Address—G. Hayhoe
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The Lord, the living Lord, who died with all His fullness, can afford. We are supplied. He richly feeds our souls with blessings from above, and leads us where the river rolls of endless love 238.
Our shepherd.
Are thy.
Education.
Our songs.
Are gone.
Awkward The Lord, The Lord Rodriguez run away to the end of the day.
Where we?
Shall.
I.
Last night we looked at part of the life of Abraham and I just looked like to look at a little more of what is brought before us in Genesis. Genesis 15.
It's a rather should say.
Genesis 13, Genesis 13.
I read the latter part from the fifth verse on of this chapter.
And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents, and the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together, For their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. And there was a strike between the herdmen of Abrams cattle, and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle, and the Canaanite, and the Perazite dwell then in the land. And Abram said on the lot that there be no strife.
Pray thee between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdmen, for we be brethren, is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee from me. If thou will take the left hand, then I will go to the right arithmetic part, to the right hand, Then I will go to the left. And Locke lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
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Even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou Thomas unto Zoar.
Chose him all The plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east, and they separated themselves the one from the other. And Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and locked all in the cities of the plains, and pitched his tent towards Sodom. The amount of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward and southward, and eastward, and westward.
Through all the land which thou see us to thee will I give it to thy seed forever, and I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it, and in the breadth of it, for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent, and came, and dwelt in the plain of Mamra, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar under the Lord.
Well, we might mention again that we were considering last night the call of Abraham, and how he was heathen dwelling in her of the Chaldees. And he heard the call of God to get out from his country, and from his kindred, and from his father's house, and come into the land.
We know there were hindrances and saw that he stopped with his father in Heron for some time until his father had died. And then after his father had died, the call of God came back to him. He remembered how God had said that he was to leave his country and his kindred.
And he was to come into the land to which God had called him. How often were like Abraham?
Partially obedient Allow hindrances to keep us from wholly following the Lord. There's one man in the Bible named Caleb and it says about him he fully followed the Lord. That is, his heart was devoted to go on for the Lord. Where we find in Abraham that after his father had died, then he set out for Canaan and he came into Canaan and we see how Lot went along with him.
I might mention how we were calling attention to the different characters that we find in this story that God has given it given to us. We find Abraham characterized by a man who was a man of faith, not perfect but nevertheless with a desire to walk by faith, and Sarah, his wife who was a real support and help to him, showing how a wife or a partner can be a tremendous help and support.
In going on for the Lord, but we we find in Lot that he was a person who apparently went along a true believer because God tells us that he was a righteous man, a true believer, but not really having convictions of his own. That's very possible for us, you know, go along with our parents and with our brethren, and yet not to be before the Lord for our pathway easily influenced when circumstances come up.
That might turn us the other way. And so we find here that Abram had gone down into Egypt and his wife and a lot went along with them. And at last God had spoken to Abram, and he had left the land of Egypt. And he comes back into Canaan, comes back to the very place where his tent and his older were at the first. There we have a lovely picture of restoration.
And I say again, if there's anyone here, and perhaps you, like many of us, wander away from the path of devotedness and following the Lord. How wonderful those words he restoreth my soul. But it's important, brethren, that we get back to the place of departure. It doesn't do just to come halfway. And so Abrams brought right back to that very place where he had his tent and his altar at the 1St.
As we have in the meetings in Des Moines, there is the grace of God and the government of God. The grace of God is ever toward those who believe we're saved by grace. We stand in grace, and it's grace that will be brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. We never deserved anything of ourselves. If God gave us what we deserved, it would be judgment, but totally undeserved. He saved us, and in His love and his patience, He bears with us in the pathway. It's grace.
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But there is that other side. There is a government of God. That is, God deals with us, as in his family, in the house, and we are responsible and we don't. We might think we get away with things, but in reality we don't. God loves us too much to let us go our own way, Mr. Darby once said. The worst of all chastisement is that God should leave us to our own ways, and so in the family too.
The worst you can do for your child is just to leave him totally unchecked and uncorrected, and not only bring sorrow into your life, but he'll bring sorrow into his own life too. And so God is faithful whom the Lord loveth. He chased not well. God had restored Abraham, but he did have to do some briefing for what he had done. There were things that had happened down there in Egypt. He had become very rich at the expense.
