Address—G.H. Hayhoe
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For thine how gentle, yet how strong.
Thy truth and grace, their strength, combine to draw our souls along.
197.
Oh God, what God?
15.
Pardon me. Chapter 14, Genesis chapter 14 and verse 17.
And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Cater Leomer and of the kings that were with him at the Valley of Shiva, which is the Kings Dale.
And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God.
And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most High God, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. The king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.
And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the Most High God, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich, save only that which the young men have eaten. And the portion of the man which went with me, Einar, Ashkel and Mamre, let them take their portion.
After these things.
The word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless? And the steward of my house is this Eleazar of Damascus.
And Abram said, Behold to me thou hast given no seed, and lo, one born in mine house, my house is mine heir.
And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir.
But he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said unto him, So shall I seed be.
And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness.
Well, in this little portion that we have before us this afternoon, dear young people, I believe we have some very precious thoughts, a great victory that has been won, a challenge that comes to us and then to the problems that arise in our lives and how God comforts us and sustains us in them.
And in the course of the of each believer, these things take place.
We realize what the Lord has done for us. We are confronted with these challenges as to whether we are going to put the Lord Jesus first in our lives.
And then sometimes there are problems confront us, problems as to why the Lord doesn't come in and deliver us in some situation, and how the Lord comforts us and sustains us and turns our eyes to himself as we had this morning.
For the Lord Jesus is the only one who can really feel and satisfy the heart.
Nothing that this world has to offer can really satisfy. God may in His goodness undertake for us in material ways and bless us, but He would have us to realize He would have us to enjoy more the fact that He himself alone can be the satisfying portion of the heart, David said in the Psalms. I have seen an end of all perfection.
That thy commandment is exceeding broad, and we'll see.
The end of everything that we have hoped for and everything that we have longed for as far as this world is concerned. But oh, how blessed it is that there is one who never fails, One who can be everything to you. He can be everything to the young as well as to the old. And it's a blessed thing, dear young people, when we learn this while we are young.
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It's true that many learn it later on in life through the trials and sorrows.
But it's a blessed thing when we learn it while we're still young and seek to go on that path that's pleasing to the Lord Jesus.
Well, in the portion that we have before us, and I didn't read the beginning of this 14th chapter.
But if you glanced over it, you'll see that there was a great conflict and took place there.
And God granted a great victory. We know how that Lot had gone down to Sodom, and he had sought his, He had sought a home there, and then there had been a battle, and he himself and all that he possessed had been carried away. You know, it tells us that God speaketh once, yeah, twice. Yet man perceiveth it not. And this ought to have been a voice to Lot.
God had allowed this circumstance to come so that he lost.
Everything there and was himself and his family carried away captive, and yet he went back and dwelt there again. And you know God speaks to us too. Perhaps He has spoken to you, some of you, dear young people. Perhaps some disappointment or sorrow has come. And yet the Lord has come in in a wonderful way and delivered you and undertaken for you. And can it be that you have gone back again to the things of the world, to the things that don't satisfy?
That's what happened in the case of poor Lot. And yet we see too beautiful picture with Abraham of love for his erring brother. And this is what we need, brethren, love for those who have perhaps missed the path. It's lovely to see that when Lot was carried away, that Abram at the very risk of his life and of all.
That he had, he went down to deliver lot. Oh, do we seek the restoration of those.
Those who have perhaps got away, is it on our hearts to seek their blessing and their good? Even if perhaps you say, well, it was their own fault, wasn't it? Wasn't it Lot's fault? Couldn't Abraham have said, well, I gave him a choice? He could have chosen to dwell in a different place than Sodom. He made his own choice. Now he's going to have to reap it in sorrow. Oh no, that isn't the way divine love talks. And we see Abraham going down there to deliver.
His brother. And May God grant that we will have increasing love for one another, as it says in the 12TH chapter of Hebrews, when it speaks of God's hand and discipline upon His people. It said, Lift up the hands that hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed. Do we see someone with his hands hanging down? That's the first thing in getting.
