Abraham - Hands of Faith

Have you lifted up your hand in dedication to God saying, I want to put you first? Have you opened your hands to receive from God the strength that you need and to give to God the acknowledgment of His goodness? Have you closed your hands to what the world is offering you? Abraham did, and God blessed him.

And now let's bow for prayer. Gracious Father, we always need the work of the Holy Spirit, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, or else the word of God does not come alive to us as it should. And so help us today. Fill with your Spirit. Beyond the sacred page we seek Thee, Lord. Our spirits pant for Thee, Thou living Word. Nurture us and challenge us and convict us and cleanse us as we open Your word, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Let us be as watchful after the victory as before the battle. Well, saintly old Andrew Bonar said that, that great Scottish Presbyterian priest who was the friend of Robert Murray M'Cheyne. Let us be as watchful after the victory as before the battle. And you know, he is right. Many a Christian has won the battle but lost the victory afterward. That's why Paul writes in Ephesians 6:13, and having done all to stand. After you've finished the battle, stand there and claim your inheritance, and don't let the enemy take it away from you.

I think of Israel, the nation of Israel was delivered from the land of Egypt. My, what a tremendous victory! And they were taken through the Red Sea and their enemies were drowned in the Red Sea. And yet, what do you find them doing? Well, you find Israel complaining, doubting, wanting to go back. They won the battle, but then they started to lose the victory.

Or I think of Joshua. Joshua had that great victory at Jericho. He got a little bit overconfident, didn't he? And they went out to fight Ai. They said, "Well, this is an easy battle," and 36 men were killed and the nation of Israel was defeated. They had won the battle at Jericho, but they lost the victory. They had gotten away from the blessing of the Lord.

I think of Elijah, there on Mount Carmel, where he brought fire down from heaven to the glory of God, and he defeated the enemy, took care of all those heathen priests. And yet, what do you find Elijah doing? Running away and discouraged and sitting under his juniper bush and telling the Lord he wants to die. Well, he had won the battle, but he had lost the victory afterward.

Now, Abraham not only won the battle in Genesis 14, he defeated all the kings, but he also kept the victory afterward. We read about it in Genesis 14:17-24. And the King of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley) after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him. Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he, Melchizedek, blessed him, that's Abraham, and said: "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand." And he, Abraham, gave him, Melchizedek, a tithe of all. Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself." But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted up my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, 'I have made Abram rich'—except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion."

Now, in chapter 12, the emphasis at the beginning is on Abraham's ears. Now the Lord had said to Abram. God spoke to Abram and gave him the word. Then we see Abraham's feet. He departed, Genesis 12:4. He came into Canaan, and then he went down to Egypt, then he came back to Canaan again. The emphasis is on his feet, the pilgrim. Genesis 13, the emphasis is on his eyes. God said, "Lift up your eyes, look at the place where you are now, and I'm going to give you all this land." When you're walking by faith, God is concerned about your ears. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. God's concerned about your feet. Faith means obeying. By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out, obeyed. He lifted his feet to go. And God's concerned about our eyes. He wants us to walk by faith, but He wants us to see by faith the inheritance He has for us. That's the emphasis in that prayer in Ephesians 1:18, that the eyes of your heart might be opened, that you might know the hope of your calling. What a wonderful prayer that is.

Now, the emphasis in chapter 14 is not on his ears or his feet or his eyes, but on his hands. The man of faith must be concerned what he does with his hands. And we're going to let Abraham be our example here, and we're going to learn from him by watching what he did with his hands. There were three gestures involved in this particular experience. He lifted up his hands to the Lord in Genesis 14:22. He opened his hands to receive from Melchizedek and to give to Melchizedek. And then he closed his hands and refused to take anything from the King of Sodom.

