The Brawn of Abraham - 7/15/26 - Meadows Baptist Church - Pastor Charlie Branch

Welcome to the podcast of Meadows

Baptist Church of Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. We're so glad you joined us

today. If you enjoy today's message, be

sure to subscribe, follow, and share

with your friends. Now, let's join

Pastor Charlie Branch with a word from

God.

Genesis tonight. If you have your Bible,

turn with me there. Genesis chapter

number 14,

you pray for us tonight that the Lord

will help us. And uh

I need your attention this evening. So,

if you could just give me that for just

a few minutes. And I won't be long

tonight. Just got a couple of things

I'll share with you. We'll read a pretty

lengthy portion of scripture and then we

will dive into it this evening. Genesis

Genesis 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14 verse number one. It came to

pass in the days of Amrifale, king of

Shinar, Arichot king of Elisar, Chador

Leom, king of Elum, and Tidal king of

nations that these made war with Barah

king of Sodom, with Bersa, king of

Gomorrah, Shyab, king of Admma, and

Sheamebra, king of Zaboam, and the king

of Bala, which is Zoir. All these were

joined together in the veil of Sidum

which is the salt sea. 12 years they

served Chedor Le and in the 13th year

they rebelled. In the 14th year came

Chedor Lemer and the kings that were

with him and smoked the Raphaims and

Ashare Carneam and the Zuriums and Ham

and the Mms and Shva Corium and the

Horites and their in their mountier unto

El Pan which is by the wilderness. They

returned and came to Enmishad, which is

Kadesh, and smote all the country of the

Amalachites, and also the Amorites that

dwelt in has his own toar. And there

went out the king. And there went out

the king of Sodom, and the king of

Gomorrah, and the king of Admma, and the

king of Zapoam, and the king of Bella,

the same as Zor. And they joined battle

with them in the veil of Cidium, with

Chador Le,

the king of Elum, and with Tidal, king

of nations, and Amrael, king of Shinar,

and Aroch, king of Elisar, four kings

with five. And the veil of Cidium was

full of slime pits. And the kings of

Sodom and Gomorrah fled and fell there.

And they that rema they that remained

fled. They that remained fled to the

mountain. They took all the goods of

Sodom and Gomorra and all their victuals

and went their way. They took Lot,

Abram<unk>'s brother's son, who dwelt in

Sodom and his goods, and departed. And

there came one that is had escaped and

told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt in

the plain of Mamry, the Amorite, brother

of Esho, and brother of Anor. And these

were confederate with Abram. When Abram

heard that his brother was taken

captive, he armed his trained servs,

born in his own house, 318,

and pursued them unto Dan. And he

divided himself against them, he and his

servants by night, and smoked them,

pursued them unto Hoba, 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. Now,

Father, I ask you, God, tonight, Lord,

that you would help me. God, I'm not

going to be able to do this if you don't

help me tonight. And so, Lord, I pray

that you give me strength. I ask you,

God, that you would help me. I pray,

Father, for anointing from the spirit of

God. And Lord, I pray that you move in

our midst tonight. Get glory unto

yourself. And Lord, help us as we

preach. God, you're so good to us. Lord,

I love you and I bless your name for who

you are and all that you've done. And

Lord, I ask you once again, help us

tonight. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.

Genesis 14 begins the passage concerning

the meeting of Abram with Lot again in

this text. Now, I want to lay the

groundwork. And so, I want you to stay

with me tonight. Of course, this is

Wednesday night. You come here um on

Wednesday night, you know that we're

just going to look at the text

expositionally speaking. And so, I want

to lay just a few things tonight by way

of introduction concerning the

groundwork. Now, don't lose me in the

groundwork. I've got a point I want to

make tonight with the help of the Lord.

