Introduction
This message would be divided into two parts.
Part One would be based on verse nine. This will provide back ground information about Jabez.
Part Two would be an explanation of verse ten and would highlight the prayer of Jabez.
Jabez 4: 9 Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers.
Here was a man who had a large concept of God and God honored him for seeking his blessings. Jabez was a man of faith and the Lord took note of it. ‘But without faith it is impossible to please Him for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him’ Hebrews 11:6.
Jabez is not the only old testament saint who sought the blessings of the Lord.
Jacob wrestled with the Angel of the Lord for he said ‘I will let thee go except Ye bless me.’ Genesis 32:26. And God granted Jacob his request. And God said ‘Thine name shall be called no more Jacob but Israel for as a prince thou hast power with God and with man, and has prevailed.’ Genesis 32:28.
So Jabez asked God to bless him.
1. This is not selfish asking.
2. This is not panic asking.
3. This is not duty bound asking.
4. This is obedient asking with high expectation.
And God granted him his request.
PART ONE
It should be recalled that Chapter 4:9 states ‘Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers.
He was given that name because his mother bore him with sorrow. Now if you read the earlier chapters of the Bible, 1st and 2nd Samuel. 1st and 2nd Kings, and 1st Chronicles, you would observe from the slaughter on the battle field that several Israelite mothers bore their sons in sorrow. So would Jabez be another son for the battle field. Yet another son to be slain in the armies of Israel.
But here we have a blend of sorrow and faith. His mother had faith that somehow this precious son of hers Jabez, would be used of God for a deliverer of Israel. She was no doubt a praying mother. Jesus taught his disciples to pray. Matthew 7:7 ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.'
And in St. Kitts right now many mothers hearts are filled with sorrow concerning their sons. What they have become and what is happening to them is heart-rending.
In one of the darkest periods of Israel’s history, Jabez was chosen of God, to deliver Israel from the enemy. Let us emphasize this point that his name means sorrow. This reminds me of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. A man of ‘ sorrow and acquainted with grief. Yet his life was to the praise and the glory of the Lord.
The apostle Paul goes on to say in Chapter 1:7 of Ephesians ‘In Him whom is redemption and forgiveness according to the riches of his grace;’
Jabez was raised up to redeem Israel out of the hand of the enemies. He was raised up for the business of the Lord. We go on to reading Proverbs 10:22; ‘The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.’
Although the Hebrew word for sorrow is Jabez, the lesson we are learning from the bible is that Jabez brought no sorrow to Israel but victory. Tonight the believer can shout victory in Jesus for he had been lifted from his sorrowful state to a glorious one. Jesus’ name also meant sorrow
Man of Sorrows! what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
There is triumph for the reclaimed sinner. The resurrection morning signaled triumph over death. The most glorious triumph is that Jesus is worthy to open the book and to sit on the throne.
We shall see that Jabez brought victory to his tribe and by extension the Nations of Israel. Jabez is teaching us that our lowly birth does not preempt us from being used of God in a great way and Paul in Colossians 2:9-10 is assuring us ‘For in him (that is the Lord is the Lord Jesus Christ) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And we are complete in him, which is the head of all principalities and power:’ His name means sorrow but like him we can turn sorrow into success.
This prayer of Jabez reveals that Jabez understood what many people do not.
That there is only one God and he should be at the centre of our world. God wants to bless every life, but we must first make the choice to invite God into our life and ask for his blessings. Proverbs 16:3 admonishes us ‘Commit thy ways unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.’
It is critically important to stay close to God and to rely on his continued support and guidance throughout life. Jabez clearly knows and prays to the one who can protect him from evil and pain. And the end of the verse it is clear that God approved this faithful prayer by granting it. It is also important to note that Jabez was passionate in his plea to God. He cried out to the God of Israel. God wants to hear through passionate prayer that we need him.
1 Chronicles Chapter 4:9-10 (KJV)
9:And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren:
and his mother called his name Jabez, saying,
Because I bare him with sorrow.
10: And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying,
Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil,
that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.
1. Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed
2. And enlarge my coast
3. And that thine hand might be with me
4. And that thou woulds’t keep me form evil
5. That it may not grieve me!
And God granted him that which he requested, would be our conclusion.
1. Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed:
This is a prayer that every Christian should pray. We all need the blessing of the Lord. Sometimes it calls for wrestling, and in our prayers we have to say like Jacob 'I will not let Thee go, except you bless me.’ (Genesis 32:24) Resultantly Jacob the cheat struggled with God and prevailed and got his name changed to Israel. My dear brother, my dear, sister, there might be some circumstances in your life that need addressing, that may be wearing you down, but you have to keep on praying; you might have to pray and fast, for 'that kind goeth not forth, but by prayer and fasting.’
Jabez prayer is ‘Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed.’ Dear saint, turn to the person that is sitting next to you and say, ‘I am blessed.’ I am blessed and in the words of Ephesians 1:3 also say ‘Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ.', and note (Ephesians 1:4) ‘He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the World.' Similarly Jabez was chosen by God in one of the most difficult periods of Israel’s history. Jabez was blessed indeed and so are we as the Apostle Paul expressed in (Ephesians 1:7) ‘In him the Lord Jesus we have redemption and forgiveness according to the riches of his grace.' Jabez was raised up to redeem Israel out of the hand of their enemies.
2. And Enlarge My Coast
The next part of Jabez prayer is a plea for more and more territory. This is akin to asking God to enlarge your life a plea to do more and more for the master. So that you can make a greater contribution to assembly life. Oh fellow believers if you reach a point in assembly life, that there are fewer and fewer dedicated believers, Jabez is sending us a strong message that you must do more and more not less and less. In the midst of Israel’s dilemma, the man Jabez took up that national challenge of the deliverance of the children of Israel from the hand of the enemy; and prayed to God 'Enlarge my coast.' in other words he is saying dear Lord, give me more and more to do in your vineyard. Oh dear brother and sister, Let this be your determination from tonight.
What as a Christian do you want to do for God, and what do you want God to do for you? Jabez has the answer, enlarge my coast. Let me do more for you dear Lord.
3. And that thine hands might be with me
This part of the prayer demonstrates dependence upon God, his power and his presence. There are times when the believer realizes that his abilities and his resources have worn thin; spiritual panic sets in and he then realizes that his utter dependence is upon God. You then have to face the reality that the opportunity to serve the master for which you prayed, require a person with much more ability than you ever had. Courage my brother, my sister; that is the time to pray harder. You have marched into territory that requires more ability than you ever had. This feeling of inadequacy is what one is supposed to experience. This is why Jabez prayed to God, that his hand be upon him. Just what is this touch of greatness from God and how does one feel and experience the hand of hand of God? Dependence upon God is the answer.
Again we are hearing truth that is applicable to every dispensation from Adam to the present dispensation of grace. God has always expected man to be dependent upon him. The very essence of grace of God’s teaching demonstrates that God has done it all, in the spiritual area of salvation, and desires to have the believer experientially prove this in his daily walk with Him, well done if this be so.
My dear brother and sister, please suffer a word of exhortation. You cannot expect the hand of God to be with you, if you wonder off and do you r own will. That is why you need to seek God’s will and direction in all you do in the small things and the great things. That is why your constant prayer should be according to thy will Lord, as Jabez was as he went out to fight the enemy of God , ‘that thine hand may be with me!'
4. Oh that You would keep me from evil.
This section of the prayer of Jabez, may be entitled keeping the legacy safe. The issue here is to be kept from evil. In our daily walk we encounter many conflicts with the evil one. The adversary Satan, may stir up workmates at a place of employment to provoke us or vex our spirits, but in such circumstance we have to exhibit our Christian faith, Christ’s grace and virtue and win the battle for the Lord. The issue here, is that since Jabez has asked God’s blessing and to be kept from evil, and obviously he got it, he will also know that in times of success that evil will be lurking to defeat him. Oh fellow believers we are no match for the devil. How many former successful Christians, has Satan not targeted and their testimonies are marred. And so like Jabez, we have to pray. 'Dear Lord deliver me from evil.' Please remember that in times of Christian service, evil is lurking at your door. The matter of being kept from evil is cited as part of the model prayer that Jesus gave to his disciples. That part of the prayer reads 'And do not lead me into temptation but deliver me from the evil one.' (Matthew 6 verse 13) Certainly most believers would want to follow the words of Jesus in respect to this so called prayer. The Lord’s prayer but it is really the disciples prayer. The Lord’s prayer is really John 17.
But what causes difficulty here is to say this prayer, asking the Father for his kingdom and awaiting Christ to take us there. It is really a prayer for people who are saved. Ephesians 2: 5-6 reads 'Even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, He hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace are ye saved. And hath raised us up together and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.'