Now, these three symbolic gestures are important. They teach us some spiritual truths that we need to learn today because Abraham is now being tested by God. First, he was tested by circumstances back in chapter 12 when the famine came into the land. Then he was tested by people in chapter 13 when Lot and his herdsmen created problems for Abraham. Now he's being tested not by circumstances or by people, but by things. Here is an opportunity for Abram to take all of this marvelous spoil, and he refuses to take it. You know, many a Christian who would not be tempted by lust or by lying might be tempted by things. Now, God made things. Things are good, and God wants us to enjoy things. Paul wrote to Timothy and said God gives to us richly all things to enjoy. But God wants things to be in their proper place in our lives. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

Let's begin with that first gesture. Before the battle, he lifted up his hand to the Lord and he said, "I'm not going to take anything for myself from this war." Genesis 14:22. Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted up my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, 'I have made Abram rich.'" Now, this was a vow that he took before the battle. Remember, the only reason Abraham went into this battle was to rescue Lot. In Genesis 14:12, they also took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. He shouldn't have been there, but he was. And when you're living with that crowd, you're going to suffer the way they suffer. Genesis 14:14, when Abram heard that his brother—not his nephew, his brother—was taken captive, he armed his 318 trained servants who were born in his own house, and he went in pursuit. And of course, he won the battle. A brother is born for adversity. In his love, Abraham says, "I'm going to go and rescue that boy. He shouldn't be there to begin with, but I'm going to go get involved only for the sake of my brother." It's a good lesson for us to follow.

Before he went out to battle, he made a vow to God. He said, "Lord, I'm going to depend upon You. You've told me this land belongs to me, therefore these kings have no right to come in here anyway. You've also said You'll bless those who bless me and You'll curse those who curse me. Now You keep Your promise." And so by faith, Abraham went out and he won the victory. This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.

Now, is there anything wrong with making a godly promise to the Lord? I don't think so. I think some vows are rash. We must be very, very careful lest we make rash vows that are not honoring to the Lord. In fact, you read about that in Ecclesiastes 5:4-5. When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it, for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed. It is better not to vow than to vow and not pay. That's Ecclesiastes 5:4-5. Nothing wrong with making a godly promise if we depend on God to help us keep it, if we are not bargaining with God. Abraham didn't say, "Now God, I will do this if You will do that." I'm a little afraid of these people who bargain with God, commercial faith where we buy something from God by giving something to Him.

And of course, we want to keep the promise that we've made. I see nothing wrong with a godly vow if the Holy Spirit leads us to do it. I've met people who said that they vowed to their mother or vowed to their father that they would not do certain things, and by the grace of God, they have kept that vow. Nothing wrong with that. Some people have promised their godly grandparents they would read the Bible every day. There are better motives for reading the Bible, but there's nothing wrong with a godly promise. And Abraham lifted his hand to God and made a promise to God, and when the battle was over, he kept his promise.

In my pastoral ministry, I've met a lot of people in hospitals who have said, "Oh pastor, I've made a promise to the Lord that if He'll get me out of here, I'll be the best Christian you ever saw." And God graciously got them out, but they did not show up in church and they were not faithful Christians. How sad. He lifted up his hand, and he told God, "I will not take anything. I'm going to fight this battle for You."

Secondly, we see Abraham opening his hands. First, he opened his hands to receive. In Genesis 14:18, Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. Now, Melchizedek is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus always shows up when we need Him, and He shows up just the way we need Him. This was not the Lord Jesus Christ; this was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Melchizedek, like the Lord Jesus Christ, was a king and a priest.

In the Old Testament, you had prophet, priest, and king, and they did not overlap too often. God did not allow kings to be priests, and He didn't want priests to be kings. Sometimes a prophet and a priest were together; Jeremiah was a priest and also a prophet. But you do not find kings and priests together except in the Lord Jesus and Melchizedek. He is King of righteousness—that's what that word Melchizedek means, King of righteousness. He is also King of peace—of Salem, he was the King of Salem, and Salem means peace. Only in Jesus Christ do you find righteousness and peace. Romans 14:17, for the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Where do you find that? In the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to Isaiah 32:17. It's a beautiful verse. Isaiah 32:17, the work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. What a tremendous promise.

