I would like us this morning to continue our study in 1 Chronicles. The more sermons I preach in the opening chapters of 1 Chronicles, the more I wondered at my sanity in taking on such a task. But this is God's Word, and being God's Word we are convinced that even in these long lists of names there are messages that are contained in there so that we will be strengthened and encouraged and we will return to our God with ever greater wonder and praise. Well, let me begin by asking you a simple question. Have you ever stood by the mailboxes and asked yourself, why are the names on the mailboxes in the order that they are? I would suspect that you have never asked yourself that question because, quite simply, it's obvious why they're in that order. We start with smattering of folk with initial surnames that begin with the letters A, B, C and then we have most of them in the V and Z composition at the very end of the alphabet. I always smile when we do the fellowship dinner and it's like A to S for half the congregation and then Anybody with a surname V or Z do the rest, because that's like half. Well, that's just the composition of our congregation. But why does God set it out in the order that he has it before us? You have 2 verse 1, sons of Israel. 2, verse 3, sons of Judah. 2, verse 5, sons of Perez. So far, so good. You've got it in basically a chronological order. Then you have 2, verse 9, sons of Hezron. 2, verse 18, sons of Caleb. Chapter 3, sons of David. And then if you look at these chapters, well one thing is very obvious, it's not given in alphabetical order, but it's not given in chronological order, because after you deal with the descendants of David, you then go back in chapter 4 to the descendants of Judah. And that should make us stop and take notice. Why is the order as it is? There is a reason why the chroniclers put it down in that order. And it's not alphabetical and it's not chronological. In other words, it's not by a pattern which we would recognize as being the natural way of doing things. He's doing it for a reason. He's changing the order because he wants to draw attention to something. He wants to draw attention to the Davidic line. And as we make our way through the rest of the book, we'll see that the kings are what feature. So the chronicler has wanted to draw our attention to God's working out through the line of David in particular. As we ponder these things, we ask ourselves, why? There's a bigger question in there. Why indeed does God even look upon the tribe of Israel at all, the twelve sons? Well, we don't need to speculate on that because God himself tells us the answer in Deuteronomy 7, verse 7. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all the peoples. Now, that should pull us up short. We're all prone to vanity. We're all prone to think that the reason why God chose me is because, quite clearly, I'm better than my neighbours. And there must be some reason why he has chosen me, and I've looked to myself and I can find all sorts of great reasons why he would have chosen me as opposed to that worthless individual that inhabits the house next door to me. What is God saying? The reason it is not to be found in you is not because you are more numerous. As we make our way through 1 Chronicles, we'll certainly find out it's not because they were more godly. Indeed, they did things that not even the heathens round about did. So why was it were the answers to be found in God's electing love? It's because of God's grace. The moment we start to think we're better than someone else, then we have problems. We truly have problems. We start thinking we're better than this person because of the colour of his skin, because of his gender, because of this, that and the next thing, then we have betrayed the Gospel. It's none of these things. The Bible makes it quite clear it's because of God's grace. That's the only thing that we can base our confidence in. God's grace in showing us his love. Well, in case we needed to have that lesson proved to us and driven home, this genealogy. If any of you are interested in your forebears, you might like to record with much pleasure the great heroes. I remember in Mississippi somebody who traced their ancestry back to Charlemagne. Very significant. Charlemagne, great Christian king. I probably said the wrong thing when I said that I traced my ancestry back to the last of the Mohicans. She didn't think that was funny. Well, you don't think it's funny either. Take that one out of the sermon. I'll not say that the next time I'm preaching. What is it? We like to focus upon the good and the great. But then look how our attention is brought to the life of Judah. The sons of Judah. This is verse 3. The sons of Judah. Er, Onan, and Shele. These three Bathshua the Canaanite bore to him. Now Er, Judah's firstborn, was evil in the sight of the Lord and he put him to death. His daughter-in-law Tamar also brought him bore him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all. We are only four verses into chapter two and you have one son that was so evil that God just struck him down. His younger brother refused to do his duty and he was struck down. And you have his daughter-in-law Tamar who waits for the younger brother to be old enough to be able to be married, and what does he do? Judah gives his son to somebody else. So Tamar seduces her father-in-law. So you've got outright sin, you have a despising of God's law, a refusal to do duty, and you've got incest. We're only about four verses into the story of the life of Judah. Well, fortunately, it just gets worse from there for us, because we thought