Walking by faith he also had, he also had not that Pearl Hagar to work in his home, and she became a snare in the home too. And now we see that he also had given a lot of taste of the land of Egypt, and we were mentioning last night. Perhaps it bears repeating that the scripture says none of us liveth to himself and no man dies to himself. Your life and mine is either a help or a hindrance.
As I look back in my life, I thank God for many young people and ones who are older too, who are real help to me and support they. They didn't just live to themselves, their lives were for the Lord and they affected others. There were also others who turned aside and they usually find 2 That they affect others when they go the wrong way. And so we find here that Abram taking down lot down in Egypt had given him a taste of that land.
And although we're told that Abram was recovered and brought back, it's very questionable whether Lot, although he followed Abram back out of Egypt, well, it's very questionable whether he really got restored in his soul. And so we find here that he had a hankering for what he had seen down in Egypt and now there's something comes up. Abram had become very rich now in Egypt.
And sometimes we turn aside into the world. The Lord may allow us to prosper.
But prosperity that is in natural things isn't always for the good of our souls. There's a verse in Jeremiah that says I spake unto thee in thy prosperity and thou said I will not hear. And sometimes we get prosperous and material things. We tend to get taken up with them and they rob us and they can do something else. As we find in this chapter. They can make strike between bread. Isn't it often? So you'll find a person becomes very prosperous and then there becomes a strike.
Ones who actually went along happily with one another. And then feelings of jealousy arise. And that's exactly what happened here. We're a lot who had a taste of prosperity down there in Egypt. Now he becomes jealous and he and there's a strife between Abrams herdsmen and his herdsmen. Abram didn't want it to be sold, but as I said now Abram was going to have to read, but he sowed. He was going to lose the friendship and the companionship.
The only other person in the world that he knew who had faith, it's really had his wife. But your lot had been at least some support because he was a real believer. But now he's going to lose him over this strike. And brethren, isn't it true that we can lose a very happy fellowship with our brethren, Sometimes over strike that comes in. Well, how do we have to watch that our poor hearts are prone to that if we're not very watchful? It tells us how good.
And how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. But it's nice to see that as far as Abram was concerned, he was quite willing to give in. The Bible says, yielding pacifier, great offenses. Another verse says, let your moderation or yielding us, be known unto all men. And it's a good thing, brethren, When strife comes in, unless it's yielding the truth of God, we should never yield. When it's the truth of God, we're to earnestly contend.
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For the faith once delivered to the Saints, when it's over personal matters, You'll never be sorry you gave in. You'll never be sorry. You'd be sorry very often if you stood up for what you thought were your rights and lost a brother or a sister over it. It isn't worthwhile. And we find exactly that here. That poor lot, he he was one who wanted his own way. And as I say, I think it's very beautiful to see this spirit that Abraham showed in this matter.
When this stripe arose over the wealth that they had gathered down in the land of Egypt, now we find that Abram is willing to give in, and he said, lot. You can have first choice, you can have first choice. He could have said, well, I'm the older person. I'm the one that brought you out from her of the Chaldeans. You ought to recognize that I'm sort of a little bit older than you and I'm the leaders. But isn't it nice to see that who is willing to take the whole place?
You think of the beloved apostle Paul, and he said he was me and gentle among those believers where he ministered. And about the Lord Jesus it says he was me and lowly in heart. Oh, how lovely to see as he went through this world, how he was willing to take the littlest place, it says. As he walked through this world it says I wouldn't hear his voice thriving in the streets.
He was despised and rejected of man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Well, this was the attitude that Abram took here. And so he left lot half first choice, where we might think sometimes we have first choice, that we're really going to get the best. But you know, let me say this, the best choice is the Lord's choice. And everything in our lives is to think that getting first choice is always the best thing. It's not always so. It's good for us.
As a little song says, he gives the very best to those who leave the choice with him as well. For us to leave things with the Lord and look up and say, Lord, what will thou have me to do? And this we find brought out so nicely in Abraham's attitude here there's a whole land is before you lot. You can take the first choice. Whichever way you go, I'll go the other way.