So chapter 14, it it begins or chapter

13 ends with Abram dwelling in the plain

of memory there at Hebbron where he

built an altar unto the Lord. And some

time has passed. Chapter 14 comes around

and there is a war that begins. And I

want to say this tonight uh on the

outset, this is the first recorded war

of nations in the word of God. There's

going to be a lot of first tonight. And

so I encourage you to write these down

in your Bible if you can. Not Genesis is

a book of beginnings. It's a book of

first. And so I I want you to notice the

governments that are mentioned here in

chapter 14:es 1 and two. Now there are

four kings that are mentioned here in

verse number one. And they represent

what is modern-day uh Iraq, Iran, and

Turkey is what I'm told. Verse number

one, Amrifale, king of Shinar and Aroch,

king of Elsar are uh tribes that

represent Iran more than likely. Chedle,

king of Elim or Iraq. Those first two

represent Iraq. Ched, king of Elim

represents a a group from Iran. And then

title, king of nations. That word

nations translates to another Hebrew

word. And that Hebrew word it translates

to translates to Turkey. All right? And

I know that's that's that's broad. Okay?

But the imagery in the text is is this a

is a Middle Eastern war. Okay? And uh I

think it's interesting. I don't know

about you, but it's interesting to me

that the first recorded war in the Bible

is Iraq, Iran, and Turkey. Okay? And uh

I think there's reasons for that. Amen.

them people over there's been fighting

for forever. Amen. And I'm going to tell

you, they going to be fighting until

Jesus comes back. All right? And so they

ain't nothing going to change over

there. And let me just put this out

there. I seen a thing today where Trump

said he's pulling out of Iran. Well,

just give it some time. We'll be right

back. Okay? And we'll be right back over

there because that's what they do.

That's what they do. They fight. And so

we see the governments. It's mentioned

uh verse one. Then there's the

governments mentioned verse two. Uh Bara

king of Sodom. Bersa, king of Yammora,

Shinab, king of Adma, and Shemeabber,

king of Zaboam, and the king of Bala,

which is Zor. So, you've got four

kingdoms that are mentioned in verse

one, and then five rival kingdoms that

are mentioned in verse two. Of course,

these are kingdoms that are mentioned

according to verse number three. You

note not the go only the governments,

but you note the geography of the five

that are mentioned in verse verse number

two. Verse three, look what he says. All

these were joined together in the veil

of Sidim which is the salt sea. And so

the salt sea is the dead sea. And that

veil that is the valley uh that would be

on the southern side of the dead sea.

These five land five kings these five

lands Sodom, Gomorrah, Adma, Zaboam and

Zoir in the text are in that valley uh

according to verse number three. And

then I want to lay this on your heart.

This kind of where we begin to look into

the thought a little bit more tonight. I

notice not only the governments and the

geography, but then there is a mention

of grief in verse number four. You say,

well, what is the grief? Well, notice

that first phrase. It's mentioned in

verse number four. 12 years they served

Chador Le. So, what has happened in this

text is what you find is this is the

first mention of national war. But this

also is the first mention here of a

government that is servant that has a

overrule over another land. And so what

this is is much like the days in

Jerusalem uh in Jesus day when Jew

Jerusalem and the Hebrews they were

ruled by Rome that greater government.

And so this here is an image of that

very same thing. I want to say this.

Anytime you see this in the word of God,

the reason this takes place is because

of sin.

All right. The reason why a a nation

greater than another would come and take

over a smaller nation is because of the

sin of that smaller nation. It's just

like when the Lord turned Israel over,

he turned them over to Babylon. He

turned them over uh to Persia, Meo

Persia. He turned them over uh to

captivity of Assyria. Amen. And so

they've all been all every time you see

this uh there is a a uh indication of

sin in the mix. Now I want to say this.

You see it readily in the text by that

word serve. Now that word serve in verse

number four. That's the first time that

word is mentioned in the King James

Bible. That word serve. And it it's it

has two definitions. The first mention

uh first definition of it has to do with

a labor or a masterership. And so they

are serving these five nations Sodom,

Gomorrah, Adidas, Aoam and Zor are

serving Chedor Lear king of Elim in the

text. and they are bound grievously unto

him. You know what? Sin is a cruel

taskmaster.

