In Genesis 14, you and I looked
at this chapter last week, down to verse 21, I think. And we looked at where Abraham
had been rather forced to take up the sword and fight these
four kings and defeated them and brought back Lot and the
women and all the captive and all the goods. And as he was
returning from the slaughter of these kings and bringing back
all of those possessions and all the people that had been
taken captive, he came back here next to Sodom And Melchizedek
had blessed him. He had paid tithes to Melchizedek.
And now, here in verse 21, is where we take up our story. And
here's what the king of Sodom said when he met Abraham. And I can almost imagine it.
As you see, Abraham leading his servants, armed. all the households
that they'd brought back, and all the women, and all the goods,
and no doubt cattle. A big company, a huge company
of men coming probably across the plain. The King of Sodom,
I don't know how he would have been dressed. I don't know how
many men would have been around him, but here is what he said. The first thing he said to Abraham,
and I thought, I thought, boy this really reminds me of somebody.
the statement that he made to Abraham. First thing he said
to him in verse 21, ìAnd the king of Sodom said unto Abraham,
ìGive me the persons, and take the goods for thyself.î ìGive
me the persons, and take the goods for thyself.î And as I
read this and considered this, I thought, ìBoy, if there was
ever a man who spoke under the influence of the devil. It was
this man. This was the devil speaking.
This is the way the devil thinks. Here is Satan's greatest desire. This king cared little or nothing
about these possessions. He wasn't seeking the goods.
What was he wanting? He wanted souls. He's wanting
those people. It wasn't many days after this,
the Lord destroyed this king and all of these nations, all
of these cities of the plains, the Lord destroyed them. And
no doubt everybody except Lot and his two daughters that went
back here to Solom to dwell, they was destroyed. And I thought
as I read this, boy, this is Satan. This is Satan. This is the way he thinks, and
this is what he desires. You can have the goods. You just
give me the people. You give me the souls. The Scripture
tells us that he goeth about seeking whom he may devour. He
don't seek to devour riches. He seeks to devour people. Satan
has desired to have you, Peter. That's what he told him. that
He may sift you as wheat. He seeks to ruin men. He seeks
to devour men. I wonder how many congregations
today, and I wonder how many preachers today throughout our
country that Satan has said these very words to. I wonder how many
preachers he's come to And he suggested to them, you take the
big salaries, you can have the money, but you give me the people. And I wonder how many congregations
he's spoken to and said, you take your big life centers, you
take your big temples, and you take your big seminars, you give
me the people. You take your riches and you
take your possessions, but you give me the souls. That's what
he says. That's what he says. He's got
the same attitude as this king had here. Let the dead bury the
dead, the master said. But you go preach the gospel.
You go preach the gospel. Say not ye, there's four months,
and then cometh the harvest. Look on the fields. They're white
already to harvest. How dare us, brothers and sisters,
Now, Darius cared more about things than we do persons. Abraham cared more about persons
than he did things. Where is that congregation and
where is that preacher that will be content with raiment and food
and shelter? And their end and their goal
is this. to under God seek to deliver
their fellow man from the wrath to come. There's not many of
them left, is there? There's not many of them left.
The Apostle Paul said, I'm not seeking yours. I'm not coming
seeking your money. I'm not come seeking your property.
I'm not come seeking your possessions. But I come seeking you. I'm seeking
you. I'm not lusting after what you
have, not even your praise, not even your honor, but I'm seeking
you. I'm seeking the good of your
eternal soul. Abraham was a man who cared more
about people than he did possession. God give us grace to spend our
time, to spend, Paul says, and be spent for the souls of men,
for the sake of the gospel. I thought, well, here's the devil.
Here's what he's saying. You give me the persons. And
he's still saying that today. And now here in verse 22, in
verse 23, I love Abraham's response. Here's what he says. Abraham
said to the king of Sodom, 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 shoelatchet, and that
I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldst
say, I have made Abram rich." The church must never solicit
the favor of this world. The church must never solicit
the favor of this world. If she does, then the world will
tempt the church to compromise. Abraham said, I'm not going to
owe you anything, bud. That's what he said. I know you
and I know what you're after. You want me to owe you, it won't
be long until you ask me to compromise. All the world, all the church
must owe this world is the truth as it is in Jesus. That's all
you and I as a church must owe this world. If the world tempts
the church with its temporal possessions, and with its praises,
and with its worldly gimmicks, and its human inventions, the
church must respond just as Abraham responded to this King of Sodom. I won't take a shoelatcher from
you. If you've got an old pair of dirty, wore-out shoes in your
closet, I wouldn't even take a shoestring from you. That's
what he's saying. And I've done spoken to the Lord
about this. He wouldn't compromise with me.