The adversary the devil targets successful Christians; we have to pray for them and they have to pray Jabez prayer - Oh that you would keep me form evil! 'He that thinketh he stands take heed lest he falls.'
5. That it may not grieve me!
It is very important that each Christian learns to place more reliance and dependence upon God, for in our strength we are nothing and are apt to fail. Also it is important to note that in the early church believers continually sought to be filled with the Holy Spirit. They spent hours and even days in prayer together waiting on God and asking for his power. ( Acts 2: 42-47) They were longing to receive more of God’s hand, a fresh spiritual infilling of God’s power that would turn impending certain failure that would make their extraordinary assignment possible.
Here we have also a man of prayer by the name of Jabez, faced with an extraordinary assignment. His prayer is for success, that he would not come to grief. He is going forth in the name of the Lord, to fight the battle for God’s people, and he is praying that the results may not grieve him. In other words, the battle is yours Lord, and I am depending on you. Jabez wanted to be 'strengthened with might by the Holy Spirit in the inner man.' (Ephesians 3:16.) The outcome of this battle would not bring him to grief, neither would your christian battle bring you to grief, for the battle is not yours, it is the Lord’s, and you would be strong in the Lord of hosts.
Dear fellow believers, tonight let us step aside from the battlefield of Jabez for a while, and look at our own battlefield, 'For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the ruler of darkness, or against spiritual wickedness in high places.' (Ephesians 6:12.) Yes it is a real fight and it is getting more intense each passing day. The devil is after the young and the restless. Several of the major crimes are committed by teenagers. Right across the wide world evil spirits seem to have entered the hearts of the youths. Or is it the parents have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge?
They are in the Devil’s armies. In contrast here is a young man named Jabez and he is fighting in God’s army. He is praying that the outcome would not grieve him. This aspect of Jabez fight must be a clean fight. Lord I am going to put my all into it. I am praying that the outcome would not grieve me. He cannot lose who sides with God. In your Christian fight you are on the Lord’s side, say ‘Saviour we are thine.’
CONCLUSION: And God granted him that which he requested.
Are we hesitant to ask God in our prayers . 'Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name. Ask and ye shall receive that your joy be full.' John 16:24.
James 4:3 'Ye ask and ye receive not because ye ask amiss.'
Let us examine more thoroughly the prayer of Jabez. His prayer was not for selfish reasons. His prayer was for the deliverance of his nation from the scourge of gang warfare and youths who murder. The difficulties that beset us socially and morally. To such challenges the Holy Spirit is saying to us, hitherto have ye asked nothing concerning these besetting sins in my name. This is part of our Christian duty. Ask and ye shall receive that your joy may be full. There are sufficient Christians in these assemblies for our prayers to impact the scourge. There are sufficient Christians in the
Federation to impact the evil. Pray Christians pray for it is only God that can stem the flow of crime in the world in general and St. Kitts in particular.
Or is it is as James 4:3 lamented that 'we ask and receive not, because we ask amiss'? We must pray with sincerity, we must pray by faith believing that the blessings we ask for we shall surely receive. Jabez offered that short prayer of faith and he left the outcome in the hands of God. That was God’s part. His part was to go forth to battle in the strength of the Lord. Oh dear saints, we are in a conflict against evil. By prayer let us wrestle and the Lord will perform, with Christ in the vessel I can smile at the storm of life. Church do you think that Jesus can cast out the demons of St. Kitts?
Jabez attitude was saying in effect,
‘Dear Lord you have your part to do, I have my part to do, and I am going out to battle in your name.
For too long thy people have been turning their backs to the enemies.
For too long we have turned our backs against certain issues and problems.'
Oh that God would raise up Jabez’s to fight to take back St. Kitts from the strong hold of Satan?
Here we are reading about one Jabez who was willing to rally the whole nation of Israel to the cause of deliverance.
Will you be a Jabez tonight? That is the challenge with which I leave you with. The assurance that God granted him that which he requested.
Brother will you be a Jabez? Sister will you be a Jabez? Young people will you fight for St. Kitts like Jabez?Take up this challenge.
God has not changed. He will grant you your request. Amen.
Sermon by Dr. Joseph Halliday
Anniversary Service,
Grace Gospel Hall, Middle Island, St. Kitts
Sunday 28th June 2009