GENESIS 14: 1-24
Last week was missions conference and we sang a song called, "The battle belongs to the Lord." Tonight I want to talk about a battle in the Bible as it relates to a battle in our world. Our source is the continuing stories surrounding the Life of Abram in Genesis chapter 14. In this chapter Abram goes to war to redeem his nephew. We also are called into a battle to redeem those around us. Take a look with me into this chapter. Where we’re going to get Three lessons:...
1. There is a war! (vv 1-12) 2. We are called to battle! (vv 13-17)
3. God is in charge of the Results (vv 17-24)
1. There is a war! (vv 1-12)
Vv1-12 the wars of kings & a fatal mistake, They took Lot. This is really all Background information. It’s needed to set up the events of vv17-24. {Use the Overhead & Maps to tell the Story.} This wasn’t some grand conquest to build a kingdom, this nothing more than armed Robbery. John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."
There is a lesson in all this: There is a key difference in being with sinners and being identified with sinners. We are certainly supposed to be around the unsaved, otherwise they’ll never have a chance to BE saved. Nevertheless it’s one thing to be with them, it’s another thing entirely to embrace them.
Jude warns us very solemnly how we ought to be in the world, but not of it, "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh." (NIV)
I like the way the New Living Translation renders Jude verse 23: "Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. There are still others to whom you need to show mercy, but be careful that you aren’t contaminated by their sins."
Lot walked right into the middle of Sin city and took up residence. IF it weren’t for the testimony of the Word, we might really wonder about him, but 2 Peter tells us plainly that he was a righteous man and he was deeply bothered by the sin around him. However when the war came he was outnumbered and alone in his righteousness and he was swept away with the ungodly into captivity. It was a warning to Lot, and it remains a warning to us.
WE NEED EACH OTHER! I need you and you need me, and we all need the others in this room to protect us in this hostile world. We are strangers in a strange land. We don’t belong here, and as long as we’re here, we are trapped in a battlefield. So we need to gather together and worship together and encourage one another, or we may fall. "Do not forsake the gathering together as some are in the habit of doing, but rather let us spur one another on towards love and good deeds." (Heb 10:13)
1. There is a war! (vv 1-12) and we are in it! 2. We are called to battle! (vv 13-17)
Vv13-14 Abram is told and gives chase northward, catching them in Dan. {Map on OVERHEAD or projector}
Vv15-17 Abram wins the battle and brings back the cash and the people
Abram did two things in specific that helped assure him of victory.
Number 1: He partnered with people who could help him win. If you take a look at v13 you discover that Mamre, Eshcol and Aner were both allies with Abram. Abram had made strategic partnerships. He also used that strategic partnership, we know that because in verse 24 when the king of Sodom tries to give Abram cash, he refuses but does say it’s OK for Aner, Eshcol and Mamre to have their share; because they went with him. Abram took his 300 men, and who knows how many men the others brought. But together they were a force to be reckoned with.
I believe the lesson here is clear. We need to find ways to establish strategic partnerships in order to win this world for Christ. I can give you two examples. Last year, we partnered with the churches in Moweaqua and also with a group out of Champaign and we brought the good news of Jesus to Moweaqua by purchasing the Jesus video. Incidentally, I’d like for us to take that same video into Assumption by this coming Christmas.
The second partnership is one we’re just starting, the LIVING WATER project. We’ve purchased bottled water and slapped a gospel message on the label. It’s a strategic partnership that we’re using to bring the gospel to people in the battle zone.
And it’s only the beginning, we’re going to continue seeking strategic partnerships so that we have whatever it takes to win even ONE person from Sin to Salvation in Jesus.
Number 2: The second thing that Abram did, which assured him victory was not only his use of strategic partnerships, but the use of cunning. He divided his forces and attacked at night. (verse 15).