>> Amen. When you decide to go against God,

when you decide to walk against the

truths of God's word, it's not going to

be long before you find yourself in

bondage. And the grief that appears on

the pages of the scripture is pointed

out in the fact, verse four, not only by

their service, but it's also pointed out

by the fact, notice verse four. And in

the 13th year, they did what? rebelled.

They walked away. Let me say this. All

right. They've decid for all this time

because of the lives that they were

living, they were servants unto this

man. And in the text, it says they

decided that they are going to walk away

from this rulership. Let me say this,

sin's not easy to walk away from.

>> Amen. When you decide to walk away from

sin, you know what? It's going to come

after you. Just because you decide to

get right doesn't mean that it's not

going to reappear in your life once

again. And so there is mentioned here

the grief. Now I want to give you just a

few things here and then we will get

into the thought tonight. So what

happens is Taylor Lemer these four kings

that are mentioned in verse one they get

together. All right they decide that

they are going to begin to lay siege on

the five lands that are mentioned in

verse two. So verses five 6 and 7

begins to take out the neighboring

lands. I put that in my in my Bible.

When you look at the geography that's

mentioned by these lands that are

mentioned, the the Zuzims in Ham, the

Mmsiums, the Horites, and verse number

seven, Kadesh, the Amalachites, the

Amorites, all of that is land

surrounding these five people, these

five groups of people that are mentioned

in verse two. So what they do is is they

begin in their tactics of war, they take

out all the people that's going to help

him.

That's how the devil works. He takes out

all the people in your life who can help

you. And then you know what he does? He

isolates you to destroy you. And so they

take out the neighboring lands. And then

there is verse number eight. We could

say a whole lot about all that, but we

going to move on. I'm going to go back

to one thought here a little later. But

then so after they take out the

neighboring lands, they journey. If you

look at a a map, you can see they

journey from the north down to the south

and then they go down southwest and then

they come back up. And when they come

back up, they are headed directly

towards that veil of Cidium that's

mentioned, which is the the valley

beneath the Dead Sea. Verse number verse

number seven. And they returned. Notice

that they came back the same way and

came to Enish, which is Kadesh, and

smoteed all the country of the

Malachites and also the Amorites that

dwelt in Hazison. So they took out

everybody that's around them. Verse

number eight, you notice not the

neighboring lands, but you lo notice the

ne I can't talk tonight. The nefarious

lands. Verse number eight, look what the

Bible says. And there went out the king

of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and

the king of Admma and the king of Zaboam

and the king of Ba, the same as Zor. And

they joined battle with them in the veil

of Cidon. So these four kings have been

victorious over every land that they've

come to. And now they arrive at the five

kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and the land

that surrounds that. Verse number nine

is continued that they are in battle.

They are in battle with these four

kings. And then you notice what happens.

All right, out of this. They come up and

and we think about this. All right,

isn't it always an advantage when you're

fighting on your own turf?

>> Amen. And so when we think about this

text, we realize that Sodom, these five

kings had the advantage. They were

fighting on their own turf. But you know

what? That wasn't the only advantage

they had. The Bible says, notice the

last pray phrase of verse number nine.

It says they were fighting four kings

with five. So five kings were fighting

against four kings. And the implication

there is is that these five cities of

the valley of uh below the dead sea had

more people in their armies than even

these four kings did that were coming up

against them. But how many of you know

just because you got more people don't

mean you got better ability to fight.

>> Notice what happens. Three things

tonight I'm going to give you and I'm

going to be done this evening. We notice

that though they had their they had an

advantage of being in their own land and

having more people. The first thing

that's pointed out to us in scripture is

their failure. Notice verse 10. And the

veil of Sidim was full of slime pits.

And the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled

and fell there. And they that remain

fled to the mountain. Now, what's

interesting to me about their failure is

is number one, the first thing you see

them doing is not fighting, but they're

leaving.

Amen. Notice the text. It said, "And the

kings of Sodom and Gomorra did what?

Fled. They left." What were they

leaving? Well, they were leaving their

city. They were leaving the people that

were there behind. You notice it's

mentioned not only what they left, but

notice what they lost. Verse number 11.

and they took all the goods of Sodom and

Gomorrah and all their victuals and went

their way. These kings didn't even have

to fight. They just cleaned them out.

