fell down to the Lord's feet
and he worshipped him for who he was outside of knowing whether
the Lord would do anything for him or not. This thing of worship
must be settled. Before we're gonna talk about
what the Lord's gonna do for you and me or anything like that, this
thing of worship must be settled. He is the Lord, his attributes
are wonderful, what he has done is amazing, and he is to be worshipped
outside what he does for you and me. Second thing, or third
thing, This man knew somebody's will mattered, and he knew it
wasn't his own. He said, Lord, if you will, you
can. I don't have any claims on you.
This sinful state that I'm in, this is my fault. I brought myself
here. I've done this. This is my fault.
You don't have to do anything for me. I've got no claims on
you. I sent those away long, long ago. But if you're willing,
you can. And that's that man's faith.
He had confidence in the Lord's ability. I think one of the,
I hate to use the word happy, but it's probably the best word
to use. The happiest times of my life is when God and I was talking
about the difference between faith and assurance. He said,
assurance is this, it's believing that you're saved. Because faith
is this, having confidence in the Lord's ability. I never saw
those differences before. When I saw that, I wavered daily
as what the Lord has done, he's done for me. That wavers daily.
You know what doesn't waver for me? Whether he's able. He's the
Lord. He is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's the sovereign. He's the omnipotent. Whatever he purposes to do, he
does. And you know what? He can save a man, even as sinful
and as evil as me. But I've knocked no claims on
him whatsoever. If he's willing, he can. No doubt about that.
But I love this. I love how consistent the Lord's
character is. This man came this way, and the
Lord said, I will. And everybody who comes this
way, nothing but a sinner, covered head-to-toe, worshiping Him for
who He is, begging mercy that you don't deserve, fully confident
in His ability, I would be that kind of man. He does that every
single time. He does not change. Last thing, turn over to Luke
chapter 11. Fourthly, I want the Lord to
give me the grace to be persistent in coming. Luke chapter 11. Now the disciples had just asked
the Lord to teach us to pray, and he gave them the Lord's Prayer,
and then he followed up with this parable. I want you to read it. Luke chapter
11, look at verse 5. And he said unto them, which
of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight,
and say unto him, friend, lend me three loaves? For a friend
of mine in his journey has come to me, and I have nothing to
set before him. And he from within shall answer and say, trouble
me not, the door is now shut and my children are with me in
bed. I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, though he will
not rise and give him because he is his friend, friendship
only goes so far, yet because of his importunity, he will rise
and give him as many as he needed. Now that word importunity, you
know what that means? It means a shameless persistence. a shameless
persistence. Have mercy on me. Save me, Lord, save me by your
grace. And you know what? That never gets old. And it never
wearies him. And it's not bothersome. In fact,
that's exactly how we're commanded to come, with importunity, with
a shameless persistence. I was listening to this recently.
Bruce Crabtree preached a message out of Genesis 32. And that's
where the Lord wrestled with Jacob all that long. And Bruce
asked a really interesting question. I like this. The Lord wrestled
with Jacob all night long. He said, turn me loose. Jacob
said, I won't eat gill until you bless me. The Lord touched
the hollow of his thigh, zapped his strength. He said, what's
your name? Jacob. Evil. Supplanter. Evil. Nothing good. Right? Bruce says
this. He goes, why did the Lord want
to wrestle with Jacob all night long? Why did he allow the back and
forth? Why the striving? Jacob is wrestling with omnipotence.
It's not like he's going to win. Why would the Lord allow that?
Why did he do that? Because he is a God who likes to wrestle
with his people. He enjoys the persistence. He enjoys the boldness. He hears that cry, I will not
let you go until you bless me. That confession of need. And
that's exactly what we see here. to be shameless in coming. And
you know what? I need mercy today. I need it
yesterday. I'm going to need it for the
sins of tomorrow. And so I'm going to ask every single day. I need to be saved. I need to
be saved yesterday. I need to be saved today. I need
to be saved tomorrow. And you know what? I'm going to ask.
And I'm going to give him absolutely no rest. And I love how this
says he's not going to give it to him because this is his friend.
Friendship only goes so far. It's because of his importunity
that he will give him no rest. So you know what? I'll give him
no rest. I want to be given that. Don't let me give you any rest.
Keep me constantly coming, shamelessly seeking your face, seeking your
blessings. Now I want to use the rest of
our time to talk about Jabez's prayer. There are four points
to it. Turn back to your text and look at verse 10. 1 Chronicles
4 verse 10. 1 Chronicles 4 verse 10, And Jabez
called on the God of Israel, saying, this is the first part,
O that thou wouldest bless me indeed. That's the first thing
he asked for. And enlarge my coast. That's the second thing
he asked for. And that thine hand might be
with me. The third. And that thou wouldest keep me
from evil, that it may not grieve me. The fourth. And God granted
him that which he requested. He asked for four things. Let's
look at them briefly. that that would have blessed
me indeed. Now the key word there is indeed.
