JEHOVAH-ELYON” (The Lord God Most High!) TEXT: Gen. 14:18-24 INTRO: Those things we hold dearest, we hold highest in our hearts and minds: 1. America: The greatest country in our hearts has caused some to give their greatest sacrifice -- their lives! 2. Family: Parents have died to save their children, those they hold highest in their hearts. 3. Men have given up kingdoms for the woman they loved, and held highest in their heart 4. You can tell what a man or woman holds highest in the hearts by the devotion and sacrifices they give to whatever that is! How we decide our budgets and our priorities says a lot about us … and these things are more than just secular pursuits. A budget is a theological document. It indicates who or what we worship. -- It only takes a small amount of silver to obscure our view of others and their needs and what God wants us to see, we must be careful to remember that material things are simply temporal in nature, not eternal. The lure for the “stuff” of this world can quickly obscure our view of spiritual realities no matter how well intended we are. The Bible tells us that God is the Lord Most High, if He is in our hearts as the highest desire then our life is both blessed and a blessing. There is none greater or higher than He, and therefore there is no greater blessing! Our devotion may reflect how high in our hearts He truly is! I. BLESSED BY GOD MOST HIGH Gen. 14:18-19 A. Bread & Wine Gen. 14:18 1. Abram had just fought a tough battle to free some family members and others who really didn’t deserve freedom … he could have justified the bounty he was about to receive financially. 2. Abram was exhausted after the battle; he needed something and someone to help him. Melchizedek king of Salem comes to him to ministerto him. a. Refreshed Abram. b. Strengthened Abram. 3. That which we hold “Most High” will be that which “blesses us Most!” a. Therefore the blessing will be only as good as the object offering it! b. Anything temporal in nature that we hold most high is only going to give a temporal blessing: (1. A sports car – until it decays! (2. Money – until you die, or go broke and take nothing with you in your grave. (3. Job – until you get laid off or retire. And if you are obsessed with your body by trying to do plastic surgery to stay young , or spend more time in the gym than with God. All you really doing is trying to make sure your body looks good in your grave that’s it. (4. But God is forever! Most high, and so are His blessings! 4. Abram was more interested in the “Bread and Wine” from the Lord’s servant than he was for the loot from the King of Sodom! a. Why? b. He wasn’t as concerned about material things! 5. Unlike the King of Sodom, the King of Salem had come to strengthen Abram spiritually and emotionally – not just materially. 6. The King of Salem had come to “commune” with Abram – bread and wine are symbols of communion. 7. Can anything else be higher than God? NO! Therefore no blessing can be greater than Gods! B. Blessing Abram Gen. 14:19 1. What a privilege! a. Blessed is a concept meaning happy. b. God can bring true happiness and it will last, material things can’t do this! Money is a universal provider for most everything but happiness and a universal passport to most any place but heaven. -- c. God loves to bless His people with real happiness. 2. It is a personal touch of God that He blessed Abram with, so it is today with us as well. a. Abram’s blessings were coming from the God who created the heavens and the earth – it doesn’t get any higher than this! b. No greater blessing can come from any source higher than the creator of all things! II. BLESSED BE GOD MOST HIGH! Gen. 14:20 A. Bringer of Victory! Gen. 14:20a 1. God deserves our blessing Him! a. He has done great things! b. The victories we experience come from Him. c. Lets be careful to give Him praise! 2. Even in the midst of enemies we can recognize the privilege of responding to God in giving, for God is the one who gives us victory over our enemies; and He is the one who gives us everything! 3. We should sing, pray, speak about Gods greatness, He is most High! a. Ultimately it is God’s hand that grants us the victories we experience. b. God is concerned that we win in battle. B. Bounty Given! Gen. 14:20b 1. Notice that Abram not only verbally blessed God but demonstrated it tangibly. a. Cheerful giver – he gave a tenth of everything he had. b. Tithes given as expression of blessing and joy. c. A way of showing that his desire to bless God in more than words! 2. Not tithing because he had to but because he wanted to! (The law had not established it yet, the law was more than 400 years away yet!) a. So many say tithing was a part of the law … well, this was before the law! Just like tithing today is after the law! b. This was one way Abram expressed his blessing to God, and it was an important way. c. Abram didn’t decide to tithe because he thought he HAD to do this, or because it might become a LAW at some point … his view of material things was such that giving to God was a joy already, his heart was already fixed on God so the “stuff” was not important already! Some say, dedicate the heart and the money will follow; but our Lord put it the other way around. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. If your treasure is dedicated, your heart will be dedicated. If it is not, it simply wont. It is as simple as that. -- d. He also did other things as well. 3. Abram gave a tithe of everything! a. Not just money. b. How about giving God your time ... it would be a real blessing to the Lord to have your time occasionally! c. How about giving God the use of your talents ... it too would bless Him! d. But giving God these other things are not in place of the tithe, they are in addition to them. III. BELONGING TO GOD MOST HIGH Gen. 14:21-24 A. Better Belongings! Gen. 14:21-23 1. The World can only offer us temporal things: a. Food b. Money c. Buildings & things, etc. 2. God offers us better belongings, He makes us rich: a. Mercy b. Love c. Forgiveness d. Joy e. Faith f. Eternal life! 3. Whoever or whatever is most high in your mind and heart will determine the kind belongings you receive! a. Most high goods. b. Most High God! 4. Abram didnt even want the world to think it could make him rich! Only God could really do that. Gods riches are different than this world’s stuff. a. Abram wasn’t saying he didn’t need earthly things, b. He was just saying by refusing the King of Sodom’s offer of the worlds goods that the things of this world can’t make a man truly rich. If you are stingy with a small income, its likely youll not be generous with a large one. c. This is demonstrated by the fact he allowed the other men to receive the goods. He was happy however with just God! 5. Abram wasn’t interested in the wealth of this world, his confidence and trust was in God Himself. Theres no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery. -- a. What would be the point to getting all the wealth of Sodom anyway? b. When Abram could have the blessings of God through His servant the King of Salem, why settle for the wealth of Sodom which will soon pass away! c. As said above by Colonel Sanders … what’s the point to being the richest man in the cemetery!? Better to be wealthy in Heaven! B. Belonging to God Gen. 14:24 1. This world cannot offer us anything that will make us truly rich! 2. If the stuff of this world is where we find our happiness, then it is where we find our God! We belong to what we seek! a. Thats why Jesus said, seek and ye shall find. b. What are you seeking for in this life? 3. If our happiness lies in our relationship to God, then we belong to Him and find our happiness in Him. 4. Abram would accept nothing less than belonging to God, why take something that wont be that valuable in the end like the things of this world, when He could have the God Most High! a. Abram wasn’t opposed to owning things, just opposed to things owning him! b. His refusal was a refusal to allow the king to think that the goods he offered him would make him rich and happy. Wealth and happiness he already had ... the kind that has no end to it! c. So he wouldnt take anything less than the best! God Most High! How about you ... are you willing to settle for something less? What troubles us most is what we belong to; is it lack of finances, or lack of faith? Is it absence of goods or absence of God? Whats most high in your heart will be most high in your devotion. Is God Jehovah-Elyon (God Most High) in your heart!? What goes up will come down, and whatever, you devoted yourself to is your God. Isaiah 14:14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. God kick Lucifer out from heaven because of Pride. If anyone thinks they are bigger than the Most High God they are delusional.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 19:14:13 +0000