Apply Within

Bob Davis: God will always keep his promise with you and with me. I know we're afraid he's not going to come through, but he always comes through. Our problem is we want him to do it this way and hurry now, and he's going to do it that way and it may take a little longer than you had hoped. And there we whine, "Where was God? Where is it?" Stop it. God keeps his promise. He is never late, and to be honest with you, I've never seen him early either.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Apply Within, a verse-by-verse study of the word of God with Pastor Bob Davis of North Country Chapel. We invite you to join with us as we, by the power of God's Holy Spirit, apply His word within our own hearts as we study line upon line, precept upon precept, verse by verse through the Bible.

Continuing in Genesis chapter 14 verse 17, we see Abram meet Melchizedek and choose a devotion to God over the riches of the world. Here's Pastor Bob.

Bob Davis: As soon as Abram learns that Lot and his family have been captured by the enemy, he sets out to save, not just Lot. He's not going to sneak in and leave everybody else there to suffer and be taken over into Persia. No, he's going to try and deliver everybody.

That's what we would do, isn't it? If you know they're over there and they're being persecuted, how many times has our military gone in and saved so many lives which had nothing to do with us and you're going to get no money from it and you're probably going to get a hassle? But that's what you do. And that's what he's going to do. He sets out to save Lot and his family.

The war that he fights right now is not about territory. He doesn't want to get them so he can have all their territory in Persia. God pulled him out of there and away from there, he doesn't want to go back. So this war is not about territory. This war is not about possessions. This war is not about politics of any kind, or philosophies, or money. It's when lives are in danger, he knew he had to do something. Even his family was a part of it, and he knew he had to do something.

Psalm 82 verses 3 and 4, this is what God says to you and to me, not just Israel, but to every one of us who calls upon the name of the Lord. Defend the poor and the fatherless. Do justice to the afflicted and the needy. Deliver the poor and the needy. Free them from the hand of the wicked. That's the call of a follower of God.

Proverbs 31 verses 8 and 9, open thy mouth for the dumb, meaning those who are unable to speak for themselves, like the unborn maybe, who have no voice at all. They're unable. They do scream in the womb and they have some recordings of it. While they're killing the babies, babies will scream and try to cry, make noise. But listen, open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. You speak up for the ones who can't speak or help themselves. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and the needy. What's Abram doing? Just that.

He wasn't part of the city, the five cities of the plains. He wasn't a part of it. Yet he's got family in it. And they just took people, no matter what you think of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities. Those are people who have been taken captive. They're going to be beaten, they're going to be mistreated, some will starve, etc. And Abram says, "No, we're not going to let that happen. We're going."

And Abram was living in the area of Hebron, we already read that. And he made a covenant with some of the locals, basically Mamre the Amorite and his two brothers, Eshcol and Aner. So you've got some in there to keep an eye on some things. And he goes, Abram and his servant army, they chased after those kings from the east, heading toward Dan. That's just going straight on up north. They're after them. They caught up with them and at night, they divided themselves up and they attacked.

God gave them the victory because you've got 318 against thousands of soldiers. Five different kings. God gave them the victory over those five kings. They chase them all the way to Damascus, now they're up in the area that we call today Syria, and the enemy is defeated. How did he do that? I'll tell you how: by grace through faith in God alone. By grace through faith trusting in God alone.

Abram brings all the spoils, and "all" in Hebrew here means all. All the spoils and all the people, not just Lot and his small family. All the people back to their homes. And of course that does include Lot and his family. And it was a miracle.

Do you remember God's promise? When we got to it in chapter 12, I said, "Mark it down, underline it, remember this." I'll read it again. Genesis 12:3, God said to Abram, "I will bless those that bless you, and I will curse those that curse you. And in you shall all families of the earth be blessed." God is keeping his promise. And Abram was given a victory. He did what was right. He did what needed to be done and God kept his promise.

God will always keep his promise with you and with me. I know we're afraid he's not going to come through, but he always comes through. Our problem is we want him to do it this way and hurry now, and he's going to do it that way and it may take a little longer than you had hoped. And there we whine, "Where was God? Where is it?" Stop it. God keeps his promise. He is never late, and to be honest with you, I've never seen him early either. It's just right when it's got to be. He always keeps his word. You can count on that.

Now, understand something. I believe in a rapture, but get this. If we're not raptured soon, some of us are going to physically die. And there's no way to physically die healthy. You could get hit by a runaway garbage truck, but you're still not healthy at that point. You get the point. He's not promising us some kind of rose garden. Trials and tribulations and life come at you at the speed of life. That doesn't mean he's not keeping his word. It doesn't mean he's not keeping his promise. It doesn't mean that he doesn't love you. He does.

But God uses troubles and trials to grow us up. God is never late, he will do it. But what's our responsibility? Trust and obey. Trust and obey. Walk on with Jesus. Just walk by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Well, now he's brought everything back. So look at verse 17. The king of Sodom went out to meet Abram after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and of the kings that were with him at the valley of Shaveh, which is in the King's Dale. And Melchizedek, not only did the king of Sodom come out, but Melchizedek the king of Salem, Salem means peace. Melchizedek the king of Salem, he came out too and he brought forth bread and wine. Does that immediately make you think of somebody? Who is it? Jesus, right? Bread and wine. What a coincidence.

Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine and he was the priest of the most high God. Okay, whoa. A miraculous victory. Now the king of Sodom is coming out to thank Abram for what he did. Nobody, he didn't have to do that. He doesn't even know Abram. Abram went and saved the people of Sodom, all of them got set free, the people of Gomorrah and those other three cities, and Lot and his family.

And Beanhead Lot, I don't want to ruin it for you, but Beanhead goes straight back living into Sodom instead of getting a clue and getting out of there. He goes straight back and he's in a position of leadership the next time we see him. Probably because his uncle saved the troops and so they made him one of the judges of the city.

The king of Sodom himself came out to meet and to thank Abram for bringing the captives back and the loot, the spoils, the stuff. Also, another king. Really, the priest of the most high God, Melchizedek. Melchizedek means King of Righteousness. He's also called the king of Salem. Salem means peace. So he's called the King of Righteousness and the King of Peace.

Salem is a short version, they're going to change that. The city remains the same, the walled city, but they change it from Salem to Jerusalem. Salem means peace. So he's the King of Righteousness and he's the King of Peace. And he brings out bread and wine to Abram. Been on a long trip and he brings out enough, of course not just for one man, but for all of his soldiers, right? They need something to eat, something to drink. And that king brings it out, bread and wine.

Immediately, immediately that's to strengthen them. They've been in a battle. Immediately we think about the night that Jesus was betrayed. Those two elements: he took the bread, he broke the bread, this is my body. The wine, this is my blood, the cup of the new covenant. We think of that right away, a reminder of our Lord's death on the cross for all sin.

And so the fight is on. Some say it's a theophany, that means an appearance of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. Well, in chapter 18 there is a theophany. I don't know if this is. I can't say it is and I can't say it's not. So some say that's Jesus Christ and some say it's not Jesus, it is a type of Jesus. Both we could all both be right. But either way, we think of Jesus instantly when he brings out the bread and the wine. We do. Abram wouldn't have, but we certainly do.

Pastor Macdonald says this: Most priests inherit their office and serve for a limited tenure. But the priesthood of Melchizedek was unique in that, as far as the record is concerned, it wasn't passed on to him from his parents and it did not have a beginning or an end. He is a type of Jesus Christ. He will be a priest, the high priest of God, forever and ever, no beginning, no end.

Psalm 110:4 is where, if you're wondering, in Hebrews chapter 7, he's talking about Psalm 110 verse 4. Listen: The Lord has sworn and will not repent, that you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. That's Psalm 110 verse 4. Jesus Christ's priesthood is according to the order of Melchizedek, no beginning, no end. Melchizedek is a type of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now, verse 19, better hurry. Melchizedek blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth," in other words God is. And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand. And he gave him, Abram gave tithes of all that he brought back. He gave tithes to Melchizedek.

And the king of Sodom, or do I want us to notice—let's go. And the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people and you can keep all the spoils. I'm so grateful for what you've done. Just let the people come back to town, let them come back to their homes," etc. And you can keep all the spoils, all everything, whatever you got. Money, whatever it is.

And Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have lift up my hand to the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth. In other words, I've taken an oath." He raised his hand to God. "That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelace, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, 'I made Abram rich.' I won't take a thing. Thank you for the offer. I don't want anything except only that which the young men have eaten." In other words, after the battle they had quite a ways to come back down, so they ate some of the victuals on the way. "Save only what the young men have eaten and the portion the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol and Mamre, let them take their portion."

Is there ever a legitimate war? Is there ever a war that needs to be fought? We just read about one here in chapter 14. That's the right thing to do and it's a war and people will die in war and it's the right thing to do and Abram did it. And God gave him the victory as God promised that he would.

Okay, that's just all amazing to me. And then you put it all together. Melchizedek comes out and he blesses Abram. I want you to know in Scripture, always, never any other way, always the greater blesses the lesser. The greater gives the blessing to the lesser.

Abram recognizes him as being above Abram. And he's very thankful for the blessing and acknowledged Melchizedek is greater than he is by giving a tithe. The word means a tenth. So in other words he gave Melchizedek of all the spoils he brought back, he gave to Melchizedek 10% of all that. Why? Because not only does the greater always bless the lesser, Melchizedek blessed Abram, but the lesser pays tithes to the greater. Offers tithes to the greater. Always. It's not the other way around.

Abram gladly received the blessing from Melchizedek, didn't he? Thank you. He was given bread and wine. Thank you, that's thank you. And Abram took that food because he was blessed by the high priest and he gave 10%. Why? It's just a number he chose off the top of his head. He gave from his heart a tithe. The word tithe means tenth. He gave 10%.

Notice he gladly received the blessing from Melchizedek, the high priest of God, but he rejected completely the gift of the king of Sodom. That's interesting, don't you think? I mean, let's be honest. He said this politely: "No thank you. I wouldn't even accept a shoe string from one of the sandals. Thank you, though." Why?

