Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Abram, the Greathearted

Transcript

Abram, the Greathearted · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

0:02
Speaker 1: We're engaged in a study of the life of Abraham,
0:05
Speaker 1: an ancient story with a very relevant and always appropriate
0:13
Speaker 1: series of applications for our day in which we live.
0:16
Speaker 1: Today will be a little bit challenging as you hear
0:20
Speaker 1: the words of Genesis chapter 14 read, and I'll just
0:26
Speaker 1: leave it at that. When I first looked at it,
0:28
Speaker 1: I thought, you've got to be kidding me. I'm supposed
0:32
Speaker 1: to get something out of that. And then before it
0:34
Speaker 1: was over, I was on the edge of my seat.
0:37
Speaker 1: It's so exciting. What a privilege it is to teach
0:41
Speaker 1: God's word. And what a great joy it is to
0:45
Speaker 1: connect with you in the teaching. It is because of
0:49
Speaker 1: chapters like this that most men who fill pulpits do
0:54
Speaker 1: not exposit the word of God, lest they come across
0:58
Speaker 1: stuff that's tough. But it's the tough stuff that often
1:01
Speaker 1: yields the best stuff. You'll find in your worship folder
1:05
Speaker 1: an outline that you may want to use if you
1:08
Speaker 1: like taking notes or doodling or whatever you want to
1:12
Speaker 1: do on the outline. That's there for you and you
1:16
Speaker 1: can have it ready. Once you find Genesis 14, may
1:19
Speaker 1: we stand together for the reading of excerpts from the chapter.
1:28
Speaker 1: And it came about in the days of Amraphel, king
1:31
Speaker 1: of Shinar, Ariok, king of Elassar, Keterleomer, king of Elam,
1:36
Speaker 1: entitled king of Goim, that they made war with Bera,
1:41
Speaker 1: king of Sodom, and with Bershai, king of Gomorrah, Shinob,
1:47
Speaker 1: king of Adma, and Shemeber, king of Zeboim, and the
1:52
Speaker 1: king of Beli, that is, Zohar. All these came as
1:58
Speaker 1: allies to the Valley of Siddim, that is the Salt Sea.
2:04
Speaker 1: 12 years they had served Keterleomer, but the 13th year
2:12
Speaker 1: they rebelled. Verse 10. Now the Valley of Siddim was
2:18
Speaker 1: full of tar pits and the kings of Sodom and
2:21
Speaker 1: Gomorrah fled. and they fell into them, but those who
2:26
Speaker 1: survived fled to the hill country. Then they took all
2:31
Speaker 1: the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food
2:35
Speaker 1: supply and departed. They also took Lot, Abram's nephew, and
2:43
Speaker 1: his possessions and departed, for he was living in Sodom.
2:49
Speaker 1: Then a fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew Now
2:55
Speaker 1: he was living by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite,
2:58
Speaker 1: brother of Eschol, the brother of Aner, and these were
3:02
Speaker 1: allies with Abram. When Abram heard that his relative had
3:07
Speaker 1: been taken captive, he led out his trained men, born
3:11
Speaker 1: in his house, 318, and went in pursuit as far
3:17
Speaker 1: as Dan. He divided his forces against them by night,
3:23
Speaker 1: he and his servants by and defeated them and pursued
3:27
Speaker 1: them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.
3:34
Speaker 1: He brought back all the goods and also brought back
3:37
Speaker 1: his relative Lot with his possessions and also the women
3:41
Speaker 1: and the people. Then after his return from the defeat
3:45
Speaker 1: of Keterleomer and the kings who were with him, the
3:49
Speaker 1: king of Sodom went out to meet him in the
3:51
Speaker 1: valley of Shaveh, that is the king's valley. 21. The
3:58
Speaker 1: king of Sodom said to Abram, give the people to
4:01
Speaker 1: me and take the goods for yourself. Abram said to
4:07
Speaker 1: the king of Sodom, I've sworn to the Lord God
4:11
Speaker 1: most high, possessor of heaven and earth, that I will
4:14
Speaker 1: not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything
4:21
Speaker 1: that is yours for fear you would say I have
4:24
Speaker 1: made Abram Rich. I will take nothing except what the
4:30
Speaker 1: young men have eaten, and the share of the men
4:33
Speaker 1: who went with me, Anner, Eschol, and Mamre. Let them
4:37
Speaker 1: take their share. Doesn't that sound like fun? I mean,
4:43
Speaker 1: aren't you glad you're not preaching today? Yeah. Please have
4:47
Speaker 1: a seat. In my more than seven and a half
4:57
Speaker 1: decades on this earth, I've never been more concerned about
5:01
Speaker 1: our nation. Never. I think many of you feel the
5:07
Speaker 1: same way. I realize better than most of you that
5:13
Speaker 1: this is not a political gathering and I do not
5:16
Speaker 1: have a political thought in mind. I only have the
5:21
Speaker 1: importance of a Christian responsibility in mind. You must, you
5:27
Speaker 1: must inform yourself. And then pray. You must, you must
5:38
Speaker 1: do that. Some things in life are just as serious
5:43
Speaker 1: as they could possibly be. Let's pray for our great country.
5:49
Speaker 1: Will you join me? We are free today, our Father,
5:55
Speaker 1: because great men and women, unselfish, courageous, took up the
6:01
Speaker 1: fight and provided liberty. They wrenched it from the hands
6:07
Speaker 1: who would have taken it from us. They stood against
6:11
Speaker 1: the foe. They were willing to give their last full
6:16
Speaker 1: measure of devotion for what they believed was a cause
6:23
Speaker 1: worth fighting for and, if necessary, dying for. May we
6:31
Speaker 1: realize the implication and understand that it is worth living for.
