Genesis chapter 14. The title of our message this morning is Rescue the Perishing. There is a hymn after those words in our hymn book Rescue the Perishing. Let's just unite our hearts together as we come to the preaching of God's word that we might seek the Lord's help. Father in heaven we thank thee for thy presence. Thank the Lord for thy speaking voice. Thank the Lord our God who does speak. Lord, we bless Thee for the reading of Thy Word. We bless Thee, Lord, for the tithes and offerings that have been gathered in. And O God, we praise Thee, Lord, that Thou dost enable us, Lord, to finance Thy work when we do Thy will. We pray, Lord, that we might be good stewards of the monies gathered in. We ask, Lord, you bless us now as we turn to thy truth. Lord, in a chapter where we've read many difficult names and places, yet, Lord, we are conscious it is thy word. Lord, there's lessons here that we need to learn. We ask, Lord, that thou would close us in with thyself, shut out every distraction. We ask, Lord, that thou might fill us with the Spirit of God and with power that we might preach as thus. And thus saith the Lord. And there might be a word to every heart. Lord, we would pray over the words of who have just been singing. Revive, restore. For this we plead. O God, do that, Lord, save, regenerate, even in our church this morning. Hear our cry, abide with us, give me words that must and shall prevail. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. We left Abram at the close of chapter 13 in the plains of Mamre. That was near Hebron. And we left him at the altar worshipping the Lord God. Where we left Lot, of course, is somewhat different, because his decision was to cause him to pitch his tent towards Sodom. And to all intents and purposes, he is one who's prospering down in the valley, in the cities of the plain. But you see, the verses before us bring before us a discovery that we make about Lot. For the record in verse 12 of this chapter is that he's now dwelling in Sodom. This is the man who no doubt said to himself, and maybe even said to his wife and to his family, I could never live in that place. I could never dwell in Sodom. I'm just going toward this place in order to use it for the purpose of my business. You see men and women of the devil, Once he has got a believer off the right path, once the devil has encouraged you away from fellowship with God's people, he's not going to stop until there is another spiritual shipwreck in your life. And the means whereby Lot was to end up dwelling in Sodom was because of the threat of warfare that was to break out in the region. Prior to this time, if I can give you the background, Sodom and the cities thereof in the plain were under the control of a foreign power by the name of Kidlamar. And that was so for a period of twelve years. We learn that from the opening words of this chapter. His base was in the territory of Babylon. And even before Abram had entered Canaan, this dreaded king had swept across the southern part of the land, taking all in his path and causing those cities to pay tribute or to pay a taxation to him as the monarch. However, in more recent times, we're told in the thirteenth year, there had been a rebellion by these cities. They had had enough of paying the taxes to Kittilammar, and so much so that Kittilammar, joined by other kings, he could not sit back and do nothing, but he came in order to chastise the rebellion, to put an end to it. And Lot begins to realize that he's no safety outside the city. He's no safety with his tent towards Sodom. And so what does he do? He flees and he gets himself into the city of Sodom. And he's found now having settled in it with the foreign, when the foreign kings came to subdue the revolt and to regain their power over them. Four kings came against the five kings in the cities of Sodom. And while they were encouraged, that is the kings in Sodom, while they were encouraged to open conflict against their oppressor because they knew the nature of the soil, it was soft. It was soft, particularly in the valley of Sidon. Yet that day went against them, so that the kings they fled, and the troops they were to fall in battle. And what followed was the capture of the city and its goods, and those who were unable to escape. They were to be taken as captive, and they were to be slaves, and that included Lot. And they're carried off by this victorious army. You see, men and women, there's always, there's always the consequences to being out of the will of God. And Lot was learning that hard lesson right now at this time in his life's juncture. And all the time, Abram is living in the tent by Mamre. The armies of Kittel Ammar have not affected him. He's living up there in the hills. He's unaffected by the opposing forces, but that all is about to change as we consider how he rescues the parishioners. I want you to notice first of all here the separation. There's nothing that takes God by surprise. God is sovereign. There may have been things that took you by surprise on me last week, or maybe the week before, or some other time. Nothing takes God by surprise. And that includes even the wars and the conflicts that arise. And so, we see that during this battle, we see the good providence of God here. For we read in the words of verse 13, And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew, There so happened to be one who was able to get free from the bondage and from the captivity that had come upon the inhabitants of Solomon. We're not given his name, and it's not important, but there is one that was to escape. But in the good providence of God, he just didn't go anywhere. but rather he was to come to tell Abram about what had happened. And therein lies a great truth that each of us would do well to lay hold upon, for it is not to everyone that we could go with another's burdens and with another's troubles. You understand what I'm