“Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, ‘Because I bore him in pain.’ And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, ‘Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!’ So God granted him what he requested.” (NKJ)
As we complete our sermon series on the prayer of Jabez we have to focus on these last words, You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain! Because the name Jabez means pain and that this man of God was branded with a name that would haunt him for the rest of his life Jabez decided he needed God’s power to keep him from failing.
You can see as we moved from bless me indeed, enlarge my territory or my influence for you this prayer progresses. Jabber moved in faith and he needed God’s power and favor of God’s hand on his life. But now as he walked in faith and stood for God the enemy comes after him. Ladies and gentlemen that is the normal Christian life.
To not get this is to miss the fact that we are in Spiritual Warfare. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 6 to put on the armor of God so that we can stand against the schemes of the devil. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 5:8, to “Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary the devil walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
Because our adversary is real we have to comprehend what Jabez is asking for. He’s asking for the same thing Jesus prayed in the Model prayer. Jesus said, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one :” (KJV) Jesus is teaching us to pray that God will keep temptation away. Jabez is saying keep temptation the things that will cause me to fail help me to avoid them.
As God begins to bless our lives and the enemy strengthens his attack that’s when our struggles come. So I want to speak to the areas of our temptations and the how to avoid those pitfalls.
We fight against the world, the flesh and the devil everyday. Attacks come and we must be prepared. We need His power and we need to be real about ourselves. Why do I say tit that way? Look again at Jabez’s focus, You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!
God YOU have to keep me from this and God my plea is I don’t want to hurt my family!!!
I. The First Two Battles (Keep me)
The Bible tells us we battle against the world and the flesh. Here in our text is the word keep. It is a verb which means protect. It is much like Jesus saying “lead us not into temptation.” Jabez is asking don’t even let me go there. Keep me hedged under your umbrella of protection—and don’t even allow me to think like that.
The Bible tells us that people don’t grow in their faith like they should because the “cares of the world” have hindered their faith from taking root and maturing into fruit. We are also told to “Crucify the flesh and its lust.” So what are the areas of temptation that the enemy knows will trip up a man?
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (NIV)
I grew up on the Rifleman, Bonanza and I really liked a short series called The Guns of Will Sonnett. If you’ll bear with me today I’m going to use the dirty tactics of the enemy and what the bad guys did in those TV shows the tactic of an Ambush. Ambush by definition means “Being concealed to attack by surprise.”
Being a little boy I can remember watching those old westerns and trying to warn the heroes that the ambush was coming. If they could hear me through the TV I would say look out behind those rocks the enemy is lying there waiting to attack you.
And that is precisely how the enemy does it. He tempts us to and then blind sides us with an overwhelming desire that lures us away from everything that God holds dear. Unfortunately many men find this out too late or fail to heed the warnings that God rings out.
This sermon gets its name from the book Finishing Strong by Steve Farrar he lists three areas the enemy awaits to ambush us and let’s also look at how to avoid them:
A. The ambush of another woman
The world and the flesh tempt us to sin. Dr. Howard Hendricks interviewed 246 Christian men who were ambushed in this area and found without question all of them had 4 of the same characteristics.
1.They didn’t have a close friend who kept them accountable in this area.
2.Each one quit having their daily quiet time with God.
3.They were spending significant time alone with that woman during their day.
4.All of them were absolutely convinced it would never happen to them.
Married men of God never put yourself in a position where you are talking with a lady by yourself. Have your wife there or her husband there. Billy Graham kept his office door open whenever he spoke with a lady.
B. The Ambush of Money
Again the world and the flesh tempt us to use money wrongly. Money by itself is not evil. I know many Godly people blessed from above who have not only followed God’s principles of money but have also used this as a way of being a blessing to many without it. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (NKJ) money is not evil but if a person becomes greedy they will stray from the faith that’s why Jesus said where your treasure is there will your heart be also.
Greed for money goes out the window when we realize God provides for His people. As we walk with God in obedience He provides. The Bible says in Philippians 4:19,“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (NKJ)
The opposite of greed is the christian who understands they are a steward of what God has provided. A steward realizes what the Bible says in James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above,” (NIV)
God has given us the ability to make the money and therefore it belongs to Him and we then give back what God tells us to and supply for the needs of our family.
The Ambush of another woman/The Ambush of money
C. The Ambush of a Neglected Family
These first two have shipwrecked many a home but this last one is so subtle most of the time it fails to get counted. I’ve known many a Christian man who has placed their work and their hobbies in front of their faith and their family.
I’ve heard of preachers who have placed the church and the wants of church members and sacrificed their kids for the cause of Christ.
Can I just stop and say right here men of God your ministry is your family. This is our #1 calling and responsibility.
Listen men what we are entrusted with the greatest gift God could give besides Jesus. Listen to what the Bible tells us about our wives and children:
1 Peter 3:7, “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”
Psalm 127:3-5 says,“Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate.” (NKJ)
God’s greatest reward to us as men is to be a daddy. We’re the only one they’ll have and we are to teach them to shoot straight we give our kids direction for life.
Jabez says Lord I know these battles with the world and the flesh are real. But don’t let me fall like other men. Keep me away from them.
II.The Constant Struggle (Evil)
We may overcome the first two battles time and time again. But the ever present war with evil will not leave us until we get to heaven. This is the second part of the Lord’s prayer when Jesus said, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one:” (KJV)
Jabez like Jesus is showing us not only to pray keep me from, or lead me not into temptation but deliver me from evil. The word evil means wicked, bad, naughty—actively so. See temptation may cause us to stumble occasionally but active wickedness leads to a life of ruin by sin.
Psalm 1:1 illustrates the point of this progression of evil. “Blessed is the manWho walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;”
Don’t get ungodly counsel. If the person isn’t Godly then we are getting wicked advice. Also standing in the path of sinners means to stand with sin, and sitting means to live a life of active sin.
Psalm 1:2 tells us the remedy: But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
Stay in the Word. Have a hungry heart to grow in God’s Word. In 2 Chronicles 12:14 we learn how, “And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek
the Lord.” Prepare your heart for Godliness. Stay away from sin.
When Jesus died for our sin He knew the presence of the evil one would always be with us. The idea of temptation is not that it goes away but that we learn to
actively say NO to it.
This lifestyle can only happen when we surrender to prayer and the study of the
Word of God.
Remember Jabez became a Hebrew scholar even though he was from the tribe of Judah. Scribes became the leaders of Israel in that day and they thought so much of the man of God they named the town after him.
This active denial of temptation leads to a life of an active pursuit of holiness in our personal lives. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a
light to my path.”
Evil will always be present. Job was one of the greatest saints to ever live besides Jabez listen to what he says about God’s stand on this subject, “And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.’”
Conclusion: The Bible tells us here that “God granted him what he requested.” Like Jabez it doesn’t matter if you had a shaky start, or a messy middle. God
wants you to Finish Strong.
The Bible records over a thousand men in leadership positions. I want to give three categories of how these men finished:
Finished poorly—This means they started well but something happened in their lives that failure entered in. Solomon neglected his wife and through away his faith. Eli neglected his sons, Saul through away his faith and family.
Finished “so-so”—This means they did not complete what God called them to do. Hezekiah, David through away his family and both of these men limped across the finish line.
Finished Strong—This means these men were walking with God and were giants in the faith. Joseph, Job, Elijah, Joshua and Caleb.
So the question is how do we want to finish? We will be ambushed? Or will we pray like Jabez, You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!
Don’t let us hurt our families or desert our faith. Lord Jesus help us all to Finish Strong.
PRAY