Away you get discouraged, in your hands hang down. And perhaps your heart may say, what's the use? And isn't it lovely to hear how the encouragement there lift up the hands that hang down. Oh, there's every reason to be encouraged when we think of what the Lord has done, when we think of his grace, when we think of his patience with us. And so lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees. The one that's just ready to fall hasn't fallen yet.
Or how often we wait until the person has fallen before we try to help them along, and then it's too late. Perhaps, but it says, lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way. Perhaps there's someone who is lame, spiritually lame.
Oh, may we know how to be a help. Abraham was here. Abraham went after.
Lot and brought him back.
And then another thought too, that I believe, and I was thinking of primarily, is the great victory that God granted here. And one would think of it as a figure of the great victory that has been won for us. For it's only through what the Lord Jesus did upon the cross that there can be deliverance for us. For we ourselves were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived. We were once going on in the way of this world.
We ourselves were once in our sins on our way to a lost eternity, and yet we know how God and His goodness.
Delivered us from the power of Satan and set us free.
Is there one here? Some young person, and you're still unsaved. Your heart is inside him because you haven't even got Christ.
You haven't found him. There was a difference between Lot and Sodom and the people of Sodom themselves, The people of Sodom themselves.
Had no love for the Lord. They were still going on in their sins. But in Lot's case it was different. He was an earning believer and he shouldn't have been there.
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Although I will speak of it here in connection with a great victory that was won. And oh, don't we love to look back to Calvary's cross and see there a mighty victory that has been won. As we often sing, His be the victor's name, who fought the fight alone. Triumphant Saints no honor claim his conquest was their own. It's only through what Christ has done that there has been deliverance from our sins.
And from the power of sin, and we have been set free in Christ. And so here Abraham returns now. And when he returns, there are two people that meet him.
First of all, the king of Sodom went out to meet him, and then Melchizedek, king of Salem, he came to meet him. And isn't it true that when we first know, we first find the Lord Jesus as our Savior, then we find the very same thing happens too with us? The world comes along with some attraction, some lure, something that would take our hearts away. And it may be a very small thing, as we shall see.
That might be used of the enemy, it might be something even as small as a thread, anything that the enemy can use to still keep us from wholeheartedly going on for the Lord Jesus. But it's lovely to see that although these two came out, first the king of Sodom, then there was another that came out, Melchizedek.
And we know, as we read in Hebrews, that this Melchizedek is a picture to us.
Of the Lord Jesus Himself. For it says of him, Thou art a priest forever.
After the order of Melchizedek, and that Melchizedek was the dispenser of blessing to Abram and all. Isn't it lovely to know, dear young people, that the one that died for us on Calvary's cross, he's living for us up there, and he's the dispenser of all blessing to our souls, and that's forever. Thou art a priest forever. After the order of Melchizedek, having for once and for all accomplished the work of redemption, having once and for all settled.
The question of our sins that we can look up and see that blessed precious Savior at God's right hand, and as he's brought before us in Hebrews, ever living to make intercession for us, ever living there to maintain our souls in the enjoyment of the place that we have been brought into. And isn't it precious for us to look up and see that one? And when Satan comes with some temptation, it may be a very real 1.
Something that's very hard to refuse to look up and know that there's one there.
Who is able to supply the grace and the strength to overcome that temptation and to be faithful and loyal to the Lord Jesus? Oh yes, he is able. Well, Melchizedek came out and this is beautiful here. It says he brought forth bread and wine, bread and wine. I believe we have a precious little picture brought before us here.
How the remembrance of the Lord Jesus in his death.
And he comes with these two things in his hand, the bread and the wine, and he comes and meets Abram returning from this victory. And as it were to 1's own soul, it was the remembrance. It was the remembrance of the fact, something that he should never forget, that it wasn't by his own strength, by anything that he had done, that this victory had been won. It was by.
God himself granting him the victory and all. How much?
We need the remembrance of the Lord Jesus. How much we need it all one feels for one's own soul. How much we need to be reminded of what the Lord Jesus did for us. We know there are some just do it once every three months, some others do it once a month and some don't do it at all. Some never remember the Lord Jesus in his death. But as we had this morning about the importance of the first day of the week and it was read to us in the.
