War and Peace

Please take your Bibles and open them up to Genesis chapter 14 this morning.

Genesis 14 · chapter mention

And our passage is all of chapter 14 this morning.

You know, somebody asked me again this morning,

are you really going to read that whole list of names and places?

You know, we could skip some of that if you really wanted to.

And I just, you know, have I been with you so long and you don't know me?

All scripture is God breathed and profitable and useful.

And we will stand and read all of Genesis chapter 14.

Genesis 14 · chapter mention

Let's stand in honor of the reading of God's word this morning.

Be gracious to me, please.

In the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar,

Ariok, king of Elessar,

Kedor-Lehomer, king of Elam,

and Tidal king of Goim.

These kings made war with Bera, king of Sodom,

Bersha, king of Gomorrah,

Shinab, king of Adma,

Shemaber, king of Zeboim,

and the king of Bila, that is, Zoar.

And all these joined forces in the valley of Sidim,

that is, the Salt Sea.

Twelve years they had served Kedor-Lehomer,

but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

In the fourteenth year,

Kedor-Lehomer and the kings who were with him

came and defeated the Rephaim and the Ashtaroth-Karnaim,

the Zuzim and Ham,

the Emim and Shabba-Kiriathim,

and the Horites in their hill country of Seir,

as far as El-Paran on the border of the wilderness.

Then they turned back and came to En-Mishpat,

that is, Kadesh,

and defeated all the country of the Amalekites

and also the Amorites who were dwelling in Hezazon-Tamar.

Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah,

the king of Adma, the king of Zeboim,

and the king of Bila, that is, Zoar,

went out and they joined battle in the valley of Sidim

with Keter-Lehomer, king of Elam,

Tidal king of Goim,

Amraphel, king of Shinar,

and Ariok, king of Elessar,

four kings against five.

Now the valley of Sidim was full of bitumen pits,

and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled,

some fell into them,

and the rest fled to the hill country.

So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah

and all their provisions and went their way.

They also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother,

who was dwelling in Sodom,

and his possessions and went their way.

Then one who had escaped came and told Abram,

the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre,

the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner.

These were allies of Abram.

And when Abram heard that his kinsmen had been taken captive,

he led forth his trained men born in his house,

318 of them,

and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

And he divided his forces against them by night,

he and his servants,

and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah,

north of Damascus.

Then he brought back all the possessions

and also brought back his kinsmen Lot with his possessions

and the women and the people.

After his return from the defeat of Keter-Lehomer

and the kings who were with him,

the king of Sodom went out to meet him

at the valley of Shabbat,

that is, the king's valley.

And Melchizedek, king of Salem,

brought out bread and wine.

He was priest of God Most High.

And he blessed him and said,

Blessed be Abram by God Most High,

possessor of heaven and earth.

And blessed be God Most High,

who has delivered your enemies into your hand.

And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

And the king of Sodom said to Abram,

Give me the persons,

but take the goods for yourself.

But Abram said to the king of Sodom,

I have lifted my hand to the Lord God Most High,

possessor of heaven and earth,

that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap

or anything that is yours,

lest you should say,

I have made Abram rich.

I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten

and the share of the men who went with me.

Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.

Grass withers, flower fades,

but the word of the Lord endures forever.

Father, we praise you for this passage of scripture.

We praise you for your commitment to your promises.

And we pray now that as we read of them once again,

developing in Abram's life,

that we would be reminded and encouraged

by your commitment to your promises towards us in Christ.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

We are in a pretty incredible section of scripture here

in the story of Abram,

and we've seen over the past few weeks

that God has made some incredible promises to Abram.

Promises that ultimately find their fulfillment in Christ

and then come to us by faith.

So chapter 12, we saw him promise,

I will make you a great nation.

I will bless you.

I will make your name great

so that you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,

and him who dishonors you I will curse.

And in you all the families of the earth

will be blessed.

And he promised to your offspring,

I will give this land.

I will make your offspring as dust of the earth

so that if one can count the dust of the earth,

your offspring can also be counted.

That was chapter 13.

These are incredible promises.

And we saw last week that no threat,

whether internal or external,

can ever nullify the promises of God.

God will accomplish all his promises

ultimately in Christ.

This passage is another demonstration

of God's commitment to his promises.

This morning we see that Abram faces yet again

two more threats to the promises.

And we see the threat of war here

in the first half of the chapter there

in verses 1 through 16.

There's war in the land.

And then we see this threat of temptation

in the back half of the chapter

in verses 17 through 24.

