Please let's turn our Bibles together to Genesis and chapter 14. Genesis and chapter 14, we'll read the first 16 verses. Now, there are quite interesting names there. Like the elder, you just have to pardon me, just in case they don't sound like the way you want them to sound. In the days of Amraphel, king of China, Eriok, king of Elasa, Kadalimo, king of Elam, and Taibo, king of Goim. These kings made war with Bera, king of Sodom, Berasha, king of Gomorrah, Shainab, king of Adma, and Shemba, king of Zeboim, and the king of Bela, that is Zohar. and all these joined forces in the valley of Sidim, that is the Salt Sea. Twelve years they had served Kadalaimo, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. In the 14th year, Kadalaimo and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Refim in the Arashtoth Kanaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Imam in Shev Karayath, and the Horanites in the hill country of Sia, as far as Elparan on the border of the wilderness. Then they came back and came to En Mishpa, that is Kaddish, and defeated the country of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who were dwelling in Hazazon Tama. Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admar, the king of Zeboan, and the king of Bela, that is Zohar, Zohar went out and they joined battle in the valley of Sidin. With Kadalaima king of Ela, Taibo king of Goem, Amraphel king of Shaina, and Nariok king of Elisa, four kings against five. Now the valley of Sidim was full of bitumen pits and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them and the rest fled to the hill country. So the enemy took all the possession of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their provisions and went their way. They also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possession, and went their way. Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living in the Oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, the brother of Eshko and Enna. These were the allies of Abram. When Abram heard that his kinsmen had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them, and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman, Lot, with all his possessions, and the women, and the people. Let's pray together, shall we? Father, we bow before you this afternoon, coming before you, confessing our sins. but also coming dressed in the righteousness of Christ with boldness to approach your throne. We ask, O God, that may the Holy Spirit help us to assimilate and understand that which you have prepared for us in this day. We particularly ask that may your word come alive in our hearing. may be proclaimed authoritatively, and may these historical accounts be a blessing to us, because all that is recorded in your word, as the scripture says, they are for our instruction. And therefore we ask that you bless each one of us, and bless the preacher as well, for Jesus' sake, amen. Two weeks ago, we had looked at chapter 13 of Genesis in our continued series, looking at a journey in obedience, lessons from Abraham's life. And in chapter 13, we looked at decisions with lasting consequences. And this was seen in the choice of lot contrasted with Abraham's choice. And the lesson was for all of us to take note that when we are making decisions, we must truly seek the Lord's face, for we do not know what the results of some of those decisions might be, and some of those consequences have a lasting impact on us. This afternoon we come to chapter 14, and here we see how to be a blessing to others. You will see soon as we make our way through that how I've phrased the title of my sermon this afternoon. But what I want us to put at the back of our minds is that in the book of Genesis, when you get to the story of Abraham, it's like the book slows down a bit. so that we can appreciate and learn from what is happening. In the first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis, we have something of a fast moving look or pass at the book. We begin by looking at creation in chapter 1 and chapter 2, tells us about the creation. Then we, before long, we are taught about how sin entered into the world, then the destruction that follows. That's God's judgment through the flood, and then the development of nations after the flood. So it's like there's this fast-moving pace, but somehow in God's wisdom, when you get to Genesis 12, the story of Abraham, it's like it slows a bit so that we appreciate what is happening in the life of this man. beginning with chapter 12, when God calls Abraham out of the land of his fathers to go to the land that God would show him. And he takes his nephew, Lot, and Abraham and his nephew are being blessed by God as they make their journey. And we see that through various circumstances, God's sovereign provision, both for Lot and of Abraham, is seen. And therefore, they find themselves overseeing the ever-expanding households, before long their possessions. their flocks and their servants begin to collide, begin to butt heads with one another. And so they decide to separate so that this collusion is avoided. Lord, as we saw the last time, instead of Him allowing Abraham, who was caught by God, to go face in the choice of where to go, Lord, chooses first and we see that his choice was costly. He chose the green pasture or the green lands of the Jordan Valley and he left Abraham in the land of Canaan. And last, two weeks ago rather, we saw how God privately goes to Abraham and tells him that All the land that he is on and he sees and God gives those boundaries will be given to his descendants. And Abraham waited for that day. Now, that separation of Abraham and Lot will not be the last Abraham head of Lot. The story before us reunites