And I will interfere. And so he let him have that choice. But now a lot is put to the test. Where was his heart? Was he concerned with the promises of God? Because God had given wonderful promises to Abraham in that land of Canaan, But he chose to go elsewhere. He chose another place in the land of Canaan. He left it, and, sad to say, he chose the well watered plains of Jordan.
And pitched his tent towards. He didn't get down to Sodom at once. Usually when we started in the wrong direction, we wouldn't think of going all the way along with the world. But we perhaps take a few steps in the wrong direction, and this is long, that we get caught in a kind of a trap, and the path of departure leads downward and we get farther and farther away.
Lot pitched his tap towards Sodom, but later on in the book we found that he had actually settled down and was living inside him. Took quite a high position in the political politics of Sodom because he sat in the gate. When it says he sat in the gate, that means he was going to political office in Sodom and such was the course that he had followed. I don't expect he intended to go that far when he started. Often when we start on a wrong course, we don't intend.
So far. But you know, the enemy knows our weak points and how he can draw us down. So when we find him pitching his tent towards Sodom, and then we find that little word but in the 13th verse. But the man of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.
That was a very wicked, immoral place indeed. We learned from the book of Jude that it had become so corrupt.
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Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner that God wiped out the whole population there with fire and brimstone, saving only Lot and his wife and his two daughters. And sometimes I wonder if the whole place was full of AIDS and God just wiped out the whole population. What a sad thing, because it tells us in Jude that it was set forth for an example to those who would afterwards live ungodly.
And the world is getting filled with very sin that permeated Sodom. What is that? And good luck to think that that's where he was heading for. Well, you know, our hearts are treacherous, President. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
Well, after he had separated from the 14th verse, then and the Lord said unto Abram, after that lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward and southward, and eastward, and westward, through all the land which thou see us, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever, You know, whenever we take a step to please the Lord.
Or perhaps relinquish some right that we could have insisted on just to please our Lord and Savior. Isn't it wonderful how the Lord stands by us and strengthens us? He's a tremendous support.
When the children of Israel were about to cross the Jordan, the Lord stood by Joshua and comforted him and told him to be a good cheer. And so this might have been a little difficult decision, as I say for Abraham.
To let Lot have first choice, and not to insist upon his rights. And then to see poor Lot make that choice of pitching his camp down towards Sodom. I'm sure all this was a deep grief to Abram. But now the Lord comes in to comfort and sustain him. And you'll find this breadth. And I'm sure many of us have found this already. He took some step. It was fear and trembling. You took it. You were just afraid of the consequences. But the Lord stood by you, just like He stood by Paul.
And said, be of good cheer, Paul. And so the Lord stood by him, and said, lift up thine eyes with the lot he had looked down at the Dead Sea, and the Jordan flowed into the Dead Sea. The the path was all downward.
But for Abram it was lift up thine eyes, and we need to lift our eyes above this present scene. For us, brethren, our hopes are not here. We have an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for us.
And then the Lord says in the 15th verse, for all the land which shall see us to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever, Yes, it was all going to be given to him. Now of course, we know that this has to do with the nation of Israel, and that their inheritance is an earthly inheritance, and God is going to give it to them in a coming day. It's wonderful, the blessing that's ahead for that nation.
When they have acknowledged their guilt and crucifying their Messiah, then the Lord will bring them in and bless them in that lamb and make them the center of the whole earth. And this was the encouragement that was given. But you and I know that we have something above says we're blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, we're ears of God and joined heirs with Christ and when the Lord Jesus takes His rightful place.
As he will another day of King of Kings and Lord of Lords, as the heir of all things, they're going to be associated with him in the nearest possible place. And brethren, when we when we're in difficulties like this, and they do come in our lives and we get discouraged, isn't it good just to lift up our eyes and know that all what we have in Christ is secure, eternally secure? We can't lose it and.
Then he told him to that he would make his.
Seed as the dust of the earth. Of course that's because their blessing was earthly. But now in the 17th verse, he says, Arise, walk through the Lamb in the length of it and in the breadth of it, for I will give it unto thee. And so we need to walk through the land, so to speak, when God was about to bring the children of Israel under Joshua into the land of Canaan.