Of Acts on the first day of the week, the disciples came together to break bread.
And isn't it beautiful to see this Melchizedek coming out with these, the bread and the wine, to meet Abram?
And old dear young person, if you belong to the Lord Jesus, can't you see Him, as it were, coming to you?
Where the remembrance of his victory and what a privilege we have, it says.
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As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he comes. Could you think of Abraham at this season, at this moment, refusing to receive the kindness that was bestowed?
Refusing this when it was brought right to Him and presented to him and all dear young people, the Lord Jesus with all his male piercing hands is the one who broke the bread and administered the wine to his own. And now he's gone up on high, and with those blessed hands that have been pierced for us up there in glory, He has asked us to do this.
Until he comes.
What a privilege. Well, Abraham accepted this and I remember some years ago a young person.
And.
Feeling her own, feeling her own weakness, she said. She said, Well, I hesitated quite a while about taking my place at the Lord's table because I felt so unworthy in myself. But she said, I heard a brother make a remark that he thought that there was something that helped to preserve us when we were remembering the Lord, there was the remembrance of His.
Sufferings and his death from week to week. That was a help to preserve.
Of us. And she said that was an encouragement to me and I asked for my place because I knew how weak I was. I was thinking that was a reason for me not to remember him. But when he said that was the reason why I needed this precious privilege, because it drew back the heart's affections to Calvary. And in that way it did remind us of what the Lord Jesus had done. All we do need it. We do need this blessed privilege. And what a privilege.
It's only hours until he comes. Just a short time ago, down in the Maritimes, I was asked to take the funeral of a dear man down there who had passed away. A believer in the Lord Jesus, I knew him as such. I had talked to him many times about the things of God. But he lived to be over 70 years old, and when I took his funeral, I thought this.
How sad this man never remembered the Lord Jesus in his death.
Never in his whole lifetime did he remember the Lord Jesus in his death. For him, I believe that he had trusted in him as his Savior, but he missed that wonderful opportunity.
Well, it tells us here.
In the 19th verse. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the Most high God.
Possessor of heaven and earth.
How that is, Melchizedek saw. Melchizedek saw that king of Sodom there, and he knew what the king of Sodom came to offer to Abram, no doubt. And so it says, he was blessed of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth. Does the world look bright? Does it seem to offer something worthwhile? I know that when we're young, it does look very bright. What it offers looks very, very attractive and.
Often hard to say no to the things that are offered to us, but when we think of the fact that we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, when we think that in the eighth of Romans, it says that we're heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
All think of all that the world has to offer, but what is that in comparison with the fact?
That you and I, dear young people who know the Lord is our Savior are identified with the one who is the possessor of heaven and earth and he has made us his joint heirs. Romans 8 says heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Wouldn't you think it very strange if I was worrying about a little plot of land on one of these streets here if.
If within a.
Few days I was to be the joint heir of the whole street and everything that was on it. You'd say, well, why worry about that little thing? It's only a few days till you're going to have the enjoyment of it all. And dear young people, that's what's ahead of us.
We're joined heirs with Christ, and when we possess it ply there won't be any sorrows.
Or any tears or any disappointments or any sickness. Tomorrow there won't be anything in the flesh within us to hinder the enjoyment of it either. And that's all. That's what's ahead of us. Well, the possessor of heaven and earth came out to Abram.
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And he blessed him and all how richly blessed you and I have been. Oh, if we could only enjoy more of those blessings that we have in Christ. They're all ours. We may not be enjoying them. We may have just picked up, as it were, the first jewel out of the jewel box. And we say it's wonderful to be saved and to know that my sins are forgiven. But all there's infinitely more than that. We have been blessed with all spiritual blessings.
In heavenly places in Christ.
Then it tells us here.
And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. That is when Abram realized all this, when all this laid hold of his soul without even being asked, what was the result? Why it says He gave? He gave. Well, when you and I think what the Lord Jesus has done for us, it's not hard for us to give.
Because when we know that he has done so much for us.