them again. It reunites despair again. But what we see in this passage, in the example of Abraham, he shows us that the people of God, the people of God are not to presume that the blessings of God will flow exclusively from Christ. to those around us. Yes, we know He is the source, the ultimate blessings, but we are His church, the body. And so as the blessings of Christ are in us and flowing through us, we must also be channels of blessings to those around us. Abraham looked forward to the cross by faith. But while he lived, he took steps to make sure that his own life was a blessing to those around him. Now, as I've said, Jesus Christ is the ultimate blessing. But we are to be the extension of him, his body on earth, the church. We must be a blessing to our world. And Abraham serves as a wonderful example for us on how to bless others. And there are just two lessons that I want us to look at this afternoon. And we will notice that if you are going to be a blessing to others, be prepared to spread mercy and grace to others. Be prepared to extend mercy and grace to others. And secondly, be prepared to step out in faith as you follow God. That's the only way we're going to be a blessing to others and to the people around us. So let's open up those 16 verses and see these two lessons. The first is that be prepared to spread mercy and grace to others. And this is what you see when you read verse 1 through to verse 12. And the first 11 verses give us a background into what is happening in this passage. And what we're seeing is that if you're going to be a blessing to others, you must be prepared to extend mercy and grace to others, even to those whose choices may bring about consequences on them. We must be prepared to extend mercy and grace to them, to spread mercy and grace to them. Now, when you read the first 11 verses, this doesn't come out very clearly immediately in the passage because of the many details that we are given. And if you're like me, I'm sure there are times when you're reading the Bible, you really ask yourself or you really wonder why God chose so many details to be given to us in the Bible. Sometimes you pause and you're asking yourself, so how is this helping me? Until you pause in the silence of heart by the guiding of the Holy Spirit, you begin to see why. Let me give you an example in the book of Acts. When you read Acts chapter 27 and 28, There are times I wonder why Dr. Luke records the account of Paul's journey and includes the storm and the shipwreck. And it's quite long, 27 and 28 of the book of Acts. And you'll be saying, well, it is a nice story, but why would God include it in there? especially when it takes up a bit of the Book of Acts, a portion of the Book of Acts. But until you see in those chapters that what God is trying to communicate to us is not so much the storm and the shipwreck, but His own power in preserving His own people even in such circumstances, then you begin to appreciate why all these details are given. Now, our portion of Scripture is also one of those where you begin, at first glance, you begin to ask yourself, so why all these details? Why am I being told about this battle that was taking place between the five kings and the four kings or four kings attacking five kings? And you see that even the details include the names of people, the countries they came from, and who they are fighting against. But again, when you are done reading, you say, okay, I'm done reading, but what is the conclusion? What is the big story? Why am I being given all these details? And especially that when you read, you find that there were battles around the time or wars around the time of Abraham. But why did God tell us about this battle? Because in the book of Genesis and in the Bible, this is the first time the word war is recorded in the Bible. But you could see that when you look at the context of that chapter, this was not the first war or battle around that time. And the reason why I'm saying this is that you could use reasonable logic and arrive at this conclusion. Kadalaimo and the others raided these five kings. So there must have been a fight. There must have been battle going on because they raided these five kings and for 12 years these kings would pay tribute to these four kings, Kadalaimo and company. But why is it that this battle is recorded here, this war is recorded in the pages of the Scriptures? And this is the reason. This battle is recorded because it affects God's people. It affects God's people who now have entered the picture. is caught up in this battle, and Abraham must rescue him. Now, so it's not just rumors or news of battle elsewhere. Now, this battle is coming closer home. Why? Because God's people are being affected, and therefore now God records it for our learning. And this is the interest of Moses. And in recording all this, he tells us that Lot is captured in the process. Verse 12 changes everything. They also took Lot, the son of Abraham's brother, who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and they went their way. And Moses wants us to catch the heartbeat of all these details. It's because the people of God are now caught up in this battle, and therefore, God in His own wisdom records it into the Scriptures. And yes, it's this same Lord who Agaon had separated with Abraham, who saw the Jordan Valley with his eyes and he founded his choice on what he saw. He is now in trouble, we are told. The invading armies have taken him and his possession and he's now destined to be a slave in a foreign land. This Lord who thought that he was going to have a profit as it were, when he moved in the Jordan Valley, his decisions have already begun to harvest the consequences. Are we not supposed to be