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God outlined to them the limits of the land that He had given to them, told them exactly where the limits of their land were. And then he also said every every part that the soul of your foot shall tread upon. That have I given you. Every believer in this room is equally blessed. I don't have any more than you, and you don't have any more than me. But we only enjoy as much as we walk in. We only enjoy You might have a piece of property down in Florida.
And maybe it's the most beautiful property in the whole state of Florida, but if you've never seen it, you can enjoy it. But if you went down there and walked through it and said, I I never knew that I was possessed of such a lovely piece of property as this. I don't know why I'm worrying when I have all this and it belongs to me. And that's what God wants us to do as believers. He wants us to know that we have the unsearchable riches of Christ. Paul said it was given to him to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
We sing that song. My father is rich in houses and lands. He holds the wealth of the world in his hands, and the silver and the gold is his. But better still rehab that inheritance above brother. May we walk in it. May we enjoy it. Do we read our Bibles and seek to learn more of what we have in Christ when we say the Bible is not a very long book, I read it through already. But I'll tell you this, that no matter how long you live.
Will never fully enter into how richly you're blessed. It's beautiful to know that when you get older, you'll find you're learning more and more the wonderful treasures that are in this book that God has given to us, telling us how our portion in Christ. So he was given it to given to him, and then he was told to walk through it the length and the breadth of breadth of it.
And it was all his northward, southward, Easter westward, all directions, and then this 18th verse. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord. Well, as we were saying last night, there are different meanings to these places when he pitched his tent and build his altar.
Having Bethel on the West and here on the east and the eighth verse of the 12Th chapter, that was really where he stood in that land with the glory at the end and leaving behind only that which was worthless because this world and all the glory of it's all going to pass away. But the the Hebron means fellowship or communion, and we need to dwell there. We we need to know where we are in passing through this world.
And have the glory shining before us, but we need brethren to walk in communion and fellowship with God, it tells us in Jude. It says, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. We're just talking a little bit this morning about that book of Jude. And at the end of that book it tells us in the book about the apostasy that is the departure from God that we see everywhere.
But in the end we have 4 definite things that will preserve us as the world gets worse and worse. It says, building up yourselves on your most holy faith. That's learning more of what God has for us in the scriptures. And then it says, praying in the Holy Ghost. That is dependence. And then it says, keep yourselves in the love of God, that's communion, and looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. That is the Lord's coming.
The reason that's worded in that way, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life, is that you and I possess already the life that will find its eternal satisfaction and joy in heaven. You will not have a different new life when you get to heaven. You already possess it, and God wants you to enter into this now. But when you and I get to glory, there will be no hindrance. Perhaps I could illustrate it like this.
If I had a fair share on the table.
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That fish would be out of its element even if it was alive and kicking. It's not in its element. It has a life that's suited to water and I'm sure if it could talk it and say please, please put me in my element. This is not my element now rather than that's why it says, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. You and I live out of our element in this world. Our new life is suited to heaven and what are we looking for? What are we looking for? The time when they'll be in a place where we can enjoy everything that God has for us without any hindrance.
And that fish gets into the water, doesn't get a new life. It already had a fish life, but now it relaxes. It enjoys itself in its element. That's what happened will be for us. We possess the light, and God wants us to be looking for that time and in the meanwhile, enjoying his precious promises, walking in the sunshine of his love while we wait for that. So I believe this is brought before us in him, dwelling in Hebron, dwelling in the place of communion.
Dwelling in the place of communion.
Sometimes, because of the way communion is used in Christendom, people misunderstand it and they think of communion as taking the Lord suffered. Now we certainly should be in communion when we take the Lords Supper, but you can't take communion because communion means common thoughts. And you can't take common thoughts, but you can have common thoughts.
And so if you have the thoughts of God when you break the bread and drink the cup, it's very precious to you, But you don't take communion. You might take of the bread and the wine. And beyond community, you wouldn't be enjoying God's thoughts at all. Might be just a ritual to you. So we don't take communion, but we can have it. And we can have God's thoughts about things here, about the remembrance of the Lord, about how he would have us to gather.
Have all our portion in Christ. We have communion, we have fellowship with Him. We enter into His thoughts, and as we walk in obedience to His word, we walk in that path of common thoughts with God. What a privilege this is.