You say, "Preacher, why is that?" Well,

this this city, these cities are

described by one individual, and his

name is mentioned in verse 12. Look what

the Bible says. And they took who?

Lot. Abram's brother's son who dwelt in

Sodom and his goods and departed. Now,

what do we know about Lot in the

scripture? Lot was always looking out

for who? Number one, wasn't he? He was

always looking out for himself. And you

know what? The cities that are

represented in this text, you know what

they paint to us in the scripture? They

paint to us. The reason why Lot went

there is because they all just like him.

They're all looking out for themselves.

And the Bible says that when they came,

the failure scene is that they didn't

even fight. There was no defense placed

against them. Why is that? Because they

were so given to pleasure. They were so

given to the lust of their flesh. They

had no will to fight. All right. Now,

let y'all looking at me like I'm crazy.

All right. Let's just bring this to

where we live. All right. Let's say we

get all these people that are sodomites

and homosexuals,

all these people that are transvestites

and all the other ites of this country,

and they decide they're going to get up

an army to fight against those in the

nation that are, you know, patriots,

those that believe right and try to do

right. Well, we know exactly how that

would go.

>> You know why? Because them people ain't

never worked a day in their life.

>> Them people ain't never wielded a rifle.

Them people have have no strength. They

have no ability to defend themselves if

they don't have a gun in their hand.

They have no ability to do anything. And

the point I'm making is this. The reason

why it was an easy target is because

they had lived and wanting this so long.

They had lived a lavish, luscious

lifestyle so long that when the enemy

came, they didn't even fight. They just

fled. You know, the scary thing to me in

this day and time is is is is how many

people when things get hard just say,

"All right,

>> I'm done."

>> Just just say, "Well, well, that that's

as far as I'm going to go cuz I don't

feel good." And the truth is, if we

operated off of our feelings, we'd quit

today. We'd have quit a long time ago.

Amen. I'm telling you tonight, friend, I

ain't working for my feelings. I'm

working for my savior. Amen. And he has

commissioned me. He has called me and I

DON'T SEE AN EXIT sign anywhere.

>> I'M NOT SEEING A ROAD OUT OF THIS THING.

I'M NOT SEEING SOMEWHERE WHERE I CAN GET

OFF THE TRAIN THAT'S HEADED TO GLORY.

AMEN. I'M SAYING, FRIEND, AS LONG AS I'M

HERE, I AM COMMANDED TO FIGHT. I'M

COMMANDED TO SERVE. AND THE BIBLE SAYS

THAT NO man that warth, no man that

warth ENTANGLETH HIMSELF WITH THE

AFFAIRS OF THIS LIFE. The reason why

they didn't fight, the reason why THEY

WERE A FAILURE IS BECAUSE THEY HAD LIVED

IN the lust OF THE FLESH TOO LONG.

>> YOU SAY, "HOW long was it, preacher?"

Well, notice the text again. Chapter 12,

verse number four. Look at your Bible.

Chapter 14, verse 4. Look what it says.

12 years they served Chador Leon. You

know what they've done all this time?

They've been fine with him. One day they

decided, "Well, I've had enough of

that."

You know what happened?

He had got them to a place where they

were weak. Because you know what he did?

He had run over them and allowed them to

have everything that they want. You know

why the devil's got America in his grips

right now? Is because we have been we

have more than any generation that's

ever come before us.

>> We have everything. Listen to me. We

have everything pretty much everything

that we want.

You may not have everything that you

want. Amen. I'm telling you tonight,

from my heart of hearts, I don't need

nothing.

>> I'm not lacking anything. God has been

good.

>> I don't want for a thing. I'm not

missing nothing. I ain't missed a meal

my entire life. And I thank God for

that. God has been good. But what I'm

saying is where there's an abundance of

blessing, many times there's an

abundance of wickedness. Amen.

>> Right.

>> What happens to them in this text is

that they've allowed their flesh to

control them and their flesh leads them

to failure.