Why, surely it's our joy, And how much should we give? Well, it tells us a here that Abraham gave tithes of all. But in Romans 12 and verse one, it says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. We know that when David had won a great victory.
Jonathan came out and Jonathan.
Stripped himself of all of he possessed and he laid it down, gave it to David. But he didn't. He didn't identify himself with David. He didn't give himself in other words.
He didn't follow David in his path of rejection, although he gave so freely.
And you may be giving very freely, and God would have us to realize the Lord has a claim over us.
But all, how lovely the little hymn love the transcends our highest powers, demands our soul, our life, our all. Dear young person, I ask myself, and I ask you, have we ever got down in the Lord's presence and said, Oh Lord, everything that I possess, every desire of my heart myself, all belong to Thee, all. Have we taken that place?
You'll never be a really happy.
Christian, until you acknowledge the Lord's claims over you completely and totally. Oh, you say, I'm almost afraid to do that. He might ask me to do something I'm not prepared to do. Can you doubt the law of one who died for us, and one who is going to share His throne with us and will not be satisfied until every tear has been wiped away and everyone of His own have been supremely blessed with Him?
Oh dear young people, surely.
We can't doubt love like that. Don't be afraid. It'll be the beginning, I say, of real happiness in your Christian life when you take that place, when you present yourself to Him and seek His grace. Oh, I don't mean that there may not be failure. We often fail, Each one of us fail in the path. But is it our desire? Is it our are? Are we willing to acknowledge His claims?
While Abraham without being asked at all, he gave tithe.
But I have sometimes said about Jonathan, you know, it has struck me in reading about Jonathan that David never asked Jonathan to go with him to The Cave of Adullam. Why didn't he ask him? Well, I have thought like this, that if love in the heart of Jonathan didn't make him want to go with David, that David wouldn't ask him. He wanted him to be constrained by his love. And in Judaism.
They were required to give.
110th That was the tithe that they were required, but in Christianity there is no such thing as a tithe.
And because if you and I are constrained by His love, why? We just want to acknowledge His claims over everything. And He is worthy. He's done all that love could do to win our hearts and will continue to do so for all eternity.
Well now the king of Sodom speaks, And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.
I'd like to turn to 1St Kings 20 and read a passage there. First Kings.
20.
The first verse.
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And Ben Haddad, the king of Syria, gathered all his hosts together.
And there were 30 and 2 Kings with him, and horses and Chariots. And he went up and besieged Samaria and warred against it.
And he sent messengers to Ahab, king of Israel, into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Ben Haddad, Thy silver and thy gold is mine, thy wives also, and thy children even the goodliest, are mine. And the king of Israel answered and said, My Lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine and all that I have.
What a sad picture we have here.
Here's the enemy comes up and he said the very best of your children and all that you possess are mine. And we find Ahab says yes, according to your saying.
There I am thine, he said, and he acknowledged the claim of the king of Syria over all that he had over his children.
And here the King of Sodom comes out. He doesn't go quite that far. He said, give me the persons, and you take the goods. All dear young people, as one looks into your faces this afternoon, I can hear the very same thing as though the enemy were saying, Give me the persons, give me the persons. He wants you, dear young people, He wants, he wants all that you have to be for himself.
And so the king of Sodom said, just let me have the persons. I don't care how rich you get, Abram. You can have all that you want, and the devil doesn't care how rich you get in this world. Why, you may be very pleased if you should make a success of life in that way, maybe very pleased, because very often those things rob the heart of Christ. It's you that he wants, dear young people. It's your ability, it's your time. It's everything you have that he wants. Give me the persons, he said.
And what is your reply going to be?
It's sad to think, Ahab said. According to thy saying, I am thine he acknowledged the claim of the king of Syria over him and all his children and all that he possessed, all dear young people. Isn't this a challenge that comes to us?
Who do we say we belong to?
When it really comes down to the point of fact and circumstances are before us, the Lord on one hand of the world and the other, what is our answer is our answer to the world. Yes, My time belongs to you. My ability belongs to you. What I have belongs to you. Or do we turn to the Lord, as we have been saying and say.
Lord Jesus, I am thine He are not your own. He are bought with a price.
Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
Well, we know what a sad thing it was in Ahab's life and what a sad end came to poor Ahab and all. How important dear young people want to see young people sit in the very seats in the conferences and they have listened to the word. They have heard similar thoughts to what 1 is expressing this afternoon. The challenge has come in their life and where are they today?
They have given themselves over to following the world and all. I appeal to you, dear young people, the Lord Jesus is coming soon. He wants you. He wants you because He loves you. The world wants you for what it can get from you. And they will take all that you have, every bit of your talent and ability and everything, and take every moment of your time. But all the Lord Jesus wants you for what He can give to you. He'll fill your heart not only in this world.
But for all eternity if you receive him and follow him.
And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have left up mine hand unto the Lord, the Most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latchet. Here Abram said, I have a reason for refusing. He didn't just say no, no sometimes.
When the world comes to you and you just say no, they keep on bothering you. They keep asking you.
But you know, it's a great thing to give a reason of the hope that is in us with meekness and fear. It's lovely when we see.
An answer given not only no, but telling. Why? Because the king of Sodom didn't bother Abram anymore after this. Because Abram had given a reason for his decision. And when they come to you at school and I ask you to do this or do that when they come to you in the office.
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When they come to you, perhaps neighbors in the street and ask you to do this or that, it's nice not only to refuse, but to do what Abraham did here. He said, I've lift up mine eyes unto the most high God, unto the Lord, the most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth. In other words, he said, I have a reason for refusing.
I the longed Christ.
I know a dear lady who was saved a few years ago. She used to go on with the world, used to go out and play bridge and go on in the world's ways.
When she found the Lord as her savior.
Why? They asked her if she'd come and she said, she said, well, I could say no, that I don't, that I won't go, but I feel I should tell you the reason why I don't go. And she said the reason is that I have a new life and the new life that I have enjoys new things. Yes. They never asked you to go again.
Because she brightly confessed the Lord Jesus to her friends as her Savior.
They didn't phone up next week and say will you come as she'd made an excuse and say no I'm sorry I can't come this week, I'm sorry I have something on that night I can't come. Probably would continue to bother you.
Oh dear young people, have you looked up your hand to the Lord? And do you realize that that one who has blessed you is the possessor of heaven and earth?
That you're not giving up something that at all compares with what you have received in return. When Paul spoke of what he gave up, he said, I count all things but loss for the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. It might have been very hard for Paul to have parted.
With some of those things, but when he had something better.
There was no difficulty because he counted those things, but loss for the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus is Lord. And so I'm not here to try and impose certain rules and tell you what you should go to and what you shouldn't go to. But I am here to say how much do you and I realize what the Lord Jesus has done for us. And if we realize that, I'm sure it'll be easy for us to do like Abram did and.
Take a faithful stand and said, I've lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the Most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth.
And then he goes on and tells the reason for his refusal and how much he was refusing. Did he say, well, I can go along with you a little way?
I can't go too far.
There's some things that Christians can do, but not everything. No, he refused.
From a thread. A thread? What a little thing, Little thing that might hang on your clothes and you pull it off and drop it down on the floor. That's nothing you say. But all dear young people, did you ever stop to think what a job the threads have done in your clothes? All the clothes that I have on, all the buttons of my suit here and everything, What are they held by? Threads. They're all held together with threads. Such a little unimportant thing as a thread.
Maybe the thing that's linking your eye up with the world, such a tiny thing, but it has formed a link with the world. And when that seamstress starts to sow, that thread goes in. More and more cloth is bound together, more buttons are tied on, and so the whole garment comes out and it's all assembled and brought together with threads. Little things. Oh dear young people.
Remember what the bridegroom said to his bride?
Whose heart had grown cold to him, he said, Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes. He said to her, Let me hear thy voice, let me see thy face. She hadn't sought his company. She wasn't in near enough to him for him to even hear her voice.
Does the Lord hear your voice often? Do you often look up to Him in prayer?
And ask his help and his grace and strength, as well as praising Him for what he has done. He said, Let me hear thy voice, let me see thy face. Does he see your face at the meeting? Do the brethren count you as one of the regulars who are always there, as much as you possibly can be there?
