If You Want to be Great

When we think about what makes a person great, I doubt that many people would take into consideration people that really spend time in God's presence, that know what it means to come into the presence of God with needs and requests and other people's burdens and really intercede for others, and yet that may be one of the real keys to spiritual greatness. In fact, we're going to talk about that tonight. What is greatness? If you want to be great, finish the sentence. What does that mean? With all deference to Bill Gates, and I want to make a little disclaimer here, we're not suggesting anything about his character positively or negatively, but you can almost see him dreaming of greatness. This was a picture back from the 80s when he really first introduced Microsoft, and you can almost see the look in his eyes. If I think I'm onto something here, and of course in many people's estimation, he would be a great man. I'm not here to say whether or not he is, but definitions of greatness can widely vary. Most people would define greatness by one or more of these four characteristics. Greatness is often measured either by power and influence, wealth, fame, or accomplishment. Someone who's accomplished a great feat. One of those four things, or a combination of them, usually, is what is the term of greatness. The terming factor is to whether or not someone is considered a great person. If they have some kind of power or influence, if they have great wealth, if they have fame, or if they have established themselves through great accomplishment. But that is not at all how God measures greatness. The Bible tells us very plainly that God measures greatness in other ways. People who qualify in those four ways may be great, but it is not those attainments that make them great. Those attainments do not necessarily exclude a person from greatness, but they certainly do not automatically make a person great. Because God has an entirely different criteria for measuring greatness. Jesus said in Matthew 20, verse 26, these words, after describing what the world considers great, he says, not so with you, speaking to his disciples, instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant. And so greatness is in Jesus' eyes not identified with anything like the world unindifives greatness with. The world sees greatness in an entirely different way than Jesus does. It shows that greatness, Jesus shows that greatness starts in the heart. It begins with the character. It deals with the way a person is made on the inside and not what they have accumulated by way of wealth, power, influence, fame, accomplishment, those kinds of things. From the outside, greatness is on the inside. It has to do with character. It has to do with a person's heart. True greatness is demonstrated by the character that we are studying on Sunday evenings. Abram, whose name will become very shortly Abraham. Genesis chapter 14, tonight, where we find Abram describing or showing several marks of greatness in his life and what he does. Just to set the scene here, the first 12 verses of Genesis chapter 14, describe a battle between four dominant kings in Abram's region of the world, and five kings who had been in submission to them who rose up to revolt against them and decided to try to pull off a rebellion. And it didn't work. Now I'm not going to read the first 12 verses or we'd be here the rest of the service trying to decipher all those names of all those kings and all the places where they fought. I mean, it's just a real tongue twister. So we're not even going to try that. But you can do that sometime in your own personal reading for your devotions and great edification. Try to figure out all those names and who they are and where they really fought. We're going to begin in verse 13, where we find the first of four marks of true greatness that is exhibited by Abram. Now what happens is these kings fight against each other, four kings fighting against five, and this all takes place around the southern end of the Dead Sea in the territory where lot is living. And in the result of this battle, lot is actually taken captive and all of his goods and possessions along with a lot of other people. And that's how Abram gets drawn in to this whole story because he swings into action to do something about his nephew lot. Let's see what happens. Verse 13 and 14 display the first mark of true greatness in Abram's life and that is reaching out to others lovingly. Verse 13. One who had escaped came and reported this, the capture of lot, to Abram, the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of memory, the Amorite, a brother of Eschol and Anor, all of whom are allied with Abram. When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. Now what Abraham demonstrates here is a willingness to reach out to others lovingly. Now there are two tests of genuine love that Abram shows in this passage. The first test of genuine love that really demonstrates whether or not love is genuine is doing something to help someone in need. Not just talking about it, not just thinking about it, not just waxing eloquent about the need, but doing something. Love in the Bible is always love in action. Abram in verse 14 when he hears about lot, immediately swings into action. He immediately does something. He doesn't just sit around and say, well, poor lot, you know, I think so much of lot. He's one of my relatives, really loving, love his family. And I'm just sorry this happened to him. No. He doesn't just talk about it. He does something. So he swings into action to help lot. Doing something, to help a person in need is the evidence of genuine love. The Apostle John tells us this in 1 John chapter 3, verses 17 and 18, where he says, if anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need, but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, here it is, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth. So love is not really love, or at least it cannot be genuinely demonstrated as love, just through our speech. It is seen in our actions. So a genuine test or a test of genuine love is doing something