The sermon this evening is Genesis chapter 49, verses 8 through 12. Please join me there. We're continuing on with the account where Israel was about to die, and he called his sons, and his sons come together, and there it is in the assembly. He says, Assemble the four men. This is a picture of a church service, and this could even be considered a church service. As a prophet, they're standing in their midst, telling them exactly what is going to befall them. He's pronounced some praise. He's pronounced a good bit of judgment. Now he comes to his son Judah. Here's what the prophet says to Judah. Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's son shall bow down to you. Judah is a lion's whelp. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He couches, he lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who dares rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. He ties his foal to the vine and the donkey's colt to the choice vine. He washes his garments in wine and his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes are dull from wine and his teeth white from milk. Pray with me. A great and powerful God, our King, as we come now and as we approach your word, we plead with you yet again for your help and for the work of your Holy Spirit in us, that you would reveal truth to us, that you would reveal reality to us, that we would know how to live, that we would know how to love, we'd know how to respond to you and respond to your word, that you will be glorified as we work and labor together for you and for your namesake. So bless now. and be glorified. It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. One of the most beautiful images that I've seen is the woods in early dawn when the sun isn't even quite shining yet and you look down and you can see fog down through valleys and you can see hill after hill after hill fading off into the distance, but through the fog, the furthest hill away, and these trees are a pale, pale gray. Then a little closer, they're a little darker gray, and a little closer, a little darker, until you come and you have the full image of what you're seeing. As Scripture is unpacked, and in the Old Testament, the further back we look, it's as if we look, and we're looking through a fog, And we're seeing hills off in the distance. And as Scripture is unpacked and unfolded, as we travel further and further along, as we come closer and closer to where we are in the coming of Christ, things are more and more clear. So we look at these passages concerning Judah, in verse 8 there, Israel in this prophecy says, Judah, your brothers shall praise you. These are brothers that, as far as we have seen, haven't been really given to praising each other, or more prone to sell somebody into slavery. But we look here, and there's something deeper happening here. And this is a hill that's a little bit further forward, but if we look back when Judah was born in Genesis 29-35, and she conceived again, and bore a son, and said, this time I will praise the Lord, and that is Yahweh. Therefore, she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing. So this idea of one who is to be praised, this one who will be praised is coming. And then as they sit before the prophet Israel, he unpacks it further. And he continues on in Genesis 49.10. He says, the scepter shall not depart from Judah. nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until Shiloh comes." And this Shiloh is a name that's used and people say that this is Messiah. The scepter shall not depart from your throne until Messiah arrives. And to him shall be the obedience of the nations. So Christ is being prophesied here. Now in Revelation 5.5 which we read, one of the elders said to me, stop weeping. Behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome, so as to open the book and its seven seals. In verses 11 through 13, Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and the living creatures, and the elders, and a number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands. As we were driving to Eastvale tonight, we passed a little league baseball park. And these kids are out playing, and parents are gathered around, and they're watching the kids, and they're excited about the kids. And one of my children said, there's another baseball game going on? You know, as we travel through the land and we look, my heart breaks. As we look around and we see a people who are not a worshipping people. We see a people who don't belong to Christ. We see a people who do not worship. I rejoice when I read the book of Revelation as I see people coming and rejoicing in Christ. There were myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb that was slain. And this is the Lion of Judah to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and blessing. and every created thing which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, to him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing, and honor, and glory, and dominion forever and ever." You see, you are assembled together now in this place where Christ is praised. where the Lion of Judah is rejoiced in. This is a work that's done on your heart by the Holy Spirit, and it should swell such thankfulness in us that we have been removed from a kingdom of darkness. We have been brought into the dominion of light. This is the great riches, the great power, the great glory of Christ that we come face to face with. So as we look, we see this Judah. And the prophet says, your brothers will praise you. They say you are a