with me if you would this morning as the Lord will enable us to 1 Chronicles chapter 4. 1 Chronicles chapter 4. And we wish to take again this morning the words that we have at the beginning of that chapter, the sons of Judah. The sons of Judah. Now, last week, if you recall, we tried to put this chapter into its context. Judah has already been spoken of in chapters 2 and 3. And you wonder why it is that all of a sudden he goes back to Judah and again, these are the sons of Judah. Now, we considered that perhaps the best answer to that is that in chapters 2 and 3, Judah is only spoken of in really context of the King, David the King. David the King. And that's why Judah is there, Judah is the tribe from which the King would come. So chapters 2 and 3 are not really about Judah as a tribe. They are really about the Lord David the King. Now we come back to Judah and now we see Judah really now as part of the tribes of Israel. So what you're seeing I think in chapters 2 and 3 is the preeminence of Christ. That's the text that we took last week, the preeminence of Christ. Christ is first. Now we see in chapter 4 the glory of the church. I think what we're seeing here from verses chapters 4 through to chapter 8 where you get an account given of all the tribes including Judah, we are now seeing the glory of the church. Now what can we say then about the glory of the church? What can we say that Chronicles tells us about the church of the living God? Well the first thing you will notice is, and it really follows from what we've already said, and that is that the church is built upon a foundation. The church is built upon a foundation. That is seen in the Old Testament. That is seen here in Chronicles. Because in chapters 2 and 3 you have that foundation laid. The foundation which is David the King. David the King. You have a foundation that is set before us. What a wonderful foundation that is when you read of David the King. There was no foundation to Saul the King, but there is now a wonderful foundation built upon God's King, King David. So that what follows here from chapters 4 through to chapter 8 is all built upon chapters 2 and 3, the King. And in fact in many respects the tribes that are now going to be described beginning with Judah, they are nothing without the King. These tribes are nothing without King David. They will be built upon what has already been established that David is the king and from him there is Solomon coming all the way down, all these kings looking forward to the coming of the ultimate king upon which the church would truly be built. And the tribes of Judah are nothing without this king. It's like Jesus when he comes, he says, you are either going to build upon a solid rock or you build upon sand. The church will be built upon a solid rock or it will be built upon sand. Our faith will be built upon a solid rock or it will be built upon sand. What is your faith built upon? Is it rock or is it sand? The Lord Jesus Christ says to Peter, the church will be built upon this rock. Now what is that rock? We've said it often, haven't we? That rock is not Peter. If the church is built upon Peter or the descendants of Peter, then the church will fail and fall. But the church is built upon Peter's confession, Peter representing the church, making this wonderful confession, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. My friend, what a foundation that is to build upon. The church is built upon a wonderful foundation that not even the gates of hell will prevail against it. Last week we looked at Colossians, you know the pre-eminence of Christ. Today let us first of all look at 1 Corinthians and see how this is brought out, the foundation. Other foundation can no man build than that which is built which is Jesus Christ. He is the foundation of the church my friend. Any church that's built upon anything else built upon it will fail, will fall. When the time of trouble, when judgment comes, any other foundation that you have for time and for eternity will fail you. But Christ will never fail you. Christ is that foundation. Remember how Peter puts it, the church that is built upon the prophets and the apostles, Jesus Christ, the chief cornerstone. All the tribes that are now going to be set before us, all the chapters, the next eight chapters bringing out all these tribes, they are built upon this, chapters two and three, in fact including chapter one because it's really chapters one, two and three are coming to one place and that is the Messiah King. The one King upon whom the church will truly be built. So we see that there's a foundation here. But we also see that when you come to chapter 4, there is another thing that can be said about the children of Israel, the tribes. Not only that they are built upon this wonderful foundation, but the Lord knows them. The Lord knows Judah, Issachar, Dan, Benjamin, Simeon, Reuben, There is now a genealogy that is going to be given which demonstrates to us that the Lord knows his church. The Lord is not ignorant of who these tribes are. The Lord will not be ignorant and we will not be left ignorant of all the genealogy that comes down in the tribes of Judah. Not just the tribe that Judah that comes down to the King. Through Solomon on one side and Nathan on the other side coming down to Christ the King. But all the sons of Judah. And then all the other tribes are included because God knows them that are his. And if you want to see another text in the New Testament where that is brought out, you go to the text that we read together in 2 Timothy chapter 2. 