surprised? We've seen so far from the choices of Lot and Abraham that to make decisions by sight is costly, but walking by faith is beneficial, always beneficial. Lot's choice is costing him. The Jordan valleys appeared like a heaven to him, but it's no longer the heaven he thought it would be. His burble has been burst. But for Abraham, God says, you bless those who bless him and you kiss those who kiss him. That's what we're seeing here. All these details, these are the lessons that we see. Lord did not trust in the Lord with all his heart. Lord leaned on his own understanding. And in all his ways, he did not acknowledge the Lord. And therefore, God allowed him to take his own steps and in the direction he wanted. And the Bible shows us that that was a dangerous one. And now we see, Abraham sprang into action to rescue his nephew, Lot. How did Lord find himself in such a mess? It was through his own sin and the folly of the earlier decisions that he had made. All this was avoidable for Lord. But he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. because he did not seek the face of God when he was making those decisions, those major decisions of his life. But we see instead of Abraham sitting back and blaming Lord for his actions, blaming Lord for the consequences of his decision, he moves in to help his nephew. And we see here that if you are going to be a blessings to others, you must be prepared to extend the mercy and grace of God to others, even those whose decisions bring about consequences on their lives. If you want to be an extension of God's blessings, of the blessings of Christ to this world, you have to prepare yourself to help those who get entangled in the errors of their own ways. Abraham could have simply sat back and said, well, he's paying for it. He chose the Jordan Valley. In fact, I don't even know when he moved from Jordan into Sodom. Let him pay the price. Let him be taken as a slave. Let him lose all he has so far. It is his choice. But he was ready. to spread the mercy and grace of God which he himself has been experiencing to others. And this is a lesson for us. If you're going to be a blessing to others, prepare, prepare to extend the mercy and the grace of God to others. Yes, even to those who are living miserable lives, who are messed up as a result of their own choices and decisions. It is one thing to help people hurt by the sins of others. For example, when we read on social media or we hear the news of children that have been abused by others, maybe by the hands of their uncle, by the hands of some relatives, the human nature is that we are easily moved to feel for them. We feel everything within us. There's this sympathy, there's this empathy also that we feel for such individuals, for such children. When you hear on the news about what is happening in the Eastern Congo, the M23 rebels, and now they are killing women and children. And when you see it and you say to yourself, but how can human beings behave like this? And given a choice, you'd want to move in and help the innocent and rescue them and bring them out. You want to extend the mercy of God, the grace of God, but it's another to move into a situation when you know that the person is in a mess because of their own choices. You're not easily moved when you hear that someone has gone into bankruptcy because of their habitual overspending and greed. There's just something in us that would want to say, well, he's paying for his sin. He's ripping what he had sown. But the scriptures Show us the other side as God's people who are supposed to be a blessing that even when we are coiling to move into a situation because someone is in such a mess because of their sins, we must remember the message of God that which we ourselves have received from God and be prepared to move into a situation and help that person. And therefore, being a blessing. to others. Let God use you as an instrument in his hand to extend mercy and grace on those who are in need. Even when the situation is caused by their own foolishness or folly, we must move in as God's children and see what we can do to help. And this is what we see in the case of Abraham. And as God's people, we need to guard against the sin of legalism. where we tend to think that there are some people that deserve the gospel while others do not. It's the same attitude, that there are times we tend to think there are some who deserve our mercy, our grace, when others do not. But when we think that none of us deserves the grace of God, None of us can approach God by their own efforts or work. We all need God's grace. We all need God's mercy. Therefore, we will plead that God would use us as vessels of his mercy, his grace, to flow through us to those in need of it, even if it is because of their fault. This is a Christian life. This is what God calls us. To show each other His grace and His mercy in real, tangible way or efforts. This is what the eldership work is all about. Ask any of the elders. I know the rest of them are more godly than me, but there are times that you sit and you're looking at the individual, and you're saying to yourself, if you really know what I want to tell you, you probably won't be here. Everything in me want to say to you, I told you, or the elders told you, but the person is in a mess. They need help. Even though everything within you wants you to take them back to that moment when you advise them against this decision, you plead for mercy from above, grace from above, so that you could be a channel of blessing. And even look the person in the eyes and say to them, I will pray for you. And you do so. That is what God calls us to. This is an example of Abraham here. If there's any man who would have justified