#4 “Journey of Faith”
Series
"WAR STAGE!"
TEXT: Gen.
14:1-16; Eph. 6:12-13; Romans 8:31-39
INTRO: All around
us there is a battle raging, for the souls of men and
women!
We must not and cannot afford to be
complacent about fighting spiritual battles!
ILLUS: Raynald
III, a fourteenth century duke in what is now the country of Belgium led his
country but had a very serious problem ... he was greatly overweight; in fact
his nickname in Latin was "Crassus" which
means "fat!" During an argument with his younger
brother Edward, Edward revolted against him successfully to take control of the
country. Instead of killing his
brother he instead built a special room inside the castle with 2 normal size
windows and a near normal size door ... no bars or locked doors, the room was
built around his fat brother. Because of his size he could not escape
though freedom would have been easy for anyone normal size! His brother told him he could again rule
the country when he could walk out of that room! Until then Edward would lead the country
in battle! It seemed a simple
matter for Raynald III, just lose weight and he could become the military
commander of the country again! His
brother Edward however each day would send to the room the most delicious of
food items, instead of losing weight however, Raynald III actually got fatter!
His younger brother when accused of
cruelty had a ready answer: “My brother
is not a prisoner. He may leave
when he so wills!” Raynald III
stayed in that room for 10 years and wasn't released until after Edward died in
battle ... by then his health was so poor that he himself died within a year of
regaining rulership! He could not
lead anyone into battle ... he had grown too fat satisfying his own appetite
much less fight anyone else! – Source Unknown
TRANS.
SENT: We too as Christians need to
realize we are to be fit for battle, while we may not always see "war" in the
physical realm we are very much at war in the spiritual realm! We are called to spiritual warfare ...
not just to feed our material appetites!
PROP.
SENT: No matter how
outnumbered we may feel at times, we can always be victorious in spiritual
battle! As Christians we must
realize that there are proper times and proper values to fight for ... the
hearts and souls of men and women demand our fitness as soldiers of the
cross!
I. CONQUERING! Gen.
14:1-7
A. Powerful!
Gen.
14:1-4
1. Abram found himself in a land
of tensions! There were powerful
enemies everywhere in this so called "
2. While Abram is settling at
3. Abram had at best 318 trained
men for battle ... against dozens of city-states of thousands upon thousands of
soldiers who certainly knew the land better than he and his
men!
4. Abram knew that one did not
live in the desert among enemies without being engaged in battle at some point
... the law of the jungle demanded that!
ILLUS: Every
morning in Africa a gazelle wakes us knowing it must run faster than the fastest
lion or it will be killed; also every morning a lion wakes up knowing it must
run faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death! SO ... it doesn't matter if you are a
gazelle or a lion, every morning you had better be ready to run! As Christians it is not enough to simply
wake up ... WE NEED TO BE READY TO RUN! – Source Unknown
5. Sure enough, one morning
Abram hears the news that four kings had created an alliance to fight against
the five kings of the cities in his area ... including the city of
6. Abram knew the power of his
enemy:
a. The Shiners were thought to be a very muscular
people, brawny, and their king's name means in Hebrew: "POWERFUL
PEOPLE" ... but just because they were powerful doesn't mean
the SHINER's were bright!
b. The Ellasar's were the "bright ones"
... the meaning of their name, because they worshipped the sun god!
Their leader Arioch's name meant "Lion-like" ... a virtual lion in
battle!
c. The
d. The term “Goiim” simply translates "Gentile
nations" so that “king Tidal” may have been something like "KING OF
NATIONS," the name “Tidal” meaning: "Splendor" – perhaps a king of several cities
... but at any rate a fourth kingdom ruler allied with these other
three.
7. These four kings represented
power, muscle, cruel dedicated pagans to a sun god, the sun represented greater
power than the
8. Yet Abram feared only God ...
a soldier need only believe in their COMMANDER IN CHIEF! Though vastly outnumbered, Abram with 318
faithful men and God simply were not afraid of battle!
a. Let's face it, in this world
we Christians will be outnumbered, we may face great odds ... and face fierce
competition!
b. But we must be soldiers of
our COMMANDER IN CHIEF ... and we can FIGHT
VICTORIOUSLY!
B. Pressing!
Gen.