6:38
Speaker 1: Guide us as a people to follow your will as
6:43
Speaker 1: we do our part as good citizens of these great
6:49
Speaker 1: United States of America. Thank you for those who have
6:54
Speaker 1: paved the way. Faithful warriors, strong-hearted, godly statesmen and women,
7:07
Speaker 1: those whose vision was clear, those whose hearts were strong,
7:17
Speaker 1: people with guts and a spine. determination to carry out
7:27
Speaker 1: their task in difficult places and lonely places in cold
7:33
Speaker 1: and wet hard places they were there for us and
7:42
Speaker 1: we acknowledge that today we have just read that you
7:47
Speaker 1: are God Most High you will have your way You
7:53
Speaker 1: will do as you please. May we look back and
7:57
Speaker 1: realize how you led us and how you had your
8:03
Speaker 1: way for your own glory. We sit in this comfortable
8:09
Speaker 1: place today with gratitude for those who have made that possible.
8:15
Speaker 1: And now we give our gifts that ministries like this
8:21
Speaker 1: one and others might go forth with courage and new strength.
8:29
Speaker 1: May these gifts help children and youth and adults, the aged,
8:35
Speaker 1: the sick, the dying, the broken, the bruised, the forgotten,
8:44
Speaker 1: as well as those healthy and strong and able to
8:50
Speaker 1: earn a living. We set apart these gifts for your
8:56
Speaker 1: greater glory, and we give them with great joy and generosity.
9:03
Speaker 1: In the matchless name of Jesus, who set us free,
9:10
Speaker 1: we pray. Everyone sit. Amen. Everything in the Bible falls
9:20
Speaker 1: into one of three categories. People, they are woven all
9:28
Speaker 1: the way through the fabric of the scriptures. There are people.
9:32
Speaker 1: And second would be events. Some of them extremely significant,
9:40
Speaker 1: others of them quiet and almost insignificant. Sometimes the events
9:45
Speaker 1: flow together and become a little complicated, but there are events.
9:50
Speaker 1: And then of course, There are great ideas, great truths.
9:56
Speaker 1: The first two are obvious to most who read the Bible.
10:01
Speaker 1: We see the names of people, we understand they are
10:04
Speaker 1: folks who lived and breathed back then just as we
10:07
Speaker 1: do today. They married, they buried, they were sick, they
10:11
Speaker 1: were well, they fought, they lived together in harmony, and
10:15
Speaker 1: on and on and on, there are people. And then
10:18
Speaker 1: we come across events, They may not be as familiar
10:22
Speaker 1: to us, but the longer we are reading the Scriptures,
10:25
Speaker 1: the more we understand how the events flow together. But
10:31
Speaker 1: those great ideas are missed by the hurried reader. I
10:38
Speaker 1: thought of a word picture that might make this clear.
10:41
Speaker 1: Think of the Holy Scriptures as a lovely stream that
10:45
Speaker 1: flows over boulders and rocks. down through a mountain pass.
10:52
Speaker 1: Within this stream, there are fish. Fish that live and
10:58
Speaker 1: swim along and learn and grow and reproduce and sometimes
11:03
Speaker 1: they fight and other times they live at peace with
11:06
Speaker 1: each other. As they live their lives in this stream,
11:11
Speaker 1: the fish are like the people. In the stream there,
11:17
Speaker 1: of course, is water. This water flows consistently, sometimes hurriedly
11:24
Speaker 1: into a churning motion and sometimes even rapids. They twist
11:29
Speaker 1: and turn as the waters unfold from their origin to
11:34
Speaker 1: their destination, moving along in the strong currents in the
11:39
Speaker 1: direction of gravity. The waters are like the events. just
11:45
Speaker 1: as the fish are like people. Every once in a
11:51
Speaker 1: while in certain streams and places around the world, there
11:56
Speaker 1: are golden nuggets that are found by people who take
12:01
Speaker 1: the time to look. We've all seen pictures of the
12:07
Speaker 1: old gold miner as he has come to the stream
12:11
Speaker 1: and is sitting there or kneeling there and he's sifting
12:16
Speaker 1: through the sand to find those little nuggets, those little
12:23
Speaker 1: priceless gems. The great truths of the Bible are like
12:29
Speaker 1: those golden nuggets. Nuggets are not found by impatient people.
12:37
Speaker 1: It takes time. It takes a while before a discovery
12:43
Speaker 1: is made. Those gold nuggets are the great ideas. We
12:51
Speaker 1: are more adept at discovering and learning about people. We
12:56
Speaker 1: are pretty good at understanding the events, but because we
13:01
Speaker 1: are often hurried, we miss the jewels, the gold, the nuggets.
13:11
Speaker 1: Edwin Hodder, years ago, wrote it this way, that word
13:16
Speaker 1: is like a deep, deep mind, deep, deep mind, and
13:21
Speaker 1: jewels rich and rare are hidden in its mighty depths
13:26
Speaker 1: for every searcher there. You and I who read the
13:32
Speaker 1: Bible become searchers if we care enough about to find
13:41
Speaker 1: the gold. Anybody I said earlier can find the people,
13:45
Speaker 1: anyone can notice the events, but only the careful student
13:52
Speaker 1: finds the gold. There is gold in Genesis 14 that
14:00
Speaker 1: isn't obvious to the hurried reader. As a matter of fact,
14:05
Speaker 1: the gold is seen in an old man Many would
14:11
Speaker 1: say virtually over the hill, but in God's situation, when
14:15
Speaker 1: he uses him, the man has hardly gotten along in
14:19
Speaker 1: life with what the Lord wants him to do. His name,
14:21
Speaker 1: of course, is Abraham. He's hidden in this stream in
14:27
Speaker 1: the sense of his greatness. You see, this is not
14:30
Speaker 1: a chapter about the madness of King Kedarlaomer or the
14:36
Speaker 1: strangeness of a priest named Melchizedek. It's a chapter about
14:42
Speaker 1: the greatness of a man named Abraham. That's why I've
14:48
Speaker 1: given the title to this message, The Great Hearted. What
14:54
Speaker 1: does it mean to be great? What are some qualities
15:00
Speaker 1: that characterize someone who falls in that category of greatness?