Oh, how lovely it is to hear the bridegroom speaking in that way that he wanted to hear her voice, he wanted to see her face. And he said, Thy voice is sweet, and thy countenance is comely. And one was impressed recently in reading in the Psalm of Solomon, to notice that not once through the whole book of the Song of Solomon does he ever reproach the bride.
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Oh, I'm afraid if it had been you or I, we would have reproached her and say how indifferent she is to his love, how callous she seems to be. Never once did he reproach her. How did he draw her? He always sought to draw her by his love. And when she didn't answer the door, he said, open to me, my love, my dove, my undefiled. Wasn't that touching?
He saw beauty in her, although she had lost the sense of.
Some of the beauty that was in him, he put his hand in by the door, but she had locked the door. He let her see that pierced hand. Oh dear young people, the Lord Jesus is not reproaching you, but He's won your heart if you belong to Him and He wants you to be drawn and perhaps a little thread that's tying you to the world. I remember one dear young person whom I knew, and she gave up almost all her friends. Just one worldly friend she kept. I remember her saying.
I've just got one worldly friend that I haven't broken with. Just one.
But as time went on, that one worldly friend drew that girl back into the world.
There was a thread.
There was something that she hadn't snapped, and that's all we find, Abram said here. No, not even a thread.
Small thing, but an important thing. And the shoe latchet, that is the shoe light should be what ties on the shoe. And perhaps, perhaps you're committed to some course of action. Maybe you've made some promise and you're committed to some course of action. Just like you put the shoe on and you tie it or you latch it there. It's fastened now, all ready to go.
And that that shoe latchet or that that?
2 lakes or whatever it may be, that's what has decided you in a certain course of action.
And how often a young person has committed themselves to some course of action, made a promise to some friend.
Made a promise to somebody and then, as it were, it's all tied up, he says. I won't like, I won't take anything that ties me up to the world or commits me to some course of action. You wanted to be free to acknowledge the claims of the one who had won his heart, the one who was everything to him. Oh, dear young people, the Lord wants you to be free. Not to be bound, but to be free to acknowledge his claims.
Over you, Abram said not a thread, not a shoe latchet. And in that same Song of Solomon, I think it's lovely to see the bridegroom looking at the feet of the bride there. And he says, how beautiful are thy feet with shoes. All prince's daughter now she was near enough to him to be in his company, and he looks at her shoes. And he said, how beautiful are thy feet with shoes, dear young people, would the Lord Jesus.
Of you or me, That our walk is beautiful. Isn't it lovely? That He should appreciate the fact that we seek to walk to please Him? He does. He looks at our spiritual shoes. He knows in whose company we're walking. Are we really seeking to go on for His glory?
And then he said.
That I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou should have say I have made Abram rich. Yes, every link with the world causes the world to have a claim upon us.
As dear Mr. Darby said, the nearer you get to the world, the higher you get in the world, the nearer you get to its Prince. And all these things make us.
Fear the world, make us look to them instead of looking to the Lord.
And so he said, No, I want, I won't take anything, lest you should say that I, that you've made Abram rich. He refuses at all. He has been blessed by the one who is the possessor of heaven and earth. But now I think this is nice, what he says in the last verse, save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Anar, Eshkol and Mamre, let them take their portion, in other words.
He doesn't make a decision for these young men that had gone with him.
He lets them make their decision and how important this is because I can't decide something for you. But all how lovely it is as we often feel with our children when we see there's an exercise. You know, when I see a person and they're doing something that perhaps I couldn't fully agree with myself and I hear them say.
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Well, I do want to please the Lord in the matter anyway. Oh, you know, it's a lovely thing.
When you see that, and so Abraham said, well, I'm going to let these young people say for themselves, and the Lord is listening for you to say, He wants you to say for yourself, how much does the love of Christ have a claim upon your heart? I can't speak for you, you can't speak for me, but you can speak for yourself.
What portion? What is your portion? What is your desire? May God grant that our desire will be to please the Lord Jesus who has done so much for us.
Well, now in the 15th chapter.