But once again, through it all,

we see God's promises succeed.

So let's take a look and we'll see

two more promises for God's people.

This will be our outline this morning

if you're taking notes.

Two more promises for God's people.

First, God promises his people success in the battle.

God promises his people success in the battle.

Chapter 14 starts off detailing this war

in the ancient Near East.

You all didn't really give me the round of applause

I was hoping for reading all those names and places.

I'm going to try not to rehearse

as many of those as I can.

There's four kings against five here.

We really have no idea,

no information about these kings.

They just kind of show up here in the story.

And they're fighting.

They're going to war.

It kind of feels like we press play on the movie

about halfway through, doesn't it?

We don't have the context that we wish that we had.

But if nothing else, what it illustrates for us again

is how far we have fallen.

You remember, we're just 12, 13 chapters away

from the Garden of Eden.

Adam and Eve dwelling in perfect paradise.

Perfect harmony with God and with one another.

There is no war.

There is no violence.

There is no death.

But now sin has come in,

disrupted God's good creation.

And now we see nation at war with nation.

God dispersed the nations at the Tower of Babel

and now they are coming against each other in war.

And as we look out of these four walls

at the nations around us,

you realize this is still going on today, isn't it?

As we look out and see nations warring against nation,

in our time, we should be reminded

at the root of all of this

is that same old issue called sin.

So here are these five kings.

They're from the Dead Sea area

and they have,

apparently they've served as vassals of this guy,

Kedor Leomer, for 12 years,

meaning they've likely paid him tribute,

given him money and come up under his authority.

But it seems like now they've had enough

and so in the 13th year, they rebel.

Kedor Leomer doesn't get his check.

And so in response, verses five through seven,

show us that Kedor Leomer and his bodies,

they go on a rampage through the ancient world.

They strike the Rephaites,

they strike the Zuzites and the Horites,

the Amalekites, the Amorites.

These guys weren't even involved in the conflict.

They weren't even involved in the rebellion,

but now they're kind of tossed in

as collateral in this war.

And my only assumption is that

Kedor Leomer and his buddies

were trying to bolster their troops,

their forces by conquering

all these nearby territories,

strengthen numbers.

And so he comes down like a tornado

and he gathers up,

picks up everything they can on the way

in order to come and squash this rebellion.

And by the time they arrive here in Hazazon Tamar,

they're now on the western side of the Dead Sea

and now the battle begins.

The king of Sodom,

the king of Gomorrah,

the king of Adma,

the king of Zeboim,

the king of Bila,

all come out and they go to war.

Verse 10.

It tells us that this valley of Sidim

was full of tar pits,

bitumen pits.

The king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah,

they probably were realizing

that their defeat was inevitable

and so they fell into them.

In other words,

they tossed themselves in,

in defeat,

and everyone else runs away

to the highlands.

Keterleomer and his buddies,

they took away all the properties

of Sodom and Gomorrah,

they took all their food,

they went away,

and oh, by the way,

they also took Lot,

Abram's nephew,

and all of his property,

and they went away with Lot

for, it says,

Lot had been living in Sodom.

So now we see why this is relevant

for us to know, don't we?

Lot is there in Sodom.

The last time we saw Lot,

he was living in the direction of Zoar

near Sodom,

but now it looks like

he has fully settled in.

He's now a resident of Sodom,

and now he finds himself

as a prisoner of war.

Verse 13 tells us

an escapee comes,

and he shares all of this with Abram,

and now the question is,

how is Abram going to respond?

How is Abram going to respond?

Because last time we saw Abram and Lot,

you remember things weren't going well for them,

or it wasn't,

or they weren't really on good terms.

They had separated,

they agreed that it would be best

to just go their separate ways,

because the longer they stayed together,

the more they were going to argue

and fight with one another,

so they dispersed.

But now,

Abram gets word,

hey Abram,

your nephew,

the one who stepped all over your toes

in the promised land,

the one who then grabbed the best land

he could possibly get,

the one who left you high and dry in a desert,

while he went and took the well-watered land

near Sodom,

he's in trouble,

so how will Abram respond?

I wonder what you would do.

How would you respond?

You all have had family issues,

you've had people that have offended you,

you've had people that have stepped on your toes,

you've had people that have wronged you

and sinned against you,

you might be in a fight right now.

You may be convinced that you are right.

They wronged you.

How would you respond

if the one who offended you is in trouble?

Well, we're told that right away,

what does Abram do?

Right away,

Abram goes to war

on behalf of Lot.