15:06
Speaker 1: As I thought about it, four came to mind, and
15:08
Speaker 1: certainly this isn't an exhaustive list, but it'll get us started.
15:13
Speaker 1: The first thing I noticed about genuine greatness is that
15:16
Speaker 1: there is a genuine unselfishness. I've never met a selfish
15:22
Speaker 1: great person, never will. This genuine unselfishness works itself out
15:31
Speaker 1: in a refusal to hold things tightly. There's a generosity
15:37
Speaker 1: of heart and a desire to share, an ability to
15:44
Speaker 1: give whatever may be the need to give to that need.
15:50
Speaker 1: Genuine unselfishness. Second, there's a willingness to sacrifice for others.
15:56
Speaker 1: You notice that? The previous characteristic had to do with possessions, unselfishness.
16:03
Speaker 1: This has to do with people. Great individuals do not
16:10
Speaker 1: care about the differences in others. They overlook that. You
16:15
Speaker 1: don't have to be like them for a great person
16:18
Speaker 1: to see value in your life. They're willing to sacrifice
16:24
Speaker 1: for those individuals. Third is an absence of greed. Great
16:30
Speaker 1: people are not in it for what they can get
16:34
Speaker 1: out of it. Their first question is not, how much
16:37
Speaker 1: will I be paid? Or what are the benefits that
16:41
Speaker 1: come to me? There's no narcissism in greatness. Acts of
16:49
Speaker 1: greatness are characterized by an absence of greed. Fourth, I
16:54
Speaker 1: would name the restraint of power, restraint of control. Great
17:00
Speaker 1: people are often in authority. They have influence. They hold
17:04
Speaker 1: positions of authority over others, but they don't strut their stuff.
17:09
Speaker 1: They don't play king of the mountain. They don't pull
17:13
Speaker 1: rank and remind you that they're important and you're to
17:17
Speaker 1: fall in line. They leave a lot of choices in
17:21
Speaker 1: life up to you. That's called restraint of power and control.
17:27
Speaker 1: Understand I'm not saying that people are not important or
17:31
Speaker 1: that the events are insignificant. No, they all work together.
17:34
Speaker 1: But what we're looking for in this chapter is the
17:38
Speaker 1: nugget of greatness. It'll emerge if you spend enough time
17:46
Speaker 1: in these 24 verses. If I were to put it
17:49
Speaker 1: all in one word, it would be humility. Humility. This
17:57
Speaker 1: nugget of humility is seen in the life of Abraham.
18:02
Speaker 1: He's not overly impressed with himself. He's not a rich
18:06
Speaker 1: land owner who builds a high fence around his property.
18:11
Speaker 1: And as we will see, he's a man who shares,
18:18
Speaker 1: even in a time of war. You'll be interested to
18:21
Speaker 1: know the first time war is mentioned in all the
18:23
Speaker 1: Bible is in the second verse of Chapter 14, where
18:27
Speaker 1: these kings made war with other kings. First mention of war.
18:33
Speaker 1: But even in a setting of war, Abraham the great-hearted
18:37
Speaker 1: shows himself unselfish. A lot of this has a background
18:42
Speaker 1: that you remember from our last time together. Recall, Abram
18:46
Speaker 1: is coming to the land of Canaan and the Lord says,
18:48
Speaker 1: look to the north, south, east, and west, it's all yours.
18:52
Speaker 1: And the Lord gave him great riches. He became heavy
18:56
Speaker 1: in wealth. Lot trailed along and was a part of
19:00
Speaker 1: the caravan and He really had no right to any
19:03
Speaker 1: of the land, but Abram realized that the herds of
19:08
Speaker 1: Lot were growing and multiplying as his own were. And
19:13
Speaker 1: you remember what he said, chapter 13, he pulled Lot
19:16
Speaker 1: aside and he said, please, please, let there be no
19:21
Speaker 1: strife between you and me or between my herdsmen and
19:26
Speaker 1: your herdsmen. Is not the whole land before you separate
19:30
Speaker 1: from me? If you want to go to the right,
19:33
Speaker 1: I'll go to the left. You want to go to
19:34
Speaker 1: the left, I'll take the right. You want to go
19:36
Speaker 1: up here, I'll go down there, or vice versa. You
19:39
Speaker 1: make the choice. You hear the genuine unselfishness in those words.
19:45
Speaker 1: He's releasing the choicest of the land of Canaan. to Lot.
19:51
Speaker 1: Remember what Lot did? He looked out over the land.
19:54
Speaker 1: Verse 10, he lifted up his eyes and he saw.
19:59
Speaker 1: He compared one place with another. And then verse 11
20:02
Speaker 1: says he chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan. Oh,
20:08
Speaker 1: of course. where the grass was tall and rain was frequent.
20:15
Speaker 1: When his cattle walked there, the grass scraped their bellies.
20:19
Speaker 1: Plenty of food, plenty of water. I'll take that. But
20:25
Speaker 1: of course, Lot was short-sighted, and Abram let him be,
20:29
Speaker 1: not one to control him, because Lot overlooked the fact
20:32
Speaker 1: that the city of Sodom was in the valley, alongside
20:37
Speaker 1: the twin city of Gomorrah. where wicked people lived. Lot
20:43
Speaker 1: put it out of his mind, didn't think how that
20:45
Speaker 1: would affect him or his wife and family. He went
20:49
Speaker 1: there because it was the best of the land. And
20:54
Speaker 1: Abram let him go. Remember that when we get into
21:00
Speaker 1: this story. When we move rather quietly into chapter 14,
21:06
Speaker 1: we don't know how much time has passed. between the
21:10
Speaker 1: end of 13 and the beginning of 14. But all
21:13
Speaker 1: of a sudden, the lens of Scripture does a very,
21:18
Speaker 1: very tight focus on a group of men who were kings.