to help one in need. A second test of genuine love is reaching out to those that are hard to love. That demonstrates genuine love. That is so true in this example of Abram and Lot. Lots taken captive. Abram hears about it, Abram swings into action to do something about it. Remember who this is that he's helping. It's a lot. Now, Lot gives us an example of someone that would be hard to love, someone that typically in our lives would be hard to love. For instance, it's hard to love people sometimes. It's hard to love people who have fallen and Lot certainly fits into that category. Lot has fallen into sin. If you look back at chapter 13, verse 12, the Bible says that Abram lived in the land of Canaan while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents toward Sodom. But in chapter 14, verse 12, it says they also carried off Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions since he was living in Sodom. Now, when Lot chose the well-watered plains of the east because quite selfishly they were the best lands and they would best fulfill his needs for his crops and his flocks, regardless of what happened to his Uncle Abram. He's looking toward Sodom. He's facing that direction. But now in chapter 14, he's actually living in Sodom. I think that possibly, quite possibly shows a lowering of his guard against the sinful influence of Sodom. Now, we know that a little bit later in this story by chapter 19, not only is he living in Sodom, he has risen to a position in the city council of Sodom and his whole family has been corrupted by the influence of Sodom. Lot should have known that would happen. But we see him inching closer toward desire and influence in that city, that wicked city, which probably indicates a lowering of his guard against sin. So Lot, in a sense, demonstrates a person who has fallen, who's drifting away from the Lord. But regardless of that, when Abram hears that he's in trouble, he immediately swings into action to help him. Now, I think that ought to tell us something. I think that ought to teach us something. Because sometimes the hardest people to respond to are people who have drifted away from the Lord. Come on, let's be honest. What is your first response when someone starts drifting away from the church and from their walk with Christ and from their fellowship with God? They start getting into lifestyle behaviors that you know are going to take them the wrong way. Oftentimes, our first response is to back away from them as some kind of unclean person. Or maybe our first response is to shake our heads in dismay and wonder whatever happened to, or maybe our first response is to kind of back away from them and judge them for the lifestyle that they've begun to live. Judge them as unfit. Judge them as unclean. Judge them as unworthy of us being around anymore. And while I recognize that we must be careful to guard our testimonies with the alliances and fellowships that we choose, let's never forget that those are the very people that Jesus reached out to lovingly. Those are the very people that Jesus went after. The whole story of the prodigal son is intended to teach us that. Those are the father, those are the people, the father loves. It's not the 99 in the sheepfold that don't have any need of repentance. It's the one sheep that's gone. It's not the nine coins in Luke 15 that are still safe. It's the one coin that's fallen under a dress or somewhere. And it's not the one son who's still at home, although he needs a lot of help too as we see later on in this story because he represents the Pharisees. But it's the one son who's gone away and wasted his life in sinful living that the father embraces in love. We need to remember that picture of God. If you really think about that story of the prodigal son, the prodigal had gone against every form of social, religious and family decency known to Israel at that time. I mean, he would have been considered the worst of outcasts. Social, family wise, spiritually. And yet when he came up the road toward home, his father ran out the medium and embraced him with love. That's a symbol of God rushing to meet, to respond in love to people who are in the rags of sin. Let's never forget that the Bible teaches those are the very people we should reach out to. So I commend Abram. I think it's a mark of greatness that he didn't sit back and say he deserves it, lot deserves it. But he went after him. He ran after him and lovingly reached out to help him. A lot as an example of one who has fallen in our response should be to reach out to those people lovingly. But a lot is also an example of people who have hurt us. Now that's another category of people that's hard to reach out lovingly to. People who've hurt us. Here's a lot. No question about the fact that he has hurt his uncle, Abram. I don't think there's any question about that at all. Lot took advantage of Abram's offer to choose whatever land he wanted to. And he chose the best land when again all common decency and social order of things would say that lot should defer to his older uncle. But lot greedily chose the best land and you take whatever's left, whatever you can find, Abram. But Abram bears no grudge against him. There is no bitterness, there is no animosity. And when lot gets in trouble, what does Abram do? Does he say, well, he got what he deserved? Let him go. Or after what he did to me, he doesn't deserve my help. No, he didn't do that. When he heard that lot was in trouble when after him. He lovingly reached out to him. Sometimes the hardest people to do that with are people who have hurt us, maybe hurt us deeply. Several years ago in South Carolina, three black churches were burned by two white men. And the table was set for real bad racial tension in those areas in South Carolina. And yet that racial tension quickly evaporated after one of the black pastors calmed his people down and told them that they must love those that hurt them. At that sign of reaching out across racial divides in love, those who were whites in white churches across that area began to gather together and raised money and sent laborers to rebuild those three. And