Well now God is going to speak to Lot in this next chapter for a lot. He has pitched his tent towards Sodom and now he has got down right into one of these cities, perhaps already in in Sodom itself. And I won't read all this chapter, but I'll start at the first verse and it came to pass in the days that I am grateful. King of Shinar Ariach, King of Eliassar.
Peter Leomar, King of Elam, entitled King of Nations.
That these made war with Vera, King of Sodom, and with versa, King of Gomorrah. And then if you were down in the chapter.
In the 11Th verse.
And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their vittles, and went their way. And they took Lot, Abrams, brothers, son, who dwelt in Sodom and his goods, and departed. And there came one that had escaped and told Abram the Hebrew, For he dwelled the plain of Mamra, the Amorite, brother of Ashkal, the brother of Anna. 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 smoked them, and pursued them on to Hoba, which is on the left side 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.
The king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Peter La Omer, and of the kings that were with him in the valley of Shiva, which is the Kingsdale. And Melchizedek king of Salem, went brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God, And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the most High God possessor of heaven and earth, And blessed blessed be the Most High, which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand.
And he gave him ties of all. And the Kingdom of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. And Abraham said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand under the Lord, the most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a threat even to a shoe latch, And that I will not take anything that is thine lest thou should have say, I have made Abram rich, save only that which the young men have eaten.
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And the portion of the man which went with me in her eshkol and mammary let them take their portion.
Well, I have chosen the well watered plains and I see here he was actually living in Sodom. And now God stirs up the nest. Isn't that the way God is too? You know, we take a step and go in the wrong direction. He never lets us go along without speaking to us. This was long before the time that Sodom and Gomorrah were consumed with fire, but God allowed this to stir up.
Lots nest. He might have began to begun to feel rather comfortable there, and now God allows this battle to come.
And the city is taken, and he loses everything he's carried away captive and all his goods and everything. Well, now we think of Abraham. And I think it's so sweet as I think of Abraham. He could have said, well, he's just brought it on himself.
It's his own fault. He should have known better than to go down to that city. Sometimes when our brethren get in trouble, why we can take a wrong attitude and not try to help them. The Lord wants to restore them. But you know, it's nice for us as it tells us if a brother be overtaken in the fall, she which are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, lest thou also be tempted. And I think it's very commendable here about Abram.
That what he heard, what had happened. We don't read of him saying anything in the way of condemning Lot, but he goes at the risk of his own life, takes 318 men from his own home and all the men that work for him and he goes out and say again at the risk of his life, he goes to rescue life. And that's so nice and you know, it speaks to my own heart too often when we see somebody.
Who is turned aside? There isn't that love and desire for their restoration and blessing.
We're not willing to put ourselves out to help them, but Abram, dear Abram brought back to the Lord and restored in his soul.
He has a love for life, even though a lot had been there really I think the main cause of the coral and had made a bad choice in his life. Well, he goes out and gets him back and brings him back. And another sad thing it seems to me is that two things perhaps I should say. There's no record that he ever said thank you to Abram for what he did.
He ought to be very, very grateful for what Abram had done.
But he didn't say anything in the way of thanks. But it's nice when we learn to be thankful. The Bible says be thankful and be ye thankful. And it's good when a kindness has been done to turn and thank the Lord, or perhaps thank some person who has done it for us. And the second thing is that as far as we know, a four lot didn't profit by it at all. It's hard to imagine that after all this had happened, that he didn't want to leave Sodom.
But you know, it's sad how we often don't hear the Lord's voice when he speaks. We don't hear him in the trials. We can often become bitter through trials. We can often come resentful. But God always has a purpose of love in every trial. And I believe he wanted to get lot out of song by all this. And if he had only hearkened, he would have saved himself the awful problem that came later when the whole place was destroyed and he lost his wife.
He lost part of his family and the ones that remained dishonored the Lord and brought grief into his life. Oh, how sad it was that he didn't profit by this. But now we see that after this the King of Sodom comes out to meet Abram on his return.
And tells us here that he came to meet him, but before he got to talk to him, the 18th verse tells us that Melchizedek, king of Salem brought forth bread and wine and he was the priest of the Most High God.
It's nice to see how the Lord was the first one to meet Abram after this and brings before him. Perhaps I could say that which speaks to us of the remembrance of a great victory that has been won for us. There's been a great victory won for us, brethren. That victory was Calvary, where the Lord Jesus, the mighty victor, overcame all the power of sin and Satan and won the victory that set us free because we were slaves and we needed to be set free.