we got all through all the spicy bits. Now we hear of what happens next. We get to Achan. It gets worse with Achan. The troubler of Israel, we are told. There's only one other person in scripture that's referred to as the Troubler of Israel. That was Elijah, but he was no Troubler of Israel. But surely Achan was. After the collapse of the walls of Jericho, he goes in and he finds a coat that he takes a fancy to, and he takes that home. But he also finds 80 pounds of silver and 20 pounds of gold. Now, not to excuse what he did, But we can perhaps understand the temptation in our terms. If you had 80 pounds of silver, how much would you be able to sell it for? About $20,000. Give or take $20,000. If you had 20 pounds of gold, you're talking about $400,000. And bear in mind that back in those days the purchasing power of such a large sum of money would be astronomically higher. We can understand after the flesh why it was that Achan took what is effectively half a million dollars worth in cash. But the problem was, of course, it wasn't just stealing. Stealing would be bad enough. That would still be a violation of the Ten Commandments. But what he was doing, he was stealing from God. Why? Because everything that was to be captured in Jericho, was to be given into the Lord's treasury. It was God's money. If he had gone into a church and prized open the poor box to get whatever money happened to be in there, it's just the same. It's stealing from God, this troubler of Israel. Well what happened as a result, not long after the defeat of the people of Jericho, the taking of Jericho, the battle of Ai. And in that battle the children of Israel are defeated, they're crushed. And Josh says, why is God no longer with us? We've taken on bigger obstacles than this. People cannot stand before their enemies when they are not walking with God. It brings about disaster. Well, we make our way through these genealogies and we see that there is at least their share of black sheep in the family. But it's not all bad news. We then come in chapter 4, verse 3, the descendants of David and Bathsheba. Now, if you were paying really close attention, you might have noticed in the opening chapter of 2 that there's a Bathsheba mentioned. She's a Canaanite woman that Judah married. And then there is David, who we're told has some children by Bathsheba. Well, we probably know her better as Bathsheba, but he's using the Canaanite word here. and making a connection, therefore, in the minds of the readers. You've got to pay close attention. Don't think that you can just study the Word of God with one eye on the television and one hand typing an email. You've got to pay attention. Pay attention to the Word of God. Bathsheba. Well, it didn't work out so well for Judah to have a relationship with Bathsheba and the question is what was the nature of that relation with Bathsheba for David? Well if you know the story, I'm sure most of you do, of course Bathsheba is the one that David takes into his own home while the husband of Bathsheba is away fighting wars for him. We know that that is a terrible disgrace for David. You might say, well, it didn't work out so well for Judah. How is God going to deal with David when he takes on Bathsheba? Well, one of the things that's interesting as we look at the history of David here, and David is clearly a central figure for the whole of 1 Chronicles. and 2 Chronicles. Well, what is so significant here? Well, look at the other sons that are born to David by Bathsheba. Well, Solomon is the obvious one. And he's legendary, even for those who don't go to church. Certainly in the previous generation, which was more biblically literate, we would understand that there is the wisdom of Solomon. Everybody knows that Solomon is wise. And perhaps because of that, we're tempted to think that Solomon must surely be one of the forebears of Jesus. The Davidic line, you've got David. David is succeeded by Solomon. Then down, down, down, down the line, you come to Jesus. Well, you're wrong if you thought that. I've led you on, so I know. You're wrong. Jesus is not a direct descendant of Solomon. He's a direct descendant of Nathan. Now, what's significant about the name Nathan? Well, if you know the story of David with Bathsheba, it's God's man, the prophet Nathan, comes to David and accuses him of a sin. You remember that story? It gives this wonderful illustration. A rich man, poor man, rich man, lots of sheep. Poor man only had a ewe lamb. They thought it was really more of his daughter. But then the rich man has a visitor and he takes the ewe lamb of the poor man and kills it in order to provide for his guests. David is enraged! You show me this man and he's going to die for that, says David. And I think it's one of the most dramatic passages in Scripture where Nathan, standing before the king, says, Thou art the man. He fingers David and David is broken. We get Psalm 51 as a result. Against thee the only have I sinned in thy sight done this ill. David is crushed by it, and rightly so. Nathan has put the mirror of his sin up to David, and David has recognized his sin. He's crushed by it. Do you see now the significance that one of the children of Bathsheba is called Nathan? In other words, David is saying, even though this man showed me my sins, I want to name my own son after him. You see what's coming out of God's Word? Blessed are the wounds of a friend. Somebody confronts you with your sins. You know how you want to react after the flesh. You want to excuse yourself. You want to minimize it in some way. Or you want to go out and attack. Well, you're not so perfect yourself, are