1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,540 In verse 14, believers are given many different names in Scripture. 2 00:00:12,540 --> 00:00:27,960 Each one connotes some blessed truth or reveals a particular blessing belonging to God's own. 3 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:31,600 In Titus chapter 2 verse 14, we find one of those words. 4 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:36,240 Now the translation that I have before me tonight, the New American Standard Version, 5 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:39,160 actually gives it a little softer translation. 6 00:00:39,160 --> 00:00:45,560 The King James Version gives it a different thrust. 7 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:52,640 Speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ, it says, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem 8 00:00:52,640 --> 00:01:03,240 us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself, here's the name, a peculiar people, 9 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:10,880 or a people for His own possession, zealous for good works or good deeds. 10 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:22,000 Then over to 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 9, where we have the same situation. 11 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:32,440 He says, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, 12 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:38,760 or a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who 13 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:44,000 has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 14 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:52,160 It is this name in the King James, peculiar people, or a people of God's own possession 15 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:55,200 that I want us to examine. 16 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,600 Peculiar people, of course, has some connotation with it itself. 17 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:03,040 And I suppose that you might think there are some of God's people that come closer to that 18 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:05,640 description than others. 19 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:10,920 But in fact, the New American Standard Version does do justice to what that word actually 20 00:02:10,920 --> 00:02:12,400 means. 21 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:16,880 The word here in 1 Peter 2, 9 is in noun form. 22 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:22,680 It's a word that means to do or to make around. 23 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:32,640 It is a word that implies purchase or acquisition. 24 00:02:32,640 --> 00:02:39,280 If you are going to buy an article in the store, you put your hand around it and take 25 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:40,920 it. 26 00:02:40,920 --> 00:02:41,920 That's the thought here. 27 00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:46,440 It is to make around or to do around something. 28 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:49,600 Back in Titus chapter 2, verse 14, it's an adjective. 29 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:54,560 It's a little different word, which basically means the same thing. 30 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:58,080 There it means to be around. 31 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:07,040 And it might be illustrated with a dot representing you and me with a circle drawn around it, 32 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:13,440 showing that the dot has a circumference, that there is something around that. 33 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:16,960 A perimeter has been established. 34 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:23,120 And it implies that we have been encircled of God, each one of us, as believers. 35 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:31,000 And that encirclement implies some very interesting devotional thoughts. 36 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:39,960 In the first place, it indicates that we are His purchased possession. 37 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:46,080 This is said more clearly back in Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 14. 38 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:51,440 And I invite you to turn there as we talk about this truth and this thought, that as 39 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:58,360 God's peculiar people, we are a purchased possession. 40 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:02,480 Ephesians 1 verse 14. 41 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:10,280 In speaking about the Holy Spirit, He says, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance 42 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:20,000 with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. 43 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:25,760 He speaks here of the redemption of God's own possession. 44 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:30,000 That word redemption implying a purchase price. 45 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:36,760 Here it's speaking about the consummation of our redemption. 46 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:41,880 We have been redeemed, but there is an aspect of our redemption that is yet to be fulfilled, 47 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:46,040 and that is when Christ comes to receive us to Himself. 48 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:50,720 It is the redemption of our body, as we have studied in Romans chapter 8. 49 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:55,120 It is that time when He will come back into the atmosphere of the world. 50 00:04:55,120 --> 00:05:02,200 And what is termed the rapture will call out His own to be with Himself. 51 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:05,320 He will take to Himself His bride. 52 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:12,460 The apostle speaks of that here as the redemption of God's own possession. 53 00:05:12,460 --> 00:05:17,280 This is the same Greek word here as in 1 Peter 2, 9. 54 00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:23,620 That which has been acquired, that which has had something put around it so that it is 55 00:05:23,620 --> 00:05:30,320 now in a peculiar and special sense the property of another. 56 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:37,500 Of course the price of our redemption is clear even here in this context where He speaks 57 00:05:37,500 --> 00:05:45,240 about the precious blood of Christ, which is the redemption price for us in verse 7. 58 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:52,980 He says in Him we have redemption through His blood. 59 00:05:52,980 --> 00:06:00,040 We sing about that, we talk about that, we pray about that, and yet I confess perhaps 60 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:06,320 along with you that too little do I really meditate on that truth to understand what 61 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:13,920 the price was that I might be redeemed. 