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But by his wonderful death upon the cross of Calvary, we have been made free. And isn't this lovely here, this He brought forth bread and wine. And that makes you think, doesn't it, of the Lord Jesus, just before he went to the cross to win that victory, He was the one who provided the bread and wine that was instituting that feast of remembrance, That it's our privilege that we have as the Lord said as often as eat this bread and drink this cup.
The Lord's death till he comes. So Abraham had this wonderful privilege, the reason God is called here.
The Most High God. That is his millennial title. I don't want to go into detail, but the Lord hasn't yet taken that place. We see not yet all things put under him. But there's a day coming when everything is going to be brought under his authority and a king will reign in righteousness.
And he comes forth in this character and blessed him in the 19th verse. Blessed be Abraham of the Most High God.
Possessor of heaven and earth. Now I say the Lord hasn't yet taken.
His place of headship. He's there at the right hand of God, crowned with glory and honor.
But he's waiting the time when the Father will say, Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. But you and I have been blessed by that very one. We're going to be with him when he takes his place of authority.
When the Lord Jesus comes out of heaven in the 19th of Revelation, we're going to come with him. The Lord my God shall come, and all the Saints with thee tells us in Second Thessalonians one he shall come to be glorified in His Saints and to be admired in all in the believe. Isn't it a wonderful thing to look forward to the time when the Lord will come out of heaven and display us to this world and say, is it where you despise these people? But this is my bride. These are the ones who are going to share.
My glory. And so this is what took place here. Even was blessed with the Most High God, and it moved Abraham's heart so much that it says he gave him tithes of all. He wasn't asked to, but he did it. Under the law, people were required to give ties, but this was a voluntary thing. That's Christianity. God loves a cheerful giver. There's no rules. Maybe imprison them. There are those who impose rules about how much.
You have to give and say you should give a 10, but God doesn't. He says. He says, I've won your heart, you belong to me, and says in Romans 12 present your body a living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God. But we're not under any rules in Christianity. It's a blessed liberty. This is the way Abraham acted too. He just gave that portion to the Lord, but he no sooner done this than the King of Sodom.
Comes along and says.
In the 21St verse, and the king of Sodom said on neighbor Give me the person saying, take the goods to thyself, Abram said to the king of Sodom. I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a threat even to a shoe latchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine lest thou should have say I have made Abram rich.
He wouldn't receive anything from the King of Sodom. And you know, whenever the world gives, they always want something from you for what they give. I'm sure you found that over and over again. Whatever they give you something, they want something back. But God is a giver. He gives freely. And Abraham had been blessed by the possessor of heaven and earth. What did he need from the king of Sodom? What did he need of all those things that belong to that wicked city?
All, he said. I have everything that I need in Christ and that's your portion of mine. I don't mean that God doesn't care for our material needs. He cared for Abrams material needs, but he wasn't going to receive it from the world. And the world holds out his hand to you, says have you just yield to my desires, I'll promote you. Satan offered to the Lord all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them if he would only fall down and worship him and the world falls out his hands. Even to Christians says give your life to me, give your time to me.
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Keep your energies to me and I'll promote you and I'll give you something worthwhile. But you and I belong to the Lord. We're His and his by right. Well, it's nice to see this purpose, you might say. Well, such a small thing as a thread or a shoe latchet, that didn't seem like very much. I see a little thread on your coat or something. That's not very much, but you know, a thread has a very important place, doesn't it?
All your clothes are held together by threads, and you know, they're often little things at Memphis, so they want them. Haven't you often found itself? Always? That's just a little thing. But it linked you with the world and wouldn't be very easy to tear some of the scenes on your clothes, even though they're just held by threads. And it starts just with a few stitches and more and more until it's a strong tie that you can't pull away. That's the way the world does. It tries to get us in. Other things just read, oh, what's that they say? That's nothing.
But Abram wouldn't take a thread or a shoe latch of anything. That was a walk with the world. He wasn't going to walk with the world. Says come out from among them and be separate and saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. And so he made this happy decision. Abram has been restored. There's joy in his soul. He's not the loser, he's the gainer. I'm sure he'd run the respective lot. He's pleased his Lord.