When Abram heard that his relative

had been taken captive,

he mustered his 318 trained men

once born in his house

and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

You know, that's over 100 miles away.

And he plans this nighttime attack.

He divides the troops.

He strategizes this attack.

He goes in there like Rambo.

He goes in right into the battle,

starts chasing down these kings

and their armies.

And it says he chases them

all the way up to Hobah.

That's north of Damascus.

That's another 40 miles or so.

And most importantly,

he wins.

Abram recovers all the property.

He defeats these rebel kings

and he recovers Lot

and everything that Lot owns.

And we see Abram very quickly

and very eagerly,

he risks his own life

and gives everything he can

to go and rescue Lot,

even when Lot didn't deserve it.

Now, who does that sound like to you?

Abram very clearly here

is showing us a picture of Christ.

I wonder,

do you find it hard to forgive people

when they wrong you?

Do you find it hard for you

to let go of anger,

let go of resentment,

find it hard to just let go

of the tension that there might be

when someone you know

they are at fault

and they have sinned against you?

Why in the world would you

go out of your way

to make it right with them?

Well,

because we have been

radically forgiven

by the grace of God in Christ.

Whatever wrong somebody has done to you,

it isn't even worth comparing

to our sin against God.

And yet God,

in His love for sinners,

sent Christ,

who loves His enemies,

Christ who came a great distance

from heaven down to earth,

Christ who came to pursue sinners like us,

Christ who gave His life

to rescue enemies of God,

who were enslaved

by the powers of sin and darkness,

Christ who spared no expense,

who leveraged every resource

to crush the powers of sin and evil,

Christ came and rescued us

and reconciled us to God.

Jesus did that for us,

those who deserve it least.

And if He's done that for us,

then surely,

of all people,

Christians ought to be quick

to forgive others.

This is what Paul tells us

in Ephesians chapter 4.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

He says,

Be kind to one another,

tenderhearted,

forgiving one another

as God in Christ forgave you.

Abram shows Lot here,

unmerited forgiveness.

But notice also what's happening here

with Abram.

In light of the promises of God,

we're seeing this promised blessing

unfold here in Abram's life,

aren't we?

You remember God promised

to multiply Abram.

God promised to make Abram

a great nation.

And now here,

we see Abram has 318 trained men

that are born in His own house.

That's incredible, isn't it?

He is multiplying

before our very eyes.

Of course,

we know these aren't

His own offspring.

These are just members

of His camp.

But we see His camp

is enlarging.

There's a threat here.

The land is occupied

by enemy kings.

They're waging war

against each other.

But here is Abram

literally going to war.

Now here he is,

again,

peeling back the influence

of the enemy

in the land

and gaining territory

for the kingdom of God.

God promised

to multiply His offspring

and give Him the land.

And so it's like

He's invincible.

He doesn't even hesitate

to go in

and to go to war

and join the battle.

And again,

as we look forwards

and filter this through

God's promises

for us in Christ,

we see here

just a small picture

of our mission

as a church

and the confidence

that we ought to have

in light of the promises

of God.

God's people,

both then and now,

are in a battle

with the powers

of sin and darkness.

On this side of the cross

where we are,

we aren't taking up arms

and we aren't

bearing physical weapons

and going to war

with physical nations,

but church,

you realize we are still

very much in a battle,

don't you?

We're called to take up

the whole armor of God

and stand against

the schemes of the devil.

For we do not wrestle

against flesh and blood,

but against the rulers,

against the authorities,

against the cosmic powers

over this present darkness,

against the spiritual forces

of evil

in the heavenly places.

We are still at war.

We're called

as God's people

to go and to conquer

the enemies of God,

to go and gain ground

from the enemy.

And how do we do that?

Not with sword and spear,

but by taking the good news

of the gospel

to the ends of the earth.

That's the battle command

of Christ,

our King, isn't it?

Go and make disciples

of all nations,

baptizing them

in the name of the Father

and the Son

and the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to obey

all I've commanded you.

That's our mission.

And what's the promise?

He says,

all authority in heaven

and on earth

has been given to me.

And surely I am with you

until the end of the age.

Church,

God has promised us

victory in Christ.

As we go about

obeying His command,

in fact,

He has already conquered

every enemy

at the cross of Christ.

The snake has been crushed

at the cross of Christ.

He is a defeated enemy.

He prowls around

like a roaring lion,

yes,

but He is a wounded enemy.

He is a lion on a leash.

And one day,

He will finally be destroyed

at the return of Christ.

