I know that a good many of you
regularly follow the daily reading schedule I developed for you
many years ago, and you try to keep up with it day by day. If
you do, I am sure that like me, your eyes quickly became weary
and you began to get a little sleepy. after you started reading
yesterday and today, the first chapters, the first chronicles.
I just have difficulty reading those lists, those records, those
genealogies, those chronologies, listing the names of men and
women and not much else. Well, it is possible to read
those things without boredom. It is possible to read them without
boredom. I started reading again today
and just as I was about to skip over them and just, you know,
kind of, I can't pronounce all the names. Let's just move on
to the other stuff. God caught my attention. Turn
with me to First Chronicles chapter four. First Chronicles chapter
four. These chronological lists, these
genealogies, these historic records, all are given in Scripture to
point us to the Lord Jesus Christ. All of them are. Now I mean that. By that I mean this. Those records
were so meticulously kept, so meticulous were the Jews in keeping
those records, that when the Lord Jesus finally came at the
appointed time to redeem us from our sins, of all the charges
the Jews raised against Him, of all the things they said that
would repudiate Him being the Messiah, the Redeemer of His
people, the King of Israel, They never once questioned his genealogy. Not one time. The Jews kept such
meticulous records, they knew they were accurate, they were
kept in the temple, no one had messed with them, and they never
challenged his genealogy. those records were given so that
our Savior's Messiahship, his right by law as a man to reign
on the throne of David as David's son, as Abraham's seed, tracing
his genealogy all the way from Adam to his incarnation, those
things could not be disputed. So our Lord's incarnation is
the fulfillment of the purpose of those records. But there's
more than that. When you read the chronologies,
when you read the genealogical records, not only remember they
are intended to point us to our Savior, they all have reference
to our Redeemer, but there are scattered among them sweet and
blessed tokens of grace. Look here at 1 Chronicles chapter
4. 1 Chronicles chapter 4. Not too many years ago, I was
reading from these portions of Scripture, these opening chapters
of 1 Chronicles, just as I have for the last couple of days.
And just as I was about to, again, yesterday and today, to skip
over them, God just gave me a garden of delight. And I have tried
many times to preach from these two verses of scripture, and
the Lord's never permitted it. I believe he's given me a message
for you tonight. I want, as God will enable me,
to tell you what God's shown me this very day about Jabez's
prayer. 1 Chronicles chapter 4 verses
9 and 10, Jabez prayer. 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 wouldst bless me
indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be
upon me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may
not grieve me. And God granted him that which
he requested. Who was this man Jabez? Who were
his brethren? We're not given a word, not a
hint about who this man was, who his brethren were, where
he was born, where he lived, where he was raised, who his
mother was, who his father was. We know nothing about Jabez except
what's written right here in these two verses. That's all
we know about him. That's all we know about him. I have read
the commentaries and there are lots of guesses made, but nobody
has a clue who Jabez was. That is exactly as God intended
it. He intended for us to know nothing
about Jabez except what is written here. This man Jabez, we're told
plainly, was more honorable than his brethren. Jabez was more
honorable than his brethren. When I read that statement, I'm
immediately reminded of another man. The Lord Jesus Christ, our
blessed Savior, like Jabez, was more honorable than his brethren.
He was and is the greatest in the kingdom of God, who became
the least in the kingdom of God when he was made sin for us.
Our Lord Jesus, is that one who is least and greatest and most
honorable in God's kingdom. Our Lord Jesus Christ did this
for the enlargement of his coast, for the gathering of his elect
from among the heathen by his father's decree, as it was given
to him before the world began, that his inheritance might reach
into all the world. And truly our coast is enlarged
in him if we are made free in him. And we are assured by God's
own word that he will keep us from all evil. He will keep us
from the evil one and he will keep us forever in the arms of
his omnipotent mercy, love and grace. But this passage is talking
about a man. A man like you and me, a man
named Jabez. How was he more honorable than
his brethren? What made him more honorable
than his brethren? He was more honorable than his
brethren because God made him more honorable. And if you are
gods, the Lord God says, since you were precious in my sight,
you have been honorable. God puts a special honor upon
his chosen. You are loved and chosen of God,
redeemed by the blood of his darling son, born again by his
spirit. You are made righteous by God's
own hand. And like Jabez, you've been taught
to worship the God of Israel. Since thou was precious in my
sight, thou has been honorable and I have loved thee. That's
God's Word to you who are His. Do you know, as brethren beloved,
your election of God? Do you know that God has chosen
you? Do you know that God has written
your name in the Book of Life before the world was? Are you
made confident by God's grace that when God calls the muster
roll in glory at the last day, you will be found with him in
Christ? Thinking on those things. ought
to flood our hearts with unceasing joy and praise. God has made
us honorable, more honorable than any people because God's
put us in his Son. The God of Israel is our Savior. He is this very moment with us,
with us in the midst of all temptation, tribulation and trial, with us
in the midst of all sorrow and pain and trouble. He's with us,
and that perplexes, that perplexes multitudes. But the God of Israel
is our God, and we are his people. How precious to have knowledge
and realization of God's great grace to us in Christ Jesus. Now, let's look at this man Jabez,
and let's look at these two verses just line by line. Jabez means
grief, sorrow, pain. His mother called his name Jabez
saying, because I bear him with sorrow. His was a name corresponding
with the circumstances of his birth and the circumstances of
his life and with his spiritual existence and with ours. This
reminds me of what we read in 1 Samuel 1 concerning Hannah.