2 Timothy chapter 2 and in verse 19, nevertheless the foundation of God, this is the foundation of the church, this is all about the church of the living God. And he says, nevertheless, you know, there are these Hymenaeus and Philetus, they were those who departed from the Word and everything else, but God says, nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure. And it has this seal, there's a seal that is given, a wonderful assurance that's given to God's people today, and that is this, they're twofold, two things, two things. The Lord knoweth them that are his. And let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. That's a wonderful seal. That God knows them in the councils of eternity. He knows them in the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows them and their sons and their children's children. The genealogy that is given here is not given to us just for mere information. It's telling you that God knows His church. He is aware of all these tribes. He knows exactly who the sons of Judah are because they belong to Him. Here is the seal. The Lord knows them that are His. The Lord knows His church today. The world may not know the church. There may be total confusion in the church as to what is the church. There is total confusion as to what represents the church of Jesus Christ. Think of all the plethora of those who claim to be representing the church of Jesus Christ. From popes to denominations that are Nowhere near what the Bible tells you to those churches that look for apostles and prophets on their own day and those that have all sorts of things, you know, all sorts of beliefs, but nevertheless, the Lord knows them that are His. That's a wonderful seal. The Lord is not ignorant of the tribes here. The Lord is not even ignorant of Judah and Judah's sons. He knows them. It's a wonderful seal that is sealed, that Paul says here, the Lord knoweth them that it is. And the third thing you'll notice is, not just that these tribes, the chapters that come after this, four to eight, are built upon the previous two chapters, and on the previous two chapters we are told that in Christ, God knows his people, those who are in Christ, but we are also told what unity there is. that is brought about through the King. You have Judah and his sons and you have Simeon and Reuben and Dan and all the rest of them. They're all different types but they're all brought together and united together in one thing. David the King. Kingship is what unites them together. It's that David is the king and David's descendants coming down all things, that's what ultimately unites them together. My friend, that's what destroys them. When they reject God's king. If you think of when the Lord Jesus came, you think even before the Lord Jesus came, the ten tribes in the north are rejecting God's king. They fall away. And there you have in Judah, write down, and when the Lord Jesus comes, what is it that particularly the Jews in Jerusalem, what is it that they particularly reject? That Jesus Christ is King. Never mind whether he is the priest of Isaiah chapter 53, they reject his priesthood, they reject his words, they reject everything, but they say particularly, we will not have this king to reign over us. Think of how it was when before David became king, first of all Saul was king of the ten tribes in the north, he had become man's king. You've all these tribes in the north, they're following man's king. But ultimately, David becomes the king in Judah. And for seven years, there he is. And then after seven years, all the tribes come to him and are united in one. David is their king. That's wonderful, isn't it? It's David that united these tribes together and that made them to be one nation, Israel. The original Israel was the people of God. That was the name that was given to all the tribes joined together under David. He was the king of all these tribes. My friend, that's just pointing forward, isn't it? That not only is the church built upon the foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the One King, not only do they find their identity and that the Lord knows them, but their unity. What unites God's people? Isn't that they all believe the same things? Isn't that they're all in the same denomination? Isn't that they're all in the same congregation? What truly unites God's people is Jesus Christ the King. Jesus is King. Jesus is the one that brings the whole of this nation, these tribes together. They were originally God's kingdom originally a family. Families with the head of the family taking worship and conducting worship, head of the family. Then you had coming to Abraham, Abraham's children coming and then you come to Moses and the children of Israel becoming a nation. Ultimately a kingdom is what is in mind. And what is that kingdom? It's the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That's the kingdom that matters in this world, isn't it? That's the kingdom that really matters in this world. That we are part of God's kingdom and that Jesus Christ is our King. That's what distinguishes the Christian church