Turn with me in your Bibles to Genesis 14 and beginning the reading at verse 17, Genesis 14 at verse 17. And the King of Sodom went out to meet him, Abraham, at the valley of Shapa, that is the King's valley or King's Dale, after his return from the defeat to Shedalomar, and the kings who were with him. In Melchizedek, King of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of God most high, and he blessed him and said, blessed be Abraham 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, Abram, gave him 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 my hand to the Lord God most high, the possessor of heaven and earth that I will take nothing, not 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 that is in the battle, honor, escol and memory, let them take their portion. Let us pray, enable us in the life of Abraham, O God, to see more and more of that wonderful life in the Lord Jesus and his life in us that we may live in our battles and blessings, to the glory of Jesus Christ. We pray these things father through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Here is the account we skipped. The battle scene, our issue is Abram, and here is the account of his victory. We look at it in two, there were two kings here, Melchizedek, Sodom. They both came out to meet Abram, to congratulate him, compare them. First, Melchizedek, King of Salem, have you trained your eye to see the meaning of that name, Zedek, in English the transliteration from Hebrew of righteousness, and Melch, King of righteousness, his capital, his seat of government, his Salem, later to be Jerusalem, Salem, your mind will tell you as peace, Shalom, Salem, peace, and the prefix Jarru is simply founding or possessing peace. So Jarru's Salem historically, spiritually, city of peace, this is the King, and he represents peace and righteousness as they are linked, linked ultimately, supremely, fully in the Lord Jesus,
of whom he is a type. Who is he? This is not some mysterious supernatural being, his ancestry, his lineage are omitted in Scripture, not unknown. He may be one of the last of the confessors of the early revelation of God, emerging out of the thick darkness of heathenism that has enveloped the known world. In connection with looking at Melchizedek, King of righteousness, let me ask you to note a wonderful verse in Isaiah chapter 32, Isaiah chapter 32 at verse 17,
32nd of Isaiah, verse 17, the work of righteousness will be peace and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever, nowhere else but in the righteousness of the King. Our Lord Jesus, King of righteousness, King of peace, this first king who comes to offer bread and wine for the weary warriors, in his name, in his seat of government, and the one he represents ultimately according to Hebrews 7. Reminds us of the truth of the connection of righteousness and peace, there is never any peace while things are not right, and the effect of righteousness, quiet confidence forever. You know the testimonies, do you not? And those who have preceded us, even not their deaths, unfairly from the human standpoint, with quietness and confidence, this is not a placid stoic personality type, I'm so glad that it isn't, I'm neither placid nor stoic, I'm excitable, I'm high strong, and this does not come naturally, it comes supernaturally, as I come back again and again to the King who is righteous, and who is brought about peace through the blood of the cross, quiet confidence forever, through life and to death, King of righteousness from Jerusalem, Melchizedek, there is Sodom, the place where Locke chose to go because it looked better, it seemed to be more propitious, he represents to this hour an English law, an American usage, unspeakable things, he'll be remembered forever for file things, what a contrast, both come to Abraham, the one to serve, the other to solicit because there's two offers here, two offers, and I reverse the order this time and look at the offer of Sodom, verse 21, the King of Sodom said to Abram, give me the person, just give me the people back, that would include a lot, you keep all the spoil, it seems reasonable, it's a handsome business like reasonable offer that Sodom makes, the sole disadvantage to that offer, that is reasonable, handsome and business like, the sole disadvantage is perceptible to faith alone, Abram sought, by way of contrast, here is Melchizedek in his offer, with unspecified blessing, note that, the blessing from God through Melchizedek, recorded in verses 19 and 20, a good portion of those words of blessing are taken up with the titles of Almighty God, blessed be Abram of God most high, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God most high, who has delivered your enemies in to your hand, and he blessed him for little vague isn't it, are you not going to tell me any more than that Melchizedek? How are you going to bless me? Sodom's got a good offer here, reasonable, fair, bountiful, all you give is blessing, unspecified blessing, I already told you that most of the words of blessing are taken up with the person of God and his titles. Abram receiving the blessing is to dwell on the giver rather than the gift, note that for the Christian life, note that in worship, I don't get anything out of the sermons, so I don't go, now our job is to have something for you, I know that, I understand that, and I live under the burden of it, rightly spoken, but our concentration is what we get rather than the giver isn't it,
or prayer, the privilege of prayer, the person to whom we pray, primary, beyond even answers, responses. The authentic Christian life portrayed in Abram reminds us, indeed, of rival kings, the one not telling us everything, all at once, asking us to believe him and to be delighted in him, to dwell on him, thrilled with him, the other making handsome, business-like offer. Why did Chanda Pillow leave a business position in India and live on a tenth of what he had made? There's preaching this night in our former church in Augusta for the annual Biola Missionary Conference, the retiring head of overseas missionary fellowship of the United Kingdom, David Ellis. He's not Church of England, he's Church of Scotland, he was with Ford in the United Kingdom, well-paid, well-regarded, successful, a believer, indeed. The Lord got hold of his heart more and more and laid world evangelization on his heart more and more, and finally he came to the point where he said to his peers and to his superiors, I'll leave Ford, going in missions. By his own testimony, they did everything in their power to persuade him not to take such a foolish position. I think I have told you about the leading oncologist in Augusta, who at one of these Biola Missionary Conferences in the closing commitment service knelt with 75 or 80 others at the front to give themselves to missions. The terrible struggle he said. They went out to the bottom of the Sahara desert in Niger. He said, I was willing to give up medicine, but all I loved oncology and what I could do for people is in practice with a man of another faith, whom I really don't know personally. Do you remember that I told you that that colleague, seeing me in the hospital there, grabbed me by the arm one day and said, aren't you the minister at first Presbyterian? Yes, I am. Will you please, please, talk in sense in my partner? He has this notion he's got to go out to Africa. Brilliant. Can't you talk him out of the foolishness? I said under my breath, I think I had a little bit to do with that foolishness.