After these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision saying, Fear not Abram, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. All the Lord knew that when Abram had taken this stand that he was going to need encouragement. He was going to need encouragement and all. I believe that it's something that is so needed in these last days. We need to be encouraged.
It's easy to discourage, It's easy to say things that discourage. But the Lord comes to Abram after this and he says, Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield. That's thy protection and thy exceeding great reward. As though the Lord should say, Abram, I'll protect you, and you'll never lose anything worthwhile.
While by seeking to follow me, you'll never lose anything that's really worthwhile if you seek to follow the Lord Jesus, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. Now I'd just like to say a little more on this encouragement. You know, amongst us, we have learned that it's not right to flatter. It's not right to try and blow a person up because that might do them a great deal of harm. But sometimes I think that we fail.
To speak that little word of encouragement that is often needed. How often when someone does something for the Lord, the enemy is always ready afterwards to discourage. He doesn't want to see anyone go on for the Lord. And just as surely as you try to do something, there will be something come in very shortly afterwards to discourage you.
And sometimes we might fail to speak that little word that might.
Encourage all Dear young people, let us cultivate the habit of encouraging one another in the past, encouraging one another.
No, David, Rather, Jonathan on one occasion went out to fight against the Garrison of the Philistines.
And when he saw the sharp rocks in the way, it appears that he was just about going to turn back.
And his armor bearer said, Turn thee, behold, I am with thee, do all that is in thine heart. And that little word of encouragement was the turning of the whole circumstance. And he and his armor bearer went forward, and God granted a great victory. And I believe that eternity alone will reveal how often a little word of encouragement.
Spoken at the right time was perhaps the turning of the chord.
Course of a Christian that affected the whole of the rest of that Christian's life. Oh, May God give us to know how to speak that word when it's needed. The Lord came and said, fear not Abram.
And I love to think of another instance in the life of Paul.
When he had been before, when he had been arrested and brought into prison.
There might be little thoughts rise in his mind as to how he shouldn't have gone up there to Jerusalem, and isn't this lovely? The Lord stood by him that night and said, Be of good cheer, Paul, For as thou hast born testimony for me at Jerusalem, thou must also bear testimony at Rome. The Lord encouraged him and all.
That must have strengthened the beloved apostle in the days.
That lay ahead because he was in prison for a long time and he would never forget how the Lord stood by on the very first night, said fear not, fear not.
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Thy exceeding great reward, and Abram said, Lord God.
What wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and a steward of my house is this Eleazar of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold to me thou hast given no seed, and lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
Abram and sought to be faithful. He had refused all that the king of Sodom had offered. He had accepted the bread and wine. He had given tithes. He had seemingly done everything up to this point that we could command. And we could say surely the Lord was pleased with Abram's faith and faithfulness.
But there was one thing, and that was why had the Lord not granted him that one request that He so much desired? And it may be that there's a young person here and you're saying your heart right now. Well, I have tried to follow the Lord, but there's something that I've asked Him for and He hasn't granted it to me. Why hasn't he? Some of my friends seem to get along, some of my friends that are perhaps not.
Careful to walk in godliness. And the Lord seems to have denied it to me. He seems to have allowed me to suffer instead of encouraging me. And that was the way Abram felt here. He said, well, how is this? What I desired was to have a son, and the Lord is withholding it from me, what I desired. And so it may be that there's someone here and that thought is rising in your mind and the enemy is using it.
To hinder you from going on with the Lord Jesus. The enemy is using it to discourage you. And you say I sit in the meetings and I'm encouraged, but that thought keeps.
Bumping up in my mind all the time, Why doesn't the Lord undertake for me? Why doesn't he come in in this matter or that matter? And so that continues to press upon you. He said I go childless, the thing that I wanted. And the Lord had even said that he would give him a son. And why was it not? Why was it not fulfilled? If God was really seeking his happiness, why had this been?
Withholding from him.
Because it was a walk of faith, was a walk of faith and so.
Isn't this lovely?
In the fourth verse. And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying.
This shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels.
Shall be thine heir.
Had God forgotten the promise? Had God forgotten that he had said that to his seed he would give that whole land?
