2 CORINTHIANS 6:1-10

In this passage of Scripture, we see the breakdown Paul uses in regard to what I would call spiritual leadership. In leadership two words must be kept in mind: servant and example.

Paul, in bringing out the breakdown, brings in the internal conflicts that one faces in his Christian life, but even more in leadership. 2 Corinthians 6:4 “Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses…”

Great endurance or patience (hupomonee). This brings home the idea of being able to stick to the job, continuance, cheerful, hopeful; he never quits or gives up but finishes what has been started.

Troubles and afflictions: The idea here is that the leader is like a high priest and able to comfort others. “…who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:4

Hardships or necessities (anankee): This seems to be a reference to the inescapable needs of life. Paul mentioned how in the times he was hungry, thirsty, without sleep and concern for all the churches that he worked with.

Distresses (stenokoria): This brings out the idea of a narrowness of room, cramped or to hem in closely; one wrong step and you are in distress. We need to know the endurance of God in our lives.

Paul is also bringing out the external conflicts as well “in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings.”

Stripes or beatings (plege): Paul faced the Jewish whips, Roman rods in the beatings that he took. WE might not face this, but what about ridicule, etc.?

Imprisonment: This most usually follows stripes and beatings with rods that Paul faced.

Tumults: What did Paul face as he went forth with the Gospel of God’s truth? Hopelessness, wanderings, obscurity, commotions, instability, confusion to name a few. Paul also brings out what we could call vocational conflicts when it comes to the ministry… “in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings.”

Labors (kopos): Working for Christ to almost exhaustion brings out the idea of trouble, weariness, toil, pain.

Watching or sleepiness (agrupnia): Paul spent nights in prayer, times of peril, counseling, preaching, keeping awake in order to watch for what he needed to pray about.

Fastings (nesteia): Going without food voluntary, or sometimes because of lack of food. There were occasions when he went hungry for the Gospel’s sake.

Next in Paul’s breakdown we see our moral obligations. Two things mentioned here: what we are and what we do.  “…by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love…” 2 Corinthians 6:6

Purity (hagnotes): Speaks of sincerity, transparency, cleanness, blameless to be above reproach.

Knowledge (gnosis): Brings out the idea of having the knowledge of what to do; what the goals are, what needs to be done; sanctified common sense.

Longsuffering (makrothymia): Forbearance, patience with people, courtesy under criticism; learning to give God time to finish what He started.

Kindness (kreestoteres): Goodness, gentleness, putting others at ease.

Holy Spirit: All would be impossible without God’s Spirit.

Love unfeigned (anupokritos): This is the fruit of the Spirit. An expression for the need of genuine love. To ‘feign’ is to play act; hypocritical.

Moral Obligation: What we should do.  2 Corinthians 6:7 “…by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left…”

Word of Truth: Declaration of the truth; not exaggerating or twisting the truth.

Power of God: We know from 2 Corinthians 4:7 that we have this treasure (Jesus Christ) in us and in whom the fulness of the Godhead bodily dwells. Paul came in weakness and fear, but with the power of God.

Armor of righteousness on the right hand and left. Right hand: We have the offensive weapon of the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Left hand: We have the shield of faith that protects us from all the fiery darts of the enemy.

Here we have the paradoxes of leadership: 2 Corinthians 6:8-10 “…by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.”

Honor and dishonor: Sometimes we are flattered and sometimes we are flattened.

Evil report and good report: Luke 6:22-23 “Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.”

Deceivers and yet true: Christ was called a deceiver which means a deliberate imposter.

Unknown and yet known: Ignored and yet recognized. Paul was known in hell. (Acts 19:15)

Dying and yet, behold we live: I think of Paul when he was stoned.

Chasten and not killed: Discipline of suffering. “He chastened me sore.” (The Psalmist)

Sorrowful, but always rejoicing: Here we have ‘holy’ sorrow and ‘holy’ joy.

Poor yet making many rich: Peter saying, “Silver and gold I do not have, but in the name of the Lord Jesus stand up and walk.” Acts 3:6

Having nothing, but possessing all things: Inheriting the universe. We have been given the Holy Spirit as a down payment for what is to come. Romans 8:16, 17 and Ephesians 1:13,14.

NEEDED: SPIRITUAL LEADERS!