You know what? I don't ever want to

leave my let my flesh lead me to

failure.

>> Because you know what? There ain't none

of us that's exempt from that. Not a

single one of us this evening is

perfect. Not a single one of us has done

everything right. You ought to

understand something tonight. Myself

included. We are failures at best. Amen.

And if we are LEFT TO OURSELVES, WE

CERTAINLY WILL END OUR LIVES for oursel.

Amen. It's only BY THE GRACE OF GOD THAT

I MAKE IT FROM DAY TO DAY. And until you

REALIZE THAT, FRIEND, YOU WON'T make it

in this life.

>> Amen.

>> Paul said, "I am what I am by the grace

of God." And if anybody had religion to

trust in, it was him. Amen. He was a

Hebrew of Hebrews. And then after he got

saved, he's the best Christian that ever

lived. But you know, even he himself, he

didn't trust in his flesh. That's why he

said in Romans chapter number 7, he

said, "Who shall deliver me FROM THE

BODY OF THIS DEATH?" HE SAID, "THIS BODY

IS A BODY OF DEATH." IT'S IT'S GOT THE

CURSE OF DEATH UPON IT. AND WHEN YOU GET

SAVED, YOUR BODY, YOUR FLESH IS NOT

SAVED. And Paul said, "The only way I'm

going to be delivered is through Jesus

Christ." That's why he said in Galatians

Galatians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2 and verse number 20, he said,

"For I'm crucified with Christ.

Nevertheless, I live yet not I." He

said, "But Christ liveth in me and the

life that I now live in the flesh. I

live by the faith of the son of God who

loved me and who gave himself for me."

Amen. I'm not living on my own terms.

And you will be just like them in this

text if you are living in the lust of

the flesh. Their failure is seen in

their leaving. Their failure is seen in

their what they lost, their losing. But

I'll say this, their failure is seen in

who left, and that was Lot.

Notice this. All right. I see not only

their failure, but I see there's a a a

focus that appears on this on the page

of scripture. That's what I love about

this text. Bible said in verse 13, and

notice what your Bible says, and there

came one that had escaped. Now, the

clutches of sin, the clutches of this

king in the text has taken them all

away. But there's one that gets out. And

isn't it interesting where he's going to

look what the Bible says? And there came

one that had escaped. What's the next

phrase? And told Abram. Now, let me ask

you something. How did he know to come

to Abram?

Well, he'd heard about him somewhere.

Somewhere along the way he had met

Abram. Now what's interesting to me

about this text is what's said in the

next phrase. I told you this is a

chapter of first. All right. And there

came one that had escaped and told Abram

what's that description of him? The

Hebrew.

It doesn't say Abram and Hebrew. It says

Abram the Hebrew. Now I looked this up.

All right. I like words. Y'all know that

by now. This word Hebrew is the first

mentioned in the word of God. First time

the word Hebrew is mentioned. Do you

know where the word Hebrew is derived

from? I didn't I I'm ashamed to admit I

didn't know this till today. I should

have. Probably would have. I'd thought

about it, but I'll be honest with you, I

didn't. Amen.

That word Hebrew comes from a translated

word of the father, distant father of

Abram. You know his name? His name is

Eber. His name is Eber. Now, what does

the Bible tell us about Eber? Turn back

with me to chapter 10, verse number 25.

Hebrew literally means a son of Eber.

Chapter 10, verse number 25.

Verse 24, Genesis 10. And Arfacad begget

Sa and Sah begget Eber. Verse 25, notice

this. And unto Eber were born two sons.

The name of one was Pleg, for in his

days was the earth divided, and his

brother's name was Jockan.

Now, what you what you discover by that

is is that Eber has a distinction about

him. For it was his children were the

ones that were born. It was his days. It

was his birth when the earth was

divided. Now, notice this in the text.

All right? And there came one that had

escaped and told Abram, Moses writes

this. All right? Abram, the Hebrew. Why

did he put that in there? Well, he was

he was making a distinction about Abram,

and it was a distinction of power. You

see, what was different about Abram in

this text is is that all those men, all

those other cities, you know what they

did when the battle got hot?