lion's cub who will rouse you, who will come and make you rise up. You will go to the prey and you will rise up from the prey. This is Christ. This is Christ who overcomes. Now we are a people who have in one sense been liberated liberated from the dominion of darkness, rescued from the power of sin. And yet we're also a people who are slaves. People who are slaves to righteousness, and a people whose hearts are supposed to drag us along the highways of Zion, that we would rejoice and that we would praise. And this is our walk today. This is our walk this evening. that we would gather together, that we would praise Christ because of who He is, because of what He's done, because of His glory, because of His majesty, because of His dominion. Now, our first step in this journey, look with me again at Genesis 49, verse 8. Judah, your brothers shall praise you. You need to see here that praise for Christ is tied to a true relationship with Him. Your brothers will praise you. Romans 8-29, For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He would be the firstborn among many brethren. This idea that you have been loved, that you have been loved, that you have all been loved from before the foundation of the world. Something that should stir such thankfulness and such gratitude in us. I talked to a young man today and he was urging me on and saying that he thought we needed more confession of sin in our worship service. Maybe we do. Maybe we do. As I deal with my own sin, my crimes, and my rebellion against God, this idea here of predestination in Romans 8.29, for those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son, causes me to marvel and repent all the harder when I fall. This idea of predestination is one of the things that hit me in the back of the knees the first time I really bowed the knee to Christ. That from before the foundation of the world, he saw my crimes. Before the foundation of the world, he saw your crimes. He saw your sins. He knew you weren't worthy. He knew. And from that place, He showed you such grace. He foreordained that you would be conformed to the image of His Son. And He is the firstborn among many brethren. You are brought in and called brethren. He brought in, called, sons and daughters of the Most High. And this spurs us on in love, and spurs us on in obedience. Now this relationship with Christ flows from Him being in us, and us being in Him. Psalm 51, 15. O Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare your praise. Have you ever been in the depths of sorrow and despair? Some of us it comes when a loved one dies. Some of us it comes with some rejection. Some of us it comes with some betrayal. Sometimes it comes as we see our own sin and our own sorrow and we see that our sins are actually crimes against God and we find ourselves in a place where we don't even have a voice anymore to cry out for rescue or for help or for forgiveness. Here the psalmist is in such a place and the best that he can say there is, Oh Lord, open my lips. Because he can't open them himself. Oh Lord, open my lips that my mouth may declare your praise. You see, the heart to praise God is so often that the path begins in our sorrow. The path begins in our failure. The path begins in our weakness. The path begins in someone's death. The path begins with someone's betrayal. The path begins with someone's rejection. But from there, the Spirit of Christ brings us, and sometimes drags us, along to praise. 2 Corinthians 4.6 For God, who said, Let light shine out of darkness, is the one who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. From there, from there we praise that it's all flowing from your relationship with Christ. A relationship. A relationship. A relationship. For you talk to him, he talks to you. You rejoice in who he is, you rejoice in what he's done. From there you are his child. Matthew 12 50. For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother. And it's this work of His Spirit in the place of repentance, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. As we continue on, praise Him for who He is. In Psalm 86, 8, there's no one like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. I've had friends in the past when I had a lot of friends that were unbelievers and those are the circles I traveled in. Some of my friends were hockey players and they enjoyed hockey. And there's this guy, Mario Lemieux, and they just loved him. They loved him. They loved him. They'd watch him and they'd rejoice in him and they would say, there's never been anyone like him. And that was this reason for praise in their hearts. He's the best. He's the best. There's nobody like him. Well, there we see an idolatrous echo. Look at Psalm 86, verse 8. The psalmist carried along by the Holy Spirit says, there is no one like you among the gods. O Lord, nor are there any works like yours." Colossians 1.5 points out the reality that we're dealing with Christ here. He says, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. You get that? Jesus Christ, who is in you, and you are Him, in Him, is the manifestation of all glory, the manifestation of all power. We look and we see in the book of Revelation chapter 5 the way the Lamb is worshipped in heaven itself, praised by the angels because He is the King of Kings, because He is the Lord of Lords. This is who Christ is. Glory is His. And the amazing thing about glory is this weight, this idea of value. It exists. Glory exists and it must go somewhere. It belongs somewhere. I've talked to unbelievers and they