62 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:25,320 The price paid by God Himself that we might become His purchased possession is the blood 63 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:33,220 of the Lord Jesus Christ, not the blood flowing in His veins, but the blood as it was shed, 64 00:06:33,220 --> 00:06:38,280 as it was sacrificed on our behalf. 65 00:06:38,280 --> 00:06:43,260 Peter reminds us that it is precious blood that was shed for us. 66 00:06:43,260 --> 00:06:53,320 He says we were not redeemed by silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ 67 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:59,520 as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 68 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:06,520 In Revelation 5 we have in advance the words to a hymn that we are going to sing someday. 69 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:10,000 So you might as well get these words down now. 70 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,560 I don't know if we will be singing them in English or not, but it will help if you memorize 71 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:16,360 them I suppose in English. 72 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:21,920 He looks ahead here into time when we are gathered before the throne of God in heaven. 73 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:24,360 This is after the rapture has taken place. 74 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:29,900 The twenty-four elders here in these chapters would seem to symbolically represent the Church 75 00:07:29,900 --> 00:07:32,800 of Jesus Christ. 76 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:38,880 We are pictured here as falling down before the Lamb. 77 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:46,720 He says in verse 9, And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy art thou to take the Book and 78 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:48,840 to break its seals. 79 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:56,000 That Book, by the way, is the title Deed to the earth, the right to reign over the earth. 80 00:07:56,000 --> 00:08:01,240 There is a search throughout heaven as to who can take that Deed, who has the authority 81 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:08,440 and the right to take it in His hand and claim for God the earth once again, the earth which 82 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:12,800 has been usurped by Satan. 83 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:18,720 And there is only one in all of heaven who is found worthy to take that Deed to the earth 84 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:23,960 and to enforce the rule of God and to open those seals up. 85 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:28,000 Those seals, by the way, in their opening, pour out the beginning of the judgments in 86 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:29,800 the time of the tribulation. 87 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:37,040 Read about it in Revelation chapter 7 and 8 and so on. 88 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:43,600 The Lamb takes that scroll in His hand and we say, Worthy art thou to take the Book and 89 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:53,440 to break its seals, for thou wast slain or sacrificed, and didst purchase for God with 90 00:08:53,440 --> 00:09:03,200 thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 91 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:09,120 There will be representatives from around the world present on that day. 92 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:12,200 And that is why Gordon and Cindy are going to Peru. 93 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:18,240 And that is why others are serving Christ in various parts of the world, learning languages, 94 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:25,920 translating the scriptures, establishing local churches, building up seminaries where nationals 95 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:32,040 are trained and sent back into the homeland to evangelize and establish other churches. 96 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:37,680 That is why the work goes on around the world, because out there God has a people. 97 00:09:37,680 --> 00:09:43,400 We are out there to preach the gospel that those who have been purchased by the blood 98 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:48,540 of the Lord Jesus Christ from every tribe and tongue and people and nation may one day 99 00:09:48,540 --> 00:09:54,760 stand with Him as we shall stand with Him. 100 00:09:54,760 --> 00:10:02,920 The fact that we have been purchased suggests to us that we are servants or slaves, for 101 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:10,120 it is slaves who are purchased, not slaves who are coerced into serving Jesus Christ, 102 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:18,760 but slaves who voluntarily and willingly, as glad slaves do we give ourselves to our 103 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:20,800 beloved Master. 104 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:26,600 We recognize that we have been bought with a price, and therefore we must glorify God 105 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:29,720 in our bodies. 106 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:31,840 Are you glorifying God in your body? 107 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:38,480 Are you living like the purchased possession that you are as a believer in Jesus Christ? 108 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:44,280 Not only are we a purchased possession, but according to 1 Peter 2, 7, we are a precious 109 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:49,440 possession. 110 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:57,320 That verse says in the translation I have before me, this precious value then is for 111 00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:01,360 you who believe. 112 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:08,520 Kenneth Wiest, who for a number of years was a Greek teacher at Moody Bible Institute, 113 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:16,880 in one of his books has this helpful paragraph regarding this statement in 1 Peter 2, 7. 114 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:25,440 The Greek has it, he says, unto you who believe is the preciousness. 115 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:31,640 That is, the preciousness of Jesus is imparted to us. 116 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:38,040 He becomes our preciousness in the eyes of the Father as He becomes our righteousness 117 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:40,040 before the law. 118 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:47,080 The Son dwells in the bosom of the Father, closest to the Father's affections. 