He wasn't going to be obligated to anybody. And he says here
in verse 24, Save only that which the young men have eaten, and
the portion of the men which went with me, Eschol and Mamre
let them take their portion. It was necessary. Some things
are necessary. There are necessary times and
places when the world and the church has to coexist and interact. The church is not of this world,
but she's in this world. And therefore, the world and
the church has to interact. But when it comes to the building
of the church, when it comes to the adding to the church,
that's the Lord's business. And the world has nothing to
do with that. When it comes to the doctrine, when it comes to
worship, when it comes to the methods, and when it comes to
the walk of the church, the church has but one infallible rule. And that's the Holy Scripture.
And here is where the world and the church must part ways, and
they will part ways. The world cannot endear this
one infallible rule, and the church, when her heart is right
with God, loathes to let go of that rule. Buy the truth and
sell it not is the church's motto, and it ever must be. Therefore,
there is a turmoil, there is a separation between the world
and the church, and it must ever be so. The world will not stand for
this infallible rule. The church will not let go of
that rule. So there is a separation and
a turmoil, and brothers and sisters, there is no time when a truce
can justly be called. No time. The church cannot give up the
truth. The world will not bow to the truth, apart from the
mighty power of God, which He is not pleased to manifest to
this world, but to the elect only. And all others must suffer,
and we must suffer them. We, as the church, must suffer
this world to perish in her unbelief and in her rebellion. And we
must never compromise with it. We must never compromise with
it. Jesus Christ is the one head of the church. He's the one head
of this church. The King of Sodom is not the
head of the church. He wasn't Abraham's head. The
Whore of Rome is not the head of the church. Jesus Christ is
the head of His church. And the church has one infallible
rule, and that's Holy Scripture. And we cannot let go of either
one of them. And the church rages on, and
she rebels on, because the church won't compromise. And you know
something? God's going to let her rebel
on. And there's nothing you and I can do about it. So there's
no sense in compromising. They're going to perish anyway.
Now, ain't that the truth? Only the elect is going to be
brought to hear and cease their rebellion against the Lord. The
world's not going to, so why should the church compromise?
She shouldn't, brothers and sisters. We have to coexist. The church
is in this world, but she's not of this world. We have to interact. The world and the church has
to interact. And we can't help that. But boy,
there comes a time. when one of them has nothing
to do with the other. And it must ever remain that
way. Let the church stand humbly. Let the church stand boldly.
And let her stand faithfully here and not compromise with
the world. And her God will stand with her
and uphold her and support her when the going gets tough. Now
He'll do it. He'll do it. Abraham took a bold
stand here, didn't he? I ain't going to take a shoelatch
from you. I've done talked to the Lord about this in my closet
and told Him what I was going to do. Now look here in chapter 15 and
verse 1. After these things, and I don't
know how long it was after these things, maybe a few hours, maybe
a few days, I don't know. But 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." Fear not, Abram,
I am thy shield. Abraham, bless his heart, he
was a man of peace. We've seen that all through here.
He always was a man who took the high road. I pray thee. That was his prayer. That's the
way he talked to people. I pray thee. He's a man of peace.
Lot, because of his slothfulness and these kings by their sinful
ambitions, made Abraham do something he didn't want to do. Loved him
in this war. girded his sword on and went
after these fellows and caught up with them and slew them. The
Scripture says he slaughtered them. He slaughtered them. Boy, sometimes, sometimes you
and I are forced to do things we don't want to do. Do you know
that? We can't help it. We're forced into it. And that's
the way Abraham was. And don't you think this bothered
him? I mean, if you'd have saw him
with the spoils coming back, and he had locked his nephew
and the women and all the others and the children that they took
and kidnapped and was holding them. He had a certain degree
of joy that he had rescued his family and others, but you know
something, I bet he had a heavy heart too. I bet he had a heavy
heart. You don't shed the blood of another
man. without having some serious afterthoughts
about it. Do you know that? Sometimes you
may be put in that situation that you've got no choice. But
boy, I tell you what, it still brings some serious thoughts
afterwards, doesn't it? And you know Abraham was the same way.
When he left up there, he looked at Lot and he looked at those
women and he thought, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord, we won
the battle, but I bet you what, he had a heavy heart about it,
because he was a peace-loving man. He was a peace-loving man. And then he comes back down here
to this king of Sodom, and he takes a firm stand against him
there in verse 22 and verse 23. And he says, I won't take a thing
you've got. I'm not going to be indebted
to you for anything. I don't want a thing you've got.
And I never want to hear you call me or get a note from you
that says you owe me. I don't owe you nothing. And
I ain't taking nothing from you. I don't want any favors from
you. I don't even want your thankfulness for what I've done for the people
of Sodom. I don't want nothing from you."
He took a strong stand in it. And now he comes here. And I
imagine, probably, he gets off of his self and he becomes a
little bit afraid. The Lord said, fear not, Abraham.
Probably become somewhat fearful. You know there's going to be
times, brothers and sisters, in all our lives, there's going
to be times in your life where you're going to have to take
a stand. And you probably have to take
it by yourself. And it may be in a classroom. It may be on your job. It even
may be in the congregation. That you'll have to take your
stand and you'll be called upon to do something or to say something. And you'll have to take your
stand for the truth. And you may get off after that
and you may get somewhat lonely and you may be somewhat fearful.