saying? There are people and you couldn't tell them about another one who has fallen. You couldn't tell them about another Christian who is in a spot of trouble or bother or who is walking far off from the Lord. You know why? Because they would delight in that and they would just use it as a piece of gossip and they would tell it to other people. Do you know what I heard today? Do you know about so-and-so? And they spread it to all in summary. And you know people like that, and I know people like that, and I wouldn't tell them a thing of that nature. I know colleagues, and I don't tell them anything because I know they'll be on the phone to somebody else. It's not an awful thing to have to say. But you see, there's some people like that, and they're just lapping in the gossip. And if we consider the words of Galatians chapter 6 and the words of verse 1, You know, the Lord defines those who can be of help in such a state. For let me read that verse to you. It says, brethren, if any man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness. Ye which are spiritual, And you see, dear people, Lot was the one that was overtaken in a fault. He had gone in the wrong way. He was out of the will of God. He was, we might say, undeserving of any attention. It would have been the most natural reaction to say, hearing the news of what had happened to Lot, it serves him right. He went in the wrong way. He lifted up his eyes and he looked toward the valley of Sodom, and he thought it was just like Egypt. It serves him right. But you see here's the difference, Abram is not a natural man, Abram is a spiritual man. And the providence of God saw to it that the terrible misfortune and the terrible captivity that Lot found himself in was to be conveyed to none other than to his uncle Abram and a man who truly cared. The messenger who had come to one who was sympathetic to the plight of Lot for Abram was different from the rest. And that can be further noted when you consider the place where he is described to be in, in verse 13. And there came one that had escaped and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre. We already have briefly mentioned that this is the first time in the scriptures that the title Hebrew is ever mentioned. And the sense of it is that he belonged to the other side. He wasn't one of the Canaanites in the land. He was just passing through as a sojourner. And Abram lived up to his name, for he was separated unto God. And that is borne out even in this verse. For while Lot compromised, and while Lot ended up living in Sodom, he now is in captivity. But for Abraham, he stayed by the tents. He stayed by the altar of the Lord. And the place he is said to dwell was in the plain of Mamre. He was amidst the Canaanites. But he wasn't one of them, and they knew he was different. You see, his separation, it wasn't just some theological truth that he aspired to or ascribed to, but it was something that he lived out in practice. He lived it out in his life. And there surely is a word for us even in that thought, for it was Abram the man separated who was to be of use in this situation as opposed to Lot who had compromised. I want you to follow me on this. Lot being in Sodom could not affect the standards of Sodom for good. They were exceedingly wicked before God, and by him living there, it didn't lift up the standards of Solomon and Iota. And neither could he prevent Solomon from being attacked, or neither could he prevent them from being taken captive. But we shall see that it was Abram who lived as a Hebrew. who lived in the hills, who was one, who lived that separated life, who was to be of use and who could affect things for the better. And men and women, I take time on that because it answers the call of many today in Christendom who will say that the church must get down to the level of ungodly men in order to see them saved. And so our worship, it cannot be regular. It cannot have a reverence about it. You need to bring in the music of the world and you need to encourage the dress code of the world if you're ever going to reach the ungodly and the unchurched. Isn't that the argument that we hear today? If you have a desire to lift someone up from the gutter of this world, then you must stand above them. You must see And they must see that you're separate, you're different. They can see that Christ-likeness in you, in the heart of Christ who cares for them who are perishing. You see, the person whom the messenger came on to hear was Abram. One who was in the right place with God. One who knew the Lord's direction in his life. One who happened to be the uncle of Lot who had fallen into difficult times, and he had fallen into the hands of his captors. His nephew was in real danger of perishing amongst the most wicked and godly men. And Abram, you see, is a type of Christ therein, for he couldn't hear this message and do nothing about it. He couldn't sit back. And so it was with Christ. For that's why He came into this world. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. His love for sinful lost mankind meant Him leaving the glories He had with His Father to pursue a path that would bring Him into the greatest battle ever to be fought, even against Satan and the forces of evil at the place called Calvary. And there He was to purchase His salvation. And there He was to purchase eternal deliverance for those who were undeserving. and he had gone away from God, for we all fell in Adam in his transgression. Dear child of God, If Christ did that for us, think of this, if Christ did that for us, then can you and I really sit back and show no interest toward those who are perishing and in danger of being destroyed because of their sin? Can we sit back and turn a blind ear to it, a deaf ear? Can you and I as God's people really afford not to pray? Especially when some of those perishing are our own loved ones. Especially when some of those