THE INTEGRITY OF ABRAHAM

TEXT: GENESIS 14:1-24

INTRODUCTION

Today we continue to look at the life and ministry of Abraham the father of the faithful. Last Sunday we discussed the altars of Abraham. Abraham had three kinds of altars. Altar of personal prayer at Shechem, Altar of Congregational prayer at Bethel and Altar of Ministry at Hebron. Today let us discuss the integrity of Abraham. Integrity means a person who has high moral standards. A person of integrity always seeks the right ways. He does not have shortcuts to achievements like bribe or sex for grades. There is something called Biblical Integrity- It means seeking the standards and the ways of God. God wants us to maintain His standards in our lives.

Our integrity will always be tested in real-life situations. How do you respond to problems in your life? Do you maintain Godly standards in your trials? Let us discuss:-

I.  WHAT INTEGRITY DOES IN OUR LIVES

1. Integrity gives us guidance in life (Proverbs 11:1-10)
2. Integrity gives us hope (Job 4:6)
3. Integrity gives us security (Proverbs 10:9)
4. Integrity gives us protection (Psalms 25:21)

II.  BRIEF HISTORY OF ABRAHAM (Gen 14:1-24)

• Abraham and Lot separated (Gen 13)
• Lot took up the plains of Sodom and Gomorrah
• Abraham took Hebron and put his tent there
• Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim had their own kings
• These four kings were all under the superpower, KEDORLAOMER, King of Elam.
• For 12years they paid tribute in terms of money and wealth to kedorlaomer.
• On the 13^th year, the four kings rebelled and on the 14^th year, king Kedorlaomer and his allies went for war against the four kingdoms.
• King Kedorlaomer defeated the four kings, taking captives including Lot and his family.
• Abraham the man of peace went to war to rescue his nephew Lot and his family.
• Like Abraham, we are people of peace, but we have a war to fight.
• Our warfare is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and rulers of darkness.
• Our enemy is Satan, who has taken away our peace, joy our friends and relatives.
• For some of us, Satan has brought sickness, poverty and put us in court cases.
• We must take back what the devil has taken from us, a man of integrity goes to war.

III.  INTEGRITY OF ABRAHAM

1. Integrity in opposing evil.

• Abraham opposed Kedorlaomer in taking Lot into captivity
• We must oppose Satan in taking us and relatives into captivity.
• We must oppose the evil in society and bring people into the presence of God through warfare.
• We must put on the whole armour of God and pray in the Holy Spirit on all occasions (Eph. 6:10-14)
• The key to fighting this was is our integrity
• Abraham knew that God would protect him in his warfare.
• Abraham was a man of integrity in his warfare

2. Integrity in worship

• Abraham won the war against Kedorlaomer
• Now the king of Sodom and king of Salem came to meet Abraham.
• Abraham had a deeper talk with Melchizedek, King of Salem, the priest of the Most High God. Both exalted the Name of the Lord.
• Abraham worshipped and exalted God for his success
• Abraham knew that success was a blessing from God
• Abraham gave full credit to God for his success
• Abraham was a man of integrity in his worship.

3. Integrity in tithing (24:19-20)

• Abraham gave a tithe of everything
• This was a voluntary act by Abraham. He tithed voluntarily because he knew tithing was a way of honouring God.
• Do you tithe for the blessings that God has showered upon you? Learn to tithe.

4. Integrity in gaining wealth (24:21-24)

• Abraham bought back all the riches and plunder
• Abraham had every right to keep all, but he took nothing.
• He trusted God for his needs. A man of integrity never takes any shortcut to gain wealth.

CONCLUSION

• Abraham was a man of Biblical Integrity
• Abraham had very high standards of moral values
• He had integrity in warfare, worship, tithing and wealth
• His integrity guided him, gave him security, hope and protection
• Let us examine our ways, where we lack integrity.