21:26
Speaker 1: There are four kings named in verse 1, and there
21:29
Speaker 1: are five kings named in verse 2. See the four? Amraphel, Ariok,
21:38
Speaker 1: Keterleomer and Tidal, names that won't mean anything to any
21:42
Speaker 1: of us unless you love ancient history. Keterleomer is the
21:47
Speaker 1: main king, and he leads all the others who become
21:50
Speaker 1: his allies. And at this time, the five kings mentioned
21:54
Speaker 1: in verse 2 live under the authority of Keterleomer, and
21:58
Speaker 1: you see their names. Bera, Bershai, Shinad, Shemeber, and the
22:04
Speaker 1: king of Beli, who is never mentioned by name. But
22:07
Speaker 1: there are five kings there. They all live rather peaceably together.
22:10
Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, verse 3 tells us they
22:14
Speaker 1: were all allies. Until the five kings and their people
22:18
Speaker 1: grew weary of the heavy, heavy authority of Keterleomer, and
22:23
Speaker 1: they rebelled. We read of the rebellion in verse 4.
22:29
Speaker 1: At the end of the verse, they rebelled. The five
22:33
Speaker 1: kings and their people rebelled against the four kings, especially Keterleomer.
22:39
Speaker 1: And the 14th year, Keterleomer and the kings that were
22:42
Speaker 1: with him came and defeated them. So we have a war,
22:48
Speaker 1: and then to cut to the chase, we have a
22:51
Speaker 1: defeated group of people as these kings that are victorious
22:56
Speaker 1: come to take the spoil of victory. Now watch closely.
23:03
Speaker 1: What we have seen are some fish in the stream.
23:06
Speaker 1: We've seen the movement of the waters, which spells war.
23:09
Speaker 1: There's churning, there's twisting, there's rapids. And now, rather than
23:13
Speaker 1: living at peace with one another, they begin to fight
23:17
Speaker 1: one another. And they take on the main king named Keralaomer.
23:24
Speaker 1: And the fight ensues, and ultimately Keralaomer and his allies
23:29
Speaker 1: win the war. They win the battle, and the result is,
23:34
Speaker 1: in verse 10, the valley of Siddim was full of
23:39
Speaker 1: tar pits, and Sodom and Gomorrah, probably trying to retreat
23:45
Speaker 1: from the battle, fell into the pits and weren't able
23:48
Speaker 1: to go further, and so they wound up captives to
23:53
Speaker 1: King Keleliomer. Stay with me. It's going somewhere. They took
23:59
Speaker 1: all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah. They would be
24:03
Speaker 1: the king, Keterleomer and his fellow allies. And they took
24:09
Speaker 1: their food supply and they departed. And not surprisingly, among
24:15
Speaker 1: the group was Lot, Abram's nephew and his possessions. And
24:22
Speaker 1: they departed for he was living in Sodom. His troubles
24:32
Speaker 1: are just beginning. This is one of them. Understand, Abram's
24:37
Speaker 1: removed from it. He's living up in Canaan, lot in
24:41
Speaker 1: his family, living down in Sodom along with other citizens.
24:47
Speaker 1: They're all now at the mercy of Keterleomer. And at
24:51
Speaker 1: mercy it was because in those ancient days, kings... really
24:57
Speaker 1: defeated their enemies. And now he is, he's a captive.
25:07
Speaker 1: Suddenly there is a fugitive fish that swims toward Abram
25:11
Speaker 1: and says, I have a message that you'll need to
25:13
Speaker 1: know about. Your nephew has been taken captive. Notice verse 13.
25:19
Speaker 1: A fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew. First time
25:22
Speaker 1: in all the Bible he's called that. Abram the Hebrew.
25:25
Speaker 1: Now he was living by the oaks of Mamre, the
25:28
Speaker 1: Amorite brother of Eschol and brother of Aner. These are
25:31
Speaker 1: three friends that are in that area. And this is
25:35
Speaker 1: where Abram lives. And he hears, your nephew's in trouble now.
25:44
Speaker 1: I told you to remember that Abram let Lot choose
25:47
Speaker 1: and Lot chose for himself that land. Right now, someone
25:52
Speaker 1: who isn't great hearted would have leaned back in his
25:54
Speaker 1: rocking chair and said, okay, it's time for him to
25:57
Speaker 1: learn some hard lessons. He chose the land on his own,
26:01
Speaker 1: didn't have enough foresight to realize he was in a
26:03
Speaker 1: threatened area. It's time for him to buck up. If
26:08
Speaker 1: it's a fugitive he's to become, then a fugitive it is.
26:12
Speaker 1: Or he could have been indifferent and said, so what?
26:16
Speaker 1: I got nothing to do with that. That's Lot's concern.
26:19
Speaker 1: I got no dog in that fight. That's not of
26:24
Speaker 1: any concern to me. He made his bed, let him
26:29
Speaker 1: sleep in it. Or he could have been proud and said,
26:32
Speaker 1: I'm not surprised at all. I told you so. But
26:38
Speaker 1: he doesn't do that. He doesn't respond that way. Great
26:42
Speaker 1: people don't do that. They don't judge others because they
26:47
Speaker 1: find them in need. They're moved over their needs. as
26:51
Speaker 1: Abram has moved over his nephew's needs. And this brings
26:55
Speaker 1: us to the second of those four points of willingness
26:57
Speaker 1: to sacrifice. Watch what happens. All on his own, intrinsically motivated,
27:05
Speaker 1: verse 14, when Abram heard his relative had been taken captive,
27:10
Speaker 1: He led out his trained men born in this house, 318,
27:13
Speaker 1: and went in pursuit as far as Dan. If you
27:16
Speaker 1: had a map, you would see that takes him up
27:18
Speaker 1: to the north and he pursues these enemies who had
27:22
Speaker 1: taken his nephew and others captive. And he begins a
27:28
Speaker 1: rescue mission. By the way, verse 14 says he's got
27:32
Speaker 1: 318 trained warriors. This man thinks ahead. He knows that
27:40
Speaker 1: when you live in an open land, you've got to
27:42
Speaker 1: defend yourself and you've got to have men ready for fight.
