Men of the Bible Part 1

Men of the Bible.

by Dwight Moody.

ABRAHAM'S FOUR SURRENDERS

A great many people are afraid of the will of G.o.d, and yet I believe that one of the sweetest lessons that we can learn in the school of Christ is the surrender of our wills to G.o.d, letting Him plan for us and rule our lives. If I know my own mind, if an angel should come from the throne of G.o.d and tell me that I could have my will done the rest of my days on earth, and that everything I wished should be carried out, or that I might refer it back to G.o.d, and let G.o.d's will be done in me and through me, I think in an instant I would say:

"Let the will of G.o.d be done."

I cannot look into the future. I do not know what is going to happen to-morrow; in fact, I do not know what may happen before night; so I cannot choose for myself as well as G.o.d can choose for me, and it is much better to surrender my will to G.o.d's will. Abraham found this out, and I want to call your attention to four surrenders that he was called to make. I think that they give us a pretty good key to his life.

I

In the first place, Abraham was called to give up _his kindred and his native country_, and to go out, not knowing whither he went.

While men were busy building up Babylon, G.o.d called this man out of that nation of the Chaldeans. He lived down near the mouth of the Euphrates, perhaps three hundred miles south of Babylon, when he was called to go into a land that he perhaps had never heard of before, and to possess that land.

In the twelfth chapter of Genesis, the first four verses, we read:

"Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee." Now notice the promise: "And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy five years old and when he departed out of Haran."

It was several years before this that G.o.d first told him to leave Ur of the Chaldees. Then he came to Haran, which is about half-way between the valley of the Euphrates and the valley of the Jordan.

G.o.d had called him into the land of the Canaanite, and

HE CAME HALF-WAY,

and stayed there--we do not know just how long, but probably about five years.

Now, I believe that there are a great many Christians who are what might be called _Haran Christians_. They go to Haran, and there they stay. They only half obey. They are not out-and-out. How was it that G.o.d got him out of Haran? His father died. The first call was to leave Ur of the Chaldees and go into Canaan, but instead of going all the way they stopped half-way, and it was affliction that drove Abram out of Haran. A great many of us bring afflictions on ourselves, because we are not out-and-out for the Lord. We do not obey Him fully. G.o.d had plans He wanted to work out through Abram, and He could not work them out as long as he was there at Haran.

Affliction came, and then we find that he left Haran, and started for the Promised Land.

There is just one word there about Lot--"and Lot went with Abram."

That is the key, you might say, to Lot's life. He was a weaker character than Abram, and he followed his uncle.

When they got into the land that G.o.d had promised to give him, Abram found it already inhabited by great and warlike nations--not by one nation, but by a number of nations. What could he do, a solitary man, in that land? Not only was his faith tested by finding the land preoccupied by other strong and hostile nations, but he had not been there a great while before a great famine came upon him. No doubt a great conflict was going on in his breast, and he said to himself:

"What does this mean? Here I am, thirteen hundred miles away from my own land, and surrounded by a warlike people. And not only that, but a famine has come, and I must get out of this country."

Now, I don't believe that G.o.d sent Abram down to Egypt. I think that He was only testing him, that he might in his darkness and in his trouble be

DRAWN NEARER TO G.o.d.

I believe that many a time trouble and sorrow are permitted to come to us that we may see the face of G.o.d, and be shut up to trust in Him alone. But Abram went down into Egypt, and there he got into trouble by denying his wife. That is the blackest spot on Abram's character. But when we get into Egypt we will always be getting into trouble.

II

Abram became rich; but we don't hear of any altar--in fact, we hear of no altar at Haran, and we hear of no altar in Egypt. When he came up with Lot out of Egypt, they had great possessions, and they increased in wealth, and their herds had multiplied, until there was a strife among their herdsmen.

Now it is that Abram's character s.h.i.+nes out again. He might have said that he had a right to the best of everything, because he was the older, and because Lot would probably not have been worth anything if it had not been for Abram's help. But instead of standing up for _his rights_, to choose the best of the land, he surrenders them, and says to the nephew:

"Take your choice. If you go to the right hand, I will take the left; or if you prefer the left hand, then I will go to the right."

Here is where Lot made his mistake. If there was a man under the sun that needed Abram's counsel, and Abram's prayers, and Abram's influence, and to have been surrounded by the friends of Abram, it was Lot. He was just one of those weak characters that

NEEDED BOLSTERING UP.

But his covetous eye looked upon the well-watered plains of the valley of the Jordan that reached out towards Sodom, and he chose them. He was influenced by what he saw, He walked by sight, instead of by faith. I think that is where a great many Christian people make their mistake--walking by sight, instead of by faith. If he had stopped to think, Lot might have known that it would be disastrous to him and his family to go anywhere near Sodom. Abram and Lot must both have known about the wickedness of those cities on the plains, and although they were rich, and there was chance of making money, it was better for Lot to keep his family out of that wicked city.

But his eyes fell upon the well watered plains, and he pitched his tent towards Sodom, and separated from Abram.

Now, notice that after Abram had let Lot have his choice, and Lot had gone off to the plains, for the first time G.o.d had Abram alone.

His father had died at Haran, and he had left his brother there.

Now, after his nephew had left him, he moved down to Hebron, and there built an altar. "Hebron" means _communion_. Here it is that G.o.d came to him and said:

"Abram, look around as far as your eye can reach--it is all yours.

Look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee."

"Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord."

It is astonis.h.i.+ng how far you can see in that country. G.o.d took Moses up on Pisgah and showed him the Promised Land. In Palestine, a few years ago, I found that on Mount Olivet I could look over and see the Mediterranean. I could look into the valley of the Jordan, and see the Dead Sea. And on the plains of Sharon I could look up to Mount Lebanon, and up at Mount Hermon, away beyond Nazareth. You can see with the naked eye almost the length and breadth of that country. So when G.o.d said to Abram that he might look to the north, and that as far as he could see he could have the land; and then look to the south, with its well-watered plains that Lot coveted, and to the east and the west, from the sea to the Euphrates--then G.o.d gave His friend Abram a clear t.i.tle, no conditions whatever, saying:

"I will give it all to you."

Lot chose all he could get, but it was not much. Abram let G.o.d choose for him, and was given all the land. Lot had no security for his choice, and soon lost all. Abram's right was maintained undisputed by G.o.d the giver.

Do you know that the children of Israel never had faith enough to take possession of all that land as far as the Euphrates? If they had, probably Nebuchadnezzar would never have come and taken them captives. But that was G.o.d's offer; He said to Abram, "Unto your seed I will give it forever, clear to the valley of the Euphrates."

From that time on G.o.d enlarged Abram's tents. He enriched His promises, and gave him much more that He had promised down there in the valley of the Euphrates when He first called him out. It is very interesting to see how G.o.d kept

ADDING TO THE PROMISE

for the benefit of His friend Abram.

Let us go back a moment to Lot, and see what Lot gained by making that choice. I believe that you can find five thousand Lots to one Abram to-day. People are constantly walking by sight, lured by the temptations of men and of the world. Men are very anxious to get their sons into lucrative positions, although it way be disastrous to their character; it may ruin them morally and religiously, and in every other way. The glitter of this world seems to attract them.

Some one has said that Abram was a far-sighted man, and Lot was a short-sighted man; his eye fell on the land right around him. There is the one thing that we are quite sure of--he was so short-sighted that his possessions soon left him. And you will find that these people who are constantly building for time are disappointed.

I have no doubt that the men of Sodom said that Lot was

A MUCH SHREWDER MAN