David, if you would, turn with me now to Genesis chapter 14. I assume that everyone here, if I were to ask, have you ever been a prisoner? Have you ever been bound? Have you ever been captive? Would most likely respond, no, I've never been in that situation. So to enter into this message, desire of the Lord will enable us to become a captive. I want us to be captives.

And I tried to come up with an example. And the best I could think of was when we were in school. Everyone had to be in school of some kind. And there are always things you would rather be doing than going to school. You were held against your will. You didn't want to be there. You would do almost anything to get out of going to school.

And one day you're sitting there and suddenly you're told, Gather your stuff, go to the office. Your mom or dad has arrived. You're leaving for the day. That was a good day at school, especially if you were leaving for a trip immediately after that. You were held captive, and now you're free. It was a good day.

In Ephesians 4, we read, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive. That phrase has caught my attention before and it was brought to mind again recently. In considering our Lord's glory in leading captivity captive, I pray that he will reveal to us, we captives, who we are, the nature of our captivity, his mighty salvation, and our desired response. In Genesis 14, we have the first battle that was ever recorded. And it is the only battle in which Abram was involved. Let's pick up reading at verse eight.

And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bila, the same as Zoar. And they joined battle with them in the Vale of Sidon, with Shaddam, the king of Elam, and with Tidal, king of nations, and Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Ariok king of Eleazar, four kings with five, and the vale of Siddam was full of slang pits, and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and fell there. And they that remained fled to the mountain, and they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.

And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eschel, and brother of Aner, and these were confederate with Abram. And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, He armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smoked them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and people."

My hope and prayer is, as we look at the meaning of this account, is that we'll take our place as one who, like Lot, was taken as a result of this battle. Now, to do so, we must take to ourselves the same nature as Lot. We must become the inhabitants of Sodom, dwelling as a subject to the king of Sodom. We captains. Who are we?

Verse four tells us that our kings served Shadda Luamer for 12 years. And they rebelled against him in the 13th year. Verse 8 gives us the names of the kings and their kingdoms. And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bila, the same as Zoar.

I was talking to Gabe about this message a little while ago and he said, you've got a Sunday morning message or a Sunday night. I've got some definitions to give and I don't want to lose you in doing this. But to know who we are, who we are subject to, we need to define these names. These names, if the Lord's pleased to reveal it to us, reveal who we are, being born of Adam, Adam who for a time dwelt peacefully and subject to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But at the time appointed, he rebelled. And these kings, who we are subject to, have done the same as we have. We're all rebels. The first king I'm going to mention is Zoboiam. Zoboiam means gazelles.

And looking at gazelles, they're relatively small herd animals. They're the prey of many other animals. They have very limited defensive abilities. They rely on their speed and alertness to escape danger. You could say that a gazelle is a nervous animal. It's always on the alert for the first hint of danger. That's when it occurred to me. That's what we are. Man is very similar to these animals in this sense. When one gazelle of the herd is spooked and bolts, The rest of the herd bolts with them. Most of the herd never even knows why they're running. They're just running.

In Ephesians, Paul wrote concerning our natural estate, carried about with every wind of doctrine. Isn't that us by nature? We go from one thing that we say we absolutely believe and trust in, and then the next day, almost, we go almost 180 degrees and say the exact opposite is what we believe and trust in. And when we do this, it's because our flesh says, I don't like that, let's go over here. And when we do it, we try to take everybody we can with us. We don't like to be on our own.

We subjects to the King of the Gazelles are also the subjects of the King of Adma, Red Earth. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground, for out of it wast thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Or subjects of dust. Subjects of dust and subjects of Zohar, insignificant. The psalmist said, Lord, what is man that thou takest knowledge of him?

In our natural condition, don't we find it to be true? We run from one doctrine to another, earthly and loving the things of the earth, so very insignificant, and we are doomed in our nature. We are subjects to the King of Bila, destruction. The King of Gomorrah, submersion, completely covered in sin. the King of Sodom burning, the wrath of God abiding upon us.