Previously all God hadn't forgotten it, and God hasn't forgotten one of his promises.
We might forget, and we may think sometimes that God has forgotten to be gracious, but He doesn't forget. Our names are graven on the palms of His hands. Our names are upon His heart as well as upon His shoulders. He's carrying us along.
Well, what does the Lord do to Abram? Isn't this lovely, this fifth verse? And he brought him forth a broad and said, look thou toward the heaven, Isn't this lovely?
He doesn't tell him how this desire of his heart is going to be fulfilled.
He doesn't tell him how soon it's going to be fulfilled and his faith was sorely tested after this for a long time.
He doesn't tell him how he brings them out, and he points his eyes havenward, and he says, Look now toward heaven, Dear young people, I want to impress those words upon you. Look now toward heaven. Look now toward heaven. Are you and I looking that way? There may be disappointments here. The end of all things is at hand. We may see more difficult times than we have ever seen before.
We may see more weakness in the testimony, and we may see greater breakdown of everything in this world, but all when we look toward heaven, he said. Now count the number of the stars.
Well, you know, in those days that he had actually tried to count them. But those who have looked through the powerful telescopes of today tell us that there were many that were beyond the natural vision, many that were beyond the natural vision, millions of them that couldn't be seen with the naked eye. Dear young people, I want to tell you the same thing, that if you get the telescope of faith and look up into the sky, there's millions of things.
That the natural eye can't see. There are just millions of them and some of those, some of those. A brother when I was away gave me a little paper that he said there's one star that is 300 times larger than our sun and he said it can't be seen with the naked eye.
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You look at that sun, you can hardly, you can hardly look at it for a half second. It's too much for your eyes. They're blazing light in the sun. But beyond the sun, beyond anything that the natural eye can see, is a *300 times as big as our sun. Oh, dear, young people. I remember a remark in Mr. Darby. He said, he said this.
How often does one forbidden thing hide from our view 1000 blessings? And how often there is that because we were looking at things with the naked eye, that those greater and more wonderful things that God has in store are hidden from us. But they're all there. Faith sees them. Faith looks beyond present circumstances.
Faith counts upon God. Faith knows that he is going to work out everything.
After the counsel of his own will and faith rests. And so isn't this lovely in the sixth verse?
And he believed in the Lord.
And he believed in the Lord. Hadn't Abram believed in the Lord before? I would say he had. He had come out from UR of the Chaldees long before. He had had his tent and his altar before this.
I used to sometimes puzzle a little at that hymn Keep us Lord all, keep us cleaving to thyself and still believing. Why does it say still believing? All because faith is continually put to the test all through the Christian life. But all how blessed it is when we look about present things and if there's something that's pressing upon your heart that is threatening to rob you of your.
In the Lord that's threatening to even spoil these meetings for you because you can't rise above some circumstance that's come into your life. May God in his grace take you out abroad. May He enlarge the vision of faith, and that you will look toward heaven and not only the things that can be seen, but at the untold blessings that cannot be seen, the unsearchable riches of Christ.
And all that, it's all ours.
And so how lovely these words. And he believed the law. He believed.
In the Lord, may the Lord grant and will not only believe in Him to the saving of our souls, but that we may also believe in Him for all this difficulties, all the circumstances of life's pathway. And I would say to you, dear young people, in closing, there will be many times your faith will be put to the test. There will be many times it isn't a decision that you can make once for all, but all the blessedness of making the Lord Jesus himself.
The object of your heart, and as we know what He has done for us in the past.
We know the victory that He has won. Faith, vision is directed to what is ahead of us. A God grant that we'll be kept and that it will be said of us. He believed in the Lord. And when some problem arises and some difficulty in you see no solution and you can understand why the Lord has allowed it, repeat those words. He believed in the Lord.
He believed in the Lord. May God grant that our faith will look up until that blessed time that faith is changed to sight, and we'll be with him, like him, and know and enjoyfully all that's in his heart for us.
Shall we sing that little hymn? 256 Praise the Savior, ye who know him, who can tell how much we owe him gladly Let us render to him all we have and are, 256.