14:5-7
1. If it weren't bad enough that
these four were coming, they were winning along the way ... the only thing
before them were five other bumbling idiot kings of such wonderful(?) places as
“Sodom and
Gomorrah.” *NOTE: “BERA &
BIRSHA” Gen. 14:2 (the kings of these twin cities) are
compound names meaning "EVIL & WICKED." They lived up to their
names!
2. In between the four against
the five were Abram and his 318 trained soldiers! (And a lot of ladies and
animals!)
3. To say the least, this was a
pressing issue for Abram to face in a land that was suppose to be
his!
4. The
a. As believers we are going to
be pressed!
b. But this is when our true
flavor should come out!
ILLUS: "After
all, I do not hate God. No, you
will not make me believe that. I am
a sinner, I know, and do many wicked things. But after all, I have a good heart - I
don't hate God."
Such was the language of a
prosperous worldly man. He was
sincere, but sadly deceived. A few
months afterward, that God who had given him so many good things, crossed his
path in an unexpected manner. A
fearful torrent swept down the valley and threatened destruction to this man's
large flour mill. A crowd was
watching, in momentary expectation of seeing the mill fall, while the owner,
standing in the midst of them, was cursing God to his face and pouring out the
most horrid oaths.
He no longer doubted or denied
that he hated God. But nothing in that hour of trial came out of his mouth that
was not previously in his heart. God's account of the unrenewed heart is true:
it is "deceitful above all things," as well as "desperately wicked." He who is
wise will believe God's account of the state of his heart by nature, rather than
the deceitful heart's account of itself. -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Quotable Spurgeon, (Wheaton:
Harold Shaw Publishers, Inc, 1990)
II. CONQUEST! Gen.
14:8-12
A. Perverted! Gen.
14:8-9
1. With "Evil &
Wicked" as kings ... and a few other ungodly kings, you can imagine
what kind of soldiers they were!
2. As soldiers they would have
to face their own lusts for each other on the battlefield because of the high
concentration of homosexuality within these cities, plus the other sins of
arrogance, selfishness, etc.!
ILLUS: God
permits the wicked, but not forever. -- Sir Thomas Fuller (1608-1661) -- Edythe Draper, Draper's
Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers,
Inc., 1992). Entry
11884.
3. This group of five held few
hopes as soldiers against the mighty fearsome
foursome!
B. Panic!
Gen.
14:1O-11
1. As expected, when these five
wishy-washy perverted kings got into the battlefield they soon panicked and
began running away ... some falling into the frequent tar pits that were
everywhere in that part of the country!
2. Those that "didn't feel the pits" ran to the
hills!
ILLUS: The wicked
flee when no man pursueth - but they make better time when the righteous are
after them. -- Charles Henry Parkhurst (1842-1933) -- Edythe Draper,
Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entry
11892.
3. Their cities and citizens
were now unprotected and easy prey!
C. Powerless!
Gen. 14:12
1. Lot was powerless to do
anything to save himself, so off he went, a victim of war ... all because he
chose to become a citizen of
2. He may have been tempted to
see the prestige and power of huge cities like
ILLUS: Merv
Griffin once had on his talk show a body builder, the man came out and flexed
all those developed muscles while the audience cheered and applauded! Merv then asked him: "Why do you develop those particular
muscles?" The man without response simply stood up and flexed again to the
cheers and applause of the crowd once again! Again Merv persisted: "What do you use
those muscles for?" The man looked
bewildered by Merv's continued questioning as to what the developed muscles were
for! He didn't have an answer
except to just show off his well-developed frame! IN OTHER WORDS ... He looked quite
strong, he even was quite strong ... but didn't know what to use it for or how
to apply it practically! In other
words he was powerless in practical use of all that power! THIS IS THE WORLD AND SATAN'S DECEPTIVE
LOOKING STRENGTH! We need
Christians who can fight ... not just look powerful, we need Christians that are
powerful in the right ways! – Source Unknown
a.
b. Most of the power he hoped in
was lying in a tar pool or high in the mountains … not much good when you need a
few good men!
c.
d. Because he had stopped
fighting ... he had learned to wine and dine with the enemy hoping to gain MORE
from it ... instead he got nothing but captivity, he couldn't fight
anymore!
III. CONQUEROR! Gen. 14:13-16; Eph. 6:12-13 Rom.
8:31-39
A. Purity
Gen. 14:13-14 Eph. 6:12-13
1. There is real contrast here
to Abram's soldiers and those of the others!