Romans 5.12 says, By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. And so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

Verse eight reveals to us who we are. We are the subjects by birth and nature to these kings. We captives, like our fathers before us, sold under sin the willing subjects of these rebellious kings. Verse nine continues our account, and it reveals the judgment that comes to these rebellious kings. It declares our second point. the nature of our captivity. And we're going to see revealed, Lord willing, in these names, the thrice holy triune God whom we have rebelled against. Four kings are named in this verse, and they represent the Almighty God in three persons.

Shadow Loamer. handful of sheaves indicating great wealth and fruitfulness, the king of Elam, eternity, and with title, great son, king of nations, and Amraphel, I'll get to his name in a moment, the king of Shinar, the country of two rivers, indicating an abundance of life and water. And Arioch, lion-like, strong and mighty. King of Elisar, God is chastener. Four kings with five. Now, just a moment on the name of Amraphel. That name has a dual meaning. The first is Sayer of Darkness. And by this we can infer he's a revealer of secrets. The second is fall of the sayer.

And by this we can infer that he reveals the failings of the bragger or the boaster. Our Lord spoke in John 16 of the comforter. And he said, when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. He will reprove, he will convict, he will expose the world of sin. In this, Amraphel is the fall of the Sayer.

We all say in our hearts with Israel of old, all that the Lord hath spoken, we will do I'll keep it, got this covered. And we fail. We fall in what we say, but it takes the Holy Spirit of God to pierce our dark hearts and reveal to us that we have failed. We can't convince ourselves of it ourselves. We will lie. and deceive ourselves and say, yep, I've done it.

I've kept the law. He will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness. Righteousness is Christ. When the Holy Spirit comes to one of us captains, he will convince, convict, and expose that the Lord Jesus Christ is righteousness. He will make known the secret things that are held in darkness. As Solomon said, the Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. Christ also said in John 15, when the comforter is come, he shall testify of me. That was a lot of definitions, a lot of words. So if I lost you. Try to tune in one more time.

Verse 9 says, God the Father, King of eternity, with God the Son, King of nations, and God the Spirit, King of abundance of life, the strong and mighty God, who is just and holy, came to dispense judgment on those who had rebelled against him. We subjects to wicked kings, born in this subjection and captivity, agreeing with the rebellion of our kings, are plainly told the day of judgment is coming. Be sure your sin will find you out. Judgment shall be dispensed. When these four conquering kings descended on the five rebellious kings and slew them, all their subjects, including just Lot, were taken captive. In this account, God's Word reveals who we are, rebels of the earth. Under just condemnation and the curse of the law, we are sinners who in and of ourselves shall face the just judgment of Almighty God. Now let's get to the good news. Verse 13.

And there came one that had escaped and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eschel, and brother of Aner, and these were confederate with Abram. And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, 318, and pursued them unto Dan, And he divided himself against them, he and his servants by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people."

Here we have, in picture and type, the great salvation our Lord Jesus Christ accomplished for those he loves. Word came to Abram that someone he cared for was in great distress, and Abram took action. Before God laid the foundation of the world, he knew Adam would rebel and fall. but he already had the remedy ready, our Lord Jesus Christ. Abram assembled and armed himself for the battle. Our Lord also armed himself.

Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. Abram left his home and his goods and he traveled far. The best I could gather, estimates have Abram catching up with the captives about 100 miles from the plain of Mamre. And he pursued them for another 50 or 60 miles to Hobah. Our Lord declared in John 6, I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

Philippians 2.8, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Christ our Lord and our God undertook a great and long journey to redeem his people.

Again, I'll remind us this is the only battle we have recorded in which Abram took part. So Christ, once in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Abram was victorious in his battle. He slew those who held his brother captive. Hear our picture phrase a little bit. but I think you'll be able to follow my thought.

It is our sin and our iniquity that has condemned us. It is this which separates us from our God. The holy, just, triune God must deliver the punishment due our sins. The wages of sin is death. We captives of divine justice sold under sin apart from Christ, are condemned to a just death. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

To slay our captives, to free us from the bondage of sin and death, Our Lord did far superior to Abram. Abram pursued Lot's captors and slew them. Christ took our place. He, bearing our sin, our grief, our guilt, he went forth to Calvary's cross. He hung in our place. He shed his blood in our stead. The wrath of God, due unto me, fell on him. And because he is God the Son, because he is holy, undefiled, separate from sinners, he consumed the wrath that was due unto me.

