Jabez - Enlarge my Coast
There are many of you perhaps, who never heard of the man called Jabez, or if you read of him in the Bible it may have meant nothing to you. But this Old Testament character, as a type of the End-Time Sons of God, is very important to us today, and it behooves us to know what the Word has to say about him.
This man is mentioned in only one place in all the Scriptures. It does not tell us where he came from, who his father or mother were, nor does it give the names of any children. Yet in two verses in the official genealogies we learn more about this man than the hundreds of others listed with him: (1 Chr. 4:9, 10) "AND JABEZ WAS MORE HONOURABLE THAN HIS BRETHREN: AND HIS MOTHER CALLED HIS NAME JABEZ, SAYING BECAUSE I BARE HIM WITH SORROW, 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.
Born In Sorrow
The first nine chapters of this book are concerned almost entirely with the listing of names and recording of births. Suddenly, right in the middle of all this, God stops the records and tells us of a man named Jabez. His name means: "Causing pain," and his mother said she called him that because she bore him with sorrow. Now didn't all those listed cause pain when they were born? Yes, of course that's part of the curse. But God points out that here is one that was brought forth in special travail and in great sorrow. What a picture of our Lord Jesus, the "man of sorrows," and of His Body who are conformed to His image. The baby Jesus was not yet two months old when the prophet of God took him up in his arms and spoke by the Spirit to his mother and said that because of this baby a sword would pierce through her own soul also. None of us know the sorrow and shame and reproach this innocent young girl had to bear to bring this baby into the world. She was accused of casting away her virginity and shamefully violating her pledge to Joseph, her espoused, before they came together, she was "found with child of the Holy Ghost." Notice that "SHE WAS FOUND WITH CHILD." Who is going to believe her fantastic story of a visit by the angel Gabriel, and of her receiving seed for this child from no less than God Himself? Only God, who bottles up our tears, knows how many were shed when the scorn and reproaches began to fall upon this lovely young virgin. Sorrow. Yes, she knew sorrow, and shame, and the vile gossiping of wicked tongues. It cost something to bring this man Jesus into the world.
And it's going to cost you something, dear one, to be an overcomer, and a part of this great army of God. Do you think you will be honored and acclaimed by the world, or the religious systems, or even by those close to you? Be not deceived. You will wet your pillow many nights in your loneliness and in misunderstandings, crying out: "Why Lord, Oh why does it have to be thus?" Yes, a sword shall be thrust through your own soul also, when you see friends and loved ones turning away from the Truth. And when they classify you as having been deceived and seduced by man, it shall pierce you through, tho you know in the deep of your heart that you have heard from God and the seed you have received is nothing less than the pure Word of God.
A Manchild is Born
Jesus is speaking to His disciples in John 16:21 where He said: "A WOMAN WHEN SHE IS IN TRAVAIL HATH SORROW, BECAUSE HER HOUR IS COME: BUT AS SOON AS SHE IS DELIVERED OF THE CHILD, SHE REMEMBERETH NO MORE THE ANGUISH, FOR JOY THAT A MAN IS BORN INTO THE WORLD." Yes, there is great travail in bringing forth this manchild. But it shall produce the greatest joy this world has ever known. Jesus was the "man of sorrows and acquainted with grief," but Hebrews 1:9 says that God anointed Him with the oil of gladness above His fellows. Hebrews 12:2 says that for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame. He who knew the greatest sorrow and travail of soul, also knows the greatest joy among all those who are His brethren. Upon Him was heaped the greatest shame and reproach possible for He bore ALL our sins to Calvary, and to Him belongs all the glory and honor and praise. Bless His wonderful Name! And hear me today, beloved. tho the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ shall suffer the greatest sorrow, travail, grief, and innumerable reproaches in bringing this Manchild company into existence, yet they shall know a joy that is absolutely beyond description with our weak human vocabularies. Those who enter into the actual experience of the Feast of Tabernacles, who taste of the realities of which that feast is a type, shall discover that it is a feast of Joy. For in Lev. 23:40 we are instructed to "rejoice before the Lord your God," throughout the seven days of the feast. And Deut. 16:34 says: "Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days .and thou shalt REJOICE in thy feast." Hallelujah! Sons of God weep through the night, for in the morning thou shalt have joy and laughter, and tears and sorrow shall flee away. Let your heart travail before God, for this that He would do must come forth in sorrow. But know this, that with travailing shall come a glorious complete victory, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it! Look up, Jabez, thou man of sorrow, for joy is set before thee!