Oh, how happy it is to walk in communion with him. Let's seek grace to dwell in Hebron, brethren, walk in communion with the Lord. There's no happier path. But there's an interesting thing in the last part of this chapter. He didn't decide for others. And I'm not here to decide for you. I know people who place rules and say must do this, and you must do that. There are even groups that have certain rules, but you know.
Abram made this decision in communion with the Lord. But he said, these others that came with me, they've seen everything that's happened. They don't have to make their own choice, and you have to make your choice. Have you and I seeking to make an individual choice in the presence of the Lord? I can't tell you what to do in your life. I can tell you if something's positive disobedience. But in many little choices in our lives, they're just little things, and they're a question of whether we're putting the Lord first.
Our own wishes first. Well, I think this is all very lovely and Abram, but we come now to the 15th chapter and I'd just like to look briefly at what we have here.
After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield, and my exceeding great reward. And Abraham said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless? And the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus.
And Abram said, Behold to me, thou hast given no seed. And lo unborn in mine house, in my house is mine heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, But he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels, shall be thine air. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said unto him, So shall I see thee. And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness.
And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of earth, the Chaldees, to give thee this land, to inherit it. And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, Take me in hamper of three years old, and the she gold of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another. But the birds divided he not.
And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and low in horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety, that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them 400 years. And also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge, and afterwards shall they come out with great substance.
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And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the 4th generation they shall come hit her, For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. And it came to pass when the sun went down.
And it was dark. Behold, a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed, Have I given this lamb from the river of Egypt, under the great river, the river Euphrates, the Kenites, and the Kenazites, and the Cadmonites, and the hip Tights, and the Perizzites, and the Refugees, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Derbyshites, and the Jebusites.
Well, there's just a few little things I'd like to notice. In this chapter we see Abraham have been very, very faithful and made a wonderful decision, been a kind helper to his brother who had got into trouble. But it's often after a time that there has been some spiritual victory in our lives that we get discouraged. Haven't you often found it? So maybe you've taken a stand for the Lord. Maybe you've done something really to please him.
And then everything seems to overwhelm you and make you feel kind of cast down and discouraged. And that's what seems to take place. First of all, the Lord appears to him and says, fear not, fear not. We can thank the Lord for what's passed, but sometimes we fear the future. We see things ahead that we we feel we just tremble as we see them. Little hymn says we'll praise him for all of his past and trust him for all that's to come.
But we don't always do that. We see these things ahead. And Abram, at this point, even though the Lord had said, fear not, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward was a tremendous encouragement. After refusing all that the king of Sodom offered. But now notice this question.
And Abram said unto the Lord God, what wilt thou give me? There was something that he desired, something that he didn't have as often. So with us too, we think of how richly we have been blessed in Christ. We think of all the wonderful things he has done for us. But perhaps you say, but there's one request, and the Lord doesn't seem to have granted me that request, and it just gets me down. Sometimes it overwhelms me.
And this is the way that Abram felt right now. He had been very faithful, but he didn't have any child. And God had made promises that he was going to be blessed and his seat after him, and he couldn't understand it. And we have situations like that in our lives. We just can't understand why the Lord has helped us over many obstacles. But there's something that seems to loom up that's almost insurmountable. And we say, what will thou give me?
He said, The one who is going to get all my inheritance says, just my servant that's been born in my house. Well, the Lord gives him a little word of encouragement here, he said, And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, But he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said unto him.
So shall I seed be?
And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness. He didn't get it once, the fulfillment of this promise. Indeed, I might say it was at least 14 years afterwards before Isaac was born, and so he had to wait for a long time. And sometimes the Lord tests our patience too, in the path of faith, and we don't see him coming in and answering the request right away. But he told him to.
Look now toward heaven, just as he told him in previous occasion.
And I lift up thine eyes when Lot looked at those well watered plains. The Lord said, Abram, look up. Now he's discouraged and says again, look up, that's what we need to do. Isn't that President looking under Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith? So he believed the Lord and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. But then in the eighth verse he asked another question, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
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It's interesting, those two questions. What wilt thou give me? And whereby shall I know? Those two questions, I suppose, often come in our minds.