In the meantime,

as we wage war

against the forces of darkness,

remember that we wage war

against a defeated enemy.

We worship a risen King,

one who's triumphed

over sin and death

and the devil,

one who has come

to set the captives free.

We fight in a battle

already won in Christ.

So we see God has promised

His people victory

in battle.

That's one promise.

Here in verses 17 through 24,

we see another.

Second,

another promise of God

for His people.

Second,

we see God

has promised His people

blessing by faith.

God has promised His people

blessing

by faith.

Look there to verse 17.

And we see

immediately after this victory

in battle,

what happens?

Abram faces a temptation

here at the end of the passage.

Isn't that how it always goes?

The enemy is not dumb.

He's clever, isn't he?

He knows that the best time

to tempt someone

is not really when they're

geared up and full of adrenaline

and ready to go to war.

He waits,

he bides his time

until that battle is over

and you're tired,

you're ready to celebrate

and you've won

and your guard is down.

That's when the temptation comes.

That's exactly what's happening

here with Abram.

Look there at verse 17.

It says,

these two kings

come out to meet Abram

in the king's valley.

And what I want you to see

is that

these two kings

represent

two

very different

paths of blessing

for Abram

and for us.

The first king

to come out

is the king

of Sodom.

Now what in the world

is he doing here?

You remember

what we already know

about Sodom.

These people,

we were told,

are great sinners

against the Lord.

What does this king

want with Abram?

We'll come back to him.

But the second king

is this mysterious figure

named Melchizedek,

king of Salem.

Who in the world

is that?

And we don't really

know much about him,

do we?

Again,

he comes out unannounced.

He comes out

to bless Abram.

This guy,

Melchizedek,

comes,

he sets the table,

he plays host,

he brings out

bread and wine

and he blesses Abram

in the name

of the Lord.

He says,

blessed be Abram

by God most high,

possessor of heaven

and earth.

And blessed be

God most high

who has delivered

your enemies

into your hand.

And in response,

we see Abram,

he pays a tithe.

He gives him 10%.

He gives him

a tenth of everything.

He pays tithes

to this mysterious king.

Who is this guy,

Melchizedek?

Melchizedek.

It really is

very strange.

We don't know

much about him.

He shows up unannounced.

We have no

genealogical record

of his birth.

His origins

are a mystery.

And then after this moment

in the book of Genesis,

he's gone.

He never shows up again.

Well,

what do we

know about him?

Well,

we know his name

for one thing.

Melchizedek

means king

of righteousness.

Melchizedek

is two Hebrew words.

King of righteousness.

And right away,

we're meant to see

a contrast here

with the king of Sodom.

Again,

king of Sodom,

he's king of a city

of wicked people.

We might call him

king of wickedness.

But in contrast,

here comes Melchizedek,

whoever he is,

king of righteousness.

You see the contrast.

Not only that,

but we also know

he's king of Salem,

which means,

again,

by translation,

he is king of peace.

He's king

of the ancient city

of Jerusalem.

Long before

the days of David,

Sodom was right here

in the middle

of this war.

He's a man of rebellion,

a man of violence.

But this king of Salem,

he wasn't even a part

of the battle.

He's a king

of peace.

But he's not just king,

is he?

Verse 18

tells us he is a priest

as well.

But not just any priest.

It says he is a priest

of God Most High.

That's very unusual.

Isn't it interesting

that this mysterious king

seems to know God

and to worship God alone?

This mysterious king,

he recognizes God Most High

as creator of all things,

heaven and earth.

He recognizes God alone

as the source

of Abram's blessing.

He recognizes God alone

as the one who

granted Abram victory

in the battle.

And he knows

that any blessing

that's going to come

to Abram

has to come from God

and God alone.

Who is this guy?

Now all of these factors

combined have led

some to say

this must be

the pre-incarnate Christ.

This must be Jesus.

The Son of God.

And while I get it,

I'm not sure

that I can go

quite that far.

But what we can say

with confidence

is that at the very least

this Melchizedek

is a shadow

to which Christ

is the substance.

He is a pointer

pointing us forward

to the true king

of righteousness,

Christ.

He is pointing us forward

towards the true king

of peace,

Christ.

He is pointing us forward

to the one

who is true prophet

and priest

and king.

The one who is

truly eternal God

without beginning

or end.

Christ who is

the source

of all blessing

for God's people.

He is the one

who is a priest

forever

after the order

of Melchizedek.

Well this mystery

is interrupted

for a moment

here in verse 21

again by the king

of Sodom.