The offers, there's nothing wrong with oncology unless God calls you to the field. Faith alone sees the disadvantage of a sensible, business-like handsome offer, two kings, two offers, two responses, two Melchizedek, Abram paid the tide. This is not even stewardship season, and here I am on tithing. Is this where tithing starts? Well, some of us would say that it doesn't start necessarily and primarily in the mosaic law at all. Here we are before the mosaic era, and before that part of God's revealed plan when the tith and more were required. No, tithing does not even begin here. In the study of the ancient world, it was a common practice in heathen religions. Isn't that interesting? Why would the heathen know to do it? Did God reveal himself to the heathen? Well, how do the heathen know to pay honor, whether the God they serve as an idol, an image, or a spirit in a rock, spiritism, or idol worship? How do they know? Have you ever thought of that? To pay respect and give honor to whomever they call. God was common in the ancient Near East. Study of language and literature validates that. Tithing, standing, or bowing down, offering, how do the Hindus know to offer fruit and flowers to grotesque images? Where does it come from? Well, we could say with Abram that somewhere along the line we would conjecture, at least God had given him a word that he is now obeying. But that, my friend, is conjecture. The text does not even hint of that. Here is Abram exhausted after fighting these kings in the Jordan Valley, and he is ministered to by the king of peace.
And he worships God and honors this representative of God and gives costly sacrifice.
I argue that is inherent in human creation. God will not let even the heathen go without a form of acknowledging deity, wrong deity. But there is something in the very fiber of mankind made to worship, made to obey. Though he perverts it, though he expresses it to deities that grieve us, they tithe, they give, they express honor. And Abram, having been brought out of error the Caldys, having received the covenantal promises of God, now sees this representative of God, this king of Salem, this priest of God most high. And without instruction, without coercion, he tithes, without any more instruction of why or how much it grows or not, don't ask me.
We just understand there's something in us enlightened by redemption, quickened by salvation, that as heathen religions and paganism have their deities, have their places where they give adoration and worship, it is from God himself made in man by God. So when we understand the true and living God, it ought simply to come forth inherently if you allow. For Abram sees the invisible God, the everlasting kingdom, though there is this generous, wonderful offering from Sodom. What does he say to Sodom? Thank you, but I believe I'll take the other blessing, not at all. I will not take a thread from a sandal strap from you. We have nothing in common. I will not be beholding to you at all. The men have eaten. Allow that. These other men who have been in confederacy with me against the kings and have defeated Shedal Omar, who headed that military union, let them take spoil if they please. I can't make the decision for them, but I will take nothing from you, Sodom. There is no tie, no connection whatsoever. There's a wonderful truth isn't there in, oh, no man, anything, being completely free from all obligations, for someone to put pressure, call for something you owe. I remember the story of a Christian leader far distant from here, who having made a move, received an offer, actually, from somebody connected to his ministry, to send a large crew in and accomplish what this Christian leader was doing bit by bit as he could afford it and as he could accomplish it by himself. Christian leader was gracious, I'm told, but said no, thank you,
took quite a while to accomplish all that he wanted to do it, could have been done in a matter of weeks and all at the expense of another. Time came and the person who made the offer wanted back from the leader. What he was not do, what would have compromised his testimony, when asked how did you know to refuse the offer, the smile, the scripture, oh, no man, anything? Do we never take a gift, a favor, a blessing, we want to be very sure that there are no strings attached,
Abram had no strings in Sodom, and the authentic Christian life lives in the region of Sodom. Do we ever, but we have no connection, no ties, we have another king, and we are loyal absolutely there, without compromise, without rationalization, while I could take all of that goods, the enemy has had it far too long, and I would put it to good use. I don't want a thread from a sample strap of Sodom, oh, to have that heart that Wesley had as a Church of England minister,
a heart from sin set free, without ties, without strings, oh Lord, freely, fully, to be yours alone,
do you want a heart like that, the heart of the authentic Christian life, the spray? Oh God in heaven.