Now we have some requests and we say, what will wilt thou give me other words? Why doesn't the Lord grant that request? And then when we are kept waiting and waiting, and there seems a long delay, we say, how shall I know? How shall I know? Well, we know because God has said it. That's all. It's His word. And then there's What follows is very interesting that the Lord shows us that the ground of all blessing is a sacrifice.
All these various animals we know brings before us many sacrifices that were offered in the Old Testament, all a figure of the one perfect sacrifice offered by the Lord. Jesus wasn't possible with the blood of bulls and goats would take away sin, but.
The Lord Jesus by his one sacrifice, by 1 Sacrifice by yeah, by one offering me a perfect it forever them that are sanctified. All blessing is secured to us, not because we deserve it, not because we've been faithful, but all because of Calvary, all because of what the Lord Jesus has done for us and now it tells us here.
In the 11Th verse and when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. The enemy would try to rob us of the blessings follows came down. In the scripture, we find that they're sometimes used as a figure of Satan. Remember how the fellows of the air plucked away the good seed in the 13th of Matthew, and they were going to try and rob Abram of the enjoyment of God's promises? And the devil's always busy that way.
Tries to get us discouraged. Tries to get doubts into our minds. How shall I know this is all from the enemy of our souls? Because we can rely upon God.
But now Abram falls into a deep sleep, and in horror a great darkness fell upon him. And in what follows here, I believe the Lord was showing to Abram that he could just speak of the history of that nation for years and years ahead, tells him what was going to happen to the nation 400 years ahead. And you know, that's a consolation to us, brethren.
We may go through trials. Does God know the future? It's all in his hands. He knows so he said. Abram, I can tell you what's going to happen to your nation. It's all an open book to me. And so it is. Isn't a good thing to be able to commit our way to the one who knows the future. We don't. We don't know even what's going to happen tomorrow. But the Lord knows what's going to happen all our life through how wonderful. Commit thy way onto the Lord.
Prost also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. But then we find that tells us here in the 17th verse.
And it came to pass that when the sun went down and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. But I believe that brings before us the whole history of the nation of Israel. That is, the smoking furnace is all that they've had to go through as a nation. Just read through the Old Testament and you see what they went through as a nation. Just look at what has happened in their history.
Had so many troubles, they lost their land when Titus came up and destroyed Jerusalem. They're scattered to the four winds. They've been persecuted in almost every nation that they've been in. Now they've they're back in their land and they've been there 40 years, and it's just been 40 years of conflict. They haven't found any peace, have they? But it tells us here there was a smoking furnace and a boon blend.
What is the burning lamp? Oh, it's those promises that always sustain the hearts of those who have faith. Do you feel like sometimes you're going through a smoking furnace? Do you feel that? Everything seems dark and it just seems that there's no relief. Well, there's a burning limb now that is the lamp of God's precious word and the lamp of prophecy. It's spoken of as a light that shines in a dark place.
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Until the day done and the morning star arise in our hearts. And so when we feel discouraged, it's good for us to realize no matter what we go through, God has it on His hands. He knows all about us, and He knows all about his the nation of Israel. And finally he's going to bring them into a time of wonderful blessing, a time when the desert will blossom as a rose. They will sit down under their own and vine and fig tree.
A wonderful time, a blessing is ahead for them. And brethren, when you and I get to the end of the journey and we look back, we're going to say, just like Israel, he led them forth by the right way that he might bring them to a city of habitation. So he noticed. In the end of the chapter, God says it's all going to be yours, Abraham, all this land where you see these enemies right now, it says.
Under the Thy seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt unto the great river, to the river Euphrates, pensions, all those nations which were their enemies positive, wonderful to know that everything is secure in Christ. Rather, when we go through trials, may the Lord help us to see that the Lord is over all, and that He knows every situation enters into it fully and.
No matter how difficult the pathway may be, there's always that burning line. There's the encouragement of his word.
Think of change, of Michigan, of admigal and the fiery furnace. But the Lord brought with them in the fire. And we think of how Paul was persecuted. But he said, I know whom I have believed, that I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
He was going through quite a burning fiery furnace, so to speak. I often think as I travel about and go to different towns and cities, the Brethren are so kind to me and chosen.