Note: I am especially indebted to Man of Faith, a commentary by the late Dr. Ray Stedman, for a portion of the flow of this sermon.

       As Jesus led His disciples to the Garden of Gesthamane He told them, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”  They didn’t listen.  They thought they could do it in their own strength, “We’ll die with you” they said.  They meant it too.  But, they forgot to consult their legs.

       Discipline is what enables us to do what we intend to do even when it goes against our instincts.  One of Napoleon’s generals, Marshall Ney, was called “The bravest of the brave.”  But before one battle his knees were shaking so hard that he had trouble mounting his horse.  When he was in the saddle he said, “Shake away knees. You would shake worse than that if you knew where I intend to take you.” That’s discipline.

       Abraham’s walk is a reflection of our walk in Jesus Christ.  In Abraham, we see the things that God wants to produce in us.  We see the fruits of God’s discipline.  In the story of Abram, we have already seen God’s call and God’s faithfulness.  Now, this morning, we also learn about God’s power and promise.

       Genesis 15:1 that we looked at last Sunday says: “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Fear not Abram: I am your shield, and your exceedingly great reward.’”  In these words God teaches Abraham that he has the power to do what He has promised.

       In order to understand what God says to Abraham, we need to look at the preceding chapter, for the verse is directly related to what has just happened.  It was “after these things” that the word of the Lord came unto Abraham. 

        What things?  What is in the 14^th chapter?

        It starts with a battle.  It starts with an invasion by the Iraqis some 4,000 years before the modern nation of Iraq got its name.  The villain is an early Saddam Hussein, -- a man named Chedorlaomer of Elam.  He heads a coalition of Mesopotamian states.  The victims of this early aggression are five kings who live near the Dead Sea.

       These kings pay tribute for twelve years.  In the thirteenth year they refuse.  This brings the invasion in the fourteenth year.  The punishment is swift and the whole thing would soon have been forgotten, like a host of other ancient battles, except for the fact that it makes the Bible.  It makes the Bible because Abram’s nephew Lot is taken captive at Sodom.  Remember that some time before, Abraham and Lot had separated, and Lot has gone to live in Sodom.

       Abram, over in Hebron, must have known of the movement of powerful troops in the area.  But he would not have known of Lot’s capture except for a message brought by a refugee.  We also would know nothing of Abram’s leadership and skill in fighting if it were not for this incident.

       Up until this point, you would be excused for thinking of Abraham traveling around Canaan with just a handful of people – Sarah, a few servants.  But suddenly we learn that Abraham was a tribal chief who is able to field a force of 318 trained fighters.  Afterwards, God, through his Priest Melchizedek, declares that Abram has done the right thing and that He, God, has given Abram the victory.

       Abram chases Chedorlaomer and his prisoners all the way to Dan in the far north of Israel.  In a brilliant night attack, he defeats the invaders and chases them another 80 miles.  He recaptures all the prisoners and recovers all of the stolen treasure from five plundered cities.

        This victory is the reason for God’s promise in Genesis 15:1.  Abraham is now in great danger.  Powerful kings suddenly have Abraham on their hit list.  They had spared Abraham because he was seen as insignificant.  Now this nobody has attacked them.  He has attacked with a small force, but he has won and recovered the spoil.  They must have been furious.  And Abraham must have wondered about the consequences of his heroic rescue of his nephew.  But while he is wondering, God comes to him with a promise of protection, exactly the promise he needs.  “Fear not, Abram: I am your shield, and your exceedingly great reward.”

       A foundation of God’s promise is Abram’s trust.  That trust is shown by his behavior after his victory.

       Abram is on his way back to Sodom with all the treasure and the freed captives.  It is a time of victory, and therefore a time of particular danger.  In our spiritual walk, the enemy loves to attack us when we are relaxed and off-guard.  This is often after some spiritual victory or time of great usefulness for God’s work.  He takes advantage of our relaxed defenses.