his actions, it's Abraham. He would have said, remember when we parted, you chose to go. You chose first. You knew what you were doing, but here the Bible tells us he sprang into action. The moment he was taught, his nephew was captured. We need to be ready to spread and extend God's mercy to others. But secondly, if you're going to be a blessing to others, be prepared. to step out in faith as you follow God. To step out in faith as you follow God. And this is what you really see from verse 13 all the way to verse 16. Then the one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the Oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, the brother of Esau and of Enna, These were allies of Abram. When Abram heard that his king's men had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. and he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them, and pursued them to Hobar, north of Damascus. Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsmen, lot with his possession, and the women, and the people. You must be prepared to step out in faith. Abraham's response to the news of Lot's captivity was a demonstration of him being a blessing to the nation as God had said, but also a demonstration of faith. The scriptures tell us someone escaped and told Abraham about what happened. And when you see from verse 13 onwards, you see a picture of a man who will stop at nothing to help his family. He is devoted to Lord. Even though Lord was not loyal to Abraham, but Abraham was. Abraham had heard God say that he knew the families of the earth will be blessed. And as far as Abraham was concerned, as he believed this promise, he thought perhaps to himself, the blessings needed to start in his own family. And remember, he's not a young man at this point. Jesus steps out in faith. The chances of him winning were slim. The five kings couldn't stand against four. But Abraham did. He brought back everything that was captured. including his nephew and his possession. He stepped out in faith. He had trusted God all the way up to this point, and he knew that the Lord was still within. And he stepped out in faith. And we see here, that Abraham was victorious even though his forces were small in number. And the mentioning of 318 of the trained men is not so much to impress us with Abraham's military skills, it's to help us to see that the battle is the Lord's. As Proverbs 21 verse 31 tells us, the horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord. And as Abraham was living in obedience to God, within the promises of God, God himself will bring about the victory. And you recall later on when you read in Leviticus and chapter 26, verse 7 and 8, when now God is saying to the nation of Israel, you shall chase your enemies and they shall fall before you by the sword. Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand. and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. The condition was if Israel continued to obey God, these would be the results. And the story of Abraham in his early life would encourage the Israelites as they hear it being read to them, How that God would encourage them that with the Lord's obedience on your side, you will conquer your enemies. And it's not because of the military strategy of the nation of Israel. No, it's because the Lord is on their side. And it is the Lord who will fight for them. It is the Lord who conquered the enemies of Israel. The condition was total obedience to Him. We have a different fight as Christians. Our fight is spiritual, more spiritual in nature. But we too are encouraged. that if you are walking in the light, the power of God resides upon us. He will strengthen us for the spiritual fight he calls us to. He is in us, fighting for us, and the victory will be ours. We must step out in faith. But also see that Abram was victorious while in the land of promise. While in the land of promise. He's presented as a man running up and down, crushing the enemies and recovering all that has been lost within the boundaries of God's promises. And we see in chapter 13, he refers to as the one who had escaped came and told Abraham the Hebrew. The first time you find that word Hebrew, basically it means one who crossed over. And so that's how Abraham was called. He crossed over from another place to where he was staying. And God had promised him Remember Eleon, he told him from the north, the south, the east, west, it will be all yours. So within those boundaries, God will fulfill his promises. And we see Abraham pursuing the enemies within those, the land of promise, the one that God says to your descendants, I will give you the land. And this was going to be an encouragement for the nation of Israel, being taken as slaves in Egypt, that as long as they remember God's promises given to their forefather Abraham, and they lived in obedience, they too will conquer their land within the boundaries of promise. God, has given us the promise. While we fight battles in this world, the battles of the bodies, the battles of the mind, the battles of relationships and responsibilities, we will be victorious in obedience to Christ. Remember the Great Commission, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. go and make disciples of all nations. The reason why the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is able to conquer and win souls for Christ is because He was all the authority in heaven and on earth. He's fighting with us. He's on our side. And as we live in obedience and going out to meet disciples, we will be successful. Not because we have strategies. Because we take Him by His word and we respond in obedience to Him. And He responds to us. We must not live in fear. Too often, believers succumb to the spirit