Theme: LIVING IN INTEGRITY
Text: Genesis 14: 1-24
Introduction
A. Greetings: Happy Father’s Day.
B. Ok, this morning we will continue our study series in the life of Abraham. Last Sunday we learned that God confirmed His promises to Abraham about the possession of the land of Canaan. God told Abraham once again that he would be the possessor of the land. In conformity to God’s revelation, Abraham lived in obedience to God’s words and consecrated his life to God in service and worship. And one more thing which is very wonderful about this man is: while in the land enjoying everything in it, he sought for a better place to settle down forever. He looked beyond what is now. Firm in his faith and hope in the promises of God, Abraham had the assurance that heaven would be at the end of his journey. May we have the same faith that our father Abraham had.
C. In our passage today we find another aspect inside Abraham’s life. He is portrayed here as a man of integrity. Integrity is a very important behavior that God wants all His children to exhibit all the time. What is integrity? It is defined as “the quality of possessing and adhering to high moral standards.” When a person is said to have integrity, we mean they have high moral standards. They operate in a way that causes them to seek the right way first.
But in biblical sense, integrity is “the quality of seeking and following unswervingly the standards and the ways of God.” To say it’s moral and right is not enough; it should be in accordance to God’s principles and standards. To seek and follow God’s ways and principles is the behavior that God wants us to exhibit when responding to trials, temptations, challenges, impulses, struggles, disputes, and even competition.
Our text deals three areas of Abraham’s life wherein he demonstrates the fact that he was a man of integrity. In all these areas of his life, we can find that Abraham steadfastly sought and followed God’s standards, that is, he operates in Godly ways.
I. IN HIS WARFARE
1. Evidently, Sodom had been a tributary to king Chedorlaomer for some 12 years. But after 12 years, they refused to pay their tribute money and revolted. Chedorlaomer, along with his confederates, invaded Canaan to deal with these rebellious people. This invasion resulted to the sacking of Sodom and the capturing of Lot.
When Abraham learned that Lot was in trouble, he went to war. I gather that Abraham was a man of peace. In the entire history of his life, this is the only time we see him to have engaged himself in an armed struggle. But he did go to battle because there was a need to. This just shows that Abraham was a man who had an attitude to willingly respond to the needs of others regardless of the sacrifices and dangers on his part.
2. Now, this incident is not giving as an encouragement or scriptural validation to engage with any physical or armed war against those we might consider enemies. In contrast, this reminds us that we are always at war against evil. Our struggle as people of God “is not with flesh and blood, but against evil principalities, and against the ruler of darkness.” Paul says that our battle is spiritual in nature. And we are always engaged in it, whether you realize it or not. Our real enemy is the devil. He is always seeking a tyrant ruler-ship in our lives.
3. We have few lessons here to learn:
a) Resist the devil. Satan would like to have us under his control. He wants to put us in bondage. He likes to corrupt and destroy our lives. Do not succumb yourself to anything he offers. Instead, yield your life totally to God.
b) Oppose the works of darkness. But Jesus says to all believers, “You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the world.” So we have the command of the Lord to oppose the works of satan in the lives of people: Light to darkness, salt to corruption. Being the Savior in us, we have the powerful message that brings spiritual healing and deliverance.
c) Strive to set the captives free. Abraham’s intention to go to war is to save Lot and the people captured by Chedorlaomer. This must be our desire as well. Let us, as Jude admonished us to do, snatch others from the clutch of the enemy. Let us strive and do our best to help people find and experience freedom from the bondage of sin and darkness.
4. This incident of Abraham’s life teaches us that integrity is living your life in opposition to evil. Light for darkness, good for evil, love for hate, generosity for greediness, honesty for lie, comfort for badmouthing, sincerity for unfaithfulness, and righteousness for sin. The person of integrity is someone who is living in freedom from all the works of darkness and someone who is helping others find deliverance and liberty.
II. IN HIS WORSHIP
1. When Abraham returned after defeating Chedorlaomer, the king of Sodom and the king of Salem met him. Maybe both of them wanted to laud Abraham of his great victory over the invader of Canaan. But in our passage we notice that there is an emphasis of the fact that Melchizedek, the king of Salem, was the priest of the Most High God. I believe it has something about Melchizedek’s purpose of meeting Abraham. I perceive that he came not only to congratulate Abraham but also to facilitate him in his worship celebration for the victory that he had against the invader. Notice that when they met, Melchizedek then exalted the name of God.
2. Then Abraham turned to Melchizedek and gave him the tenth of everything. It shows that worshiping and acknowledging God for his success were the first things that Abraham had in mind. Abraham is a man of integrity even in the arena of worship. He gave what he knew that belongs to God.
First, He gave God the credit for the victory he had over his enemy. Abraham knew that his success is a blessing from God. He did not forget that it is God who made him victorious over his enemies. So he recognized God and exalted Him. He worshipped God in celebration of his victory.
You know what, as you go deeper in your Biblical learning, you will realize the truth that everything in life is a test, and how you respond to and handle your circumstances reveals your character. Success is a test of character. Many people failed this test. They failed to recognize God. Often, God is the most forgotten factor of success. Their response is of arrogance. Integrity is remaining humble amidst the successes in life, always knowing that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of lights.
Second, Abraham honored God by giving the tithe of all the spoils. There’s nothing that required him to do it. The Law that would soon put it into a commandment for every Israelite to comply was not given to Moses yet; there was no church that time to collect it. But Abraham gave it in recognition to God’s great grace to his life. He honored God in all things.
The Word of God says, “Honor God with your substance.” Giving the tithe is a biblical means to honor God for His blessings upon us; it is an act that acknowledges the goodness of God in our life. Do we have integrity here?
III. IN HIS WEALTH
1. In the story, we find that Chedorlaomer ransacked several cities in Canaan including Sodom. When they left, they brought great spoils from these defeated cities. When Abraham won over them, he took possession of these spoils. That would be a tremendous amount of wealth.
2. Now the king of Sodom allowed Abraham to keep all the goods he has won. Surely, this must be a great temptation. I think we humans are more tempted in the area of money than we are in any other area. There are some folks who will do anything for material or financial gain. Some have it through cheating and dishonesty. There are those who even raise the devil if they were shortchanged, but keep it quiet when they were overpaid.
3. Now let’s look at the response of Abraham to the king of Sodom. He refused to take even a single centavo from the king of Sodom. He would rather trust God to provide his needs than owing from this wicked king. He did not take a direct route to riches at the expense of his reputation. Abraham proved himself faithful to God. He proved his devotion to God by exercising integrity in relation to handling material wealth.
4. Friends, God wants us to exercise integrity in obtaining and in handling material wealth. As believers, let us always determine that we will not succumb to the temptation to make a dishonest gain. And we should be determined to be faithful to God in handling these resources He has given us.
5. If we will exercise integrity in our handling of our resources, we can rest assured that the Lord will look after the needs we may have in this life. This is the truth that Paul is telling us in Phil. 4:14-19. The Philippians had contributed to the work of the Apostle and so they could rest in the assurance that God would take care of them should a need arise! By the way, verse 19 is not a blanket promise; not a general promise. But it is a promise that can be claimed by the believer who exercises integrity in handling God’s resources in him.
D. The three areas of life that we have examined this morning are all vitally important! Can you say with a clear heart that you are walking in absolute integrity in the areas of your Warfare, your Worship and your Wealth? Are we following unswervingly the principles of God in these areas of life?