I said this was

a temptation

for Abram

and here it is.

The king of Sodom

speaks up

and he says

you give me

the people

but you take

all the goods

for yourself.

Give me

the people

and I

will bless

you

with the spoils

of war.

Again notice

the contrast.

Not a blessing

in the name

of God most high

like Melchizedek.

Rather

a blessing

that would come

from king

of Sodom.

You can imagine

the temptation

can't you?

Abram has just

worked hard

and he has just

gone to war

against multiple

kings

and their armies

and surely he has

to be thinking

on one level

I've earned

this blessing.

Right?

I deserve

this blessing.

I want

this blessing.

Look how Abram

responds.

He responds

definitively

and clearly

I will not

take anything

from you

king of Sodom.

I have lifted

my hand

to the Lord

God most high

possessor of heaven

and earth

that I would not

take a thread

or a sandal strap

or anything

that is yours.

Why?

Lest you should say

I have made

Abram

rich.

You see it?

Why does Abram

respond like this?

Abram's response

teaches us

an incredibly

important lesson.

I want you to

listen to me here.

Here it is.

God alone

must get

the glory

for Abram's

blessing.

God alone

must get

all glory

for Abram's

victory in war.

In the years

to come

when Abram's

offspring are

multiplied

and years to

come when

God gives

him the land

and years to

come when

God has

blessed him

greatly

the king

of Sodom

won't be able

to take

any of the

credit for it.

Sodom will

not get

any glory

for Abram's

blessing.

That glory

belongs

rightfully

to God

and God

alone.

Abram

trusts by

faith that

God will

bless him

in God's

time,

in God's

way,

and so no

one else

will get

the credit

but God

alone.

church,

do you

seek the

blessing of

the Lord

like Abram

by faith

in his

promises

or

are you

ever tempted

to chase

blessing in

ways that

might rob

God of

his glory?

I know a

pastor friend

who served

as an

associate

pastor in

a church

where there

was just

some unrest

amongst the

members.

There's a

contingency of

people that

didn't really

approve of

the lead

pastor and

the associate

got a phone

call one day

from a member

pitching this

idea that

they ought to

do two

separate services.

This is a

great idea.

The lead

pastor can

continue on

and do his

thing in one

service but the

associate,

well you can

go lead the

other and

oh by the

way he would

be well

compensated.

Just think

about that.

It was a

not so

subtle attempt

to divide

the church

and undermine

the pastor

but the

temptation

underneath it

is well hey

here's an

opportunity to

lead and

to preach

and here's an

opportunity to

gain some

extra income

a pay raise

hey take

these blessings.

We face

temptations like

this all the

time don't

we?

Opportunities

to chase

blessing

chase

pleasure

chase

happiness

chase

money

but we

have to

ask at

what

cost?