Born in Obscurity
History knows nothing of Jabez. He was God's man. He was great only in the eyes of the Lord. Who was his father? Who was his mother? Was he the father of a great nation? What did he accomplish in life? No one knows. He is simply one of God's "Are-Nots." 1 Cor. 1:28 tells us that God hath chosen the "things which are not, to bring to nought things that are": "FOR YOU SEE YOUR CALLING BRETHREN, HOW THAT NOT MANY WISE MEN AFTER THE FLESH, NOT MANY MIGHTY, NOT MANY NOBLE, ARE CALLED." God chooses. And God chose Jabez. A strange unknown to the Jewish historians, a Holy Ghost interruption and interjection into the midst of their man made order. This is the picture of God's Manchild in the end of the age. Just as their pattern, Jesus, was an unwanted and unwelcome intruder to the religious orders of His day, disrupting their ecclesiastical systems by a mighty manifestation of the power and glory of God. Just so, His Body shall bring a mighty deliverance to the sick and oppressed of the nations of the world, but they shall never be accepted by the religious systems and ecclesiastical order. Never. It is not the great ones, the mighty, the noble that He hath called, but rather the humble and simple people who are willing to accept Him as Lord and believe His Word. Quit trying to be somebody, dear ones! Like Jabez, be willing to be a nobody, one of God's "are-nots," that you might be chosen of God. Care not that you are not blazing a bright trail across the pages of history, doing great exploits that make men wonder, and making a name that men will exalt and long remember. Desire only to be in the perfect will of God, glorifying and exalting our wonderful Jesus!
A Higher Calling
"JABEZ WAS MORE HONORABLE THAN HIS BRETHREN." Here was a man who sought after God, who desired only His will. And the Word says that there was a difference recognized between him and his brethren. Same father, same mother. But a difference. A vast difference if you please. Jacob and Esau were twins, and being the elder Esau had the advantage and in many personal traits he was the more admirable. His father Isaac loved Esau and intended to give him the blessing. But Jacob was one who hungered for the blessing of God, and he respected not personal traits, advantages and traditions. He wanted that blessing, and purposed to have it. Esau cared little for spiritual blessings and birthrights. The Word of the Lord was not sacred to him. He was strong, he was self-sufficient, he could take care of himself. His own skill, his works would make a way for Him. But the Bible says that God loved Jacob and hated Esau. God made a difference between them, even before they were born.
There was a difference between Joseph and his brethren, the sons of Jacob. He knew it, and they also knew it and hated him for it. He had a calling of God on his life that they did not have. He hungered after the things of God, while they devised ways of getting rid of him. "He was more honorable than his brethren." This difference between him and his brethren took him in strange places, on perilous journeys, through many testings and trials until it brought him to that place of finding the purpose of God in his life and fulfilling the Word of the Lord. He sat upon the throne and ruled with his King.
Beloved, regardless of what man may say, there IS a higher calling. There IS a difference between the Elect of God and their "brethren." God has chosen. Know that "whosoever will may be saved." But we are not dealing in this message with the "Whosoever will" of God. We are dealing with the Jabez company, the Chosen. One of the most violent criticisms of the Sonship message is that some fear we are trying to make ourselves better than others. "All are the same" they cry. But the Bible says that all are not the same. Some press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, while others are willing to settle for a "heaven to gain and a hell to shun." And it is not a matter of making yourself better than others. for Romans 9:16 is plain: "SO THEN IT IS NOT OF HIM THAT WILLETH, NOR OF HIM THAT RUNNETH, BUT OF GOD THAT SHEWETH MERCY." There is no boasting in this for you sir, for this is the election of God.
