tonight we turn to Genesis chapter fourteen we're looking at the subject of walking by faith and we're walking with Abraham by faith this is a fourth message in the series our first one is on how to walk by faith Genesis thirteen and fourteen and now or Genesis twelve and thirteen. But here in Genesis fourteen and fifteen, we're looking at Ha to war by faith. In chapter fourteen, we begin our reading at verse seventeen. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, that is Abraham, after his return from the slaughter of Shadr la Omar. and the kings that were with him at the veil of Sheva, which is the king's veil, and Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine, and he was a priest of the Most High God. And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be the Most High God which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hands. And he that is Abraham gave him tithes of all. The seventh chapter of the Hebrews tells us that the less is blessed of the better. And therefore Melchizedek is a greater man than Abram, for Abram paid tithes to Melchizedek. So that is a very important section. Verse twenty one, and the king of Sodom said unto Abram, give me the persons and take the goods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatch it. Anything that is thine, lest thou shouldst say I have made Abram rich, save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which were with me. Aner, Eschel, and memory, let them take their portion. Now may the Lord bless the reading of his word. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for the privilege of walking by faith. For thy word declares that we walk by faith and not by sight. We pray for the ability to war by faith. For the victories are ours then before we ever enter the battle. We pray that thou will enable us to so live that we may be able to behold the victory and give thee the glory for it. Hear us in these things and speak to our hearts and instruct us out of thy word for Jesus' sake. Amen. When we studied chapters twelve and thirteen, we saw that faith provides five great ministries to the child of God. Faith brings us out. Faith brings us in, faith brings us back, faith brings us through, and faith brings us on. Now, after we've learned to walk by faith just a little bit, our faith needs to be tested, and that's where the warfare enters in. We need to learn to stand, and when God sees that his child has learned how to walk, He begins the test. And when you start living by faith, your enemies go to work. And you have three enemies. They're outlined in Scripture as the world, the flesh, and the devil. Now the world doesn't like a person who walks by faith because it contradicts the world's philosophy. The world says seeing is believing. But the man who walks by faith says believing is seeing. The world says if you can't explain it, it isn't real. It's funny. But you see, faith says it is real. The reality of faith. So we're against the world. But then we have an enemy called the flesh. The walk of faith contradicts the motivation of the flesh. The flesh says, do it yourself. You can do it. Faith says, no, I can't. I need God working in me. To will and to do his good pleasure. I need God. Now the devil doesn't want me to walk by faith either. Either. Because faith is the one weapon that he doesn't know how to deal with. You see he can answer your arguments. He can refute your logic. He can twist the scriptures. But he doesn't know what to do with your faith. This is a victory that overcometh the world. Even our faith. In Genesis chapter fourteen you have the first recorded war of scripture. Five kings or four kings descend on the five cities of the plain and Lopters dwelling in one of these cities called Sodom. The first lesson that we learned two weeks ago from this passage was that faith gives you victory over people. This is so important. Faith gives you victory over people. A lot had wronged Abram. But Abram only entered this war with his three hundred eighteen trained servants when he learned that Lot's his brother was taken captive. He could have said he deserves it, let him stew in his own juice. But no, Abram knew that his brother was taken captive and he practiced what we read in Galatians chapter six. Brethren, If a man be overtaken in a fall, ye who are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, let thou also be tempted. Abram could have said, look what Lot did to me. He deserves everything he's getting. But no, that wasn't his attitude because he remembered that one time he got in trouble too, and he got out of the way, and God honored him. God brought him back. And the same faith that brings me back, as it did Abram in chapter twelve, that same faith is a faith that will help me restore my brother when he falls. Faith gives us victory over people. Now we don't fight for victory, we fight from victory, for the victory has already been won. Now there are four levels. In regards to other people that you can live on. You can live on any one of the four. You can return good for evil. That is God-like. Or I can return good for good. That is man-like. Or I can return evil for good. That is how Satan operates. Or I can return evil for evil. That is how an animal operates. So