you? But what does David do? The man after God's own heart. He names his own son after the man who publicly humiliated him because he was wrong. He had sinned. And he was grateful to Nathan. How do we know he was grateful for Nathan? Because you don't just name your son just after anyone. Well, one of the lessons that come out of this particular portion, and this is just the first section, bear with me. Sin has consequences, doesn't it? Achan, none of us are immune. And if David can fall into sin, don't think that you will not. How many times do you hear Sadly, to our grief, we hear of ministers who preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and then they fall into sin. That's a particular disgrace to the Church of Jesus Christ. The message that we have of walking with God and to live a godly life that those who are charged with the preaching of that message turn out to be not some kind of super saints that never set a foot wrong. I've been your pastor now for almost twenty years and you'll know full well that that's hardly true of me. So your pastor does get something wrong. More than just something, often gets things wrong. And when we hear of the person that has fallen to some great sin, how tempting it is for us to think, well, you know what, we never would have done that And we're doing exactly what we were looking at in terms of the preaching of the law, the reading of the law. When we see somebody up there, right at the very summit of sin, he's done something terribly wrong. But we're right. We've got our feet on the same mountain. And the only thing that we can point to is the fact that he's so much further up there than I am. You know, if David could fall into sin, do not think that you are immune. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10, no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. This should keep us humble. This should keep us thankful. God does not cut us off. What does God tell us in the minor prophet Malachi? For I, the Lord, do not change. Therefore, you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. not all bad news, there are the rogues, and there are also men of repute. Perhaps they don't have the reputation with us in our generation, but they had a reputation in their own day, and indeed beyond. Perhaps as we read through this, or if you've been reading it through in your private devotions, trying to make a head and a tail of what God has said before us in 1 Chronicles, you might have come across, you would have come across in chapter 2, Ethan, Heman, Calcol and Darda Well, those names just roll off. Why do I even mention these? Because these names are so well known to you that, oh, I know what he's going to say about really chalcol. He sounds like a fuel additive, to be perfectly honest. Where do they fit in? Well, actually, they come elsewhere in Scripture. Solomon is likened to them. And what we're told about Solomon was that he was wiser than Ethan, Now you think, okay, so Solomon's compared and Solomon comes out better than that. Yeah, but let me tell you this. We're following through on the genealogies here. There must have been something like an 800 year gap between these four men and Solomon. The reputation for their wisdom had succeeded for 800 years. It may have faded because a candle does not shine brightly in the face of the noonday sun. But in their generation, they were men of wisdom that were noted for it. And they're eclipsed by Solomon, because Solomon was the man to whom God gave wisdom in abundance. So we're reading through this portion of God's words. Here are men who did their part in their day. And then we make our way down through. Boaz, who looked after Ruth. There's four chapters of the Old Testament dealing with Ruth. Sons of Jesse. David, the seventh son, not chosen for his prowess. You remember when Samuel goes to anoint the successor to Saul? Every son of Jesse seems to be... it must be this one. Big, strapping, fine, good-looking man. Nope, not him. Well, this one, a big, fine, strong, strapping young man. Nope, not this one. They get through all of them and he's ain't got nobody else. Well, there's this ruddy-faced youth out in the hills with a human. Ain't even a thing to call him in. Call him now. Of course, it's David. What's the picture there? God did not choose the Israelites because they were more numerous than the other ones. He didn't choose David because he was the strong, fit, good-looking one. He was chosen because he was a man after God's heart. And why was he a man after God's heart? Because God had worked grace within him. We then turn to people like Basilel, mentioned in Exodus chapter 31, an extraordinary worker. And then ordinary workers, linen workers, chapter 4, verse 21. Potters, chapter 4, verse 23. A question arises for us, then, what do you need to get into the history books? Well, if you're going to get into secular history books, you've got to do something really astounding. You've got to be like a president, or a king, or a general. But if you get into God's history books, you do what God has set before you to do. Because potters and linen workers yet mentioned in God's history book. Do you see some of the lessons are coming out from God's Word in this way then? I don't have to strive to be some famous scientist, famous politician. I don't need to strive after success. The world would have me strive after things. Let me do what God has set before me to do. And let me do it with all my heart, soul, strength and mind. It's not always the mighty and the valorous, not the wealthy that God chooses to use, do what God has set before us. And that then brings us to Jabez. The unfaithfulness of so many did not undo the covenant faithfulness of God. It follows then that if the unfaithfulness of men did not undo the covenant, then it's not the faithfulness of men that saves the covenant line. But just as there are penalties for being unfaithful, when we saw with the Akan that the stealing of the money that was meant for the treasury of God's people, the stealing of that brought disaster in the battle at Ai. So there are blessings for those who are seeking to be faithful. There are blessings for those who are seeking to be faithful. And then this fellow Jabez is set before us. Jabez. Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. That's how he's introduced to us. Well, who was he? When did he live? Well, I'm glad you asked. I'm glad you asked, but I don't have an answer for you. There's something strange about Jabez. And even the very fact, if you ask, let me ask you, who was Jabez's father? Now you're looking at your Bible and say, look it up in your Bible, who is listed there as Jabez's father? You've got your eyes down, well done, you're looking at your Bibles and the answer is, his father's not mentioned. We don't know who Jabez's father is. Okay, what about his descendants? This is a book of fathers and sons, isn't it? Judah's sons, he had five sons, da-da-da-da-da, all the way down. Chapter after chapter, so-and-so was the father of so-and-so, and he begat Zion. No, no, no, no, no. J-Best. Who's his father? Not mentioned. Well, who's his son? Not mentioned. Isn't that strange? In nine chapters of Names, where every other person, as far as I'm aware, maybe I'll find somebody else because I I haven't quite... Brett is teaching our brethren inside Statenville to memorize the Catechism. He has not as yet told me he's asked them to memorize the first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles. And there's a good reason for that. So perhaps we'll find somebody else. I can't think of anybody. I've read through it. Honestly, I have. I can't think of anybody else. Chavis is the one without either a father or a son. Did that ring a bell with you? Who else was without father or son according to Scripture? Let's set aside Jesus, who had God the Father. Well, if you're not sure as to who had neither father nor son, the significance of that, then let me put a plug in for the evening worship at five o'clock, where we will be considering that Jesus is a priest forever after the order of... I'm sorry, I don't have time to tell you. Come back at five o'clock and we'll explore that together. What about Jabez? List of fathers and sons, and he has neither. And that makes identifying the time that he lived almost impossible, except in the very broadest of terms. He's listed amongst the descendants of Judah, so that means he comes after Judah. The section ends with reference to the king. So somewhere between Judah and the descendants of David we find Jabez. 2 verse 1 is Israel, 3 verse 1 is David, 4 verse 1 is Judah, so it's not actually in chronicle order. But we have difficulty in identifying who Jabez was. Probably he was of the tribe of Judah, given that he's listed amongst other members of the tribe of Judah. But he comes to us like Melchizedek. And the gaps in our knowledge about Jabez are as significant as what we are told. It's not important to know who his father was. Isn't that basically what the Chronicler is underlining in our Bibles? In chapters which are so focused in upon father and son relationships and the continuation down through the generation, the fact that Jabez is without father and without son is in itself significant. It's important for us to know that Jabez wasn't just located in a particular... here's his father, here's his son, and then he's tied down to that particular generation. So when we look at Jabez, we say, here's somebody who has a reference without being located in a particular family or at a particular time. So what is Jabez praying for? He's praying for the Lord's blessing. And he prays, enlarge my border. Well, let's just think about that. And I'm afraid the time is getting away from us. But this is the Lord's Day. You've got nothing else to do. So we'll just press on for a bit longer. The Lord's Blessing. Let me give you an illustration. A young man wants to get married. What does he do? He goes to what he hopes will be his future father-in-law. And he asks for his daughter's hand in marriage. I mean, that may be a dying trend. But that's what they used to do years ago. I hope they still at least do it somewhere. Well, what was the young man asking for? He's asking for the father's blessing. He wants the father to say, I'm pleased with this proposal. He doesn't want to see the giving of permission to be grudgingly, doubtful, well, I suppose so, suspiciously. The young man doesn't want to have that. He wants the full approval, surely. He wants to hear his future father-in-law say, I can think of no one better to marry my daughter. The loving father says, I want an upgrade for my daughter. I want someone who will love my daughter even more than I do. So what would it take? Honourable, that's Chebez. Thoughtful, tender-hearted, putting the daughter's needs before his own. His character must be the highest order, not a rogue. His actions should match his aspirations and not just so many words. Well, let's take this prayer of Jabez and say, when I say I want God's blessing, what is it that I'm actually asking for? When you say I want the Lord's approval, what is it that you truly want in your own heart? Are you like the young man going to his future, so it's