But there is something you can do to keep yourself available to be chosen of God. You can keep your heart clean, desiring only Jesus and His will for your life. Eliab was the eldest of eight sons of Jesse. He was a strong, handsome young man, with many advantages. But when the prophet of God was sent to the house of Jesse to anoint the next King of Israel, and would have anointed Eliab. God spoke to him that he was in error because he was looking upon the outward appearance, while God looked upon the heart. And He saw something in Eliab's heart that disqualified him for the throne. Oh, he was from the right father, he was in the right family. But his heart was not right. So Samuel had to wait until they sent for David. He was the youngest, the least likely, just a stripling. But his heart was right. Hear me today, dear ones, there is a High Calling of God in Christ Jesus, and it is for those who have a right condition of heart. Jabez had the right kind of heart. He desired and hungered after the things of God. And he was more honorable than his brethren. Don't blame it on me, but I tell you there IS a difference. God made it so. And it led David to the Throne. So shall it be with God's elect. Out of the man-made ruts of denominational and sectarian systems, a glorious army of saints arise to be caught up in the divine purposes of Almighty God following the pattern Son. "Come out of her, my people" sounds forth the Spirit in thunderous tones, and there is a people who are hearing the first soundings of that trumpet and coming forth to be His alone. They will not be loved by those who refuse to hear the call of God. They will be misunderstood, rejected, and lied about. In 1 Sam. 17:30, we see David turning away from his own brother because of the scorn and opposition he received in moving toward the purpose of God in his life. It seems like those who are Christians, and preachers, should be the first to encourage you in going on with God into a higher calling and greater glory. But it is not always so. Some of your greatest opposition will come from those from whom you expected encouragement. But dare to press on into God! There is a difference, and others cannot understand why, but God knows, and our conforming is to His image alone.
Oh.!
As Jabez prayed, there was evidenced an intensity, an anguish of soul in the first word of his prayer. "Oh!" he cried, out of the very depths of his being. This was no "Now I lay me down to sleep" type of prayer. This was not something read out of a prayer-book, or a prayer memorized from the "good old days." In the travail of his soul and his great desire to win a glorious victory in this spiritual battle, he laid his heart bare before God. Beloved the day for "playing church" is over. God has tolerated much foolishness in the past, and "winked at our ignorance." But now He is calling forth an army who will rise into the heavenlies and put the enemy to flight. Our call is to build up and edify the Body of Christ, that they might tear down the strongholds of Satan and defeat the powers of darkness. This will take a people who are willing to come to grips with the realities of life.
One thing we know about Jabez's activities--he was a man of prayer. He knew God in an intimate way, and he believed in prayer. He called upon God because he had faith that God was able and willing and that the answer would come. The things he desired were impossible in the natural, so he went to the one who could and would do the impossible. Oh, beloved, dare to believe and ask for the impossible. For it is the impossible that we must have to meet the need of a dying world. We must have the power of the supernatural, for the natural man cannot meet the tremendous needs facing us today. But let me add a word of caution. Some dear misguided folks are getting so supernatural these days that they don't seem to need prayer. They have no use for the Bible, the written Word of God. They claim to be walking in heavenly places, so why should they be so earthly as to pray and read the Bible like the rest of us poor folks have to do? Why should they pray to Christ in heaven, lifting up their hands, when they have the Christ within? Why should they read what they call the "dead letter" of the written Word, when they claim that they have the living Word within, and what they speak is as inspired as what Jeremiah or Joel spoke? The trouble with that is it doesn't work and it isn't working in them. Of course, their failures to give life to their claims can be spiritualized away (if you have a strong stomach and a slightly seared over conscience and don't mind violating the plain teachings of Scripture).
Actually, their claims are a large part of their downfall, for one error leads to another. And when a boastful claim is finally exposed by Scripture, they have to propound another error in order to explain away that Scripture. On and on. There is no claims, but he knew how to think big and ask largely. Those who are coming into true Sonship are not found making big claims about themselves, their ministry, or their spirituality. They do not need to make claims, for that which God is bringing them into is so much greater than anything they could ask or think or boast about. And just a glimpse of even a part of this glorious inheritance humbles their hearts, for they are made to realize how little they deserve it, and that it cometh not by their works or their knowledge. A revelation of the Grace of God floods their souls like a mighty tidal wave sweeping in upon a parched land! Oh, how good God is!
It's You I Want Lord
"OH THAT THOU WOULDEST BLESS ME INDEED," Jabez cried. And when we get a revelation of the grace of God, how it makes our hearts fill up with praises to our wonderful Lord! How our mouths are filled with laughter and our tongues with singing! No one else can satisfy the desire of our soul, it takes Him alone. The things of the world hold no charm, the ambitions of life fade into insignificance before the ever increasing brightness of His glory. Hallelujah! Hast thou sacrificed earthly things for the Lord thy God? Hast thou done without for His name's sake? Why does they heart ask if the Lord hath seen? Is not His eye ever upon His own? Dost thou think that what the Lord thy God hath prepared for thee is any less than that which thou has given up in this world? Nay! But know thou this day that thy heart shall be amazed at that which the Lord shall do for those who follow on to know Him in His fulness. So let thy heart desire only Him, and let thy mouth speak only of His goodness, so shall the way be open for an abundant entrance into the Kingdom which the Father hath prepared for His own! Glory to God in the Highest!