Friends, tonight I tell you that we are in a battle for men’s souls. Satan has come and waged war against the world. He has taken the world captive and his intent, even though it WILL end in failure. His INTENT is to get the world to worship him. That’s what’s going on during the tribulation period with the Antichrist, the beast and the false prophet.
The whole book of Revelation is a prophecy about how Satan will ultimately TRY to make himself equal to God by securing the worship of the world. But we know the end of the story don’t we? Satan is going to lose and then some. Jesus will set up his kingdom and Jesus will rule on the throne of David. And Jesus will have Satan bound for 1000 years, and in the end Jesus WILL have Satan tossed into the lake of fire FOREVER.
You see Satan also made a vital mistake, he forgot that "God so loved the world..." Satan has either gotten dense, or forgetful or just plain foolish. But his pride blinded him to intelligence. When Satan sinned himself by wanting to be like God, that was bad. And when Satan led astray 1/3 of the righteous and Holy angels, so that they also entered into sin and rebellion against the creator of time and the universe- well that was very bad.
But when he entered the garden and when he spied the first man and woman; and when he saw that they themselves were given the unique honor of being made in the image of God, and when the old sly evil snake slithered up to Eve and tricked her into sinning, he messed with God for the last time.
You see, it’s bad to sin, and it’s worse to convince others to join you in your sin. But to tangle head on with God well that’s not just bad, that’s foolishness. Chedorlaomer, Amraphel, Arioch, and Tidal made a very foolish mistake. They came and wiped out a sinful people, but they also took Abram’s nephew Lot. When They took Lot, they took their doom into their own hands. In the same way that when Satan led Adam and Eve into sin, he took his own damnation into his own hands.
It was very bold of Abram to take 300 men and do battle with 4 kings- especially when they had just defeated 5 kings. He was brave, but he wasn’t stupid either, he used cunning and divided his troops and attacked at night so he would win. What’s the lesson here?
We as Christians must not only be bold, but we must do things strategically as well. What are the strategies available to us to win the world for Christ? While we are not fighting a war of blood and death, we are certainly fighting to save men’s souls! That war, then, demands that we use every technology, every tool, and every LEGAL means available to win!
Abram pursued and engaged the enemy in order to save his nephew --his flesh and blood, what are we willing to do to save those around us? Will you engage the enemy? Will you attack his kingdom? Moreover in our attacks will we use wisdom? We can’t just randomly attack and hope that our victories work. We’ve got to plan- to win!
1. There is a war! (vv 1-12) 2. We are called to battle! (vv 13-17) 3. God is in charge of the Results (vv 17-24)
V18-20 Melchizedek who’s name means king of Righteousness, the king of Salem (Peace) who was also a priest. Came and blessed Abram. V21 Abram gives Melchizedek 10% of everything he owned.
This single act, and this single section contains what is called a "TYPE" of Christ. It’s a clear Old Testament demonstration of Who Christ is. Melchizedek is a "TYPE" of Christ. What we know of him, is true of Jesus.
He is: the king of righteousness, and the prince of peace. He will rule from Jerusalem. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, he remains a priest forever. (Hebrews 7)
But the lesson this evening really comes from Vv22-24 the Sodomite king tried to give Abram money and Abram refuses. Declaring that he doesn’t want Sodom to be able to claim that he made Abram wealthy.
Here Abram separated himself from sin. He refused the reward, even though it was his legal right to keep it all; because he didn’t want the king of sinners to say he made Abram rich. And so in a sense we come full circle to the beginning of our passage, and again to Jude 1:23, "There are still others to whom you need to show mercy, but be careful that you aren’t contaminated by their sins." (NLT)
But do remember, There is a war and we are called to be in it. Join the battle for men’s souls using every tool at your disposal. Make alliances, use strategy and bring them back alive. And let’s trust God with the results of our labors. This worlds wealth is garbage to us. But God has something better in store. Look at 15:1
LET’S GO TO WAR,
IN CHRIST, YOUR REWARD WILL BE VERY GREAT!
