In the World But Not of It

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 104
• Hymn — O Worship the King
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — Nicene Creed
• Scripture Reading — Luke 9:46-56
• Hymn — Who Is on the Lord's Side?
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Hymn — Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven
• Sermon
• Hymn — O Worship the King
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: In the World But Not of It

Scripture: Genesis 14

I. To Live in This World But Not Be of It Runs Toward the Family of God

• A. When Abram heard his kinsman Lot had been taken captive, he immediately mustered 318 trained men and allies to pursue the Mesopotamian kings (Genesis 14:14-16).

  1. Abram travels over 140 miles to Dan and as far as Hobah, north of Damascus, solely to recover Lot.
  2. The accent of the passage is not on military strategy but on the reason for the campaign: his kinsman had been taken.

• B. The relationship between Abram and Lot is that of a kinsman redeemer.

  1. Lot's father died early (Genesis 11:28), and Abram effectively adopted his nephew and took him under his wings.
  2. The law of the kinsman redeemer (Deuteronomy 25) and its beautiful picture in the book of Ruth (Ruth 3:9) illuminate what Abram is doing for Lot.
  3. As seen later in Genesis 19, God has a vested interest in Lot because Lot is under the wings of God's chosen one, Abraham — just as Noah's family was preserved in the ark.
  4. 2 Peter 2 calls Lot a righteous man — a righteousness only possible because he had a redeemer.

• C. Abram's rescue of Lot points to Christ our kinsman redeemer.

  1. Like Abram leaving everything to retrieve one kinsman, the Good Shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to pursue the one lost sheep.
  2. The writer to Hebrews says Christ is not ashamed to call us brothers in the midst of the congregation.
  3. Christ came from the eternal dwelling of his Father for one purpose: to save his people — his kinsmen, his sheep — from their sins.
  4. God the Father has a vested interest in all who have found refuge under the wings of the redeemer Jesus Christ.

II. To Live in This World But Not Be of It Rejects Reliance Upon Worldly Powers

• A. After his victory, Abram encounters the king of Sodom, who attempts to place Abram in his debt (Genesis 14:21).

  1. In ancient Near Eastern custom, a suzerain king who won a battle would dictate terms to a vassal. Here the king of Sodom presumes that role, though it is Abram who has won the victory.
  2. The description of Abram as "the Hebrew" in verse 13 may carry the social connotation of the Hapiru — stateless, nomadic people outside the international power structure.

• B. Abram refuses the king of Sodom's offer with a sworn oath to the Lord God Most High (Genesis 14:22-24).

  1. His logic: Yahweh is possessor of heaven and earth, so Abram will not receive wealth from anyone but him.
  2. He refuses to lay hold of the promised land through an alliance with a wicked king, choosing instead to wait on the Lord and his promises — in contrast to Jacob, who grasped for the promises from the womb.

• C. This same principle runs through the ministry of Jesus and defines the nature of his kingdom.

  1. In John 6:15, Jesus withdraws rather than allow the crowd to make him king by force.
  2. When Peter rebukes Christ about the cross, Jesus responds that Peter's mind is on the things of man rather than the things of God.
  3. Christ's words to Peter — "Those who live by the sword die by the sword" — make clear that the kingdom is never advanced through political alliances or worldly power.
  4. The kingdom parables teach that God's kingdom is pursued and realized in ways completely antithetical to the kingdoms of this world — growing imperceptibly like a mustard seed while world powers make noise.

• D. The eyes of the Father are not on the powerful and prominent but on the humble and faithful.

  1. The parent teaching a child the catechism; the pastor laboring over a sermon for a small congregation; the widow quietly serving the body of Christ — these are where the Father's gaze rests.
  2. Those who live for public recognition have already received their reward; the reward of God's kingdom citizens is unseen by the world (Matthew 6).
  3. True riches are the treasures that moth and rust do not destroy — riches only the people of God know.

III. To Live in This World But Not Be of It Receives from the Hand of the Priest King

• A. Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High, comes to Abram with bread and wine and a two-fold blessing (Genesis 14:18-20).

  1. His name means "king of righteousness"; Salem means "peace," pointing toward Jerusalem, the city of peace.
  2. Unlike the king of Sodom who demands, the king of righteousness brings gifts and blesses — first blessing Abram from God, then blessing God on behalf of Abram, showing an intercessory, mediatorial pattern.

• B. Melchizedek serves as a marker of anticipation, pointing Israel toward the coming Messiah.

  1. Psalm 110:4 — "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."
  2. The writer to Hebrews in Hebrews 7 applies this to Jesus Christ to demonstrate that he holds a priesthood greater than the Levitical order — not merely king, not merely priest, but priest-king.

• C. The bread and wine Melchizedek brings is significant and anticipates the Lord's Supper.

  1. In ancient Near Eastern suzerain-vassal custom following a victory, it was meat and wine — not bread and wine — that was brought; the bread here is conspicuous.
  2. The bread and wine point to the priest king Jesus Christ giving himself — his body and his blood — to his people at the Lord's table.
  3. Abram responds to the blessing of the priest king with a tithe — not because it was demanded, but out of gratitude. God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).

• D. Receiving continually from the hand of the priest king is what shuts the ears of God's people to the offers of the world.

  1. Hebrews 13:15 — "Through him let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God."
  2. What the king of Sodom can offer pales against the bread and wine — the body and blood — the priest king Christ gives.
  3. We come to the Lord's table not because anything is demanded of us, but with faith and open arms to receive the gift of the body and blood of our priest king.