"That THOU wouldest bless." Jabez wanted the perfect will of God. Before he asked for anything else, he asked for that which the Lord would desire. This is the attitude of the true sons of God, those today who are finding that the great desire of their hearts is to do always that which pleased Him. Jesus, the Pattern, was a perfect example of this. In John chapter 8, verse 29, Jesus spoke: "AND HE THAT SENT ME IS WITH ME: THE FATHER HATH NOT LEFT ME ALONE; FOR I DO ALWAYS THOSE THINGS THAT PLEASE HIM." Most church trouble usually starts when someone doesn't get THEIR way. But in Sonship, they don't care to have their own way, and knowing that He is on the Throne and is going to have His way in spite of what man will do, brings a wonderful rest and delivers from all strife.
Enlarge My Coast
Now we come to the heart of his request, Jabez found that as he moved in the purposes of God for his life, there was a necessity for enlargement. One time this place was large enough, but no longer. His growth in God brought fresh and increased vision, and moved his horizons back. Ever onward and upward is the direction of those who are hearing the voice of God in our generation. For we find we have not reached the ultimate in God, we have not found the end of "the unsearchable riches of Christ." When you quit pushing back, the horizons close in upon you and become high walls that hold you bound in man's sectarian ways and beliefs. When you stop enlarging your place in God, then you begin to shrivel up into a tiny dried up memorial of better yesterdays.
There is a promise of God in Deut. 19:20 that "THE LORD THY GOD SHALL ENLARGE THY BORDER, AS HE HATH PROMISED THEE." And there is a challenge to us in Isa. 54:2 as the prophet makes clear our responsibility to act upon the promise of God--"ENLARGE THE PLACE OF THY TENT, AND LET THEM STRETCH FORTH THE CURTAINS OF THING HABITATIONS: SPARE NOT, LENGTHEN THY CORDS, AND STRENGTHEN THY STAKES." When a movement becomes stationary, it turns into a monument and the picture is not pretty to those who see by the eye of the Spirit. But somehow, there has always been a remnant, an elect whose hearts heard the call of the Spirit to move on into greater things in the progressive purposes of God. History is a strange thing, how it repeats itself in principle. Yet it seems there are so many who cannot learn from it. They have fallen into the same snare of their forefathers. And the Elect of God have continued to "come out of her." A Revival becomes a movement. Leaders arise. Horizons are set. Borders are recognized. Stakes are driven. Theology becomes static, experiences become doctrine and theory. The movement organizes and becomes another denomination. With God preaching the funeral and the heavenly host acting as pall bearers, the burial is complete. But God calls life out of death, draws forth a living organism out of the organizations of man, and the march is on again! Glory to God, brother, you can't keep those who have heard the voice of the Spirit from pressing into the One who has called them into a life of progressive reality.
The Bed is Too Short
Isa. 28:20 says: "FOR THE BED IS SHORTER THAN THAT A MAN CAN STRETCH HIMSELF ON IT: AND THE COVERING NARROWER THAN THAT HE CAN WRAP HIMSELF IN IT." What a miserable night you'll have trying to fit into a bed that once had room to turn around in. What has happened? Has the bed shrunk? No, the man has grown. If he doesn't grow according to the natural processes, he becomes a monstrosity, and a freak. How the church world is flooded with spiritual freaks who have failed to grow, and now cannot find their way out of their baby beds. Many are so tangled up in their "coverings" that they are smothering to death.
Notice that the bed is shorter than a man can stretch on. it is not too short for babies. Our little baby is perfectly happy with sleeping in a bed in which I would be absolutely miserable. In fact, my 200 pounds would probably break it down if I tried to get into it. I once preached for a dear brother who lived in some Sunday School rooms in the church, and his living quarters were quite limited. He and his wife had a small room converted into a bedroom for themselves, and their three small children all slept in another room in a baby bed and two small bunk beds. When I arrived, they put the baby in the bed with them, put their little girl in the baby bed and. guess where I slept? Right! In the youth bed which was far too narrow and over a foot too short. For me, that is. It was just the right size for the child. Nothing wrong with the bed. Just that it was not built for a man. And I had grown to a maturity beyond where I could be satisfied with that which had suited me fine in days gone by. Oh, dear ones, recognize what has happened to you. You have been feeding on the good Word of God, and your growth has gone beyond the static theologies and methods of yesterday. Quit trying to stretch the old cover to fit you, and stop trying to cramp your growing spirit into the old beds where others seem able to sleep on in their graveyard peace. All you will be able to do is rip the covers and kick the slats out of the bed, and they won't like it at all. I'm speaking, of course, to those who are growing to maturity in Him. Know where you are in God. Enlarge your coast, push back your limitations, stretch out your horizons and lengthen your cords. God is on the move, and so are His people, His own, His Elect!