Think about it. He had risked his own life, he had risked the lives of his servants. Why not take the spoils? Christians ask that all the time. Well, that guy cheated in this and that and I'm going to sue him and I'll take his undies. I'll take whatever I can get just to teach him a lesson. Abraham wouldn't touch one shoe string off of a sandal. Why?

Well, I'll read it to you. It's in the New Testament and it's for you and me and it's Matthew chapter 6. And I know you know it, but it's Matthew 6 and I'm going to read verses 31 through 33. Here's my heart, your heart, the heart of a true believer: Abram. Therefore take no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed, how will we be clothed. For all these things the heathen look after or look for, the Gentiles seek after. For your heavenly Father knoweth that you need all of these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.

Don't worry about what you're going to eat or what you're going to wear or what you're going to drink. Don't worry. Your Father knows you need it. Trust him. Walk with him. He will take care of you. You may go a few days without eating, but so what? You're going to be fine.

Faith looks beyond the riches of the world to the grander prospects that God has in store, right? We're heavenly minded. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things are added to you. You don't worry about these things. God will take care of every bit of that. He promised.

He sent his disciples out and he said, "Go on, I'll take care of you." Go and preach the gospel where? All over. The Apostle Paul got taken care of. I mean, look, he had free room and board for two years in Caesarea. Okay, it was prison, but he still got fed. And see, you notice how God says, "I'll take care of you," and sometimes you're thinking, "Okay, thank you, but I don't want to be there for that." Now, it's good.

He was on a shipwreck, you know, he was on a ship and it went down. He said he went down three times. After a ship went down once, would you get back on any other ship? When a plane goes down, if you live, you might say, "I'm walking or I'll take a boat, I'm not getting back," right? Not Paul. A ship? I'll go. It went down. Okay, well, take another ship. Okay, it went down. The third time I'd be going, "I don't know if I want to be on a ship. Can we walk?"

Faith looks beyond the riches of this world to the grander prospects that God has in store. We're heavenly minded. Abram doesn't care about the stuff. It was the people that this war was fought about, not things.

Just as Melchizedek is a type of our Lord Jesus Christ, the king of Sodom is a type of the devil. See it? Just as Satan often tempts the believer after a great spiritual victory with worldly things, he tempts us. The king tempts Abram with worldly gifts. "Thank you, just let the people go to their homes, you can have all the stuff." And Abram's thinking, "No, no thank you. I don't need it. And then I'm going to be, I don't want to be beholden to you for even one shoe string. You keep it all, it's yours. I owe you nothing, you owe me nothing. We're happy. I did it and I'm glad that the Lord, I'm glad all your people are free. But I don't want anything from you."

You know, when someone pats you on the back, they're expecting you to cough something up. Watch, stay away from flattering lips, the Bible says. Watch out when someone tells you how good you are and how smart you are, you know you're not. Satan will trick you and you'll pretty soon you'll say, "God's blessed me, God's blessed me," and you've got all this stuff that belongs to the world. And that can be dangerous. The king tempts Abram with worldly gifts.

And so let's close with this. I wrote this down and it may be worded weird, but these are my words, I can't help that. Many things in this world are legal as far as the courts are concerned, but morally wrong as far as God's people are concerned. There's some thing we're just going, that's not, I'm not going to do that. I don't want to be a part of that. I'm not judging you, I'm not condemning you. You live your life because we're all going to stand before the Lord, but as for me and my house, what did Joshua say? We will serve the Lord.

If they say it's legal to abort, I would still suggest that somebody pray about an alternative, what else you can do with this little baby so they can have life etc., right? Because we're Christians and it doesn't matter what the law says we can do, it matters what the heart of our Father in heaven is about.

There was a guy, and I told you this, there in Southern Arizona who came up with a scheme to not having to pay employees' taxes, payroll, certain taxes. And he found a loophole in the law and he said, "Come on man, it's going to save, you've got a little church and it's kind of small and you don't have that kind of money. I can save you thousands of dollars a year." And I said, "I don't know, it just sounds wrong. It sounds like we're trying to out-dumb the devil. I don't think you can beat him at his own game. I'm not smart enough."

So I stayed out of it. And about two years later, three years later, that man had to leave town and some of the churches got fined by the IRS tens of thousands of dollars and got audited because they were cheating. You're trying to beat the devil at his own game. Always do it God's way. We're sinners saved by grace, we mess up. But don't, when someone tells you about a deal that's too good to be true, hear this: it's too good to be true. That's why they call it that. Pray about it, don't get suckered into that.

Guest (Male): Thank you for listening to Apply Within with Pastor Bob Davis. Apply Within is the radio outreach ministry of North Country Chapel. Our Sunday morning Bible studies are 9:00 and 11:00 AM. We also have a Friday evening Bible study at 7:00 PM and a Monday evening Bible study at 7:00 PM.

You can download today's message in its entirety at northcountrychapel.com/studies. That's northcountrychapel.com/studies. If you would like a copy of today's message, write to us and ask for the message with today's date. The address is Apply Within, 2281 West Seltice, Post Falls, Idaho 83854. Or call us at 1-800-572-8851. That number again: 1-800-572-8851.

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