You want

a promotion

and you

could get

it by

throwing your

co-worker

under the

bus

and you

want a

little pay

raise

and you

could get

it by

letting your

integrity

slip

you want

the blessing

of money

and you

could get

it

just by

a little

white lie

here and

there at

work

you

want the

blessing

of

sex

and you

could get

it by

hopping

on an

app

looking

for a

hookup

or

find

some

pornography

on the

internet

may we

be

faithful

like

Abram

to say

I will

not

chase

blessing

in

any

way

that

will

rob

God

of the

glory

that

he

alone

is

due

church

we

have to

by

God's

grace

reframe

our

view

of

the

world

so

that

we

no

longer

have

us

in

the

center

and

this

obsession

that

the

world

has

with

blessing

blessing

blessing

blessing

at all

costs

blessing

that I

deserve

blessing

that I

worked

hard

for

blessing

that I

want

blessing

that I

need

and

instead

put

God

and

his

glory

at the

center

where

he

rightly

belongs

God's

glory

not

your

blessing

is

ultimate

in

every

decision

in

every

situation

in

every

opportunity

in

every

moment

the

driving

motivator

of

all

things

shouldn't

be

how

can

I

get

what

I

want

but

rather

how

can

God's

glory

be

magnified

and

from

time

to

time

with

great

discernment

and

wisdom

church

that

might

mean

rejecting

an offer

that seems

good

for the

sole

reason

that it

might

rob

God

of the

glory

that

he's

due

takes

great

faith

to

trust

God

to

bless

in

his

time

in

his

way

but

that's

exactly

what

he's

promised

us

in

Christ

do

you

realize

church

God

has

promised

you

eternal

blessing

in

Christ

Jesus

eternal

joy

eternal

life

blessing

that far

outweighs

any

blessing

you could

get in

this

world

one of

my

favorite

passages

in

the

Bible

is

Ephesians

chapter

one

we read

it

this

morning

in

grow

class

Paul

tells

us

in

Ephesians

chapter

one

blessed

be

the

God

and

father

of

our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

who

has

blessed

us

in

Christ

with

every

spiritual

blessing

in

the

heavenly

places

even

as

he

chose

us

in

him

from

before

the

foundation

of

the

world

that

we

should

be

holy

and

blameless

before

him

in

love

he

predestined

us

for

adoption

to

himself

as

sons

through

Jesus

Christ

according

to the

purpose

of

his

will

to

the

praise

of

his

glorious

grace

with

which

he

has

blessed

us

in

the

beloved

in

him

we

have

redemption

through

his

blood

the

forgiveness

of

our

trespasses

according

to

the

riches

of

his

grace

which

he

has

lavished

upon

us

in

all

wisdom

and

insight

making

known

to

us

the

mystery

of

his

will

according

to

his

purpose

which

he

set

forth

in

Christ

as

a

plan

for

the

fullness

of

time

to

unite

all

things

in

him

things

in

heaven

and

things

on

earth

in

him

we

have

obtained

an

inheritance

having

been

predestined

according

to the

purpose

of

him

who

works

all

things

according

to

the

counsel

of

his

will

so

that

we

who

!

were

the

first

to

hope

the

gospel

of

your

salvation

and

believed

in

him

you

were

sealed

with

the

promised

Holy

Spirit

who is

the

guarantee

of our

inheritance

until we

acquire

possession

of it

to the

praise

of

his

glory

do you

hear

that

refrain

God

has

promised

us

great

blessing

in

Christ

received

by faith

in him

and all

of it

from

beginning

to end

is

for

the

praise

of

his

glorious

grace

for

the

magnification

of

the

glory

of

God

your

blessing

is

not

about

you

ultimately

God

blesses

you

to

the

praise

of

his

glorious

grace

so

we

ought

to

chase

blessing

in

a

way

that

magnifies

the

glory

of

his

grace

not

in

a

way

that

has

us

at

the

center

all

of

us

in

many

ways

are

tempted

to

rob

God

of

glory

he's

due

here

we

see

in

this

moment

Abram

he

succeeds

he

passes

the

test

but

unfortunately

where

Abram

here

succeeds

in the

temptation

unfortunately

church

if we're

honest

we would

admit

that we

all

often

fail

we

fail

to

forgive

as

God

has

forgiven

us

in

Christ

we

fail

to

go

to

war

against

the

forces

of

sin

and

evil

we

fail

to

go

and

make

disciples

we

fail

to

go

gain

ground

for

the

kingdom

of

God

we

fail

to

seek

God's

blessing

in

God's

way

by

faith

in

Christ

alone

which

is

why

I

am

so

thankful

that

we

have

such

a

great

high

priest

who

covers

all

my

sin

here

again

Abram

points

us

forwards

to

Jesus

who

immediately

after

his

baptism

after

this

great

moment

of

victory

this

high

point

in

the

beginning

of

the

public

ministry

of

Christ

immediately

afterwards

what

happens

immediately

afterwards

he is

driven

out

in

the

wilderness

to

be

tempted

by

Satan

and

do

you

see

a

similarity

do

you

remember

Satan's

temptation

I

will

give

you

all

of

this

if

you

would

only

bow

down

and

worship

me

give

me

the

glory

Jesus

and

I

will

give

you

the

blessing

let

me

put

my

stamp

on

your

greatness

let

me

put

my

stamp

on

your

blessing

give

me

the

credit

honor

me

and

what

does

Christ

do

praise

God

like

Abram

here

Christ

Jesus

does

not

bow

down

he

refuses

to

receive

even

the

slightest

blessing

from

the

enemy

he

entrusts

himself

to

the

Lord

and

his

promise

of

blessing

not

just

for

a

moment

but

for

all

of

eternity

for

a

life

of

perfect

faith

and

obedience

he

gave

God

all

the

glory

when

we

face

temptation

and

opportunities

come

to

to

chase

blessing

at the

expense

of

God's

glory

church

look

to

Jesus

the

author

of

Hebrews

tells

us

he

is

able

to

help

those

who

are

being

tempted

for

we

do

not

have

a

high

priest

who

is

unable

to

sympathize

with

our

weakness

but

one

who

in

every

respect

has

been