Now, the Lord Jesus Christ comes to us after we've won the battle to make sure that we'll win the victory. Melchizedek came with bread and wine. This was normal everyday fare, everyday diet for people. The men were hungry, they were tired, they needed sustenance, and so Melchizedek came and strengthened them, not for the battle—the battle was over—he strengthened them for the victory. He said, "You need some strength now for the victory, having done all to stand." And he blessed them, he blessed Abram. He blessed him in the name of El Elyon, God Most High, the Creator, the Founder, the Possessor of heaven and earth. It's wonderful when you see how high and holy God is.

Now, Abraham opened his hands and received the blessing from Melchizedek as from the Lord. Then Abraham opened his hands and he gave tithes to Melchizedek as unto the Lord. You find this discussed in Hebrews 7:1-10. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated "king of righteousness," and then also king of Salem, meaning "king of peace." Melchizedek did have a father and did have a mother; he was a real man, but the genealogy is not given. Having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. So Abram opened his hand to give to Melchizedek. He was acknowledging God's blessing. He was acknowledging that God had delivered his enemies into his hands. He was fulfilling his vow.

Lifted his hand in dedication to the Lord, he opened his hands to receive from the Lord and to give to the Lord, and then he closed his hands. He would not receive anything from the King of Sodom. Did you notice that? When Abraham came at the close of this great victory, he sees two men coming: the King of Sodom and the King of Salem. One represents God Most High, the other represents the world and the flesh and that which is sinful.

Now, Lot chose Sodom. If Lot had been there, he would have taken all he could and gone back to Sodom. He did eventually go back; you read that in Genesis 19:1. But Abraham was separated. He had witnessed to everybody in Sodom now. Number one, by winning the victory. Number two, by refusing the money. Number three, by standing boldly, and they could hear what he was saying and saying, "I don't want anything from you." And after the battle, after the war was ended, you don't find Abraham and his confederates feasting and having a great celebration. You find Abraham giving glory to God.

You see, the man of faith is different from the man of the world. Now, he ought to be. Oh, I know there are those who say, "Yes, I'm saved," but you'd never know it. They're like Lot; they're captives of the world. Abraham gave a clear witness of the true God to the people of Sodom. Later on, he prayed for them. Alas, not enough of them believed, and Sodom and Gomorrah with the cities of the plain were destroyed.

Now, the world offers us things. The world wants us to take things. Had Abraham taken even so much as a shoelace from the King of Sodom, it would have crippled his walk with the Lord. He would have lost his testimony. As the people went back to Sodom, they would have said, "Oh yes, this Abram, he's supposed to be such a religious man, he builds altars all over and you see him out there praying. We know why he won this battle. We know why he went out there. It was not to rescue Lot; it was to get as much as he could get." We must be very careful as God's people not to allow the world's wealth to ruin our testimony. We have to trust the Lord to supply everything that we need.

Now, Abraham didn't decide for others. We have no indication that Aner and Eshcol and Mamre were believers. They were allies with Abraham; we read that back in Genesis 14:13. They had fought with him. He didn't give them his conscience. He said, "Let them take their portion and let the young men take what they had to eat. I don't want anything. I cannot pass my convictions along to you, and certainly not to an unsaved world."

Yes, we must be as watchful after the victory as before the battle. We must use hands of faith. Do you have hands of faith today? Have you lifted up your hand in dedication to God saying, "I want to put You first. I want that everything in my life should be under Your control. Seek ye first the kingdom of God"? Have you opened your hands to receive from the Lord the strength that you need and to give to God the acknowledgment of His goodness? And finally, have you closed your hands to what the world is offering you? Abraham did, and God blessed him.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Father, for the example of godly Abraham. Forgive us when we have won the battle and lost the victory. Forgive us when our hands have not been hands of faith. We trust You, Father, to meet every need. Help us not to lean on the wicked things of this world but to know that our God shall supply all of our need. And we pray Father You'll help us to glorify You, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.