who are walking afar off and are backslidden today are our own kith and kin. And maybe they come home one Sunday or some other night and they told mommy or daddy, I've got to see you. That little girl or that little boy are no longer little, they're now adults and they're not walking with the Lord. And parent, can you afford not to be in the prayer meeting? Can you just sit back and do nothing? You see, that's the message that Abram heard. And Abram was a separated man. And as a separated man, he could do something. He could affect a cause. You see, that's why I don't buy into the argument of the evangelical so-called who sits in the apostasy to this day and say, I want to change it for good. I heard that argument 35 years ago before I left. Still no better. We must be in the place where God would want us to be. But not only do you see the separation here, but you'll see the preparation here. Abram, in hearing the news, didn't shrug his shoulders and do nothing. The very opposite is the case when we cast our eyes upon the words of verse 14. What a verse. And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, 318, and pursued them on to Dan. Oh, there's so much there we've got to get through. I like the manner in which Lot is described in this verse. We know of course that he was the son of Abram's brother. We've read that already, even in this chapter. Verse 12, they took Lot, Abram's brother's son. That means he's a nephew. But you see here is a verse where it changes, verse 14, where he's spoken of as his brother. And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, And I want to say to you, it doesn't mean that he was a member of the same Masonic lodge. It doesn't mean that he was the same secret organization as Abram and so they were duty bound to help one another stick together as some would let on today. He was a brother in the Lord. He was a brother in trouble, and Abraham believed that he had opportunity to do good unto all men, especially unto those of the household of faith. And we know from the New Testament, of course, that Lot was a justified man. He was a saved man in the wrong place, of course, out of the will of God. And so his preparation, it meant in our mind, and you look at Abraham in verse 14, you'll see he's no pacifist. He was expecting a battle and he was one who knew what he ought to do. He was able to give leadership when it was needed. And you know that reminds me as I read that verse, it reminds me of the men of Issachar that we read about in 1 Chronicles chapter 12 and the words of verse 32. And of the children of Issachar which were men that had understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do. The men of Issachar. Oh, we need men of Issachar today in our land. Men who have understanding of the times and know what Israel ought to do. And child of God, it's a blessed thing to be able to discern what's going on and the work of the devil that is around us. And we ought to realize that we are in a battle every day of our Christian lives. That's why God has given us the record of the heavenly armor. That heavenly armor that we are to put on by prayer as we find it in Ephesians chapter 6. For there will be the fight, and there will be the battle, if we are seeking to recover, especially one who has fallen, and one who is out of the way with God. For the devil wants to hold on, and he wants to utterly destroy that testimony if he can. You consider the word armed, as it is found in verse 14. You look at your margin, if you have a good margin, it says this, as led forth. And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he led forth. He armed his trained servants. You get the idea. He was to give the lead. He went before them. And how again, like Christ who is described as the captain of our salvation, and Joshua knew the Lord going before him even as he sought to overcome the city of Jericho. And every believer, every child of God knows the same, for he went before us in the atoning work of the cross. And having rose again from the dead, he's the firstfruits of them that slept. And because he rose, then all who are in Christ, they shall rise. He has gone before that his people might follow on, depicted for us, of course, in the great shepherd of the sheep. He goes before them, and they know him, and they know his voice, and they follow him. You'll see that the preparation meant an army, but then you'll notice also the arithmetic here. Whom did Abraham arm for this battle? Well, the verse 14 tells us, gives us the arithmetic, there were 318. And one quick calculation would inform us that the numbers were against Abraham. He was badly outnumbered when it came to facing an army of four kings. But the difference was, you see, that God was with him. And one with God is a majority. But did you note who were the 318 armed men? When it came to recovering his nephew who had fallen, when it came to rescuing the one who was in danger of perishing in a far off part of that land, Abram doesn't turn to the Canaanites for help. He doesn't even seek the help of those who were in the confederacy. As we look at the end of verse 13, the brother of Enar and they were confederate with Abram. He doesn't even turn to them. he instead went to his own people. He went to his own household. Verse 14, he armed his trained servants born in his own house. See that? And if we are to rescue the And if you do go after and rescue that fallen backslidden brother or sister in the Lord, I tell you something, it will not be by the world's means. For the world doesn't care about the souls of men. But it will be by the help of God's people. Those who are in the family of God. It will be by depending upon the Lord. It will be by taking a battle to the Lord in the place of prayer. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they're mighty through God to the pulling down of the strongholds. And if you look at the opening part of verse 20 ahead of time, I want you to see it here that we realize the Lord was on the side. For verse 20 says, And blessed be the Most High God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand. God was on the side of Abram. And realize that God enabled him to be victorious in this battle. And he used his own men. He used his own household for those with the 318 that he armed. And don't miss the thought behind the word trained in verse 14. Again, look at your margin and you'll find it. It says instructed. Isn't that lovely? Abraham had already instructed his own men. He had already instructed him in the art of war. No point going to battle if you don't know how to use the gun. No point going onto the battlefield if you don't know what to do. And Abraham had already trained, he had already instructed his people, his servants, in the art of going to battle. And they knew what to do in holding the weapons, if you like. And there's no minimum when we can bring it across in our little verse. They that do know their God shall be strong and shall do exploits. Do you know what it is to be instructed of the Lord? We need to be well trained for the battle in how to use the sword of the Spirit right, the sword of the Spirit being the Word of God. We need to be trained well in how to hold the shield of faith and able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. They were trained. They were armed servants. And you'll note also the attack in these preparations for having armed and having instructed his men, Abraham was to pursue the enemy onto Dan. And that might be to most just a place name on a map. It's another place, it's just like Hebron, it's just like Mamre. But for Abraham, it meant pursuing the length of the land. You see, take your time when you go home to open the back of your Bible where there's a map and you'll find that Dan is in the most northerly place in Israel. And Abram, in memory, is way down here. And it shows to us, does it not, the determination of Abram to help this brother in the Lord who had fallen. And when the attack was engaged and having gone north, he then, verse 18 indicates to us, he was to pursue another distance to the east. There was a persistence on the part of Abram to see the battle through and by God's help to conquer and to return victorious. He traversed the length of the land in order to rescue Lot who had fallen. And that determination was ultimately seen in Christ. For did he not set his face as a flint toward Jerusalem, turning not to the left hand nor to the right hand, but going through with the work that the Father gave him to do, so that he might conquer the last great enemy, and that he might return victorious. The separation. Then there's the preparation. And you know we also see here the celebration. For Abram to be able to return victorious there must needs be the winning of the battle. And that was to be achieved not least because of the strategy that is in display in these verses. It's the first time that the pincer movement is seen to be employed, a movement that is employed by armies ever since, a strategy that Gideon was to employ in his day. What do we mean by that? We simply mean whereby although Abram had only a small number of armed men, 318, yet his plan was to divide them. You look at the words of verse 15 when he goes to battle. He divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night. and smote them and pursued them unto Hobah which is in the left hand of Damascus. In the recovery of Lot, it needed every man to be doing something. It needed his entire household to be bearing each other's burdens. And so it ought to be with the church of Jesus Christ, the Lord who has purchased his church with his own blood, has given to every man different gifts. You turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 12. It just emphasizes that truth to you. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, in the words of verse 4, we'll just pick out some of these verses. It says now, and here's Paul of course writing to the church at Corinth, the believers there. He says, now there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit. Remember verse 11, that all these worketh that one and the selfsame spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. For as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ. And Paul uses the analogy or the imagery of the body and your body and my body as many members today. You have the head and you have the arms and the hands and fingers and so forth. And so the apostle here, under the inspiration of God, the Holy Spirit is teaching these believers that that's just what the church is like. It's the body of Christ. There's one head to the church, that's Christ. But with many members. And those members are of all different gifts. look at the words of verse 26 and whether one member suffer all the members suffer with it. Are one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular. And verse 28 and 29 and so forth will not read, but if you read them when you go home, you'll see that God has given to his church different gifts. Some as apostles, some secondarily, teachers and so forth, and different gifts of the spirit. And you might say, well, preacher, I'm not able to teach. No, maybe you're not. But then you have another gift that you can go and speak to one-on-one. And God has given to His church different gifts. Just as it was for every servant of Abraham, so there is a work for every blood-bought child of God to do. And I would urge you this morning, don't neglect what God would have you to do in His work. Don't neglect that gift. Don't take that talent that, if we could use the illustration of the parable, and place it under a cloth or put it away and hide it away so that it's not used. But employ the gifts and talents that God has given to you even in His service. There's a strategy here. But you see also the success