A New Coat Every Year
There's a beautiful story in the Bible about the Spirit bringing forth a Prophet to judge Israel. He started with the barren woman. Then He brought a tiny baby into the picture. But the baby grew, a steady progressive growth. The story is told in the first three chapters of first Samuel. And in chapter 2 verses 18-19 we read: "BUT SAMUEL MINISTERED BEFORE THE LORD, BEING A CHILD, GIRDED WITH A LINEN EPHOD, MOREOVER HIS MOTHER MADE HIM A LITTLE COAT, AND BROUGHT IT TO HIM FROM YEAR TO YEAR, WHEN SHE CAME UP WITH HER HUSBAND TO OFFER THE YEARLY SACRIFICE." What a lovely picture of motherly love. Tho she had given him to the Lord, yet there was still a care for his needs, and a constant remembrance. Also what a picture of growth. For why did Hannah bring a new coat every year? Why did she not make one tough enough and sturdy enough to last several years? A man who has reached the end of his growing period may wear a coat for several years. I have two winter suits which I bought while I was still working for an insurance company in Oklahoma several years ago. My summer suit was bought for me by a church on the East Coast nearly three years ago. And they still fit, and as long as they hold together I don't intend to buy any more. But my boys have to have new clothes every year, and it seems that my dear wife is always working on a dress for one of the girls. Because they hardly get a coat or pair of shoes broke in good till they're growing out of them.
And Samuel was a growing boy. And his mother was wise enough to know that. So with loving hands she made him a new coat every year. One that would fit him, and meet his growing needs. Would to God that religious leaders of today were as wise. They seem to think that once they have received some experience and established some doctrines and written down their statement of fundamental beliefs, that God will never speak again or that His people will never receive any more from God or grow beyond their limited little boundaries. In the natural, parents are brought each fall to the shocking realization of the facts of life. School starts, and the barefoot boy goes to put on his shoes only to discover that he can't get his feet into them. And the winter coat that was so warm last winter and is not near worn out, suddenly seems to have shrunk until the sleeves come halfway to the elbow, and the button cannot stretch to the button-holes. What has happened? Your boy is growing, mother. And you might as well make up your mind to get him some clothes that fit, or you'll never get him to the schoolhouse. For he'll go to the woods and play hookey rather than face his fellow students with his overalls halfway to his knees and buttons popping all over. Yet in the spiritual, some of God's people who have seen the truth and have grown in God seem to think that they can continue to wear the trappings of a Revival 40 years in the past. And those who continue to try to stir up the dead ashes of a move of the Spirit that God gave 12 or 15 years ago should learn something from Sister Hannah. She knew that this thing had to be enlarged continually to take care of the needs of God's Prophet.
For he was not going to quit growing just because of something good and beautiful that had been given to him last year. And this truth, dear ones, is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hallelujah to His great Name!
Thine Hand with Me
Notice that with every enlargement in God comes a renewed attack by the forces of hell, and a greater need for the next part of the prayer of Jabez: "ENLARGE MY COAST, AND THAT THINE HAND MIGHT BE WITH ME." Don't you know, Jabez, that it's the hand that holds the rod and administers discipline? Oh, yes, but you see, sir, His rod and His chastisements comfort me. They make me to know that I'm His son. So I long for His hand to be with me, in fact I need it for my perfection. God gave the 5 ministry gifts known as the "hand" ministry, for the perfecting of the saints. Appreciate them, and be glad for them, beloved. For though the Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers mentioned in Eph. 4:11 may be used of God to administer discipline at times, it is for your edification and good. But God's hand is not only a chastising hand, it is also a protective and giving hand.