of the age and we easily become victimologists, as I call. We become victims and we become victimologists where we blame everyone and everything. for our feelings of helplessness, of despair, of inactiveness. We put the blame on everyone else. We easily give up on God. We stop fighting for what God himself has assured us in his word to give us. We face challenges at work instead of us praying and fighting before God as we live in obedience to Him, we easily give up. We easily give up on our marriages. We easily give up on our friendship and families. We easily give up on our fight of holiness. We easily give up on renewing our minds after God's own will. We easily give up and yet God in His Word, He has assured us that those battles as we fight them with faith in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. We will be victorious. Why? He's given us the promises. We have the scriptures. We can take God by His word and claim the promises that are ours and fight with Christ right in front of us. Don't easily give up. Another thing we see. that Abram's act of faith led him to be victorious. Verse 16, then he brought back all the possessions and also brought back his kinsman, Lord, with his possession and the women and the people. Everything that had been lost was now recovered. Everything was now recovered. Sin brought about loss in Lot's life. A loss in the relationship with his uncle Abraham. lost in the opportunities of being sought and light in Jordan and in Sodom itself. But Abraham's act of faith shows us those things being brought back, being restored. And if we are going to be a blessing, to others. Be prepared to step out in faith. When God prompts you to act, be prepared to step out in faith. And when you fight in faith to help others, you will soon find yourself helping people recover their loss. as you point them to Jesus, the Restorer, who restores all things. Even those individuals you move in to help, point them to Christ. He can restore their lost opportunities. He will grant them forgiveness. He will remove the stain of sin and shame. Jesus restores these things. And when we move in to help people, we must step out in faith. And as we step out in faith, let them see the Savior who died for their sins. Let them know that He can restore those lost opportunities. You know, sin causes us to lose opportunities of outreach, opportunities of serving God, because sin was robbing us of those opportunities. But when Christ restores them, He restores those opportunities for us to be sought and light. And you who want to be a blessing to others, step out in faith. Let them know there is a Saviour. And this Saviour can restore them, can remove the shame, and can bring them back into the fold and to cause them to once again save Him. follow him and rejoice in the Lord. When you read Joel chapter 2 and verse 25 in the book of Joel, we have the example of God reviving the people in the book of Joel. The people of Israel had fallen under the judgment of God and God who punished them, promises that you'll restore them. In verse 25, he said, I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter. And God says, by great army, which I sent among you. God says, I who sent them, I will restore them. If you return, to me. Dear friends, though sometimes we will fall under the consequences of our actions, our God is the Restorer. He's calling you to return to Him. Turn away from the sin that is keeping you away from Him. Turn away from the consequences of your decisions made earlier on. He's given you life. He still wants you to save him. He still wants you to be a blessing to others. Turn away from sin. God is also looking for people of faith like Abraham to aid in the recovery process, a recovery process in the lives of others. God used Abraham to extend his mercy and grace to God. Abraham stepped out in faith. We are a body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some will make terrible decisions that will have lasting impact upon their lives. We must be ready to be a blessing to them as we extend the mercy of God to them and as we step out in faith following God's command to restore a brother or a sister who falls into sin. Abraham shows us in this passage that the people of God do not imagine that the blessings of God to flow exclusively from Christ, but also from their own lives. As Christ is blessing them abundantly, they are to be a blessing to the world. As we look by faith to the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, we must ensure or take steps to be a blessing to the world. So that as they look at us, they might see the Savior as he shines in us and let his power control us every day. Jesus is the ultimate blessing, but we are to be the extension of him, his body on earth, blessing the world. And the only way we're going to do that is not by making decisions that have lasting consequences. It's not to be wallowing in sin or living like the rest of the world, but it's to resolve to no longer to linger, nor to be charmed by the world's delight, but that your motto will be things that are higher, things that are nobler. These are the things that you feel your mind and your sight. And every day as you serve the Lord, you will say, I will hasten to Him, hasten so glad and free. Jesus, greatest and highest, I will come to Thee. I am resolved no longer to linger. Friends may oppose me, foes may beset me, but still I will enter in. and I am resolved, and who will go with me. Come, friends. Heed what he says. Do what he wills. We will walk the heaven way. That's how we'll be a blessing to others, to our own Christian brothers and sisters, and to the world around us. By Christ continuing to shine in us, and live in obedience to Him. Amen.