there was a lot of healing that took place because someone refused to be bitter against someone that hurt him. He reached out in love across divides and caused a healing to take place. I will never forget when we were living in Indiana. This has been probably 20, 21 years ago now. A fellow pastor in our area, good friend of mine by the name of Jerry Walden. Jerry had a wonderful family, good ministry. His wife and three children were good friends of ours. One of his daughter, Sherra, was our Amy's best friend, Big Buddies and Schools since they were in kindergarten. And they were at this time, I think, in probably fifth grade, sixth grade, maybe. One morning, Jerry Walden's wife was driving his three children to school. And if you're familiar with Indiana, all the back roads are straight. They're not like West Virginia. The roads are laid out in crisscross patterns, intersections about a mile apart. You can always tell where you are in Indiana. You can tell whether you're going north, south, east, or west, just by the roads. It's kind of different from here. And so they're driving one of these straight roads and they come over a little crest. And Mrs. Walden was met head on by a 17-year-old high school student who was drag racing with another high school student on the way to school. And they were drag racing with high rates of speed down both lanes of that little back country road. And as she crested that hill, they slammed in to that car. Immediately, Mrs. Walden and the three children were killed. Of the four occupants of the other car, the three of them were killed. The only person who survived that accident was the 17-year-old driver. And he's in the hospital, all banged up after a week or so when he got to where he was conscious. And there had been the funerals of those four family members. I'll never forget that funeral seeing four caskets at the front of that church. Jerry Walden visited that young man in the hospital and later led him to Christ. Because he would not hold a grudge, certainly the young man was wrong in what he did. And took the lives of his family, his entire family, snuffed out in an instance. But Jerry reached out to him and loved him to Christ nonetheless. I think a mark of greatness, Abram, Jerry Walden, whoever it may be, is to reach out to others lovingly, even others that are hard to love who have fallen away from the Lord or others who may have hurt us very deeply. Reach out to others lovingly. But Abram goes on in this passage to describe or to demonstrate a second mark of greatness, and that is sacrificing for others willingly. Again, I would have you to look at verse 14 where it says, when Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. During the night, Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobo, north of Damascus. He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative lot and his possessions together with the women and other people. Sacrificing for others willingly. Abram demonstrates that Abram's willingness to sacrifice is seen in a number of ways in this description of what he does. When he hears about lot, what does he do? He takes 318 trained men born in his household, household servants. Now that's one indication that Abram had grown quite wealthy and prosperous. Yet 318 trained men in his own household that he organized into an army. But think about the sacrifice involved in that. He's going to take all of his best men, maybe all of the men capable of fighting and take them away from his home, away from their duties, and chase these armies that have taken a lot captive. He chases them all the way to Dan, which is 100 to 120 miles north. You talk about a forced march of trying to catch up with an enemy, a difficult march, 100 to 120 miles. Now that is sacrifice. And then when he gets there, he divides his force up. 318 men, that's not a lot of men against these four kings who have been victorious over the five kings and their armies. In fact, if you read verses 1 through 12, you find that before they were in battle against those five kings who were rebelling against them, they'd been on a real winning streak. They had defeated a bunch of other tribal peoples before they ever did that. So this is an unbeaten enemy. And Abram is going to take 318 men fighting against five kings or four kings in their armies. And he's going to divide his troops while there is the peril of defeat. There are lots of risks involved in that, but he's willing to do it. He's sacrificing his own needs. Our let go at this time. God gives him a great victory as we see. And then he pursues him in verse 15, as far as Hobo, north of Damascus, which is another 50 or 60 miles north, to make sure that the battle is finished completely. And then, verse 16, he takes all the goods and the people and brings them back, which is a tremendous effort, a difficult job, an inconvenient job to do. And beyond all of that sacrifice, he has risked the possibility of a future counter attack. I mean, he has really put himself out on a limb by becoming a military presence now in this part of the world, and he risks counterattack by other kings. But he risks all of that. He is willing to sacrifice all of that, all that time, all of that effort, all of his resources. And he does it for a lot. A willingness to sacrifice for others. Now, I ask us the question this evening, are we willing to sacrifice for other people? Are we willing to go out of our way to take our time, to spend extra effort, to reach out to others, even when there are risks involved, even when our own needs might be denied for the present time, even though we might be misunderstood and shot at by others, like Abram risked the possibility of retaliation, even when others may not understand and our reputation may be hurt because of who we're reaching out to, are we willing to sacrifice those things? What about the hours spent with no visible results on the part of people that we reach out to? What about times when people will forget what you did for them? You're willing to risk that? That's a tremendous sacrifice. I mean, lot did that. After Abram rescues him, what does lot do? He