Thou Openest Thine Hand
In Psa. 145:14-16 we read these inspired words: "THE LORD UPHOLDETH ALL THAT FALL, AND RAISETH UP ALL THOSE THAT BE BOWED DOWN. THE EYES OF ALL WAIT UPON THEE: AND THOU GIVEST THEM THEIR MEAT IN DUE SEASON. THOU OPENEST THINE HAND, AND SATISFIETH THE DESIRE OF EVERY LIVING THING. Now, there is so much in this portion of the scripture that we couldn't possibly get to it in one message. But the one thought that I want to draw your attention to is contained in these words: "THOU OPENEST THINE HAND." Notice that it is His hand, and that He has the power to open it. And when it is opened, the desires of all creation are satisfied. Romans chapter 8 gives us the time element for the fulfillment of this promise: "FOR I RECKON THAT THE SUFFERINGS OF THIS PRESENT TIME ARE NOT WORTHY TO BE COMPARED WITH THE GLORY WHICH SHALL BE REVEALED IN US. FOR THE EARNEST EXPECTATION OF THE CREATION WAITETH FOR THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SONS OF GOD. BECAUSE THE CREATION ITSELF ALSO SHALL BE DELIVERED FROM THE BONDAGE INTO THE GLORIOUS LIBERTY OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD. FOR WE KNOW THAT THE WHOLE CREATION GROANETH AND TRAVAILETH IN PAIN TOGETHER UNTIL NOW, AND NOT ONLY THEY, BUT OURSELVES ALSO, WHICH HAVE THE FIRSTFRUITS OF THE SPIRIT, EVEN WE OURSELVES GROAN WITHIN OURSELVES, WAITING FOR THE ADOPTION, TO WIT, THE REDEMPTION OF OUR BODY."
Yes, all creation is groaning for the full opening of God's hand. And we ourselves groan for this, also. No one longs for this glorious day any more than those who are true ministers of Christ and have been placed as members of the "hand" by the Spirit of God. And the true Body of Christ, like Jabez, earnestly desire the ministry of the hand of the Lord. This ministry, when fully opened and manifested or unveiled to the world, will truly satisfy the desires and longings of every living thing.
Not a Clenched Fist
God knows that we have had too much of closed fist type of ministry. The Body of Christ in general has suffered much from being beaten down by a clenched fist ministry that cared little for their needs and desires. And this has not been limited to denominations and sectarian ecclesiastical orders. Many are the non-denominational or "independent" preachers who have made merchandise of the people of God and used them for their own gain. The closed fist is a grasping hand, always taking from the people, but never able to give. Never satisfied, never full, but eternally grasping for more until the people are drained and empty. And then the clenched fist becomes a club to beat them into a discouraged defeat. And something else. The clenched fist is a fighting hand, always full of strife, never able to make peace. How often we have heard them say in a harsh, belligerent voice: "I'm going to contend for the faith." Yes, they're contentious alright. What they really mean is, that if you don't line up with their ideas and measure up to their standards, they will beat you into line. God open YOUR hand and deliver us from the closed fist of man.
The Open Hand of God
God has a ministry that is willing to open and give to edify the Body. This giving does not always involve finances. Many of God's true ministers have no money to give, but they give of themselves. The open hand is a giving hand. Some have learned the truth and beauty of Prov. 13:7: "THERE IS THAT MAKETH HIMSELF RICH, YET HATH NOTHING: THERE IS THAT MAKETH HIMSELF POOR, YET HATH GREAT RICHES." God is the greatest giver we know of. He gave His only begotten Son. Jesus gave Himself because of a giving heart of love for us. If men of God could only learn this fact and learn it good: that you don't lose anything by giving. I have seen pastors who were afraid to give a good offering to an evangelist or missionary, afraid for the money to leave the church, thinking it would hurt his own offering. Yet he sat in that church almost starved out, wondering why the people were not more generous with him. I'll tell you why. Like begets like, and he had brought forth a church full of stingy people and imparted his own stingy spirit to them. God has a giving hand.