hoped, father-in-law saying, you're a wealthy man, do you think you could put your hand in your pocket and buy his house? Well, now you've really shown how much you love my daughter, haven't you? It's not going to go so well after that. Well, what is it that we seek when we're seeking the Lord's blessing? We say, I want to be pleasing to you. I want to have your approval. So should the character of the Christian be any different than the young man that says, I want to have your approval to marry your daughter? Well, God doesn't keep us guessing as to how we can be pleasing to him. He says, be ye holy as I am holy. And that really helps us understand and enlarge my border. Is it saying, make me successful? Make me famous. Make me smarter. Make me wealthier. Is that what we're asking from God? Enlarge my borders. Make my business really take off. Well, He may do that. That's a by-product of the blessing and not the blessing itself. Our desire is surely this, that we conform to the likeness of His Son. What is it we pray for? Make me more like the Lord Jesus Christ. And when I pray that prayer, I know I'm going to get something which God is going to give me. Because heaven and earth was moved to make us like Christ. And all things work together for my good, for our good, when we love God. For us, who are called according to his purpose, to conform us to the likeness of his Son. That's his purpose, to conform us to the likeness of his Son. We pray that prayer, we know it's going to be answered. I want to be more like him. Well, in what ways, then, do we pray, Lord, make me more like the Lord Jesus Christ? And this is where it sends the expectations of the world on its head, when the world says, what do I want? Well, I want all the things that the world wants. The fancier house, the fancier car, the better reputation, the greater recognition. I want all those things. I want to be more like Jesus. Well, what was Jesus like? The one who thought it not robbery. to be equal with God and yet humbled himself to be a man. He set aside his glory, which he had with the Father. He emptied himself, made himself of no reputation. The exact opposite of anybody that wants to get into the history books, doesn't it? Make yourself of no reputation. Jesus himself said, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Now there have been books you're probably familiar with, a book that bears that name, The Prayer of Jabez. And I'm reading now from the blurb on the back, which means, I don't think it was to be written by the author, so I'm not holding him responsible, but I might have wished that he had thought about it. Are you ready to reach for the extraordinary, to ask God for the abundant blessing he longs to give you? Is God being disappointed because he can't give you anything? You have thwarted God's ability to bless you? I'm sorry, this is nonsense. This is not the God of Scripture who longs to do things but is somehow inhibited from doing it. He does what he wants to do. Join the author to discover how the remarkable prayer of a little-known Bible-hearer can release God's favour, power and protection. Here's the key. You slip it in the lock, you give it a turn, and whoa! All these blessings just fall out upon you. I don't think the book is actually like that. I think this is a caricature and it's not helpful. Well, how should we receive the prayer of Jabez? What is it that Jabez actually prays for? He says, bless me, enlarge my borders. I truly think that the best understanding of the prayer of Jabez is that understanding that points us to the Lord Jesus Christ and his prayer, to which I have already alluded this morning, though it may have perhaps not been noted for you. All those men that would get into the history books, the kings of the heathen nations round about, rage against the Lord and against his anointed. Psalm 2. And in a conversation recorded in scripture that happened in heaven, the father says to the son, ask of me, and I will give you the heathen for your inheritance." And here we are, two thousand years after the ministry of Jesus Christ, and I don't know, seven or eight thousand miles away, the land of Palestine, and we are worshipping the Son. Because the Son said to the Father, I want these people to be mine, enlarge my borders. And the Father who cannot lie, kept his word to his son. Now what should we, as we take the prayer of Jabez, take upon our lips? Is this some kind of key to unlocking success in our business? Is it some way in which we can strangely allow God to give us those blessings which we want for ourselves? Or is there an altogether infinitely greater plan behind this prayer, that we unite our prayers to the prayers of Jesus, who asked of his Father the inheritance of the heathens, and that we, joining our prayers with his, pray, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. There is a prayer meeting on Wednesday evening, in which you can link your prayers with Jesus himself, enlarge the borders. Let's pray. Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, we thank Thee that Thou hast set Thy Word before us. We praise Thee indeed, though it almost at times seems strange to us, for the opening chapters of the book of Chronicles And we pray, Father, that we may not speedily turn aside from those passages of scripture which are hard for us to understand, that we would press through the difficulties to receive the blessings which thou hast prepared for us, and that thou wilt surely give to us. So, Lord, we commit ourselves to thy care and keeping. Bless thy word to our hearts this day, for this we ask in Jesus' name, for his sake. Amen.