119 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:55,080 Marvelous grace, says Wiest, that we sinners, saved by grace, are brought into that favored 120 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:59,760 place, closest to the Father's affections. 121 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:04,680 The Father loves us as much as He loves His only begotten Son. 122 00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:14,600 What a pillow on which to rest our weary hearts when going through a testing time. 123 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:21,840 So just as He is precious to us, so are we precious to Him. 124 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:29,360 We have been made precious to God because we are in Christ and therefore as He in the 125 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:33,280 bosom of the Father. 126 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:41,700 That preciousness is the preciousness of a bride to her bridegroom. 127 00:12:41,700 --> 00:12:49,180 And for that matter in reverse, the preciousness of the bridegroom to the bride. 128 00:12:49,180 --> 00:12:59,160 That very wonderful love, that affection, that desire expresses this preciousness that 129 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:04,600 we are to Christ as He is to us. 130 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:10,160 And that is why the Apostle uses the metaphor the bride and bridegroom when describing our 131 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:14,760 relationship to our Lord in Ephesians chapter 5. 132 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:27,440 And he uses words there like reverence, nourish, cherish, these words connoting that preciousness. 133 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:34,960 So not only are we as a peculiar people a purchased possession, but we are also a precious 134 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:38,040 possession. 135 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:44,440 And now turn back with me again to Ephesians chapter 1 as we see a third truth or devotional 136 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:52,620 thought regarding the fact that we are a peculiar people, a people of God's own possession. 137 00:13:52,620 --> 00:13:58,240 It is this, that we are a preserved possession. 138 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:03,280 Now this bridges into what we talked about this morning in the conclusion of Romans chapter 139 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:04,280 8. 140 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:05,760 But let's talk about it some more. 141 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:07,600 It's a wonderful truth. 142 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:11,020 We are a preserved possession. 143 00:14:11,020 --> 00:14:19,600 In verse 13 of Ephesians 1 he says, in Him you also, after listening to the message of 144 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:28,280 truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed you were sealed in Him with 145 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:37,000 the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance. 146 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:44,340 You and I have been sealed into Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. 147 00:14:44,340 --> 00:14:50,160 This word for seal is the same word that is used in the gospels for the sealing of the 148 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:53,720 tomb of Jesus Christ. 149 00:14:53,720 --> 00:15:01,300 What that seal of the Roman government was to secure was His body, to be sure that no 150 00:15:01,300 --> 00:15:06,280 one would dare to take that body out of the grave. 151 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:11,440 It was under the protection of the Roman government, and if anyone were to steal that body, the 152 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:16,000 wrath of Rome would be upon him. 153 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:18,960 It was a means of securing His body. 154 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:23,740 Of course it didn't do a lot of good, did it? 155 00:15:23,740 --> 00:15:27,280 Because God raised Him from the dead, and the Roman government couldn't do a whole 156 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:29,400 lot about it. 157 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:39,140 But the same idea of the seal to secure and to protect and to preserve is the thought 158 00:15:39,140 --> 00:15:41,640 that is found here. 159 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:49,160 Having trusted Jesus Christ, we were then at that same time sealed or preserved in Jesus 160 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:50,160 Christ. 161 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:53,240 You may remember our brief series in Jude. 162 00:15:53,240 --> 00:16:04,100 Jude begins his book by telling us that we are preserved for Jesus Christ. 163 00:16:04,100 --> 00:16:08,840 As the Apostle Paul comes to the end of his life and his ministry, he writes to his beloved 164 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:19,320 son Timothy, and he reminds him that we, as he the Apostle, are preserved for His heavenly 165 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:21,880 kingdom. 166 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:34,760 In 1 Thessalonians 5, 23, he says that we are preserved holy, h-o-l-y, and holy, w-h-o-l-l-y, 167 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:42,600 that is, in body, soul, and spirit, all of us in total are preserved, kept under that 168 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:47,440 time when Jesus Christ will come. 169 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:52,280 There is no doubt about our full salvation. 170 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:59,640 Once God has begun a work in you, He will not quit until that day that He has completed 171 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:05,640 that work, Philippians 1.6, and that day will be the day when Jesus Christ will call us 172 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:07,560 out to Himself. 173 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:09,960 We are preserved unto that day. 174 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:18,360 It really makes no difference whether we are post-trib, mid-trib, or pro-trib, or if we 175 00:17:18,360 --> 00:17:20,080 are pre-trib. 176 00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:26,460 The fact is that when Jesus Christ comes again, we are preserved unto that day when He shall 177 00:17:26,460 --> 00:17:27,460 come. 178 00:17:27,460 --> 00:17:31,480 Now, of course, those who are mid-trib and post-trib are going to learn the truth that 179 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:34,440 we are pre-trib on that day. 180 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:37,660 No matter what they believe now, the truth is the same. 181 00:17:37,660 --> 00:17:43,960 We are preserved to that day and kept for Jesus Christ. 