An open hand is a helping hand. Many people have no time for anyone but themselves and perhaps those they feel will return the favor. But believe this if you can. there IS a ministry in the land that wants to help you. Their only purpose of existence, and their only desire in the ministry is that they might be a blessing to you, the Body of Christ. Jesus always had time for one who was in need. The multitudes told Zaccheus that Jesus had no time for the likes of him. But Jesus stopped in his journey, brought this man to a place of repentance, and then went home for dinner with him. The disciples told the children to run on and play, for they were too important and on too great a mission to be bothered with the problems of children. But not Jesus. He stopped all his great activity, and took the little children up in His arms and blessed them. Glory to God, isn't He wonderful? A lowly beggar sat by the road begging for alms. One day he heard a loud commotion of a great multitude of people. He was told that it was Jesus. He was on His way to Jerusalem where in a few days he could die on the cross for the sins of a lost world. But when the beggar cried for help, the multitudes told him to be quiet. Jesus had a great multitude thronging about Him, and the needs of the whole world on his heart. He has no time for the likes of you, they told the beggar. But they didn't know the extent of His helping hand. For while Calvary waited, and the whole multitude was kept standing in perplexed silence, Jesus called for the blind beggar and gave him his heart's desire. He was God's great giver. How many times God has blessed a man with a gift and a ministry that has caused the multitudes to flock about him. The adulation of the public does something to a man. It either brings him to a recognition of his weakness and helplessness and drives him to God in humility, or else it turns his head and causes him to start thinking that he is something big and important after all. And sometimes men who were once humble and helpful get so "big" that they no longer have a helping hand. Oh, they can perform very nicely on the platform, they are full of beautiful oratory and can "operate their gift" amazingly. They are like an actor on a stage. But the open hand, the helping hand, is gone. God's hand is a helping hand.
It is also a hand of fellowship. It is an open hand I offer you in fellowship when I want to shake your hand. The clenched fist is no sign of fellowship. It is a symbol of domination, of conquering. But an open hand, offered in fellowship, is a hand of equality. Too long we have had a clamoring for position in the ministry. Too long there has been a constant struggle to see who was going to be "top dog." There seems to be a gentlemen's agreement that someone has to be "boss" and the question is, who is going to be shrewd enough to make it to the top? Every religious system is filled with political maneuverings in high places, with underhand scheming and conniving, and with a constant undercurrent of struggle. What for? To "work your way up" to a position of authority over other men. Every flattering title, such as Reverend, Bishop, Presbyter, Superintendent, Overseer, His Holiness, His Imminence, Father, Cardinal, Pope, etc. etc. (Some of them good scriptural terms if used in their proper relationship and setting) is the result of just such a closed fist ministry. Why can we not have an open hand of fellowship, of equality, of harmony and unity where no one minister desires to lord it over his brethren? Well, we can. And God is now restoring just such an open hand ministry. Praise God!
When I have to discipline my children, I don't do it with a clenched fist in their faces, but I do it with an open hand applied to a place God made for just such a purpose. Two years ago when our baby was just a year old, I was preaching in a little country church in Kansas for a week. Suddenly in a service one day she got real rebellious and hard to manage. No amount of persuasion could control the situation. I finally took her out in the vestibule, rolled up her diaper and applied my hand vigorously to the fat of her little leg until it was good and red. Well, she never had a spanking before, and it came as a real shock to her. I took her back inside, but had to return with her the second time to the vestibule and repeat the performance. It was not pleasant to me at all, but it was a real revelation to her. And it worked. And from then on, when correction was needed, all I had to do was to lay my hand alongside her leg. No spanking was required for quite a long time. Just the remembrance did the work. How like the Lord's dealings with His children. If we will learn our lesson, he can guide us toward maturity with far less chastisement. Some of us are so slow to learn. And some don't seem to remember very long. But He is so tender with us. He doesn't beat us in the face with a clenched fist. Now I love my children very much, and when I correct them I don't do it with the intention of injuring them or permanently damaging their bodies. My family has been a great inspiration to me, and I feel a great responsibility to them, and if there is anything that gets next to me real quick is for someone to try to hurt one of my children. One time we were living in the rear of a church when a drunk man falsely accused one of my boys of hitting his car with a small rock. He caught the boy between the church and the building we were living in, and began beating on him. I heard the boy screaming and ran out to find them both there, with blood coming out the boy's mouth. (It wasn't serious, but I didn't know it then). Well, I tell you folks, I like to think that someday, Jesus will perfect me to the place of being gentle and kind, and longsuffering, etc. But that day it was just the grace of God that kept me from stomping that fellow into the ground. I got pretty excited, and it was just the Lord that kept me from getting involved in some real violence that day. I was ready to use the clenched fist and the only reason I didn't was that the Lord prevented me from it. And I wonder when the Lord sees His own dear children being abused and beaten so much if He doesn't feel like taking some measures against these closed fist ministries that are drunk on their power. Discipline is something God administers with an open hand. Yes, like Jabez, we are crying "That thine hand might be with me." But let it be thy open hand, Lord. Then shall we be edified and satisfied.