27:45
Speaker 1: So imagine these are people who were among his herdsmen
27:50
Speaker 1: and maybe his herdsmen's children, maybe his own servants and
27:53
Speaker 1: their children, but he's got 318 folks ready to fight.
27:57
Speaker 1: And indeed they do. Abram says, let's go. They're in need,
28:02
Speaker 1: let's go rescue them. And that's exactly what happened. Verse 15,
28:05
Speaker 1: he divides his forces. Against them by night, that's pretty
28:09
Speaker 1: good strategy. He and his servants defeated them and pursued
28:13
Speaker 1: them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.
28:17
Speaker 1: I mean, this old warrior makes Rambo look like a wimp.
28:20
Speaker 1: He's out there with 318 guys fighting against armed soldiers,
28:25
Speaker 1: and they wipe them out. They finish them off, and
28:31
Speaker 1: Lot is rescued. By the way, did anybody rescue you?
28:39
Speaker 1: Think back for a moment to a time that you
28:42
Speaker 1: had a real need. You were in a jam. Maybe
28:47
Speaker 1: you had gotten yourself in trouble. And here came along
28:53
Speaker 1: an individual who was willing to be there for you.
29:00
Speaker 1: You didn't really deserve it. But this person is a
29:03
Speaker 1: person of grace. I want to tell you something I've
29:06
Speaker 1: never shared before. Many years ago, back in the 60s,
29:12
Speaker 1: Cynthia and I were rearing a house full of small kids.
29:18
Speaker 1: That's costly enough, but along with that came sickness, and
29:22
Speaker 1: with the sickness came an enormous medical expense. And even
29:28
Speaker 1: though we had not bought over our head in the
29:30
Speaker 1: little home we owned, we realized not long after all
29:37
Speaker 1: of this hit us that we couldn't make our house payment.
29:43
Speaker 1: Maybe you're in that jam, or maybe there's something like
29:47
Speaker 1: that where you needed help. We prayed. We wondered how
29:53
Speaker 1: we could deal with this. We would surely lose our
29:55
Speaker 1: house if this continued. I was a part of a
29:58
Speaker 1: Bible study of men in the North Dallas area at
30:01
Speaker 1: the time. I was serving as an assistant pastor to
30:04
Speaker 1: another church, North Dallas, and I became friends with several
30:10
Speaker 1: of the men. One of them was an extremely gracious
30:15
Speaker 1: man who also happened to be eminently wealthy. I made
30:21
Speaker 1: it a point never to milk that or take advantage
30:26
Speaker 1: of it. Rich people are often hit up by those
30:30
Speaker 1: who have needs. And they're all kind of hints dropped
30:33
Speaker 1: and all that. And I chose not to do that.
30:37
Speaker 1: But I'm driving home. He's driving and we're in his
30:40
Speaker 1: new Buick driving home. And he said, how are you doing, Chuck?
30:44
Speaker 1: And I said, well, I'm okay. He says, no, really,
30:51
Speaker 1: how are you? I said, well, I'm not doing very well.
30:55
Speaker 1: What's wrong? And I told him, I spelled it out.
30:59
Speaker 1: I said, I'm in a jam, and I don't know
31:03
Speaker 1: how the Lord's going to work that out. He said,
31:07
Speaker 1: we're going to go to your home, and when we
31:09
Speaker 1: get there, I want you to get your coupon book
31:11
Speaker 1: for your house payments, and I want you to give
31:14
Speaker 1: it to me. No, man, I can't. He says, it's
31:19
Speaker 1: my idea. Okay, it's not yours. I've always had trouble receiving.
31:24
Speaker 1: And so, once again, I fought the idea. He said, no,
31:28
Speaker 1: let me have it. Month after month after month after
31:33
Speaker 1: month after month after month, he made our house payments.
31:38
Speaker 1: Some of you would know his name if I gave
31:39
Speaker 1: you his name right now. That is a great-hearted individual.
31:46
Speaker 1: Never once, never once did he take advantage of me
31:51
Speaker 1: because of that. I was never embarrassed. You've never heard
31:55
Speaker 1: the story because I've never told you and I can
31:57
Speaker 1: assure you he would never tell you. One of my heroes.
32:04
Speaker 1: One of those great-hearted rescuers. In fact, on occasion we
32:09
Speaker 1: run across each other and I'll say to him, hey,
32:12
Speaker 1: I want to thank you again. He says, you know what?
32:15
Speaker 1: That has been so long ago. Get over it. And
32:19
Speaker 1: I say to him, I can never get over it.
32:23
Speaker 1: I will never forget that. I thanked him over and over.
32:28
Speaker 1: If I were to see him this afternoon, among my
32:30
Speaker 1: first comments would be, thank you again for helping us
32:35
Speaker 1: when we were in a jam. There's not a word
32:38
Speaker 1: of thanks from Lot. Not a word. But great-hearted people
32:44
Speaker 1: don't do it to be thanked. They don't have a
32:47
Speaker 1: clipboard where, on one side, these are the things I've done.
32:50
Speaker 1: On the other side, these are the dunces that never
32:54
Speaker 1: said thank you. You know, they don't do that. They
32:58
Speaker 1: set it aside. You're great-hearted when you rescue without calling
33:02
Speaker 1: attention to yourself or expecting to be written up in
33:06
Speaker 1: the paper or put in lights. Here's Abram that comes
33:12
Speaker 1: on the scene and all on his own fights a
33:15
Speaker 1: battle and becomes, if you will, a bit of a celebrity.