When it comes to leadership there are several things to keep in mind. It is easy to find a teacher on how to teach you to play chess, build a house, sail a boat, etc., but it would be a little more difficult for someone to teach you how to be courageous, optimistic, inspiring or other qualities of leadership.

The question is: Is it possible to train people to become leaders? One can learn to lead, but one cannot really learn to become a leader. Many companies send their people to training programs to become leaders and so many of these programs approach training in many different ways. When it comes to training in different professions the training programs are quite the same, but with leadership it is different and perhaps the reason why is that not everyone agrees what leadership even means.

With what is already brought out about a leader being courageous, optimistic, and inspiring I would like to also mention three other things as well when it comes to spiritual leadership.

1 Chronicles 12:32 “…men of Issachar, who understood the times (seasons) and knew what Israel should do.”  Situations that are stressful, fearful, chaotic have probably produced more leaders than many of the training programs put together.

In times of uncertainty people turn to those who are fearless and who seem to know what is going on and the direction in which people or events should be moving. In spiritual leadership a leader must have a sense of what is happening, and how to respond, and have the ability to take others with him/her.

Jeremiah 23:18 “But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word?”

John 16:13 “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”

Spiritual leaders are men/women of the Bible, God’s written Word. They hear what the Lord is saying that leads them into what they should do. It is important that when we hear the Word, we speak it out loud and know that the Word will accomplish what it was sent to do. The Word and the Spirit work together to reveal what is happening and giving us the wisdom to know what to do.

We can also learn to see clues in the present that foreshadow what is coming. Cicero said, “It was ordained at the beginning of the world that certain signs should prefigure certain events.”

One clue would be Isaac Newton’s first ‘law of motion’ that states that an object will tend to stay in motion or continue in doing whatever it was doing – unless acted upon by some outside force.  If things are steady and stable, they will continue that way unless acted upon by some outside force. So, we learn to pay attention to what is happening.

Patrick Henry in his famous 1775 speech said: “I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House.”

Rabbi Daniel Lapin said: “If you want to know tomorrow, you must know yesterday.” One of Judaism’s best known aphorisms: “Whatever has been is what will be and whatever has been done is what will be done.”

Jeremiah the prophet, in addressing Shallum, King of Judea, son of Josiah said: “Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. Jeremiah 22:15

In spiritual leadership it is the ‘inward’ that speaks and not the ‘outward.’ I am not saying that it is not important on how we dress and take care of ourselves outwardly, but when it comes to spiritual leadership it matters most who a man is ‘inwardly’ instead of outwardly.

Paul told Timothy to appoint leaders in the church (bishops, elders, deacons) who ‘must be’ above reproach. Today we have turned the ‘must be’ into ‘it would be nice.’ Character is important.

1 Corinthians 1:10 “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.”

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”

Paul was a peacemaker, a quality of spiritual leadership. Paul recognized the need for unity in the Body of Christ. The word Paul uses for being ‘perfectly united’ is the word ‘katartizo’ and is used in Matthew 4:21  “And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending (katartizo) their nets; and he called them.” To keep the fish in the net they need to make sure that there are no holes, or the fish will be lost; so it is with the Church. If we do not mend our nets, mend relationships then people are lost. Disunity in the Body of Christ has done more damage to the cause of Christ than anything else.

THE GREAT NEED TODAY IS FOR LEADERS WHO CAN MEND THE NETS.

Leadership is not a noun; it is a verb. Leadership is not an identity; it is an action.

We are living in exciting days. We were given a task as the Church and Bride of Christ to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. We know where we are and what still needs to be done to finish the task. The Church has the resources that are needed to finish the job, but the one great lack is spiritual leadership.

We need leaders today who can see what is coming; who know what the Church needs to do and be able to go beyond denominational barriers and bring unity to the Body of Christ.

Leadership is not a dictatorship but rather an example. Leadership is not about having a certain amount of charisma. Like it says, leadership is a verb, it is action, an action that is seen by example.

Paul said: “Follow me, because I follow the Lord Jesus.” What do we see with Jesus? “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, goes he before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” John 10:3-4

Jesus does not drive them – He leads them. To lead we must know where we are going and how to take others with us. To know where we are going, we need to have a grasp of the pressing issues of today. Once this has taken place then it is necessary to throw ourselves into the task and then do it as unto the Lord.

I think of William Carey (the father of the modern mission movement), Hudson Taylor (who opened the interior of China to the Gospel) and Cameron Townsend (who had a desire to get the Living Word of God into every language of the world). They threw themselves into the task and many have followed since.

When Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica he mentioned: “…remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father.”  These three virtues are the necessities for spiritual leadership: faith, hope and love.

We know from what Apostle James taught that “faith without works is dead.” A man who believes will also obey, and God gives increasing faith to the obedient heart. Often along with obedience comes sacrifice, but love will carry us through, and hope gives us the patience to keep on keeping on – even in the midst of difficulties.

It is said of Hudson Taylor that when the Boxer uprising took place in China – mission after mission was closed down, missionaries were being killed and telegrams were coming across his desk telling of the grim news. Taylor could be heard humming the children’s hymn “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” This is the work of faith, labor of love and patience of hope. This is a great need today.

Another great need in spiritual leadership is learning to stand and divide over the ‘right’ things or issues. The problem that Paul faced with the Corinthian church is they were standing and dividing over the wrong things. Paul wrote 14 letters (chapters in 1 Corinthians) telling them that they were standing and dividing over the wrong things and this is what we often see today. They stood and divided over what I would call ‘a party spirit’ or what we could call denominations today.

“Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, ‘I am of Paul,’ or ‘I am of Apollos,’ or ‘I am of Cephas,’ or ‘I am of Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”

Another aspect of the Corinthian church is what I would call ‘intellectualism.’ “Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.”

There was an arrogance and tendency to look down on their less gifted brethren. They were also standing on what could be called ‘false spirituality.’ The Corinthian church was a gifted church and it seems that they were lifting one gift of tongues above the rest.

We see Paul dealing with all three issues and this is also true with spiritual leadership. Finally, after 14 letters, Paul tells them what to stand on and this is what spiritual leadership will do as well.

1 Corinthians 15:1 “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.”  Paul goes on to describe what the Gospel is: 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”

If Christ died for our sins, then we need to recognize that we are all sinners. He was buried and rose again, and this is true for there were a number of eyewitnesses. Twice it is mentioned “according to the Scriptures.”

This is what true spiritual leadership will stand on. It has been prophesied about a billion souls still coming to Christ. If this is to happen might the Lord raise up true spiritual leaders.

When I look at the riots taking place in our cities, destructions of property, loss of life, personal injuries, public services being interrupted and the riot police stepping in – the tendency for us is to become alarmed, fearful and wanting to know who or what is the culprit behind it all, and who to blame.

With that in mind, we begin to hear all of the assumptions being made in trying to answer that one question, and so begins the finger pointing: It is Trump and his tweets that are causing all of this damage, or it is the progressives and their ideology, or it is Antifa, or some other radical group. Or we can play the “race card:” it is the blacks or white supremacy, etc.

When I look at Face-Book and read what is being written, the one thing that comes out is that we all have our opinions of what is wrong. Then the debates come, arguments, reasoning in why we are right in what we are expressing or believing is the real problem.

I can understand that with the secular world having their opinion and agenda – politicians quick to blame the opposing side, and it is not unusual to twist the facts and lie in order to try and support what they think is the real problem and how to fix it. But what about those who call themselves “Christians,” who are known as the Body of Christ? Do WE see things differently? Or, have WE been ‘taken in’ by the media, politicians, propaganda that is being broadcasted to us 24/7. Are WE in the process of becoming brain-washed to believe in a way that might not be the will of God? I am asking these questions, not that I have the answers, but knowing that in these last days we are living in times of great deception. If there was a time for discernment, it is NOW!

I praise the Lord for the Word of God because it is the one source of truth, facts that we need to stand on. In God’s Word we are told: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:11

There is a desperate need today for men/women who can fight, pray and build; those who know who the REAL enemy is. By going against what we see happening today, and blaming flesh and blood, is like putting a band aid on a sore that needs to be cut out.

Yes, we see people (flesh and blood) doing what they are doing. We see Trumps tweets that we might not agree with, progressives’ solutions that seem lunacy to some, or the different destructive groups that come into incite the passions of people to do things that they would never do on their own.

But we seem to forget Ephesians 2:2-3 “…in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.”

We who know the Lord, seem to forget that those who do not know the Lord are not only dead in their sins and trespasses, but they are like puppets in the hands of the rulers, authorities, powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm. This is where the real battle is. This is where we fight. This is why the Lord has given us spiritual weapons to wage war against these forces. “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

I praise the Lord for the prayer groups that are growing, preparing for more to come; coming together around the world taking their stands against the Leviathan spirit, Jezebel spirit and many other kinds of evil spirits – that are operating in the world system.