       Abram is hit with a subtle temptation on his way back to Sodom.   The king of Sodom meets Abram on his way back from the battlefield.  He meets him in a valley called the king’s valley near the small city of Salem.  In later Israelite history, Salem is transformed into Jerusalem, the capital of all Israel.  From 2 Samuel 18:8, we know that this Kings’ valley is the same as the Kidron valley that separates Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.  It was this same small valley that Jesus crossed with His disciples to Gethsemane where He was betrayed and arrested.

       At this same strategic and historic spot, the King of Sodom meets Abram.  Skipping down to verses 21-23, we read:  “and the king of Sodom said to Abram, ‘give me the captives, but take the goods for yourself.’  But Abram said to the King of Sodom, ‘I have sworn to the Lord God most high, maker of heaven and earth that I would not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, lest you should say, “I have made Abram rich.”

       Now on the surface, the King’s offer seems a perfectly justifiable reward.  Abram did not go to war for the King of Sodom.  He fought for the sake of Lot and his family.  Nevertheless, Abram’s victory greatly benefited the city.  That is why the king is here to meet him.  A special welcoming committee is appointed, headed by the king himself, to give Abram the usual reward for a conquering hero before the days of ticker tape.

       It appears so right and proper!  Abram could well have said, “This is certainly what I deserve.  It is the custom to do this.  Everyone does it!  There are no strings attached.  I can take the wealth of Sodom and go my way back to my tent and altar,  I never have to   go near Sodom again.  I know Sodom’s a nasty place.  I know I shouldn’t get linked up with them.  But that doesn’t mean I can’t make a profit here.”  I think that most of us, standing in Abram’s shoes, would have thought pretty much like this.

       But it was exactly in the apparent freedom of the gift that the danger lies.  To a man like Abram, it is impossible to accept this kind of wealth without some kind of bond with the giver.  From that day on the King of Sodom could say, “Abram is my ally.  If I ever need help, I know where I can get it.  My man is up there on the hillside.”  The offer of wealth is threat to the independence of the man who takes orders from no one but God.  If Abram yields, he will never be wholly God’s man again.

       So note the solemnity of what Abram says.  This is tremendously important to Abram.  It is not some mere passing whim.  He says, “I have sworn to the Lord my God.”  This touches the deepest thing in his life.  He takes a solemn vow that he will not touch anything of Sodom’s.  And how perfectly honest he is: ‘I want you to know why I have done this.  I can serve only one king at a time, and I want you to understand that I am not concerned for my own enrichment, least of all through you.  If it doesn’t come to me through my God, to whom I have committed my life, then I don’t want it.”

       The one thing Abram does permit is for his allies Aner, Eshcol and Mamre take their share.  Abram knows that these young men have not yet come to the stage of godly living and maturity that Abram has achieved.  They are not ready to enter into the same depth of understanding that Abram has.  So Abram is content to let God deal with them directly in these borderline areas.  He is not going to force others to walk in the light of his conscience.

       Somehow, Abram has learned the truth later stated in Romans 14, that we are not to judge our brothers and sisters in certain matters: “Let everyone be fully convinced in his own mind Paul writes, “Abram knows that he is not responsible for the spiritual state of Aner, Eshcol and Mamre.  But he is responsible for his own growth in obedience, just as we are responsible for our growth in obedience.

       Now let me ask you if you were in Abram’s shoes that day, knowing your own heart, would you have offended the king by rejecting his grateful offer?  (That’s how I would have phrased it to myself.).  I am sure my own devious heart would have viewed it as an added bonus from God, a result of my great faithfulness to Him.  I would have accepted Sodom’s gift.  But Abram did not!  How could he pass this test so easily?  The answer, I believe, lies in a strange interlude with Melchizedek which we have passed over until now in verses 18-20:

       “And Melchizedek King of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was Priest of God most high.  And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God most High, maker of Heaven and Earth; and blessed be God most high, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”  And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.”

       You see, before the King of Sodom met Abram with his offer, Abram has already met with another king, the mysterious Melchizedek.  This king steps suddenly out of the shadows, ministers to Abram, and just as suddenly disappears from the pages of scripture.  We never hear another word about him until a thousand years go by.  Then another thousand years roll by, and in the book of Hebrews we have another extended reference to this strange individual.  In fact, we are told in Hebrews 7: 4-7 that Melchizedek was greater than Abraham.