33:21
Speaker 1: I mean, he's overthrown all the kings, this wealthy landowner
33:26
Speaker 1: from the north. And so he comes and he brings
33:31
Speaker 1: Lot and sets him free and puts him back in
33:34
Speaker 1: his home. Verse 17, after his return from the defeat
33:38
Speaker 1: of Kedarlaomer, remember that fish? That's that main king of
33:43
Speaker 1: the other kings. And the kings who were with him,
33:45
Speaker 1: the king of Sodom, went out to meet him, that's
33:49
Speaker 1: Abram in the valley, of Shaveh, which is the king's valley.
33:54
Speaker 1: So the king of Sodom, who has benefited from this victory,
33:58
Speaker 1: goes to meet Abram. We're going to see what he
34:00
Speaker 1: wanted to do in a moment. In the meantime, word
34:04
Speaker 1: travels all the way to Jerusalem, called in ancient days, Salem. Shalom,
34:10
Speaker 1: for peace. And this king's name, who comes out of nowhere,
34:15
Speaker 1: is Melchizedek, known to us as Melchizedek. A number of
34:21
Speaker 1: things are said about the priest. I call him a king.
34:25
Speaker 1: He's a priest. He's the king of Salem, but he
34:27
Speaker 1: was mainly the priest of God Most High. And Melchizedek
34:32
Speaker 1: comes on the scene. We don't know his genealogy. We
34:34
Speaker 1: don't know his background. All we know is that he
34:37
Speaker 1: was one respected dude. And he shows up on this
34:41
Speaker 1: battle scene and sees Abram. Look at this, verse 18.
34:46
Speaker 1: He brought bread and wine. He was a priest of
34:49
Speaker 1: God Most High. Look, what did he do? Well, he
34:53
Speaker 1: blessed Abram. And he said, blessed be Abram of God,
34:59
Speaker 1: blessed be Abram of God most high, possessor of heaven
35:03
Speaker 1: and earth. The praise goes to God, but bless you, Abram,
35:07
Speaker 1: for your courage, for your great heartedness. Here is bread,
35:11
Speaker 1: here is wine, let's celebrate. Verse 20, blessed be God
35:15
Speaker 1: most high, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.
35:19
Speaker 1: And Abram realizes that. Mechilezek, who makes that comment, is
35:24
Speaker 1: standing there with the bread and wine, and Abram immediately
35:27
Speaker 1: gives him a tenth of all he has. Absence of greed.
35:32
Speaker 1: I mean, a smaller man would have said, oh, you noticed.
35:39
Speaker 1: Glad you found me. Where's the Medal of Honor? If
35:45
Speaker 1: they'd have given him the medal, he wouldn't have worn it.
35:46
Speaker 1: It wasn't about him. So he says, how can I
35:52
Speaker 1: ever thank you enough for the blessing? I'll give you
35:54
Speaker 1: a tenth of everything I have. This is not a
35:57
Speaker 1: tithe demanded by the law of Moses. There is no Moses.
36:00
Speaker 1: This is before Moses. There is no commandment. This is
36:04
Speaker 1: before the commandment. This is a spontaneous response of a
36:09
Speaker 1: great-hearted man who says, you bless me, I'll tell you.
36:13
Speaker 1: This is what I want to do. Take a tenth
36:15
Speaker 1: of everything I have. Take it back with you. Take
36:19
Speaker 1: it back. And out of respect, I give it to you.
36:23
Speaker 1: I love that scene. The king of Sodom, remember I
36:29
Speaker 1: said we'd come back to him? The king of Sodom
36:32
Speaker 1: said to Abram, give the people to me now that
36:35
Speaker 1: the battle's over. Let me have the citizens back for
36:38
Speaker 1: my city. And you take all the goods for yourself.
36:42
Speaker 1: There's lots of stuff here you can have. It's all yours, man.
36:48
Speaker 1: Abram stood up tall and said to the king of Sodom,
36:53
Speaker 1: I have sworn to the Lord, El Elyon, God most high,
36:59
Speaker 1: possessor of heaven and earth, I will not take a
37:02
Speaker 1: thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours
37:07
Speaker 1: for fear you would say I made Abram rich. Stop
37:15
Speaker 1: right here. There's a nugget in the stream. You see
37:20
Speaker 1: the word swore? Abram says, I have sworn to the Lord.
37:26
Speaker 1: When did he do that? I can't find it. It's
37:33
Speaker 1: not in here. I've looked. I went all the way
37:37
Speaker 1: back to Adam and Eve. Where is that swearing? Where
37:40
Speaker 1: did he do that? You know why? It's between him
37:43
Speaker 1: and the Lord. He didn't put it in his journal.
37:47
Speaker 1: He didn't announce it for generations to come, but when
37:50
Speaker 1: he has a chance to take the spoils of war
37:54
Speaker 1: and to be rewarded, he said, no, no, no, no, please.
37:59
Speaker 1: I will not take a thread or a sandal thong
38:02
Speaker 1: or anything that is from anyone else. I won't take
38:06
Speaker 1: the slightest thing. Two reasons. First of all, my loyalty
38:13
Speaker 1: is to God. My word to him is at stake
38:18
Speaker 1: and I promised him whatever may come, it's yours, Lord.
38:23
Speaker 1: And I will not take the spoils of war. And second,
38:28
Speaker 1: I don't want anyone around here ever to think that
38:31
Speaker 1: some other man made me rich. When I was alone
38:36
Speaker 1: with the Lord in one occasion, I swore to him,
38:39
Speaker 1: if he ever gives me victory, He will get all
38:44
Speaker 1: the praise. He will get all the credit. I can't
38:49
Speaker 1: take any of this. What a magnificent model. Great heartedness.
38:57
Speaker 1: Absence of greed. It's easy to fake that, isn't it?