altogether. That's what distinguishes even the true Christian church altogether. There are many religions. But for the Christian, Jesus Christ is Lord and King. And that's shown to you in Chronicles, where in chapters 2 and 3, there is the genealogy from Judah down to the kings. And then flowing out of that, you then have back to Judah again as one of the tribes. All the tribes now are going to be described. And they are all united and one. under David, the king. But it's not just that there was a foundation here and that they were identified as God's people under this king and that they were united under this king. My friend, their security was guaranteed through this king. You think of Israel, you think of these tribes that are described here, Judah in the south, and then you've got the other ten tribes. These ten tribes individually were very, very small. You compare them to the great and wonderful Babylon, Egypt, Think of all these mighty nations, and here you have a wee tribe, Judah, and it's united to what? It's united to Simeon. And then Benjamin, and Benjamin, Simeon, they're all down in the south there, they're together. Then above them, when you start going out, you get Ephraim, which is one of the biggest tribes. Manasseh, one of the bigger tribes. But really, put them all together, and you still don't have a very big nation. and they're even divided by the Jordan, you go over the other side of the sea. You've got some of the tribes that side, some this side, and you've got a strip of land there with a small nation that is vulnerable to be plundered by every other nation that there is around them. What is it alone that could give them security in the midst of that turbulent world? What is there that could give them the security that they needed in the midst of a world, a hostile world? It's only David's king, God's king, David. How victorious David was. He was a man of war. And what great victories he had. And was it because David was some great tactician? Was it because David was some great mighty warrior? My friend, it was because he was God's King. He was typifying the King that would come. My friend, what makes the church secure today? Where is your security today? For time and for eternity. Where is the church's security? In the midst of a small congregation? part of a small wider Christian witness in this nation, in a nation that detests the gospel, let's not be deceived here. Kings of the earth and princes set themselves against God's people and against God's law. You don't think they do? You only need to stand and tell the people that sodomy is wrong and you'll discover what they think of the Lord Jesus Christ. Tell them that they're sinners and what they're doing is wrong and you will discover what they think of him. And where is the security? My friend, there is only one place that the church is secure and that is that Jesus Christ is King. Jesus Christ is King. He rules in the midst of this world. All power in heaven and in earth has been given unto Jesus Christ. The church has prevailed for the last 2,000 years when religions come, religions go. I often think of Paul and, you know, I'm going in to Ephesus and the big thing with Diana of the Ephesians and that mighty big building that's there. You see it, you can go and you'll see the huge stones that were holding the pillars up. That's four pillars, that's all that's left. And when Paul went there, there was this small man that was insignificant. But he was preaching Jesus Christ. And that church has been kept down through these 2000 years. Why? Because Jesus Christ doth reign. And he is clothed with majesty divine. So you have there the security. in a changing world, the children of Israel, small tribes coming together and yet their security is in the fact that David is the king. But also notice that with this there is progression. The genealogy that is here isn't stagnant genealogy. You don't just have Judah and you don't then just have sons and that's the end of it. There is progression right down through the genealogy, through the history that is in these tribes. There is an ongoing work of God in the Old Testament among God's people. some of them you will read of and they are men that fall away but in the midst of it all you read of a Jabez. Now I'm not going to go through Jabez because if I remember right I preached through Jabez a year or two ago so I'm not going to do that again but think of Jabez. Jabez has been born Jabez, you read of him in the next verses, verse 10. Jabez was more honorable than his brethren. His mother called his name Jabez. That's sorrow. Sorrow. He was in childbirth. This is how Jabez sets out. His life is set out in sorrow, and in troubles, and in trials. And one thing changes it all for him. What is that? He makes a simple prayer to God. He prays to God, that thou would bless me indeed. See God is, God is continuing to be faithful down through and he's blessing the likes of Jacob, Jabez, that thou would bless me indeed. Was Jabez not blessed? Of course he was blessed. My friend, we ought to count our blessings every day. But he wanted the blessings that there were, the blessings indeed. The blessings that added no sorrow to it. He wanted spiritual blessings. He wanted the blessings that would prevail. He wanted the blessings that would, well not just the blessings of this world, he