182 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:50,440 Not only are we a purchased possession and a precious possession and a preserved possession, 183 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:55,080 but finally we are a protected possession. 184 00:17:55,080 --> 00:18:03,520 1 Corinthians 10 is the focus of my thought as I talk about our protection. 185 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:11,520 Here I am thinking about our protection in trial and temptation. 186 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:18,120 He says in verse 12, Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 187 00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:19,120 Take heed of what? 188 00:18:19,120 --> 00:18:25,840 Take heed of the warning of ancient Israel as he spoke in these previous verses. 189 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:29,880 For they fell in the time of trial. 190 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:39,400 But he says in verse 13, No temptation has overtaken you, but such as is common to men. 191 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:47,280 And God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. 192 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:54,680 But with the temptation will provide the way of escape also that you may be able to endure 193 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:56,160 it. 194 00:18:56,160 --> 00:19:02,520 God does not tempt us with evil, but God does allow us to pass through tests. 195 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:12,520 Frequently Satan will use those same occasions to bring us a temptation to evil. 196 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:16,480 So either way you want to read this, it makes really no difference. 197 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:25,520 We are a protected possession because when the test comes upon us, God guarantees you 198 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:33,800 and me that that test, or if we look at it from the standpoint of Satan using it as a 199 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:41,760 temptation to evil, that test will not be more than we are able to bear. 200 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:50,720 God protects us just as He protected Job by that hedge that He put about him. 201 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:57,040 God said, well the test can go this far, and then later He said, well it can go this far, 202 00:19:57,040 --> 00:19:59,340 but that's the limit. 203 00:19:59,340 --> 00:20:04,200 You and I are protected by God. 204 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:06,880 He is with us in the time of trial. 205 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:12,320 He does not leave us alone to see how we are going to do, but He passes with us into that 206 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:22,080 fiery trial, there to be sure that however much we are stretched, it is not to the point 207 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:24,840 that we have to break. 208 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:30,560 Now we may, if we don't take the way of escape, and that does not necessarily mean that God 209 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:38,560 is going to suddenly relieve us from the trial, it also may mean that He will strengthen us 210 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:41,200 through the trial. 211 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:47,000 Remember in Isaiah He said, when you pass through the water and the fire, I will be 212 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:48,600 with you. 213 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:54,560 He doesn't always choose to take us out of the middle of it, but He is there to protect 214 00:20:54,560 --> 00:21:00,280 us to be sure that it does not go to the point that we have to break, we have to give in, 215 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:02,080 we have to yield. 216 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:05,240 This is wonderfully illustrated back in Genesis 14. 217 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:08,040 You may want to look back there with me. 218 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:18,080 An interesting chapter included in the Word of God here only because of an experience 219 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:27,600 of Abram and Lot, his nephew, a man who as a carnal believer, a worldly man, though saved, 220 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:30,960 got into a lot of trouble. 221 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,880 This is one of those times when he got into trouble because the people he was living with 222 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:39,280 were attacked and all of them were taken away captive. 223 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:46,680 Abram got his forces together and went after them so that he might deliver his nephew Lot. 224 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:52,680 He defeated those who had taken them captive and brought them back. 225 00:21:52,680 --> 00:22:00,280 It says in verse 17, then after his return from the defeat of Kedah Leomer and the kings 226 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:07,280 who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him, that is Abram, at the valley 227 00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:12,640 of Sheva, that is the king's valley. 228 00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:15,600 So there is this meeting. 229 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:20,320 The king of Sodom is coming out to meet Abram. 230 00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:28,400 His purpose in coming is to offer unto Abram the spoils of the battle. 231 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:34,840 He is naturally grateful for what Abram has done in delivering many of his subjects, his 232 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,440 citizens, from those enemies. 233 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:47,880 And so he comes out in order to give to Abram a gift, as it were, for that. 234 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:54,880 Well, as he approaches, it says in verse 18, there is another figure who comes. 235 00:22:54,880 --> 00:23:00,760 Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. 236 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:04,840 Now he was a priest of God most high. 237 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:15,000 It would seem in that day that there was in the area of Salem, Jerusalem, as we know it 238 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:22,120 today, a colony of people who worshiped the true God. 239 00:23:22,120 --> 00:23:30,880 There in the midst of the pagan idolatry of Canaan, there were some who knew God. 240 00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:39,840 And their leader, Melchizedek, whose name means king of righteousness, came out to Abram 241 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:44,900 before the king of Sodom got there with his offer. 