39:06
Speaker 1: If you listen closely, you'll hear the chin of the
39:09
Speaker 1: king of Sodom hit his chest. He's never met anybody
39:13
Speaker 1: like that. We've rarely met people like that. Years ago,
39:20
Speaker 1: I was a pastoral intern with a man to this
39:24
Speaker 1: day I miss, he's now dead, named Ray Steadman. was
39:30
Speaker 1: a pastor of Peninsula Bible Church for over 40 years
39:34
Speaker 1: in Palo Alto, California. Cynthia and I were there among
39:37
Speaker 1: his first interns. Just love Ray's honesty and integrity. He
39:47
Speaker 1: had gone to a conference up in Vermont, stayed at
39:50
Speaker 1: a lovely little bed and breakfast. And while he was there,
39:54
Speaker 1: he noticed that there was on the table, these quaint
39:57
Speaker 1: little round tables where he would have breakfast alone, a pewter,
40:03
Speaker 1: salt and pepper and creamer and sugar. Really lovely little set.
40:09
Speaker 1: And each one of these tables was a little pewter set.
40:15
Speaker 1: He came back and When he stood before the congregation,
40:19
Speaker 1: I was right there. I remember the story. He said,
40:21
Speaker 1: I want all of you to know at a great
40:22
Speaker 1: time while I was away, we had good ministry and
40:25
Speaker 1: so thankful. But I want to tell you about a
40:27
Speaker 1: temptation I had. He was speaking on a particular temptation.
40:32
Speaker 1: He said, I was sitting at this breakfast table all alone.
40:36
Speaker 1: No one else was around. And I thought, boy, I'd
40:42
Speaker 1: really like to have this salt and pepper. I could
40:46
Speaker 1: just take the salt and pepper. There's one on every
40:48
Speaker 1: other table that got a boatload of them, and so
40:52
Speaker 1: I just take these two. He said, I was really
40:57
Speaker 1: tempted to do that. He said, I'm here to tell
41:02
Speaker 1: you that I restrained and so grateful that I didn't,
41:08
Speaker 1: or I'd have to confess to you today that's what
41:10
Speaker 1: I've done and tell Elaine about it and all of
41:13
Speaker 1: that so you could hurt a pin drop. I said,
41:16
Speaker 1: so I'm so thankful that the Lord gave me the
41:19
Speaker 1: strength not to do that. The following Sunday, there was
41:25
Speaker 1: a box on his desk. Beautiful wrapping and a bright ribbon.
41:30
Speaker 1: And he's there in his study and he opens it
41:34
Speaker 1: and there's this pewter set. Sugar and creamer and salt
41:39
Speaker 1: and pepper. The congregational member that had heard the story
41:43
Speaker 1: contacted the bed and breakfast and had them send Ray
41:48
Speaker 1: the whole set. So he brought the box to the pulpit.
41:54
Speaker 1: What I really want to tell you is I lusted
41:56
Speaker 1: after the 21-inch television that was in the room. Don't
42:10
Speaker 1: you love it? He did not get a television, by
42:13
Speaker 1: the way. You know what I think? I don't believe
42:22
Speaker 1: Abram was even tempted. Because he swore to the Lord
42:29
Speaker 1: God most high. What a nugget this is. What a
42:35
Speaker 1: great sign of great heartedness. And by the way, don't
42:39
Speaker 1: miss the very last verse. It's got another little piece
42:43
Speaker 1: of gold in it. Look. I will take nothing except
42:47
Speaker 1: what the young men have eaten. So that's gone. And
42:51
Speaker 1: the share of the men who went with me, Anner, Eschol,
42:55
Speaker 1: and Mamre, let them take their share. He refused to
43:03
Speaker 1: force his convictions on others. He didn't turn around and
43:07
Speaker 1: say to Eschol and Anner and Mamre, you're not going
43:12
Speaker 1: to take anything either, are you? You don't do that
43:15
Speaker 1: when you're great-hearted. You make your decision, you have your convictions,
43:19
Speaker 1: and you leave their choice up to them. Because you see,
43:24
Speaker 1: he restrains his power and control over others. He lets
43:30
Speaker 1: it be. He lets it go. Rarely in the scriptures
43:36
Speaker 1: will you find a nugget that special in the midst
43:40
Speaker 1: of the fish and the stream and the waters. of
43:45
Speaker 1: all of the other things going on. There's an integrity
43:50
Speaker 1: in that, isn't there? Don't you love it? I read
43:53
Speaker 1: years ago of a pastor in London who was fairly
43:57
Speaker 1: well known and had his church and studied downtown, and
44:01
Speaker 1: it took a trolley ride to get him from where
44:04
Speaker 1: he lived to this church. And this particular Monday morning,
44:09
Speaker 1: after a busy Sunday, He got on the trolley and
44:14
Speaker 1: the driver gave him the change after he bought the ticket.
44:18
Speaker 1: And as he sat down, he looked and he counted
44:23
Speaker 1: through the coins and realized that he had much more
44:27
Speaker 1: change than he should have gotten. And his first thought was, my,
44:32
Speaker 1: how great the Lord supplies our needs. He moves in
44:36
Speaker 1: mysterious ways, his wonders do perform. So the longer he
44:41
Speaker 1: sat there, the hotter these coins felt in his hand.
44:44
Speaker 1: And when he got up to get off the trolley
44:47
Speaker 1: at his stop, he said to the driver, you gave me,
44:52
Speaker 1: mistakenly gave me too much change. The driver said, that
44:55
Speaker 1: was no mistake. See, I was in your church service
44:58
Speaker 1: last night when you spoke on honesty. And I just
45:02
Speaker 1: thought I'd put you to the test. You never know.