say, we're talking about their purpose in life and the purpose of mankind and I explain that the purpose of mankind is to glorify God. to display His splendor, to display His wealth, to display His value. And they said, to me, that's arrogance. And we're not supposed to be arrogant. We're supposed to be humble. They think it's arrogance that God would want to be worshipped. But as God is worshipped, as Christ is worshipped, that's creation put back in order. That's things being set right. That's the most weighty and broad things on the bottom and things being stacked in the ways that make sense finally. This world is in disorder. The world is in disarray. But when you know who Christ is, when you know who He is, when you know what He's about, when you understand what He's done, when you understand what He will do, you praise Him. You rejoice in Him when you know the true Christ. I've had disputes with people about worship and talking about teaching who Christ is, even in public schools, and there's arguments going on, and this person said, yes, but some people don't believe that Christ is King. It doesn't matter if they believe it or not. This is the reality. This is the truth. There are no gods like you. There is no one like you among the gods. This is reality, and it must be proclaimed. Kingdom of Priests. This is reality, and it must be announced. This is the true Christ, and He must be praised. As we continue on, we praise Him for what He has done in creation. Colossians 1.16 For by Him, All things were created, both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things have been created through Him and for Him. Christ created all things, even for Himself. Psalm 33 6, By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their hosts. We traveled to Myrtle Beach two weeks ago. And we traveled through the mountains. And we look and we see these towering mountains of rock. They're huge and they're amazing. And I'm reminded of the Scripture that a mountain. These beautiful, huge, majestic things are like a piece of dust to God on a scale. We saw the ocean and you look and as far as you can see in every direction there's water, water, water, water, water. And I think of how heavy one gallon of water is, eight pounds. and I see countless, and it says that he holds the oceans in the hollow of his hand. You see, Christ created these things. They were made for him. The highest, the greatest mountain, the deepest ocean, under the smallest molecule, the smallest atom, created by him. for him. So he should be praised. As we continue on, this takes a more personal swing here. Praise him for what he has done in forming you. Psalm 139 verses 13 and 14. For you formed my inward parts. You wove me in my mother's womb. I want you to think about that. Meditate on that. You who are sitting here. You were formed by God in your mother's womb. Knitted together in the secret place. There is such a level of intimacy to that, as I even think of my mother kind of almost makes you want to squirm a little bit. But what could be more intimate than the way that you have been formed? You are known, you are known, you are known. And here's even the response of praise here after that. For you formed my inward parts, you wove me in my mother's womb." And the response is, I will give thanks to you. For I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works and my soul knows it very well. And your soul knows it as you are embracing Christ. Your soul knows it as you meditate on his word. You who have walked with God for some time, you who have known Christ for some time, you have known valleys, you have known mountains, but I wonder, and you would have to answer this for yourself, Have you been to the place where the Word of God is your water? Have you been to the place where the Word of God has become your food? I urge you, I urge you, seek that place. My mind goes to Jacob, wrestling with God, and he says, I won't let you go until you bless me. We were at that lunch table a couple of months ago. I apologize if this is a little redundant. But Elia took her plate and she slid it away from her. And my impression was she wasn't pleased with the meal. I'm still not convinced that that's not the reality. When we asked her what she was doing, she said, I'm not eating because I want to get closer to God. She said with this little pious voice, and he in this furred brown shook his head and said, I don't see how that could work. One of our elders said, depends on how long you don't eat, I guess. But there is this place. And fasting is a part of that. As you give up something that's been precious, as you give up something that you've enjoyed, as you even give up food itself, and as you feel those hunger pangs within yourself, and you remind yourself, and you are reminded by these pains, as you are reminded by headaches or lightheadedness, whatever you get in that place, that as necessary as food is to me right now, you're reminded that the word of God is equally necessary or even more necessary to your soul, to food. And you come to these places where you can say, I will give thanks to you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works and my soul knows it very well. As we continue on, we move to verse five, not verse five, it's not, we're still on, this is a topical sermon on praising God, praising Christ. Move number five, praise Him for what He's doing. Colossians 117, He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Thinking about Christ, holding everything together. For you right now, it