I praise the Lord for those who are not only preaching, but living out the Gospel because this is what we take our stand on, and it is the power of God that can change the heart (mind) of people, and the dynamite of God that can clear out evil authority.

What does it mean to live out the Gospel? Paul expressed it very well in Philippians 2:3-4 “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”

When I think of the divisions that we have today in our society it would seem to me that we as the Body of Christ have an important role to play. What would happen if all of us who are called by His name begin to act according to what Paul is saying right here in verses 3 and 4.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition.

Do nothing out of deceit.

In humility esteem others better than ourselves.

Look out for the interest of others before we look out for our own interests.

The question is: How can we begin to put this into operation?

First, we start with our selves. Where have we failed to act accordingly.

Second, within our own family.

Thirdly, in our jobs, professions, or sphere of work where the Lord has called us to labor.

This is the ‘mind’ of Christ and this is the mind (the way of thinking) that should be in us.

We need prayer that will engage the ‘real enemy.’

This is why I believe that one of the greatest needs today is for ‘spiritual leadership.’

1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-9

This Sunday we will be celebrating Pentecost. Something new happened at that time of the coming of the Holy Spirit. But 50 days earlier something else new took place and that is the resurrection of Christ.

We often look at Jesus dying on Friday, but how can that be if He spent three days and nights in Hades? Bible scholars say that Jesus must have died on Friday because they did not want anyone hanging on the cross during the Sabbath which would start on the evening of Friday at sunset.

However this seems to have been a special Sabbath and when we look at it – Jesus must have died on Wednesday before sunset and was buried, and if this is true then He had to rise between sunset and midnight on Saturday. This is why we worship on Sunday.

The question that comes to my mind is where Jesus went during those three days and 2 nights. His body was in the tomb, but His spirit was free. We are given the answer in 1 Peter 3:18-20. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.” Evidently, he went and preached to the people (spirits) who were drowned in Noah’s flood.

When we think of the Resurrection how do we know that it really happened? We do not have any physical evidence or scientific evidence. There was no way we could measure it scientifically. So how do we know? We do have what is known as legal proofs that David Pawson brings out. In this there are two things: eyewitnesses as well as circumstantial evidence.

Often in eyewitness accounts there will be different perspectives. No two eyewitnesses will bring out the same thing. For example, when my brother and sister got killed in a car accident my other sister and her fiancé along with me saw the accident. But when we gave an account, we did not bring out the same details, but different perspectives of what happened. Having these different perspectives made the eyewitness more believable. If the three of us had said the same thing then it would seem like we have made it up.

When we examine the eyewitnesses of the resurrection, we see that there are different perspectives and details that are brought out. We see this with the four Gospels, and this is what makes the Resurrection of Christ believable.

When a witness comes forward to testify, they bring about a number of incidents or circumstances that seems to point to the same thing that proves the reality of the event.

What circumstances do we see with the resurrection of Christ?

First, of all we do not see any conspiracy during the whole life of Christ until the Resurrection.

Secondly, we see the change with boldness of disciples. Before they were hiding in fear, but now we find them preaching in the streets of Jerusalem with boldness. What happened?

Thirdly, we see a large number of Jews changing from Saturday to Sunday to worship. Why? What happened? Changing the day when Jews would worship was difficult. It would be like getting the Muslims to worship on Monday instead of Friday. Fourthly, we see lives that have been changed. I have seen this all over the world. Again, what happened? Fifthly, we see the grave clothes and how they were laid out when Peter and John went to the tomb. We know from the burial of Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead on the fourth day that they had to release him from his burial clothes. When they buried a person, they wrapped him in layers of long sheets, laden with perfumes, etc., that would go to his shoulders leaving the face bare but would have the top of the head wrapped in a cloth. When they saw the burial cloth laying the way it was it showed a Resurrection of the body. They did not have to unwrap Jesus.

The Resurrection showed the world who He was and His purpose. He died at the age of 33 and we are told that we will be like Him. It would seem to indicate that when we are resurrected, we too will be in the prime of life as Jesus was at 33 for all eternity!

The Resurrection also showed that God is doing something new. Didn’t He say that He makes all things new? When Jesus came the first time a body was prepared for Him in the womb of Mary, but in the tomb God prepared, created a new body for Jesus.