Hannah, in bitterness of soul and sorrow of heart, breathed
out her prayer to God. She moved her lips, but uttered
not a word. And as she moved her lips, she
was breathing out the sorrow of her heart to God. And when
the Lord God heard her cries, he answered her according to
the desire of her heart. When the Lord God hears from
our hearts that which he has put in our hearts, the answer
is on its way. When the Lord God hears from
our hearts What he has put in our hearts, the desire of our
hearts is on its way. He is sure to give that which
he calls to be indicted in our hearts by his spirit. This is
sweet encouragement to those who pray, who pray not by the
clock or by list, but who pray without ceasing. who come to the house of God
and pray, who in the quietness of their closets pray, who in
the solitude of their own souls through the day, though surrounded
by many, pray, pray without ceasing. Jabez's mother called his name
Jabez, saying, because I bear him with sorrow. That's the way
of life in this world since the fall. Our Lord God said to Mother
Eve, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow shalt thou bring forth
children. And there's never been a woman
to give birth to a child in this world who hasn't known sorrow
in that birth and because of that birth. sometimes bittersweet
sorrow, but sorrow nonetheless. But I see something more than
nature here. The church of God, the bride,
the lamb's wife, brings forth her children, a seed the Lord
has blessed, always in sorrow. All who are born of God are born
again in sorrow. Every heaven-born soul in its
first experience. It's like the baby that takes
its first breath. I don't know whether the doctors
can get by with doing it anymore. You can't hit a dog. I reckon
they probably can't hit a baby either. But a long time ago,
they used to pick them up by the legs and slap them on the
behind. Get them to cry. Get them to
cry so they breathe deep, take in the air. And the crying was
a sign of life. This I know. for every heaven-born
soul. The first experience of the newborn
soul is sorrow. Sorrow for repentance when God
comes to convince you of sin. You'll never know what sin is
except God make you to know your sin. Of sin because they believe
not on me. and he causes the heaven born
soul to be in bitterness for Christ as one is in bitterness
for his own son. And so long as God's Jabez lives
in this world, he lives in sorrow and in grief. Sorrow is the lot of God's children
in this life. Sorrow because of sin within,
and sorrow because of trouble from without. Turn over to John
16, but this sorrow will not last forever. Look at John 16,
bless God, it'll soon be over. Verse 20, the Lord Jesus said,
verily, verily, I say unto you that you shall weep and lament,
but the world shall rejoice and you shall be sorrowful. But mark
these next words, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. Now, Brother Claus, those words
do not read, your sorrow shall end in joy. They do not read,
instead of sorrow, you're gonna have joy. The word reads, your
sorrow shall be turned into joy. the very thing that now makes
you weep, the very thing that now is your sorrow, the very
thing that now gives you pain, whatever it is, whether it's
something in you or something outside you, your sorrow shall
be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in travail,
hath sorrow, because her hour is come. But as soon as she is
delivered of child, She remembered no more the anguish for joy that
a man is born into the world. And ye now therefore have sorrow. But I will see you again. And
your sorrow shall be turned into joy. Your heart shall rejoice. And your joy no man taketh from
you. Our light affliction. which is
but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory. I don't know how to say this
in such a way that someone might not misunderstand it or misrepresent
it, but let that be as it may. Every sorrow inward and outward,
every pain inward and outward, Every adversity inward and outward,
every difficulty inward and outward that God's people experience
in this world shall be an occasion of joy in the world to come. When we see things as God sees
them, We will rejoice over God's goodness in everything God has
done. I like that word again, again. Again, I will build thee and
thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel. Thou shalt again be
adorned in thy tabris. Thou which hast showed me great
and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again and shalt bring me up
again from the depths of the earth. I'm cast down, cast out
of thy sight, yet will I look again toward thy holy temple. Ye now therefore have sorrow,
but I will see you again, the Savior says, and your heart shall
rejoice. Oh, how delightful. Now, look
back at our text again. We're told here that Jabez worshiped
the God of Israel, not one of the gods of the heathen, or a
god of his own manufacturing, not a God of his own vain imagination,
not a God of his own choice, but he called on the God of Israel,
the covenant God of an elect covenant people, a specifically
redeemed and specially chosen and called people. Blessed be
the Lord God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. Jabez
called on the name of the God of Israel. He didn't just ask
God for something, he worshipped him. Look at the wondrous things
God did in Egypt. All his wonders performed in
the land of Ham. by which he brought Israel through
400 years of Egyptian bondage, and preserved them in the midst
of their bondage, preserved them as a distinct and separate people,
and then brought them out by his mighty hand, by blood atonement,
by omnipotent mercy, brought them across the Red Sea, and
by the very means by which they were delivered, he drowned Pharaoh
and the armies of Egypt before them, and they spoiled the Egyptians.