Keep Me from Evil
In the next part of his prayer, Jabez deals with a very important part of God's nature and character, a characteristic that many today seem to have forgotten. Hear me today, friend, and learn this well. our God is a God of holiness, and those who are truly going on with God in this or any other hour are saying with Jabez: "KEEP ME FROM EVIL, THAT IT MAY NOT GRIEVE ME!" Sin grieves the heart of God, and it also grieves the sons of God. When someone tells you that they now have a revelation that lets them drink beer and whiskey, indulge in illicit sex and others lusts of the flesh, you can be sure of one thing. their revelation is from the pit, and that's right where it's dragging them. For true revelation from heaven will set your face toward a life of holiness. Oh, I know we make a mess of it, and our own efforts of righteousness turns out to be as filthy rags. That's why we cry with Jabez. "Lord YOU keep me from evil." I cannot attain holiness by my own efforts, it must come by the grace and mercy of God. You must do it, Lord. But this is the cry of every heart who is truly going into sonship. Keep me from evil. Jesus walked in an ugly, dirty, world, a world that was full of sin and rotten to the core, but sin could not touch Him. He loved sinners, but He hated sin. He sat down with them and partook of their food and fellowship, but he could not partake of their sin. He loved to be with people, but their sin grieved Him. And He gave all that He had. His pure holy life, that He might deliver us from sin and death. To get a revelation on what sin does to the heart of Jesus, when He sees it in His children, is one of the greatest motivations to drive us to the cross of Christ and make us turn our back on the tempting forces of earth. God gave instructions to engrave in gold the words: "HOLINESS TO THE LORD," and put them on the forehead of the High Priest. Much can be said on this, and will be said in a later message, but know thou this, child of God. sin grieves God, and the true sons of God are, like Jabez, crying out against it.
And God Heard and Answered
The closing words of our text is "AND GOD GRANTED HIM THAT WHICH HE REQUESTED." And God granted. Praise God for His marvelous grace! Thank God that we have One who is ABLE to grant. Nothing is too hard for Him. There is nothing you can ask for that He can't give. There is so much we don't deserve and so much we can't earn. But it doesn't come by works or righteousness. It is only the grace of God. When we can see this, and confess it, you will find that it will open up a channel through which He can bless you like you've never been blessed before. If we expect blessings because of what we are or what we've done, then He is limited so much as to what He can give us. But if we accept on the basis of what HE is and what HE has done, then the limitations are done away. And He delights in blessing us abundantly.
"THAT WHICH HE REQUESTED." He got what he asked for. Perhaps like I have often done, he may have wondered why he didn't ask for more. For God could have done even greater things for him, if he had asked. Learn from Jabez, beloved, and ask largely that your joy might be full. For truly, this man of God, one of God's unknown and unsung heroes, is a wonderful picture of the Elect of God, His Overcomer Body of end-time Sons. Take heart, saints, for he has your picture and description already written in the pages of His eternal Book!
The Incomparable Christ
More than nineteen hundred years ago there was a Man born contrary to the laws of life. This Man lived in poverty and was reared in obscurity. He did not travel extensively. Only once did He cross the boundary of the country in which He lived; that was during His exile in childhood.
He possessed neither wealth nor influence. His relatives were inconspicuous, and had neither training nor formal education.
In infancy He startled a king; in childhood He puzzled doctors; in manhood He ruled the course of nature, walked upon the billows as if pavements, and hushed the sea to sleep.
He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for His service.
He never wrote a book, and yet all the libraries of the country could not hold the books that have been written about Him.
He never wrote a song, and yet He has furnished the theme for more songs than all the songwriters combined.
He never founded a college, but all the schools put together cannot boast of having as many students.
He never marshaled an army, nor drafted a soldier, nor fired a gun; and yet no leader ever had more volunteers who have, under His order, made more rebels stack arms and surrender without a shot fired.
He never practiced psychiatry, and yet He has healed more broken hearts than all the doctors far and near.
Once each week the wheels of commerce cease their turning and multitudes wend their way to worshipping assemblies to pay homage and respect to Him.
The names of the past proud statesmen of Greece and Rome have come and gone. The names of the past scientists, philosophers, and theologians have come and gone; but the name of this Man abounds more and more. Though time has spread nineteen hundred years between the people of this generation and the scene of His crucifixion, yet He still lives. Herod could not destroy Him, and the grave could not hold Him.
He stands forth upon the highest pinnacle of heavenly glory, proclaimed of God, acknowledged by angels, adored by saints, and feared by devils, as the living, personal Christ, our Lord and Saviour.
Bill Britton Jabez - Enlarge my Coast 