you see some live on the lowest level. They're like animals. You leave me alone or I'm going to get at you. On the other hand, the human level is the one we often see. You scratch my back and I scratch yours. That's what we often see. But the divine level is the return good for evil. And that's where faith lives. And my friend, if you're living any other place, you're not walking by faith and you're not living by faith. I don't care what your arguments are, you're not. It may sound plausible to another carnal Christian, but it doesn't face the test of Holy Scripture. Out of war by faith, faith gives us victory over people. But then second, we also noticed just a little of this two weeks ago. Faith gives you victory over things. And this is far more insidious. Abraham comes back from the battle, and he's flush with victory. And the Word of God says, Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall. Now he's going to face a more insidious battle. The trial is going to be more difficult now. Because whenever you want a victory, that's when you must be in your guard. For no sooner had our Lord been baptized in the Jordan River by John. The heavens opened and God the Father spoke in the Spirit of God, descended upon him like a dove. He was led into the wilderness to be tempted. And it's the same with you. It is the same with me. Remember Elijah, after his great victory over the four hundred fifty prophets on Mount Carmel? Then he runs from a woman. by the name of Jezebel. Now the king of Sodom goes out to meet Abram after the victory. He's going to meet him. Now Melchizedek appears. Melchizedek is the king of Salem, and he's king of righteousness and king of peace. And Melchizedek is a great man in Scripture, only spoken of twice in the Old Testament. Genesis fourteen and Psalm but it forms a basis for the middle chapters of the great epistle to the Hebrews. You begin reading about him in chapter four, and again in chapter five, again in chapter six, again in chapter seven, quite a bit of him in chapter seven. And you understand Melchizedek better from reading the seventh of Hebrews than you do right here in Genesis chapter fourteen. Now Abram meets these two kings, the king of Sodom, and the King of Salem. Now the King of Sodom represents the flesh and the world that is in defiance against God. That's what the King of Sodom represents. Melchizedek, he represents peace and he represents righteousness. He represents the Most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth. Abraham had won the battle. The spoils are his by law. The man who wins a battle, to him the spoils are given. And Abram now has a privilege and the potential to be a lot wealthier than he ever was before. But Melchizedek blesses Abraham in the name of God, the possessor of heaven and earth. And Abraham, on the other hand, he turns around and he gives to the king of Salem, Melchizedek tithes. of all that he possesses. Now the King of Sodom comes to meet Abram. Now the word blessed is not on the lips of the King of Sodom. And that's something to remember. The world will never bless you. If you're looking for blessing out in the world, the blessing of the world is fool's gold. I lived near a place in Pennsylvania called Cornwall. Cornwall was just five miles to the south, a beautiful area owned by the Bethlehem Steel Company, for they had their ore mines at Cornwall. And one of the first times ever went to Cornwall. And I stopped my car and looked into that open pit mine right along Route Little boys came running up with fools gold, one to sell you some fools gold. I only lived five miles away, you know. It looked like a real thing, but it wasn't. The king of Sodom couldn't bless Abraham. The word blessed wasn't on his lips. The world can't bless you. The flesh can't bless you. That which is defiant against God can't bless you. And the Bible, whenever it speaks about the world, or the flesh, it speaks in negatives. I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. The flesh profiteth nothing. Having no confidence in the flesh, the apostle wrote to the Philippians in chapter three. Therefore the king of Sodom couldn't lift up his hands in blessing of Abraham. Oh no. Instead, you know what the king of Sodom said? Give me. Give me. Give me. That's what the world wants. But you notice what he asked for. If you missed this, you missed it all. What did he ask for without looking? The very thing the world wants from you. Give me the person. The world wants your body. The world wants your body. Now you have to make up your mind tonight. Which king you're going to serve? Whether you're going to serve the king of Sodom or the king of Salem. Which one are you going to honor? Every day you face this decision. God has given me possessions. Am I going to use these for the king of Sodom? Or am I going to use them for the king of Salem? I know what the scripture says. He that sows to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. But he that sows to the spirit. Shall the spirit reap life everlasting? Am I going to give my possessions to Jesus Christ, my king priest? Jesus Christ right now is a king and a priest upon his throne. Him is on a throne of grace. And he wants to rule my life. Now, beloved, the evidence that the Lord Jesus rules my life is that he controls things. That's the evidence. You see, this is Matthew six thirty-three, isn't it? Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Here it is again, Matthew six thirty-three. Now if I put things between myself and Christ, it's idolatry. If I put Jesus Christ between me and things, it is victory. And that's what Abraham did. Victory over things. Now Abraham had to make a decision. The king of Sodom said, give me the person and take the goods for thyself. The world always said, give me your body. The advertising we see today says, I want your body. I want your body. Give me your body. I want your body to use for my product. I want your body to get hooked in my product. Give me your body. That's a cry of the world. And that's what the King of Salem said to Abraham. Give me the person. Not the King of Salem, the King of Sodom. Abraham said to the King of Sodom, and I want you to notice it in verse twenty-two. I have lifted up mine hand unto the Lord, the Most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatch it, and that I will not take anything that is dying. My, what a statement. A shoelace to the king of the king of Sodom. Abraham says, I don't want it. It will affect my walk. Are we that careful? Abraham said, I don't even want a shoelace from the king of Sodom. I don't want my walk affected by the world or the flesh. There's some lessons here, beloved. How to war by faith. How to war by faith. Do we want the victory? Abraham was more concerned about his testimony than he was about the king of Sodom making him rich. He was more concerned about the possessor of heaven and earth. You see, Abraham got the victory before the battle ever started. He got the victory then. Isn't it marvelous? When your heart is right, God can trust you with a victory. When the heart's right, God can trust you with a victory. Sometimes God doesn't let us have a victory. simply because it would hurt us. Abraham said to the king of Sodom, you take the stuff. You take it. Only let those who were confederate with me get what they want. There's another lesson here. Don't force your convictions on other people. Abraham didn't say to Escal and Mamre, the others who were confederate with him. Okay, fathers, now you ought to do what I did. He never said that. No, rather. He said, it's up to you. You got your convictions and I got mine. I don't want a shoelace from this man, but instead he showed where he stood. He bowed before Melchizedek and he paid Melchizedek tithe of all. How come Abraham was able to let loose of all these things? How could he do it? Ah, beloved, he knew the possessor of heaven and earth. Do you know him? Not in name, but in reality. Do you know the possessor of heaven and earth? How could Abraham let go of all this? All those riches. How could he do it? You see the possessor of heaven and earth. We have a good picture of him in John thirteen in the upper room. Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, knowing that he came from God and that he went to God, he arose from supper. He laid aside his garments and he girded himself with a towel. Here we have the possessor of heaven and earth. laying aside the glory of heaven, and now in the upper room, girding himself with a towel. Would you lay everything in the universal side for a towel to wash people's feet with? That's what the Lord did. That's what the Lord did. You see, when you know the possessor of everything, and when you know that your Father is the possessor of heaven and earth, You can empty your hand and not be poorer but richer. Do you have a grasping hand? That grasping hand that's holding on the thing is robbing you of the richer thing that God wants to put in your hand. I've seen it happen many times. Do you have a grasping hand? How could Abraham holding on to things, reach out and take bread and wine? If your hands are full of other things, you can't do it. Maybe that's one of the reasons why the Lord's Supper is not as appealing as it once was to many. Something to think about. Melchizedek was a king of righteousness. He was king of Salem, which means king of peace. And in the eighty-fifth Psalm that we examined on Wednesday night, we read that verse concerning the cross. Righteousness and peace have kissed one another. Oh, beloved, Abraham got victory not only over people, but over things. Victory over people. Victory over things. Now we have one of the hardest victories yet that awaits us. Chapter fifteen, verse one. After these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram. I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. Here it is victory over feelings. You see, this whole chapter, chapter fifteen, is filled with emotions. In verse one you have fear. Later you have anxiety. Then you have the horror of great darkness which came over Abram. Now there are two extremes that people go to when it comes to fear. You see some people try to suppress their feelings. They grit their teeth. They keep a stiff upper lip. They straighten their back. They clench their fists. And what happens? They drive their feelings on the inside. underneath and many times it creates problems now God made us with feeling he made us with feeling without feeling our body