Now, I'm a physical creature. I have physical needs in this
life. And you know what? I want the Lord's blessing in
every aspect of my life, in every responsibility. This life is
made up of primarily responsibilities. And every responsibility as a
husband, as a father, at my job, you're preaching this message.
I want the Lord's blessing in every single aspect of my life
because I know I can't do it. If you don't bless me, if you
don't give me the ability, give me the talents, give me whatever
is necessary, if you don't bless me, it will not happen. So I
ask Lord, bless me in every aspect of my life, in every responsibility,
bless me. But, there's more to the story. There is a blessing indeed. A blessing I must have. I must
have whatever believer must have. We'll look at it. Turn to Romans
4. There is a blessing indeed, a
blessing that I must have. Romans 4, look at verse 6. Even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works. Now there's the first part. Here's
the blessing indeed. Here's what I must have. I must
have the very righteousness of Jesus Christ. that spotless garment,
that perfect righteousness, that singular righteousness, the only
one, that I might have that without works, without me having to do
anything to earn it, to have it by grace. That is the first
blessing indeed. God is perfectly and utterly
just. The law must be honored in every way, shape, and form.
He's not going to sweep anything under the rug. The law must be
honored. Here's the first blessing indeed,
that I might have the very righteousness of Jesus Christ without having
to do anything to earn it, that I may have it by grace. Keep
on reading. Verse six, even as David also
described with the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth
righteousness without works saying, blessed are they whose iniquities
are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to
whom the Lord will not impute sin. How can that be? How can
my sin not be imputed to me? I did it. How can it not be? There's only one answer. It has
to not exist. This is the blessing indeed that
the Lord Jesus Christ bore my sins in his body on Calvary,
and he suffered the punishment, and he actually took those sins
away, and I bear no more. That's a blessing indeed, that
I would have the righteousness of Jesus Christ without works,
without me earning it. And then I would have no sin
because Christ already paid the debt. That's a blessing indeed.
Now here's the second thing he says. Jabez says, enlarge my
coast. It's his second prayer. And on
the surface, he is asking for more land. There's nothing wrong
with that. We're taught to pray about everything.
If there's something you want, bring it before the Lord. Make
your petitions known, Jonathan said. The answer may be no, as
we talked about, because what you're asking for isn't good
for you. But bring your petitions before the Lord. There's nothing
wrong with that. But there's a greater story here. A coast
is a boundary. It is a point that is impassable.
So you think about a prison, right? Prison's got walls. It's
got guards on the top. You've got men inside, and they
can't get out. They hit that concrete wall. It is a point
that is impassable. They can go no further. The way
I am born into this world and the way you are born into this
world, we have a coast. We have a point. That is impassable.
I said this in Sunday school, but I want to reiterate it. There
are spiritual demands that are laid upon us. You must believe
the gospel. You must believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and him alone. You must. You must love God.
You must love your brother and your sister in Christ. You must
be brought to repentance. You must have your mind changed
about who God is and who you are. And you know what? By nature,
you have a boundary. You cannot. You cannot believe. John 644, no man can come to
me, except the Father which has sent me to all. By nature, we
cannot. We have a boundary, a point that
is impassable. But this is our prayer. Lord,
enlarge my coast. Give me that new man. Give me
that new heart. That I can do those things. That
I can believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That I do have love for
him. That I do have love for his people. Change my mind. Change
my mind about who I am and who God is. my coast because I can't
do it, not by nature. Third thing he asked is that
thine hand might be with me. What he's asking for is the Lord's
presence. Be with me and be for me. I thought about that. That's
exactly what I want at all times. If there's something I could
ask for to have with me at all times, wherever the Lord's at, wherever
his presence is at, wherever I can detect it, That's where
I want to be. I want him to have his hand upon
me at all times. I want to have his presence, but I want to have
a knowledge that I have his presence. I want to be aware of it, because
that's where the boldness comes from. Whatever happens in this world,
if I know I have his presence and I have his favor, then everything's
fine. Wherever I find myself, that's fine. He'll be with me
and before me. But there's a greater teaching
here. I want you to remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Remember him with Nebuchadnezzar, right? Nebuchadnezzar makes an
idol. He says, when you hear the music, everybody bow down.
He said, we're not going to do it. Nebuchadnezzar says, I'm
going to give you one more chance. You hear the music, bow down.