       Now it is hardly necessary to stress the greatness of Abraham.  His faith is commended in key New Testament passages such as Romans 4, Galatians 3, and Hebrews 11.  His life is treated at length in Genesis.  This is not true of Melchizedek.  He is mentioned only briefly.  But a thousand years later he is mentioned again in a very impressive way, in Psalm 110:4: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind:  ‘you are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”  David’s Psalm links Melchizedek to the Lord’s Messiah, who will rule in Zion.  Again, after another thousand years role by, Melchizedek is discussed at length in Hebrews 5-7, where we find the challenge: “Just think how great he was.”

       Who is Melchizedek?  All we are definitely told is that he is the King of Salem and that he is the priest of the most high God.  His name means “King of righteousness.” 

       Melchizedek is evidently a gentile king.  The original knowledge of God passed along from by Adam to his descendants, has evidently come down to Melchizedek unchanged.  He is a worshiper of the true God, and a priest of the true God.

       That’s interesting, because up to now there has been not even the slightest indication in Genesis that anyone in the world other than Abram worships the true God.  Suddenly, Melchizedek steps forward.  He’s a God worshipper too.  More than that, he’s a priest.

       This is the first place in the Bible where anyone is declared to be a priest.  How does Abram know that Melchizedek is the priest of the true God?  And if Melchizedek was as great as the New Testament says he was a greatness which even Abram recognizes by giving him the tithe that belongs to God,   why wasn’t he chosen instead of Abraham to he father of the new nation through which the Messiah would come?

       We don’t know.  All we know is that Melchizedek is the priest of God.  Abram recognizes this and gives him the 10% tithe that belongs to God.  And God uses Melchizedek to prepare Abram for the visit of the King of Sodom.

       The King of Sodom is coming to meet him, but Abram knows nothing of his approach or of the offer he plans to make.  And if he had he known it, he may have seen nothing wrong with it.  Abram is not different from you and me.  So God sends Melchizedek to meet Abraham and straighten out his head.

       Melchizedek’s first ministry to Abram is to remind him of the character of the God he serves.  He says, “Abram, your God is the possessor of heaven and earth.  He made it all.  He owns it.  He holds all its wealth in His hands.  There is nothing that He cannot give you.  This is the God to whom you belong.”

       I believe that Abram would never have passed the subtle trap of the King of Sodom if Melchizedek had not met him first.  In the intimacy of that fellowship, Abram sees what he otherwise may not have seen -- that the values on which the world sets great store are only toys compared to the glory of fellowship with the living God.  So when the King of Sodom comes, Abram is able to say, “Take your toys and run back to Sodom.  I don’t want them.  I want no man to say that he has made Abram rich.  If anyone makes Abram rich, it will be God.”  What a victory!  And after that God says, “I am your great reward.”

       During the closing days of World War II, Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was in Flossenburg prison where he had been condemned to die by the personal order of Adolf Hitler.  Bonhoeffer wrote from prison of how he walked along the narrow corridors visiting the cells, speaking to the prisoners and encouraging them, laughing and joking with them.  His words were his only means of ministry.  Still his words were deeds.  He wrote:  “God has put His word into our mouths in order that it may be communicated to others.  The Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s word to him.  He needs that friend again and again and again.”

       We need our friends. We need our Melchizedeks.  We need to be Melchizedeks to each other.  God wants to use us in this way in each other’s lives. 

       Who is your Melchizedek?  Who encourages you?  Whom do you trust to tell you God’s truth, even when it hurts?  And who do you Melchizedek?  Whom do you encourage and build up in their walk in Jesus Christ?  Who do you, hold accountable in a loving way?  Who holds you accountable?  Who is your friend who can help you recognize and resist temptation?  If you try to go it alone, you will be chewed up and spit out.

       We all meet our Kings of Sodom.  And this means that we all need our Melchizedeks.  And we need to be Melchizedeks to each other.  If Janet or I can help bring you together with other people for this kind of mutual support, please let us know.  We are here to help.  We’re here because God wants us in your lives and you in our lives.