They fled, didn't they? Notice what

happens in the text. And there came one

that had escaped and told Abram the

Hebrew, for he dwelt in the plain of

Mamry the Amorite, brother of Eshko,

brother of Anaran, these were

confederate with Abram. So there is a

power obviously that this young man

knows about. Now we know what the power

of Abraham's life, Abram's life is.

Somebody tell me, what is the power in

Abram's life?

That's right. It's his faith, right?

Amen. It was his faith. Abram's the

father of the faith. So his faith Amen.

And what John say? He said, "This is the

victory that overcometh the world, even

our faith." All right. So, it is his

faith that has made a distinction. It is

the power of God. Why else would this

young man have come to him? You say,

"Preacher, well, how did he know who

Abram was?" Well, notice verse 13 again.

And he dwelt in the plane of what?

Mamry. Well, let's turn back a chapter.

Chapter number 13, verse number 18. Look

what the Bible says. And Abram removed

his tent and came and dwelt in the plain

of Mamry, which is in Heedron, and built

there an altar unto the Lord. Verse 13

of chapter 14. And there came one that

had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew,

for he dwelt in the plain of Mamry, the

Amorite, brother Veshov, brother of

Anor, and these were confederate

with Abram. So this young man obviously

by the label Moses puts on him, there's

a distinction that's present. All right?

He has the power of God on his life, the

Hebrew. But then there's also a piece

that's mentioned in this. All right? You

with me? Y'all with me tonight?

Anybody with me? Amen. Somebody say

amen. All right. Verse 13. We'll get

done a lot faster. I promise. Here just

a minute. And these were confederate

with Abram. Now, that word confederate

means this. All right. As far as I can

tell, that's the first mention of that.

All right, first mention of that I've

ever seen. All right, conferred.

Confederate. This means that these young

men, these these Amorites, they have m

subjected themselves to Abram.

Now, what do we know about Abram? God's

blessed him. He has rulership. Lot was

with him. He was ruling over Lot. He

separated from him because God told him

to. Everywhere that Abram has went, he

has had authority, hasn't he? He had

authority when he went down into Egypt.

He has authority when he goes back. And

and and and there's many other places.

We're going to look at that later on.

But what this points out to us is is not

only was there power that this young man

knew about with Abram, but there was

peace. You see, Abram when he came into

the land, he didn't fight against him.

But the Bible says this young man

escaped. So, you know what's happened?

He went to Abram because he knew Abram

was at peace with them. Abram was the

only one left in the land that could

help.

Listen to me tonight. It's going to get

to a point one of these days when

there's just going to be just a few

Christians

>> left

and you ain't going to have anywhere

else to go.

>> That's right.

>> You hearing me?

They had nobody else to turn to.

Everybody else is wiped out.

Notice the text. And these were

confederate. That word confederate

almost has the implication that Abram is

is like I I want to say dictator for

sake of alliteration but they are in

subjection

to Abram in this text and they know that

Abram has their best interest in mind.

Notice what happens. I see not only the

power and the peace but notice the

preparation. You see this young man

obviously knows all of this. Obviously

that's why he comes to Abram. Well

notice what happens. Verse 14. And when

Abram heard that his brother was taken

captive, he armed his strange servants

born in his own house 318

and pursued them unto Dan. Now every

other city around has been took out.

Every other army wasted. Nothing left.

They've all left. They've all fled.

They've all run away. You know who's

left? Abram. But you know what? Abram's

got some men with him.

Boy, aren't you thankful

>> that when every resource of this world

dries up, God has some people

>> somewhere in some place that's going to

help you when you need it most.

>> Amen.

>> Amen. And I'll say this, we can paint

him as the type of Christ that he is.

When every other resource fails, Jesus

will never fail. Amen.

>> Never. You say, "What is it?" Well, his

focus was on Abram's power. His focus

was on that peace that Abram had. But

his focus was on the fact that Abram was

prepared.