might be wise to think of that He's holding the pew together that you're sitting on. I've walked across surfaces that are unstable. I've been on branches that I weren't sure were going to hold me. And in moments like that, you're trusting and hoping for the integrity of the thing that you're standing on or the thing that you're sitting on. I stand here and I think that God's holding this stage together. God's holding the floor underneath the stage together. God's holding the earth together beneath the floor. He holds all things together. Right now, your very flesh is being held together by Christ. Many times we think that Christ has turned His back on us. unless he's let go, unless your politicals have exploded in every possible direction. He's not abandoned you. He has not let you go. He holds all things together. As we think about that in a physical realm, let's also think about it in a historical realm, your own personal history. Romans 8.28, and we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. I can't get my head around how he does this. My mother has accused me of living in a little black and white world. where everything is either good or it's evil, and there's something to that, I guess. And I've thought of this world as relatively simple, but it's not. When I was on the Eastvale Borough Council, I expected things to be simple there, but it's not. There's challenges, and there's lots of challenges, and there's lots of issues, A taste of it, they have the boat club down here on the river and there's these challenges with the boat club and people come in and say, we should have access to the road to get to the river. And you think, yeah, we should. And people start unpacking reasons why we shouldn't and how we don't. And you find out that this person and that person has a brother-in-law that's a member of the boat club on the board. And you start seeing all these different pieces and these things strung together in all these different ways. even as far as plowing the streets go. There's all these different intricacies in the ways that these things are woven together in Eastvale in ways that I don't know that I can understand or get my mind around. To imagine, to know, and to embrace the reality that all these little strings, all these little connections from the boat club to the borough council to the fire department, all of these things, that all of those could be organized and structured in such a way that they will all work out for the good of those who love Christ. I can't get my head around it. You want to move it up a notch, move it up to the next level of government, the next level of government, the next level of government. You want to move it up a notch. Think of the intricacies of this world in global politics. And your God is big enough to cause every interaction and every seedy deal in a back room to work together for good for those who love God and are called according to their purpose. I could just break into a hallelujah right now. It is amazing. It is marvelous. It's cause for rejoicing and it's cause for praise. And this is one of the reasons that we can sit back and be still and know that He's God. Because if I try to get my hand in the global politics, who knows what would happen. but he can pull it off, and he does pull it off, and he pulls it off in the person and the work of Christ. So we praise him for what he's doing. Next, we praise him because of what he has done in redemption. 2 Timothy 1.9, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works. Isn't that great? You're not saved because of your works. You're not saved because you've been good enough. That means you're not unsaved because you're not good enough. Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. Grace. granted to you from all eternity in Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus who accomplished righteousness. Christ Jesus who kept the law perfectly. From that place of His worth, His righteousness, you've been granted grace and redemption. Psalm 63, verses 3 and 4. Because Your loving kindness is covenant faithfulness, is grace, because your loving kindness is better than life. My lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live. I will lift up my hands in your name. So many reasons to praise. Now, as we have not been saved because of what we have done or what we will do, We still have this great hope and expectation for sanctification. So we praise Him for what He will do. Praise Him for what He will do in your sanctification. Philippians 1.6, For I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5.24 Faithful is he who calls you, and he will also bring it to pass. Do you lose hope? Do you lose hope? Do you sometimes wonder, am I going to make it? I do. Not you, but me. Am I going to make it? Will I finish? Will I endure to the end? Will I get the crown? Paul in the spirit says faithful is he who calls you and he will bring it to pass. You have been so loved. You've been so blessed. You are held fast. You are held together. He causes everything to work together for good. Rejoice in Him. Rejoice in the God of your salvation who rules heaven and earth. Pray to Him and rejoice in Him. Pray with me now. God, our God, We rejoice in you. We rejoice in who you are and what you have done. We thank you and we praise you. We glory in you. Open our lips that we would declare your righteousness. Give us hearts to see the reality of our redemption, of our salvation, and our ultimate glorification. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.