Turn with me to Ephesians 2. You don't need to hold your place here in Genesis. Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians 2 verses 1 through 3 tell of our captivity, dead in trespasses and sins, children of disobedience, children of wrath. Verses 4 through 10 tell why Christ redeemed us.

For the great love wherewith he loved us, that he might show that he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Look with me at verse 13. But now in Christ Jesus, ye, all of us captives, all of us who are condemned by the law, who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ, For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, because he fulfilled the law for us in his body as our substitute. For to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace, and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity, the center margin reads, in himself. As Abram was victorious in our picture, so our Lord Jesus Christ is the victorious, conquering, sovereign Lord, God, and Savior.

Genesis 14 tells my story, my personal story. I was born and lived many years in this world doing as I pleased. Concerning looking at others around me, I was at least as good as they were. Of course, I thought better. And we were all living together in harmony. We agreed with one another and we were satisfied that we were all under one banner. We were all marching to the same tune. This do and live.

Then one day in a message much like this, my heart was pierced and I became convicted that I had sinned. I'd sinned against the Lord of heaven and earth. And I was under the just condemnation and deserved death. And I found I agreed with that sentence. The same gospel message which led me to such condemnation soon led me to Calvary, where I beheld my gracious Redeemer bearing my sin and dying in my stead. Guilty, condemned, and being led to my just punishment, I beheld him, and he led me safely away. Having taken my sins into the tomb, he left them there. He led this captivity captive."

And just for a moment, Consider with me those that Abram redeemed. Having rescued Lot, did he just ride off with Lot and leave those behind that were with Lot? No. Abram delivered them all home safely for Lot's sake. All that Abram did was for Lot. He cared for and he loved Lot. He went to redeem Lot. And all those that were with him benefited because Abram loved Lot.

There must have been a large number of people and goods. Five cities, all large enough to have a king over them, had been taken. I can almost picture it. The battle being over, Abram having conquered the kings. Word is sent, where is Lot? Upon finding him, Abram embraces and holds him, and word spreads like wildfire.

We've been saved. We've been rescued because Lot's brother came for him. There were no glorying among the captives on how they rescued themselves. They're just glad to be free. They gave glory to Abram, who came for Lot. Abram and his men begin the long journey to take Lot home, and those other captives follow after him willingly.

You know, the march out from those cities must have been a burdensome march. They were being forced. They were being compelled away from their homes. But this journey home, I like to think of it as a peaceful journey home. They were all following Abram willingly. They're under his protection. They're going with him. Estimated at about 100 miles to go back home. And during this journey homeward, captive helping captive, captive encouraging captive along the way, captive telling the story of their rescue because Lot was with them. May already be there, Ephesians 4.

I believe this is the heart's desire of everyone for whom Christ has turned our captivity from the captivity of condemnation to the captivity of love in Christ. This chapter reveals to us who we are. We're sinners, what we deserve, how being sold under sin we were held captive. As we look through it, remember what great things God has done for us. Because Christ came, took his place as a captive among us. He has done great things for us, for Christ's sake. We are on a long journey home. We are blessed of God to not be making this journey alone. He's given us captives, companions to travel with.

Captives just as ourselves and the Apostle Paul takes his place with us. Ephesians 4 verse 1, Paul says, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord. beseech ye that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness and long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Paul then reminds us what great lengths Christ endured to redeem us captives. Verse 9.

Now that he, our Lord, ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. Verse 11, he gives some of the gifts that were given to us when our Lord led captivity, kept He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers.

12 through 16 gives us the purpose of these gifts, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, that we don't forget who and what we are without Christ, for our pride will rise up and tell us otherwise. Paul reminds us again what we are in verses 17 through 24.

And at last, my fellow captives, I believe this to be our heart's desire because of what our Lord has done for us, because of his great redemption that he has accomplished. As we make our long journey home through this shadow of the valley of death, Verse 31, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice, and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. As we're on our journey home, it's not an easy road, never was promised to be an easy road. Are we captives traveling together if we keep our heart and our eye upon our great Redeemer, Christ Jesus? We're so blessed that we have others traveling with us that we can encourage, that we can hold up, that we can just encouraged to say, look what great things he has done for us, for Christ's sake. May he give us the heart and the mind of Christ to be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another. even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you.