Notice it again verse 14. And when Abram

heard that or ver yeah when Abram heard

that his brother was taken captive, he

armed his what? Trained servants.

He armed his trained servants. Born in

his own house.

Born in his own house. These are men

that Abram himself has raised from their

youth. And you know what he's done? He's

brought them up in the nurture and the

admonition of the Lord for such a time

as this.

Do you realize what's coming in our

country?

Let me ask you something. You know

what's coming.

>> Are your children ready for it?

>> Let me ask you something. Are you ready

for it?

>> Amen.

I'm not ready for it because I don't

know the extent of all that is. But you

know what? I do know this. I'm going to

do my best to get ready for it. Have

been trying to for some time. Friend,

there's stuff on the horizon in this

next election. I was talking with

brother Codle here on Sunday. Communist

regime in Canada is insane.

He told us here Sunday that there's a

preacher up there they had arrested.

>> We're next. Amen.

>> We're next.

It's do or die.

It's not quitting time. But I'll tell

you what time it is. It's time to bear

up our arms. Look what he says. He armed

his trained servants. They were

prepared. They were trained how to use

it. But you know what? They didn't use

it until it was time to use it. That's

why we have problem in this country.

There's people who are trained with it.

But you know what they want to do? They

want to go blow somebody up just as soon

as they get an opportunity.

It's sad that our country is training

more terrorists than it is training army

men.

>> You think I'm tell you you think I'm

crazy tonight, but you you just look at

the news headlines for a month in a row.

They can take the guns from the

citizens. I'm I don't know why I'm

preaching on this tonight, but they can

take the guns from the citizens, but at

the end of the day, the terrorists are

still gonna get them.

>> That's right. the evil men are still

going to find them. They're always going

to be available. They can come take

ours. And you know what? If they if it

comes down to that and it gets against

the law, we might just have to fight for

it. I hope nobody comes after me on the

internet, but I'm just telling you.

That's what I'm telling you. They want

this to want this for us. Are you

prepared? Let me ask you something. In

the spiritual realm of things, which is

more important, somebody say amen.

Are you prepared for the attacks of the

enemy against you? You know what he'll

do? He'll let your flesh get you to a

place of weakness where you are so

destroyed mentally, physically, and

spiritually. And then he'll just drop

one little on you when you're at your

weakest moment and you just go,

your life's over.

Notice this. But this young man had

somewhere to come back to. Aren't you

thankful for that? You have somewhere to

go. Some of y'all in here, you've

testified. You've told about how there

were days you spent out of the will of

the Lord. Aren't you thankful there were

some people that stayed with it all that

time you was out.

>> Amen. Notice this. I see their failure.

I see the focus here in the text.

They've he's got Abram on his mind. His

power, his peace, his preparation. These

defenders that Abram has raised up. God,

help us to raise a generation of

defenders.

Notice the fight. Verse number 14. 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 smoked them, and pursued them

unto Hoba, which is on the left hand of

Damascus. Now, I want to point out a

clear difference here. All right? What

you see in the text is the difference

between those who were in Sodom and

Gomorra, the other three cities, and the

difference in Abram. You see, Sodom and

Gomorrah waited till they got there. You

know what? That's the flesh's response.

We wait till a problem's right in front

of us and it blows up in our face. We

get destroyed by it.

>> But you know what the spiritual man's

response is? He's proactive. And you

know what? That's where we all fail.

>> You see, he's pursuing the enemy. In the

text before, the enemy was pursuing

them. Deliverance comes when we pursue

the enemy. The Lord said, "Resist the

devil and he will flee from you."

There's the pursuing, but then there's

the providing in the text, this fight.

He divided himself against them, he and

his servants by night, and smoked them,

and pursued them under Hoba, 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. Abram in the text with 300 men

recovers what five kings could not win.

in defense. You see, it ain't the size

of the army. It just matters which which

side you're on.

>> Amen.

>> Amen. It just matters who you're

fighting for and why you're fighting. I

want to remind you again, church, this

thing ain't about quantity.