And then for 40 years, God led them directly through the wilderness
into the land of promise. He led them in a straight path
that went this way and that. It went this way and that, every
which way. How could that be straight? It was the best way
for them to get to the land as he leads us through this wilderness. In what seems to be crossways
many times, he leads us in a direct path. Blessed be the Lord God
of Israel, who hath visited and redeemed his people. Those are
Israelites indeed, of whom the scripture says, In them there
is no guile. Three times, I looked that up
again today, three times, we're told with regard to God's Israel,
these who are children of the God of Israel, they are a people
in whom there is no guile, no guile. You say, but pastor, there's
nothing but guile in me. And you're right, but I'm not
talking about what you are by nature. I'm talking about the
nature God's put in you. That new man, the life of God
in your soul. So that God's people are a people
who walk before him and worship him and call upon him, the God
of Israel with open heart. This word speaks of more than
sincerity and honesty. It's the essence of worshiping
God. the essence of God's Israel as
we worship Him. Being guileless speaks of a confession
as we call upon our God so that we hold nothing back when we
confess our faith in Him. We hold nothing back when we
confess our sin to Him. We hold nothing back when we
bear witness of Him. We hold nothing back when we
proclaim the gospel of His grace. We confess without guile who
God is, what God's done, who we are, and what God's done for
us. Jabez' God was the God of Israel,
the God of a people with whom the angel of the covenant wrestles. He is the God of a people. who
are broken and broken and broken by the angel of the covenant
wrestling with him to break them. A people forced by the daily
constraint of grace to confess their name, Jacob. Cunning, deceitful, vile, corrupt,
deceivers, and a people who know their weakness and know it more
every day as they halt upon their thigh because God smitten them. As we grow older in this world,
tough as it is to acknowledge it, we have to acknowledge that
we're getting weaker. Bobby, there are just some things
you can't do anymore. Sometimes I dream that I can. Once in a while, I'll catch myself
dreaming about dancing like I used to. But I don't have to wake
up to realize I'm dreaming. Those days are over. It ain't
gonna happen anymore. Ain't gonna happen anymore. As
you get older, you just get weaker. And as we grow in the grace and
knowledge of God our Savior, We become more and more consciously
aware of our weakness. The longer you halt on that broken
leg, the more you halt. The greater the limp, the greater
the difficulty. Now, look at Jabez's prayer.
This man, Jabez, was a praying man. And I could say a lot about this,
and I'm tempted to say a lot more than I'm planning to say,
but I'll, I'll restrain myself. Jay Baez was not a man with a
bucket full of pretty words to impress people. None of you have ever done it
here. I don't think I've ever heard it from anybody in this
place, but every now and then I'll hear somebody say something
about a man's prayer in public. Oh, that was such a pretty prayer. That's the reason he said what
he did. Jabez was not a man with a bucket full of pretty words.
He was not a man who kept a diary about how many hours he spent
every day in prayer so that other folks could read it when he'd
gone. He's not a man who read out prayers that other people
wrote for him, no. Jabez was a man who worshiped
God, praying for God's blessing. As he breathed out this short
prayer, how comprehensive it was to the ears of the God of
Israel who heard it. Let's look at these four things
Jabez asked for. 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 the evil. that it may not grieve me. I'll be very, very brief as I
wrap this up. Number one, oh, that thou wouldest
bless me indeed. To be blessed of God is to be
in Christ. To be blessed indeed is to know
it. To be blessed of God is to be
in Christ. To be blessed indeed is the gift
of God's Spirit causing you to have the sweet, full assurance
of faith by which God the Holy Ghost seals to our hearts all
the blessings of His grace. And this He does by the gospel. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter 1.