that is noted here in verse 16, and He brought back all the goods The persistence of Abraham was to be rewarded for having pursued the armies of the kings. They were to be defeated by the power of God, so much so that Abraham brought back all the goods and also his brother Lot. The mission was a success for Lot had not only been found but he had been rescued and he was able to be brought back with Abram and the objective of Abraham it was realized. His fallen brother had been delivered. His fallen brother had been saved from destruction and alongside him was the recovery of all his goods. I can't read that verse but it reminds me of the message that David received from the Lord when he inquired of God whether or not to pursue after the Amalekites. Remember the time when the Amalekites had come in against David and they had plundered the city of Ziklag and they had taken their wives and they had taken their children and David gets the ephod, that garment of the high priest and he seeks the Lord as to what to do. Do I pursue? And the message that God gave to him was, Pursue, for thou shalt overtake them, and without fail recover all. And David, in obedience to the word of the Lord, he was to recover all. And so it was here with Abram. There was cause for celebration, for a great victory had been won. 318 men overcame the armies of the four kings by night and subdued them. and Lot the fallen brother was recovered. And dear loved ones, so there is cause for the greatest of celebration if your souls should be sought and found of the Lord. You're not saved this morning, you're still in your sin. If this morning would be the morning of your salvation and God would step into your life as never before and turn you to behold the Lamb of God, I tell you there'd be great rejoicing. It'll be a great celebration if you, the fallen saint of God, and walking in Bypath Meadow, should be restored again unto your first love, and walking again with your Savior, and in the right place with Him. I'll tell you, this preacher will rejoice with you. The back slider has been restored. Thank God the Lord is ever married to you. You might have forgotten about God, but God hasn't forgotten about you. You might have forgot about the prayer place. But there's a Savior in the glory. He continually maketh intercession for his people. He hasn't forgotten to pray for you. What a powerful thought. You see, there was a celebration here because of the recovery of souls. For not only is Lot mentioned by name in verse 16, but you read the rest of it, it says, And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. In other words, all that had been taken captive by the opposing forces were recovered and rescued. Now don't forget where they came from. They're all recovered. You see, men and women, when we go over to 1 Corinthians 6, we have to confess we read some uncomfortable words there. Because there we read that God is able to save and rescue even the vilest offender, and even the most wicked sinner. For the apostle Paul reminds the believers in the church of Corinth that such were some of you. What were they? They were the fornicators, the immoral people. They were the adulterers, broken their vows with their life's partner, entered into relationships with those they shouldn't have done. They were the effeminate, the sodomites, The abusers of themselves, the drunkards, the thieves, and so on. And Paul says, now you're washed. Understand that? Now you're washed. Now you are justified. Now you're sanctified. Only the gospel can do that. For it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." Only the gospel can save the vilest offender. Only the gospel can recover the vilest sinner and wicked most sinner. As it was with Abram, all were recovered. My friend, Christ came into this world to save sinners. to deliver sinners and rescue them from the fall. And he did so by giving himself on that cruel cross of Calvary. And Isaiah 53 reminds us that he shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. And there's cause for rejoicing, there's cause for celebration when another soul is redeemed. And Christ rejoices when another soul is brought home. to be with himself where he is. It's my prayer that God by his grace would cause his people to rejoice in this congregation and in this day to that end. They will be rejoicing over souls that have been won, sought and found of Christ, rescued from recovered from the fall of sin. Will you pray with me? I trust the Lord will bless his word to reach our hearts this morning for his own namesake. Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer. Father in heaven, we do thank thee for thy word. We thank the Lord for this passage that we've looked at, for this battle that we've engaged in, as it were, with Abram. And O God, we see, Lord, how the separated man was effectual. And Lord, how he was a means of recovering his fallen brother. And Lord, we would pray, I would pray, Lord, that our lives might be effectual. And O God, we might be used as God's instrument to recover a fallen brother or sister. It may take, Lord, going alongside them and throwing their arm around them and encouraging them. whatever the discouragement or hurt that has been in their lives that has caused them to go into by-path matter, we pray Lord that thou would overrule. I pray Lord in the coming weeks that we might see backsliders restored. We might see Lord wandering ones back in the place of prayer. For Lord, how can we hear such a message and yet do nothing? How can we sit back, While we know, we know that souls are perishing. I pray, Lord, that thy grace would reach down to such this morning that are not saved. This day might be a day of God's deliverance. They might be born again of thy spirit. Oh, Lord, hear our cry. Part us with thy blessing. Bless us throughout this day. For we ask these things in our Savior's precious and all worthy name. Amen.