It just ain't. And it ain't going to be

about quantity until Jesus comes. These

churches all over this country is going

to have more people than we have. But

I'm going to tell you this. At the end

of the day, as long as we do what God

says and we have his blessing, you

hearing me? We have his blessing, at the

end of the day, we'll be able to stand

at the judgment seat one of these days

and he'll say, "Well done."

>> Amen.

>> That's what I want more than anything

else.

>> That's what I want. That's what I desire

is his approval. Amen.

>> More than anything else.

And out of their pursuing, they provide

the spoil back again. And he was

faithful to fight the battle because he

loved his brother. I want to say this to

you.

How many battles are you willing to

fight because you love your brother?

We often quit.

We often give up. And it's our fleshly

nature to do so. But the truth is truth

is if we really love our brother, if we

really love our sister, if we really

love our wife, if we really love our

children, we just don't give up too

easily. That's

>> right. That's right.

>> We just don't quit when it gets hard. We

don't just back away when there's

resistance. We get up, we go on, do what

we know we're supposed to do and be who

we're supposed to be because we know who

we're doing it for.

>> That we can't control their response.

You listen to me. You thing about it is

that battle Abram didn't know how it was

going to go.

But all he knew was Lot was in trouble.

And you know what? He'd left Lot a long

time ago.

But Lot's decision got him in a mess.

And so you know what Abram did? He come

back in again.

Mas, daddy's, you've had to do that with

your children. Their decisions have got

them in a mess. And you know what you've

had to do? where you stepped off of

their life when they got to be an adult,

you allowed them to make their own

decisions. But when they get them in a

mess, you know what you do? You go help

them.

>> You don't leave them to theirel. How

much more?

How much more? Bible says, "If a man be

overtaken in a fault, you know what Paul

said, ye who are spiritual, restore such

a one in a spirit of meekness." Because

the thing is, we we should be in hell.

Yeah,

>> I should be in hell.

>> That's what I deserve tonight. That's

where I would be if it hadn't been for

one who forgave me before I even knew

what forgiveness was. If it hadn't been

for one who paid the sin debt before I

even knew that I was a sinner.

>> Amen.

>> Right?

>> He loved us that much. How much more How

much more should we be willing to do

whatever it takes? And I t I didn't give

you the title tonight, but this is if

you want to call it the another what is

it? We've been calling these B words,

ain't it? Bwords. The bravery, the brawn

of Abram. You know what it takes a real

man to go fight somebody else's battle.

>> It takes a real man to do that.

>> Father, thank you for this day. Thank

you for your grace and your mercy. Thank

you for your love. Thank you, God, for

peace that passes all understanding. And

God, I ask you tonight that you would

help us. Lord, we're nothing without

you. God, we we are failures at best.

And Lord, I know without a shadow of a

doubt, God, that I would still be lost

today if it hadn't been for you coming

into my life and forgiving me and saving

me. Lord, I'd have no ministry. I'd have

no family. I wouldn't have anything.

And Lord, I know without a shadow of a

doubt,

God, that I don't deserve anything

you've done for me. And so, Lord, I ask

you, God, you would help us tonight to

adhere to the truth tonight that we are

to be willing and ready to fight at any

time

because, Lord, we're just not going to

let them go that easy. But, we ought to

be faithful. We ought to love them. We

ought to cherish them,

God, because the enemy wants them.

Lord Lot walked away from Abram by his

own choice. But God, I'm thankful that

when it come time for pain to arise in

his life, that Abram went back, rescued

him again. Lord, you help us to be those

people. Lord, I love you. Thank you for

loving us. We ask it all in Jesus name.

For his sake, we pray. Amen. Amen.

>> Thank you for joining our service today.

We'd love it if you join us in person

the next time you are able at Meadows

Baptist Church. Our physical address is

2988

Stewart Road in Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. Our service times are Sunday

school at 10:00 a.m., Sunday morning

worship at 11:00 a.m., Sunday evening

worship at 6:00 p.m. and Wednesday

evening Bible study at 700 p.m. For more

information, visit us at

meadowsbaptisturch.com.

Thanks again for tuning in.