He said, King, we're not careful to answer you in this thing.
We're not careful. We don't need time to mill this
around. We don't need to make a decision here. We're not bowing
down to your idol. Now, right now, you think that
you're in control. You think that we're in your hands. We're not.
We're in the Lord's hands. One way or the other, he's going
to deliver us. Either we're going to die in that fiery furnace
over there, or we're going to be delivered for real, finally,
or he's going to deliver us out of your hand in this life. But
one way or the other, we're going to be delivered. We ain't bound
down to the isle. That ain't it. Now, as he gets
mad, he says, fire up the furnace, right? He bounds him, throws
him in there, and he watches. He looks at one of the guards,
and he says, didn't we put three people in there? Didn't we bind
them? Heck yeah. I see four that are
in there right now. Ain't one of them bound. The
likeness of the fourth is that of the Son of God. Why did those
men live that day? Because the Lord Jesus Christ
was with them. Now, here's what I need. I need Him to have been
with me. And me to have been with Him
at all times. In the covenant of grace, When
the father looked at the son, he said, these are your people.
You're going to live for them. You're going to die for them. You're going
to accomplish their salvation. And I will look to you for everything
I require of them. I had to be there. I had to be
the one that was being handed off. You're going to take him.
Yes, I'll take him. I'll be surety for him. I had
to be there with him. On the cross, when he was bleeding
and dying, I had to be there. Me with him and him with me.
That's where my sins were punished. That's where I must be on that
cross with him. and in union with Him. On Judgment
Day, when that final call is made, and my name is called,
here's what I need. I need the Lord Jesus Christ
to answer and say, He's with me. He's with me. I'm answering
for Him. He's with me, and I'm with Him.
That's what I need. Finally this, He said that thou
wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me. When the Lord taught the disciples
to pray, the last thing he taught them was, lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Now, why should we pray that?
Well, it's very simple. It's because if we are tempted,
we are going to fall. And that is because evil is attracted
to evil. This is not just him wanting
to be delivered from evil. This is a confession. This is
a confession of who he is and what he is. He's evil. Now, turn
to these two scriptures. I want you to turn to Luke 6.
Once you get there, I want you to grab Luke 11. I want you to
see these in rapid succession. Luke 6 and then grab Luke 11. Now look at Luke 11. I'm going
to ask you this question, is the Bible the inspired work of
God? Is it? Look at Luke 11, look at verse
13. If you then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts to your children, not you used to be
evil, not you have the capacity to get better if you just work
on it, if you then, being evil. Now, we use that word sinner
a lot. We use that word sins a lot. I'm afraid that it sometimes
loses power with us. We think of it as naughtiness.
Here's a good, strong word that describes you and me. Evil. God
saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil, and
that continually. Evil, it speaks of maliciousness,
hurtful thoughts, hurtful motives. War and rebellion against God.
That's what that word means. Is that you? Right now, you have to make a
decision. Is the Bible an inspired word of God or not? Because it says,
if you then, being evil. That's a scripture's testament
to you and me. But for everybody who really
is evil, look at Luke 6, look at verse 35. But love ye your enemies, and
do good and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward
shall be great. And you shall be the children
of the highest, for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the,
what is that next word? To the evil. That was a long
and drawn out way of saying Jesus Christ came into this world to
save sinners. And he actually did it. I'm gonna leave you here. If you are like me, and presently
you are evil, And this is what you need. You need to be blessed
and you will have the righteousness of Jesus Christ that you haven't
earned it. And he would have taken your
sins away on Calvary Street. You need your coasts enlarged
to be given a new man that you can believe, that you're brought
for repentance, where you do live in the name of Jesus Christ
and your brethren. If you need the Lord to be with you and for
you, this is your prayer. If you're an evil man and this
is what you need, he always says the same thing. He's always willing
to grant that request. There has never been one sinner
he has ever turned away. So if you are an evil man or
woman, I invite you, and under the command of this book, to
come to Christ right now. Thank you. It has been a pleasure
to be here with you all this time. I'm going to leave you
there. Luke Coffey said something when
he was here about how privileged we are to be able
to take for granted the fact that the gospel is just here. Every Sunday, every Wednesday,
and here we are, and the gospel is declared and preached unto
us so regularly that we have the privilege to sinfully take
it for granted. What an amazing gift that we
have here, that to come so regularly that the Lord of Seafit to send
a word to us, undeserving sinners who are part of the body. And
I'm thankful the Lord laid that message on your heart and that
you were here to share that with us. Thank you. All right. If you all stand, Mike has our
song. Yes. And the red book turned
to 118.