2. Abram would only use the 318
men who had been born to him, none of the slaves from Egypt would be used or any
other men from other travels he retained ... only his very own, 318 in all!
He would rather have fewer but
purer men ... they were more likely to be real
fighters!
3. When you belong to God you
are the purest warriors in the universe!
4. Fortunately for
5. The point: God is our
heavenly FATHER, and He cares more than we credit Him for caring for HIS
OWN!
ILLUS: You don't
have to pester God to get his attention.
You don't have to grovel. You don't have to flail yourself. You don't have to bite your lip and
groan and moan and all of these kinds of things people do to show God they
really mean business.
If one of my kids ever called me
and said, "Daddy, please, please, please, I beg of you, I petition you, I'm
pleading with you to listen to my need."
I'd say, "Time out. I don't like the underlying assumption
here. You don't have to go through
all those gymnastics. What can I do
for you? Nothing in my life is more
important than you." What gives me
greater pleasure in life than meeting the needs of my children? What? -- Bill Hybels, "God's Attitude Toward Prayer," Preaching
Today, Tape No. 97.
6. YOU CAN'T LOSE WHEN YOU ARE
ON GOD'S SIDE OF THE FIGHT ... EVEN though we are fewer in numbers than those of
the world!
7. I wonder if we could have
been trusted to be a warrior in Abram's household!??
8. What kind of fighter are
you?
B. Plans! Gen.
14:15
1. Abram was not a fool, he
would not just rush into battle, plans were to be
made!
2. What would be the best way to
attack the enemy, especially since his own men were vastly outnumbered! A good soldier has a plan ... he doesn't
just march anywhere at anytime!
3. We too as Christians should
be wise in the use of our sharing the Gospel ... instead of just waiting and
hoping it will just happen we need to plan our attack and then execute those
plans!
4. Sometimes the simple strategy
is the best ... we don't need complicated programs to reach lost people,
sometimes the simpler the plan the better!
ILLUS: In July,
1976 Israeli commandos made a daring raid at an airport in Entebbe,
5. Abram had a similar plan ...
sneak up on the enemy at night! By
dividing his men and striking at night they were able to surprise the enemy and
in the ensuing confusion (sin is the
author of confusion!) the enemy would attack each other! It is implied in the text that Abram did
not lose a single man!
6. Just think what a small band
of Christian commandos could do if they created some simple plans to route the
enemy!!
C. Promise! Gen. 14:16 Rom.
8:31-39
1. Everyone who had been taken
captive was set free ... including his nephew Lot!
a. Everybody was given a second
chance now ... but few would use it wisely!
b. In fact
2. How easily some Christians go
back to their old sins when rescued by God!!
3. Even the goods were recovered
... when Abram did his job he did his job!
4. Abram was still outnumbered,
the cities of
5. This is where we as soldiers
miss the whole picture! Ok, God
later does completely destroy Sodom & Gomorrah ... Lot loses a great deal,
and the wicked other kings stayed wicked ... but the victory is not from the
battles, won or lost, or how many turn ... the victory is simply fighting on the
right side! YOU SEE ... WE ARE ON
THE SIDE THAT WINS IN ETERNITY, EVEN IF IT seems like there is a lot of wasted
effort now!
ILLUS: In 1636
amid the darkness of the 30 years war in Germany, a German pastor, Martin
Rinkart buried 5,000 of his parishioners in one year! He averaged 15 a day. His congregation was ravaged not only by
war & death, but also by financial disaster, with the literal cries of fear
outside his window he sat down and wrote this table grace for his children: "Now thank we all our God, With heart and
hands and voices; Who wondrous things hath done, in whom His world rejoices.
Who, from our mother's arms, Hath led us on our way, With countless gifts of
love, and still is ours today!"
Here was a man who could see victory through horrible losses ... he was a
mighty soldier ... and this table grace became a mighty song in our HYMNAL!
– Source
Unknown
6. What counts is our faithful
to fight!
CONCLUSION:
All Christians are at war!
We are not however fighting against
people; we are fighting against "powers and principalities" or “evil!” Though at times we seem to be losing we
must remember we already know the outcome of the war! We are winners! Our focus must be on the "PROMISE," not on the power of the
enemy!