45:13
Speaker 1: You never know. You never know who's watching. But you
45:19
Speaker 1: don't do it because they're watching. If you did, you'd
45:24
Speaker 1: fake it. We live under the all-seeing eye and presence
45:31
Speaker 1: of El Elyon, our great God. who desires to find integrity, vulnerability,
45:41
Speaker 1: and unselfishness in his own people. Sometimes Cynthia and I'll
45:48
Speaker 1: be traveling together, got our family with us. I may
45:51
Speaker 1: have been a little irritated and may have said some
45:57
Speaker 1: things that I shouldn't have said.
45:59
Speaker 2: Lo and.
46:02
Speaker 1: Behold, I look up and there's a parishioner sitting right there.
46:06
Speaker 1: We never miss your broadcast on Insight for Living. Guilty
46:14
Speaker 1: as charged. Now where do we start doing this? Right there.
46:26
Speaker 1: We start by falling before the cross. And we say, Lord,
46:36
Speaker 1: I have the perfect model of great heartedness in my Savior.
46:41
Speaker 1: And I bow before you at this cross. And I
46:46
Speaker 1: say nothing in my hands I bring simply to your cross.
46:50
Speaker 1: I cling. I give you whatever I have. I offer
46:55
Speaker 1: you my life. I give you my mind. I give
46:59
Speaker 1: you my family. I give you my possessions. I give
47:02
Speaker 1: you the car I drive. I give you the house
47:04
Speaker 1: I live in. I give you the job I have.
47:07
Speaker 1: It's yours. And we swear before our God that that's
47:14
Speaker 1: the way we want to live. It's possible you've never
47:19
Speaker 1: even stood at the foot of the cross. By the way,
47:23
Speaker 1: all the ground is level there. There's no rank. There's
47:28
Speaker 1: no hotshots and nobodies and big deals and insignificant folks.
47:36
Speaker 1: They're all the same. And you come to the cross
47:40
Speaker 1: and you say, Lord Jesus Christ, I am not worthy
47:48
Speaker 1: to call you my Savior, but I would love to.
47:52
Speaker 1: Come take my life. I bow before you. I pray
47:57
Speaker 1: that you'll give me an ear for what you teach
48:00
Speaker 1: and then deafen me to what is around me in
48:03
Speaker 1: this lost culture. Give me a way to walk that
48:08
Speaker 1: has integrity so that when too much change is given me,
48:13
Speaker 1: I give it back. When credit comes to me that's
48:18
Speaker 1: deserved by another, I reflect it. You see, our light
48:24
Speaker 1: is like moonlight He's the sun. He originates light. All
48:30
Speaker 1: light on the moon is reflected light. We're just reflectors.
48:38
Speaker 1: So we start by falling before the cross and we
48:41
Speaker 1: continue following in his steps. Along the way we ask
48:50
Speaker 1: literally how would Jesus have handled this? What would Jesus
48:55
Speaker 1: have done Or maybe even an example from the script.
48:58
Speaker 1: How did he handle it? Now, Lord, by your strength
49:04
Speaker 1: and because of your pleasure and your glory, I ask
49:09
Speaker 1: you to guide me as I carry out this responsibility.
49:14
Speaker 1: You may have been wonderfully blessed, and I applaud that.
49:17
Speaker 1: It came from the Lord God. Be sure you follow
49:21
Speaker 1: in his steps. You may be up against it and
49:26
Speaker 1: you wonder where he's going to lead you. Trust him.
49:32
Speaker 1: Trust him. I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor his
49:37
Speaker 1: seed begging bread. wrote David. Let's bow together. The fish
49:48
Speaker 1: have swum through the stream. The water has flowed over
49:52
Speaker 1: the boulders. But the nuggets are there. Priceless choice. Golden
50:05
Speaker 1: nuggets of truth. In this case, they revolve around great-heartedness.
50:15
Speaker 1: I would love to see the Lord raise up from
50:17
Speaker 1: among you who hear these words today a handful of
50:22
Speaker 1: you who change. You become models of those who rescue others.
50:32
Speaker 1: You lose your selfishness. You stop anticipating a reward. And
50:39
Speaker 1: you refuse to pull rank. Putting others in their place
50:46
Speaker 1: through shame and guilt. If you've never met the Savior,
50:55
Speaker 1: he hasn't walked away. He's right here. We exist in
51:03
Speaker 1: this ministry to help folks who have lost their way
51:06
Speaker 1: find their way back. Nothing thrills us more than to
51:11
Speaker 1: help you do that. Connect with us. If you wish
51:16
Speaker 1: to do that right now, just in your own heart,
51:21
Speaker 1: Lord God, I'm a sinner. There's distance between you and
51:26
Speaker 1: me because of that. But I thank you that Jesus
51:30
Speaker 1: paid the price, the penalty, and paid it in full.
51:38
Speaker 1: Tell you what, Lord, I give you all of my
51:40
Speaker 1: filth as I take him. Thank you for forgiving me. Oh, Lord,
51:53
Speaker 1: we love you. And we've lived around you long enough
51:58
Speaker 1: to know that you're the real deal. You don't create
52:05
Speaker 1: hypocrites and And you don't put people on this earth
52:09
Speaker 1: that carry out your will through selfishness and greed. Every
52:15
Speaker 1: once in a while, you put a nugget in the
52:19
Speaker 1: stream and we find him. Thank you for the great
52:27
Speaker 1: truth that we've uncovered from this otherwise rather obscure chapter
52:33
Speaker 1: of Scripture. May we never forget Abram's great-hearted response to
52:41
Speaker 1: one who did not deserve it. More than that, may
52:47
Speaker 1: we begin to live in that way, motivated by love
52:54
Speaker 1: and compassion. In the name of the greatest model of both,
53:03
Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Everyone sit. Amen.
53:11
Speaker 2: The preceding message, Abram the Great Hearted, was copyrighted in
53:16
Speaker 2: 2012 and 2014, and the sound recording was copyrighted in
53:21
Speaker 2: 2014 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.
53:26
Speaker 2: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.