242 00:23:44,900 --> 00:23:45,900 What did he do? 243 00:23:45,900 --> 00:23:48,440 Well, he brought out bread and wine. 244 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:54,940 He brought out refreshment that Abram might be strengthened. 245 00:23:54,940 --> 00:24:02,360 And it says that he blessed him and said, blessed be Abram of God most high, possessor 246 00:24:02,360 --> 00:24:08,640 of heaven and earth, and blessed be God most high who has delivered your enemies into your 247 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:10,240 hand. 248 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:17,120 And he, now this is Abram, gave him, Melchizedek, a tenth of all. 249 00:24:17,120 --> 00:24:18,720 He tithed to him. 250 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:24,200 This by the way is the only record we have of Abram giving a tithe. 251 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:32,840 He gave him a tithe of all, probably all the spoils, perhaps all that he had, whichever 252 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:38,640 it was an offering unto God given to this man, Melchizedek. 253 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:43,920 Now some believe that Melchizedek was in fact a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ, 254 00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:44,920 and that may be. 255 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:51,520 Personally, I rather take it that he was a literal historical figure, a man, but certainly 256 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:58,320 a type of Jesus Christ, as the writer of Hebrews tells us. 257 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:04,000 After this encounter with Melchizedek, it says in verse 21, the king of Sodom said to 258 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:09,560 Abram, Give the people to me, and take the goods for yourself. 259 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:14,160 Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have sworn to the Lord God most high, possessor of heaven 260 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:20,200 and earth, that I will not take a thread, or a sandal thong, or anything that is yours, 261 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:23,760 lest you should say I have made Abram rich. 262 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:27,800 I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who 263 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:33,940 went with me, anor eshkol and mammory, let them take their share. 264 00:25:33,940 --> 00:25:42,440 The king of Sodom came with a very subtle temptation for Abram. 265 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:49,880 If Abram had taken those spoils, then it would have been an occasion for this pagan king 266 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:54,400 to say, I am the one who has enriched Abram. 267 00:25:54,400 --> 00:26:00,800 And Abram would have become, as it were, a vassal to this man, or he would have become 268 00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:10,480 indebted to him, in some way obligated to him, and Abram would have none of that. 269 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:19,040 He saw the compromise to his testimony that that would bring, and so he refused the temptation 270 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:22,520 and explained to the man why. 271 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:29,140 Now the point I am making is this in the illustration, that in the midst of that test, at that time 272 00:26:29,140 --> 00:26:35,800 of trial, just as the temptation was coming, this one Melchizedek came and strengthened 273 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:46,120 Abram so that he was ready for that temptation, was alert to it, and did not fall. 274 00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:55,800 And so it is, my friend, when the king of Sodom comes to you and subtly tempts you in 275 00:26:55,800 --> 00:27:03,560 some way to compromise yourself, that the Lord Jesus Christ, the true King of Salem, 276 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:09,240 the King of Righteousness, is there with you to strengthen you, to protect you in that 277 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:16,860 time, so that you do not have to yield in that time of test and temptation. 278 00:27:16,860 --> 00:27:22,560 His grace is made sufficient for you, even in your time of weakness. 279 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:26,320 He is able to keep you from falling. 280 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:34,520 So we are His peculiar people, His own special possession, acquired, purchased, precious, 281 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:39,080 preserved and protected. 282 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:43,040 Are you living in the light of who you are? 283 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:50,800 Are you experiencing the victory over temptation in your own life? 284 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:56,920 Are you on your knees before your God daily thanking Him for the security, for the purchase 285 00:27:56,920 --> 00:27:59,040 price? 286 00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:06,160 Are you yielding up yourself to Him daily as His slave, His glad, His willing slave, 287 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:10,000 saying, Lord, today what are my orders? 288 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:12,940 Today who do I talk to? 289 00:28:12,940 --> 00:28:15,200 Today who do I bless? 290 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:19,980 Today how can I express Your love to someone? 291 00:28:19,980 --> 00:28:25,760 Today Lord, who would You touch through me? 292 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:27,260 We are a purchased possession. 293 00:28:27,260 --> 00:28:28,880 We are not our own. 294 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:30,800 That we may glorify Him in our body. 295 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:36,000 And may that be our daily realization and our practice. 296 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:49,200 I'd like for us to turn in our hymnals now and sing verses 1 and 4 of number 70. 297 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:54,600 And it may be this evening that you are burdened about something in your walk with God. 298 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:57,680 You would like someone to pray with you. 299 00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:00,680 There is some spiritual commitment you want to make public. 300 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:05,480 Perhaps tonight you want to become one of the Lord's own. 301 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:06,640 You may. 302 00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:10,400 If you will call upon the name of the Lord, you shall be saved. 303 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:19,240 And you too will become a peculiar person, a special possession belonging to the Lord.