And what you'll need and what you'll want more than anything
in this world is the same thing the Lord said to Abraham. When
He comes to him and He says, Abraham, fear not. Abraham, fear
not. I am thy shield. You know what
this word means. It means a defense. It means
a guard and it means a wall. I am your wall. Ain't that wonderful? You talk about hitting a brick
wall. We hear about people hitting a brick wall and we know what
that means. The Lord said, Abraham, I am thy wall. In other words,
whatever your theory. You're fearing the king of Sodom
may unite his men and come against you in the still of the night?
Fear not, Abraham. He'll have to come through me.
I'm your shield. I'm your defender. When the enemy
shall come in like a flood, Isaiah said, the Spirit of the Lord
shall lift up a standard against him. David said, the eye of the
Lord is upon those who fear Him, upon those who hope in His mercy
to deliver their soul and to keep them alive in famine. Therefore,
our soul waiteth for the Lord. He is our help and He is our
shield. Faith is our shield. The Word
of the Lord is our shield. But even more than that, The
Lord Himself is our shield. And brothers and sisters, I challenge
anybody. I don't care if he's a king of
Sodom. I don't care if he's a mighty general. I don't care if he's
a politician. Let him go up against the Lord
when he sets himself to be a wall. You can't get around Him. He's
a foundation. You can't get over Him. He's
bigger and higher than the heavens. And you can't get through Him.
He's a sovereign Lord. And that's another meaning of
this word shield. It means sovereign. I am your
sovereign. And you can't get through somebody
like that, can you? Fear not. Fear not. Not only He says here,
I am your shield, but I am your exceeding great reward. And I looked that word up, and
the first thing I saw about that, the first word that really caught
my caught my attention. It means salary. I am your salary. I tell you, that's a pretty good
payday. If the Lord is your salary, I'm
your benefits. I'm your benefits. I'm your wages. There's two times that we're
told before this that Abraham had refused possessions. He could
have been much richer than what he was. Remember when he told
his nephew Lot, you take the plains, those well-watered plains,
you can have them. Plenty of grass there for your
cattle. Plenty of water for your camels. You can have it all.
You can have it all. And then the king of Sodom here
said, I can make you rich. You take all these goods and
all these possessions. And both times Abraham refused
that. And now the Lord comes to him
and says, Abraham, I'm your salary. I'm your wages. I'm your riches. I'm your reward. I'm richer by far than the king
of Sodom I'm richer than the plains of Jordan. I own cattle
on a thousand hills and the hills too. The earth is mine and the
fullness thereof. The world and they that dwell
therein, I can give you the things of this world richly to enjoy. They're all mine. If I'm pleased,
I can fill your pastures with sheep and goats and camels. If I'm pleased, I can fill your
bank account with silver and gold. I can load you with the
possessions of this world. I can make you filthy rich. It's
all mine. It's all mine. I'm the possessor,
not only of heaven, but of earth. I own it all. It's mine. Other
people use it because I gave it to them, but it's mine. I
can take it from one and give it to another, or I can create
more. Riches are in my hands, Abraham,
and I'm yours. I'm yours. I'm rich in mercy. I'm rich in
love. I'm rich in goodness and all
redeeming graces. And I can supply all your needs
according to my riches in glory. But even more than that, I myself,
I myself, I am your reward." Oh, brothers and sisters, how
could I explain such a thing? It's more than just what he owns.
It's more than just what the Lord possesses. It's what He
is. I am yours, and I am your reward. I'm your salary. Let other people
have the plains of Jordan. They're welcome to. Let other
people have the king's goods. If the Lord is yours, then you're
rich. I'd much rather wait, wouldn't
you? And let him write out a check and let somebody try to cash
it. Ain't no bank in this world could cash a check that the Lord
would write, especially when He puts His name on it and writes
in the amount and it says, I am the reward. I am the salary. I am the wages. Oh, brothers
and sisters, we've got nothing to fear. Whatever comes, Brother
Larry said in his prayer back in the study, we've probably
got some tough times to face. We see our culture, we see our
nation, we see our laws changing almost daily right before our
eyes, don't we? And it's heartbreaking. It's
heartbreaking. A nation that we love and pray
for is changing to the worst. And you and I don't know what
we're going to face. We really don't. Every aspect of our lives
could be changing right before us. Our economy, our military,
our homes, our schools, our court system, everything could collapse
and fall. And there's nothing we can do
about it. But boy, here's something that's comforting to us. The
Lord is our shield. And we don't have to be afraid
of what's coming. And we don't have to be afraid
when it gets here. And no matter what happens to the economy,
the Lord is our reward. And I'm content with Him, aren't
you? I'm content with Him. The Lord bless His Word to your
hearts. Let's pray.