wanted the blessings that God would give to him, and God gave it to him. Enlarge my course, he says, make me know more, let me come to understand more of the glories that belong to thyself. What a wonderful prayer. He was more honorable than all of his brethren because he was a man of prayer. You see, that's the history of God's church. The history of God's church is never stagnant. It moves on. It moves on from Judah, from his sons, his sons, and his sons' sons, right all the way down, and then you come to the other tribes, and it comes to their children, and it never stands still! And even today, God's church is not standing still. God is doing a work. Today you might not in the midst of it see it, you might not understand it, you might not see it, but my friend God is doing a work today in this world. He is blessing His church. He is enlarging His church. He is bringing into His kingdom such as should be saved. And the church, even as it was in David's day, and in the tribes, in Judah and these tribes, even in these days, God was using these tribes, even in the midst of the time when they rebelled against him. When they were taken out of Jerusalem, taken down to Babylon, God's people were being preserved in Babylon. When Jerusalem was being razed to the ground, God kept his people. And that brings you to To another point, not just that there is progression, but God always would have a remnant. You see the genealogy, you would have thought at some point this genealogy would come to an end. You know, you've got different nations that came to an end. You have the Egyptian, Pharaohs, they came to an end. You go to China and you can read of all these great people in China, dynasties, and they come to an end. You come to Babylonian, Assyrian, Persian, they all come to an end. But surely here, when you see the genealogy here, surely it will come to an end. My friend, it does come to an end, but it becomes a glorious beginning. It's a wonderful beginning. Because with the coming of the King, with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is an end of that Old Testament genealogy. Right up until the time of the Lord coming, there would always be a remnant. There would be a Simeon even standing, waiting in the temple, waiting for the coming Messiah. And the Lord would preserve His remnant even down in Babylon. Remember we were saying that that's where the synagogue worship really began. It wasn't in Jerusalem, it was down in Babylon. When they were there, the Lord became a little sanctuary to them. That's what it says, isn't it? He became a little sanctuary. Not in Jerusalem, because Jerusalem had fallen. Jerusalem was razed to the ground. They were taken down into Babylon, and God preserved them down there. God maintained His remnant. And you think to yourself, well, it's going to come to an end. My friend, it doesn't come to an end. It does come to an end, but it comes to a beginning, a wonderful, glorious beginning with the coming of the true King and his gathering in from all the ends of the earth, his people. And you know, it doesn't matter what view you may or may not take about what's going to happen to the world yet to come. Different people take different views. The one thing that will most certainly be true, and that is there will always be God's remnant in this world until the end of time. And Christ will return again once that final remnant is gathered in. There is the remnant that will be there. You know, when Christ returns, there will be that remnant. The genealogies here are telling you that. They're not just giving you names for the sake of saying, well here's a family. Here's a family of Judah. Here's a family of Simeon. You know, look at what's going on here. It's telling you this is God's church. These are God's people. And in the midst of an evil world, God will keep his people. even supposing it's a remnant that is taken out down into Babylon, and there he will meet with them, and there he will become a little sanctuary to them. That ought to be an encouragement to us today, isn't it? Because this is all based upon David, God's king, and his descendants, but my friend, the church today is built upon the true king. It's the true kingdom. A kingdom that hath none end at all. God's kingdom spans heaven and earth. There is the church triumphant and there is the church militant, but at the head of it all is the King, the King of kings and the Lord of glory. Chronicles, I'm just trying to set the scene for you for chapters four to eight, Chapters 4 to 8 are founded upon, I believe, chapters 1 to 3 that speak of this King David and his descendants and ultimately culminates in David's greater son. My friend, today, what an encouragement it is then that we are able to come and look at that and see that you have but in type there what is true. of the church today, built upon a solid foundation, secure in the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows all those that are his own, a remnant that he will maintain until the end of time. Do we today trust in this King? Is our faith in this Lord Jesus? It was the one sin, a predominant sin, that was there when he came. They said, we will not have this king. Well, let us go out into the world and say, Jesus Christ is a looking. He rules in the midst of his people, and he is a glorious king. Let us join