our nervous system our glands functioning we'd be less than human God made us with feeling now some people go to the other extreme They are always expressing their feeling. They're always falling apart. What does our Lord expect? Our Lord wants us to harness our feelings in order that they work for us and not against us. The way our body is made, if we just learn by the Holy Spirit how to harness these things, Our emotional power. What a tremendous thing it could be. Well, you can't be creative without feeling. You see, if you're a painter, you can't paint a picture without feeling. You can't write a song without feeling. You can't prepare a sermon without feeling. And you can't speak to a sinner about Christ without feeling. You can't do it. If you have no emotional feeling toward a poor sinner, as you tell him how to be saved, there's something wrong. Look at Abram's feelings and notice how God meets them. For they are there. First of all, there's fear. Well, why should Abram be afraid? Well, what if those five kings returned? Maybe they got a few more kings to help them, and they returned. What about it? Just as easy to do, you see. I can just hear the devil coming and saying to him, you dumbbell you. You risked your life. You used your servants. And you had all this offered to you. And you let it slip through your finger, you dummy. Can't you hear the devil saying that? I can. He said it to me already. I know what it's all about. And I don't want to draw attention to myself, so I'm not going to use the illustration. I would say something to you now. Watch out for second thoughts. Well, now sometimes we have to have third thoughts, fourth thoughts, and fifth ones. But you see, what I mean by second thoughts is this, when you have made a right moral decision, watch for second thoughts, Satan coming around saying, you dummy, you made the wrong mistake, why don't you reverse it? I do read, dear Abbey, and people write and say, why I did the wrong thing, and really, when they made a good moral decision, they did the right thing. Now Abraham is afraid. God comes in and says, Abram, don't be afraid. Fear not Abram. I know that fear is a normal reaction and God knows it. But don't be afraid. I am. Or if I can get there. I am. Don't worry about yesterday. I am. Don't worry about the future. I am. Live in the present. I am thy shield. That's protection. I am thy exceeding great reward. That's provision. If the king's return, don't worry. I am your protector. Don't worry about losing your wealth. I am your reward. Oh, boy. Boy, we're back to where we started. That's Matthew six thirty three all over again. I am. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all these things will be added unto you. When you find yourself getting afraid, remember God says, I am your protection and I am your provision. So Abram turns to God and he says, Lord, I've been waiting a long time now. And you've never done anything yet about giving me that Son that you promised me. When am I going to have a Son? Now this Son you know is not just for myself. You see. But in that Son that you promised to give me is wrapped up the salvation of the world. Because you said to you all the nations of the world will be blessed. Now I can't do it by myself. And that's what he said. Notice verse two. Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless? And the steward of my house is this Eleazar of Damascus. And Abram said, Behold to me, thou hast given those seeds, and lo, one born in my house is mine heir. Verse five, and he that is God brought him forth abroad and said, Look now toward heaven and tell the stars. If thou be able to number them, and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness. Now what happens? God's answer to Abram's question is in verse five. He says, Now look toward heaven. Notice how Abraham's horizons are expanding. In chapter twelve, first, it was walked through the land, its length and its breadth. And then when Lot took a good chunk out of it for himself, God said to him, Now look as far as you can, northward, southward, eastward, and westward. It's all yours. Far as you can see. First God gave Abraham boundaries. And for the man who respects boundaries, God gives horizons. A lot of young people have never learned to respect boundaries. But once they respect boundaries, then God gives them horizons. And now we have expanded horizons. Now it's in the heavens. Here are horizons, Abraham, that you can't even measure. Abraham lifted up his hand to the possessor of heaven and earth. This is thrilling, beloved. But there's something about this. You can't see the stars until it's dark. Can you? Can't see the stars until it's dark. And many times, friends, the brightest stars of God's promises are in the darkest experiences of life. God says, now, count the stars. Count the stars. If you can number them, so shall thy seed be. Here is Abraham, anxious and impatient. And God says, I will. When Abraham was fearful, God says, I am. When he's anxious for a son, God says, I will. Are you impatient? God's promise, I will. In verse eight, Abraham says to God, I want to know. That's what he says in verse eight. Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it. Now, beloved, this is not unbelief. He simply wants to know the certainty of it all. And when we ask God to make assurance a reality in our lives that is not unbelief and that brings joy to the heart of God for God wants us to be able to sing blessed assurance Jesus is mine with genuine feeling and with genuine reality you see this is when God took Abraham out he says now take the sacrifices the animals and cut them in half and lay the pieces over against one another. You see, this is the confirmation of the Abrahamic covenant. This is when God confirmed the covenant. When we make a covenant, we have a lawyer draw it up, and he says, take out a ballpoint pen, and that's what we do, and we sign the document, and it becomes legal. But in those days, they brought animals for sacrifice, they cut the animals in half, and they laid them on each side, and there was a pathway between them. And then they walked, the partakers of the covenant walked between the pieces. But Abraham never got to walk through it. Abraham never walked through those pieces. You know why? The covenant never depended upon Abraham. The covenant depended upon God. This is not something that Abraham is going to do. This is something that God is going to do. And beloved, would you get this feeling of uncertainty? And beloved, I've been there. I've been there already. Especially after I've made a decision. After I've burned a bridge behind me. How do you know for certain? How do you know for certain? God comes along and he says, this is my covenant. And then he says, I have made it. I have made it. I've given it to you. Now, I can take these three phrases that God uses with Abraham, and I can live on them, beloved. The phrase that says, God's presence. I am. God's promise. I will. God's covenant. I have made. Why do you read your Bible? Why do you read your Bible? I read my Bible to learn more of what God has already done for me. You see, the Christian life is not one of accumulation. It is one of appropriation. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlys in Christ, appropriating what God has already done. hard of war by faith, victory over feeling. And you see, we belong to the possessor of heaven and earth. And beloved, when we learn that, it is only then that we can pick up a towel and wash someone else's teeth and serve them. Until we learn it. We're reluctant to do it. The possession of heaven and earth is mine. I am, he says. I will. I have. So that brings us to verse six. One of the most important verses in all the Bible. And he believed in the Lord, and he conjured it to him for righteousness. Here's a verse that's so important. It's quoted in the book of Galatians. It's quoted in the book of Romans. It's quoted in the book of James. Three times. In Galatians, the emphasis is on believed. In Romans, the emphasis is on counted. In James, the emphasis is on righteousness. Now that word believed. Abraham believed God. Simply means Abraham said, Amen. Amen. He agrees with God. What God had said totally satisfied his heart. In conclusion, I'd just like to say a few things. Number one, every day we have to have victory over people. I don't mean over sinful people. A lot of times it's over Christian people. We have to have the victory. Victory over people. And we only can do it by faith. Now every day we have to have victory over things. Because things have a way of getting to us. And causing us to wonder as we sang tonight. In the crooked way. And every day we have to have victory over feelings. Victory over people, over things, and over feelings. Now we war by faith. We war by faith when by faith we trust God's word and we yield to his promise for he said, this is a victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Faith not only wins the battle, faith overcome. Now it's possible, friends, to win the battle and come back so battered that you wish you had never gone. Oh yes. Abraham in his spiritual life, his character was enriched because he won the battle by faith. You can win the battle on the terms of the world and become so battered that you wish you had never gone. But when you win the battle by faith, recognizing who God is, the possessor of heaven and earth, then your spiritual life is enriched and it's enriched because this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Our next Lord's Day evening. We want to look at how to wait by faith. That's the most difficult yet. It's one thing to walk by faith. It's another thing to war by faith. But it's another thing to wait by faith. But you see, we know the end, don't we? For we have Hebrews chapter eleven. And the master in the school of faith is Abraham. Let's learn some good lessons from him. Now let's pray. Our Father, the world and the flesh and the devil is pitted against us. But we thank you that the victory is ours. Enable us, O God. To recognize who thou are, the possessor of heaven and earth, and to thus win victory by faith. Then we'll be able to serve one another with a towel. The Lord himself said, If I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you ought also to wash one another's feet. Oh, Father, we long to see this. And we pray that thou will build us up in our most holy faith, in order that it may be a reality in our own lives. For Jesus' sake, amen.