Because of the resurrection we have a new relationship with God, we can now enter the Holy of Holies and call Him Father. We can talk with Him and He with us. Someone asked a man how he knew that Jesus is alive and he replied: “I just talked with Him.”

There will be two resurrections separated by a thousand years. The first resurrection is for the righteous and second for the unrighteous. There will also be two separate places. The righteous will be with God, but unrighteous will be without God. Since God is light and there is no God then it is complete blackness. We see Daniel, John and Paul all talking about this.

Revelation 22:20 “He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”  Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

Revelation 21:1 “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.”

Revelation 21:5 “Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’”

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth and on 6^th day He created man. In the Resurrection we see the reverse. God, in the tomb of Jesus, made a new man and then after He makes a new heaven and new earth. Why? God will reveal to us in the age to come. Blessed, the Scriptures say, are those who partake of the first resurrection.

GOD’S METHOD HEBREWS 11: 8-19

Looking at Scripture we see a particular method that God uses to train us for His work.

The method might change depending on the person and circumstances, but the basic principles are the same.

We see this with Abraham:

1. God gives us a vision in a general sense.
2. Then comes testing and through it purifying.
3. Further revelation of the vision when there is obedience.
4. Often, we will go through a number of cycles of testing and revelation.

For example: Genesis 12:1-3 “Now the Lord had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.  I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Here we see God calling Abraham and giving him a vision of a land that He will show Abraham, and with a promise that He will make Abraham into a great nation, and make Abraham’s name great. Then God adds the blessing and the curse. Quite a vision!

In Genesis 12:2 God told Abraham that He would show him the land, but only when he obeyed – God would give him the land. “Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.”

While in the land the testing comes: Genesis 12:10 “Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.”

We do not read that God told him to go to Egypt. Fear came into Abraham and perhaps he felt that he could not survive if he stayed in the land even with what God told him about blessing him.

We see the result in Abraham’s life in telling his wife, Sarah, to say that she is his sister instead of his wife in fear of being killed. Half-truths, lying and deception comes into Abraham’s life.

We see that there is no more revelation of the vision until Abraham comes back to the place of obedience. Genesis 13:3-4 “And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.”

When Abraham obeyed we see that there is further revelation: Genesis 13:14-15 “And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: ‘Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are — northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.”

However, we see another test comes to Abraham when he is offered the spoils of Sodom. Genesis 14:21-23 “Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, ‘Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.’ But Abram said to the king of Sodom, ‘I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’”

We read in verse 22 that Abraham made a vow to the Lord,  that he would not take anything from the king of Sodom so that it could not be said that the king made Abraham rich.

We read that when Abraham left Egypt – the king “treated Abram well for her sake (Sarah’s). He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.” (Genesis 12:16) So,  when Abraham left Egypt “he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.” Genesis 12:14

So, we see that when the king of Sodom offered Abraham the spoils he had learned his lesson from his experience in Egypt.

After this testing we see again that God gives further revelation to Abraham. Genesis 15:1 “After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.’” God shows Abraham the boundary of the land that He is giving:  “On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates.’” Genesis 15:15

In Genesis 16 another test comes that involved Sarah and her maidservant, Hagar. God had said He would give Abraham and Sarah an heir. They were both in their old age. Year after year passed by and nothing was coming about. Would they believe God, or should they take things into their own hand?

Abraham listens to his wife and takes Hagar to bed, and Hagar bears a son for Abraham. The advice sounds plausible and sensible and was keeping up with the customs of that day, but it was not God’s will or plan, and we see the results of this today in the Middle East.

There is no further revelation from God until Abraham is almost 100 years old. In chapter 18 God reveals to Abraham and Sarah that in about a years’ time she would be giving birth to a son, the child of God’s promise.

Lastly, in Genesis 22 we see the greatest test coming to Abraham: the sacrifice of his son, the son of promise. Genesis 22:1-2 “Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then He said, ‘Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.’”

What went through Abraham’s mind at that time one can only imagine, but he obeyed and, in that obedience, came the greatest revelation of all time: THE ROOT OF THE GOSPEL – GOD WILL SUPPLY!

They went to the region of Moriah. This is where the plague was stopped in King David’s time (2 Chronicles 3:1) and in New Testament time the region is the vicinity of Calvary where God’s Son, Jesus Christ, was crucified and died for the sins of the world.

Has God given you a vision? If so, testing times will come. So be obedient!