2 Timothy 1. Verse 9. God hath saved us and called
us within holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Brother Don, you got to explain
that, reading it just like that. It looks like God saved us before
the world was. You read it right. You read it right. But is now
made manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ,
who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel. You mean we had life before we
had any? That's what it looks like. That's what it looks like. Do
you know my daughter had life before she was ever conceived
in her mother's womb? She had life in me. She had life
in me. We had life in Christ before
the world began. And when He brought us to light
and life by the gospel and by the power of His Spirit, He made
known to us in our souls that which He did for us before the
world was. he brought life and immortality
to light by the gospel. Though God's election is a truth,
small comfort there I see, till I am told by God's own mouth
that he has chosen me. There is yea written upon every
blessing and inscribed upon every promise that God treasured up
for us in the covenant. And the amen is God's own voice
in us, giving us the testimony of God that we are his. Oh, that
thou wouldest bless me indeed. Make that your prayer, your heart's
desire. Every time you come to the house
of God to hear the word. God may just do it, even if you
have to hear the word from a fellow like me. Bless me, oh my God,
bless me now with an abiding sense of your love, with the
sweet enjoyment of your mercy, with the assurance that I'm yours
and you're mine. Look at the next request. Jabez
said, and enlarge my coast. Without question, this has immediate
reference to the possession that God gave the tribes in the land
of Canaan. They would go in and possess the land, but God left
a lot of foes there. He didn't drive them all out
all at once. But little by little, they drove
out their enemies, lest the land be overrun with beasts and be
uncultivated. So God left their foes there
for the purpose of preserving the land and making it better
for Israel when they finally drove their enemies out. But
this has reference to something that was represented in the land
of Canaan and Israel's experience in possessing that land. Wild
beasts and enemies of every description rage in our souls. Satan raises
Moses up and roars against us. Unbelief fills the land. And
well might we cry with Jabez day after day, oh Lord, enlarge
my coasts. Enlarge my knowledge of you and
of your grace. of your salvation and your goodness. Enlarge my communion with you
and my love for and delight in your people. Enlarge, oh God,
my anticipation of the inheritance waiting for me on the other side. Enlarge my delight in your will
and your purpose. Look at the third thing. And
that thine hand might be with me. God's hand is his power. God's hand, his power, is seen
in his purpose, his purpose by which we were redeemed. It's
seen in his constant providence. It's seen in his constant protection. It's seen in the display of his
power guiding us all the days of our lives Let me know your
hands with me, oh God. Make me know your hand is with
me. That blessing, oh what a blessing
it is to know God's presence, God's power, God's protection,
God's provision, God's providence continually. precious hand of
blessing and bounty. He puts forth his hand and we're
saved. He opens his hand and we're fed. He stretches out his hand and
we're healed. He lays his hand upon us and
we're blessed. Now look at the fourth petition.
Jabez said, and that thou wouldest keep me from the evil, that it
may not grieve me. Jabez here alludes to the name
that his godly mother gave him and to the nature planted within
him by the God of Israel. Sorrow was his name. Grief over
sin, failure and infirmity was his daily experience. And that's
the lot of God's people in this world. will not get better. It will not get any better, not
even a little, not even a little. So we pray, keep me from evil,
that it may not grieve me. That's exactly how our Lord prayed.
Turn to John 17. I want you to read this, John
17. Look at verse 15. I pray not
that thou shouldest take them out of the world. He could, you
know. That wouldn't be a problem for
him. But that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. That is, keep them from the evil
one. Keep them from the evil thing. keep them from any hurt by the
evil. Now, look at the last line of
our text, and I'll be done. And God granted him that which
he requested. Now I ask you, my brother, my
sister, is the same not true of you? Our God hears, and he will soon
answer our heart's cries unto him. He has blessed us, and he
will bless us indeed. Our salvation is nearer than
when we believed, and it is a salvation ready to be revealed at the last
time. He will enlarge our coasts. Weak, feeble, unbelieving, ignorant
as we are. Isn't it sweet to grow in the
grace and knowledge of the Redeemer? and sweet communion with him,
by which you're made evermore to know your need of him. His hand will be with us. He said, I will be with you.
And so we pray, according as he has said, Lord, if thy presence
go not with us, don't carry us anywhere. And he will keep us
from evil. He'll keep us from all harm.
And when He's done, when He's done, this, I suppose, is one of the
most difficult aspects of God's grace and God's salvation for
me to contemplate, let alone proclaim. When God gets done,
Merle, all the evil, will in no wise vex us. All the evil, pain, heartache,
trouble, sorrow, the sign of life in this world, all the war
and the famine and the disease and the judgments, all the sickness
and bereavement, all the death and sorrow, and all the sin, the cause of
all the evil, will cause us no pain, no pain and no vexation when
God Almighty has finished His work for us, in us and with us,
and raises us at last in the likeness of His Son. And the Apostle Paul concluded
his epistle to the Romans with these words. And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your
feet shortly. Very soon now, very soon. We're going to stand like David
on Goliath's head. lay His sword up in God's temple
to God's praise forever and our everlasting joy. Amen.