goes, right, back to Sodom. And it's after what Abram does for him that his family gets in such a terrible mess. So he evidently quickly forgot the sacrifice that Abram had made for him. Are we willing to sacrifice for people even when it costs us? That's what sacrifice really is. Certainly Abram was, true greatness may be seen in the willing sacrifice that we give for the good of other people, whether it's someone in your family, your neighborhood, coworker, whatever it may be, but you're willing to spend and be spent for them. True greatness is seen in that kind of willingness to sacrifice. I think sometimes we forget the people who established our nation, our fathers, who sacrificed so much for us. You may have seen or read this before, but have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? These men made untold sacrifices willingly and knowingly, knowing probably they were risking everything. Five signers of the Declaration of Independence were captured by the British as traders and tortured before they died. Twelve of them had their homes ransacked and burned. Two of them lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army. Another had two sons that were captured. Nine of these 56 signers of the Declaration fought and died from wounds or the hardships of the Revolutionary War. What kind of men were they? Twenty-four of them were lawyers and jurists. Eleven of them were merchants. Nine were farmers, large plantation owners. Men of means, they were well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence, knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured. Just listen to some of their stories. Carter Braxton of Virginia was a wealthy planter and trader. He saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy, sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and he died in rags. Thomas McKeeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without any pay. His family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him and poverty was his reward. At the Battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr. noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over Nelson's home as his headquarters. General George Washington was hesitant to attack and Nelson encouraged him to fire on his own home. The home was destroyed and Nelson died bankrupt. Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife and she died within a few months. John Hart, another signer of the Declaration, was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his grist mill were laid waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find that his wife was dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. And the stories go on and on and on. These were the stories and sacrifices that men made to launch our country. They were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security. They had everything this world could offer them but they valued liberty more than that. So they stood tall, straight, unwavering. And this is what they wrote in the Declaration. For the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. And most of them sacrificed everything but their honor. We forget sometimes the sacrifice of others that give us what we have today. It's easy to forget the sacrifice of many who gave us what we have today in this church, the sacrifice of so many people in the past, who gave themselves so willingly, sacrificially, so that we might have what we have today here to use for the Lord's glory. There are so many saints gone on the glory, so many servants who have served so faithfully through the years and have sacrificed so much time and effort so that we might have this place today and have the ministry that we have here today. Sacrificing for others willingly is a mark of true greatness. Abram demonstrated it and we should too. But there's a third mark. Let's notice quickly. Verses 17 to 20. Handling success, humbly, is a mark of true greatness. And you'll notice when we read these verses that Abram really was a hero. Look at this. Verse 17. After Abram returned from defeating Keter Learmar and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the valley of Shava, that is the king's valley. Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of the most high God. And he blessed Abram, saying, blessed be Abram by God most high, creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be God most high, who delivered your enemies into your hand. Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. Abram really was a hero. Those who previously and scarcely noticed him now want to meet him. They want to have an audience with Abram. And so the king of Sodom comes out to meet him, the king of Salem, which would become Jerusalem. Melchizedek comes out to meet him. Melchizedek, one of the most interesting characters in all the Bible. He's an interesting man because he is not only a priest, but he is also a king. He is a king who was also a priest of the most high God, the true God. Evidently leading a group of people who had stayed true to the traditions that had been passed down through the years. A man who knew and served the most high God, a remnant of people who still held to the truth. In the New Testament, Melchizedek would become a type or a symbol of Christ in the book of Hebrews. Because he was both a king and a priest, something which could not happen in Israel. But because he was both a king and a priest, he's a symbol of Christ, the type of Christ Christ himself is both a king and our high priest. But all these people now want to meet Abram. They want to honor him. How do you handle that? Well, let's look at how Abraham handled this kind of success because it really helps us to see how to handle this kind of success. It's really found in verse 20. In both the blessing that Melchizedek gives him and in the way that Abram responds, the tide that he gives to Melchizedek, 10th of everything you'd taken in the battle. Both of those things show a proper response to how you handle success, a humble response. First of all, Abram responds with a submissive attitude. Hebrews chapter 7 and verse 7, in commenting on this, very seen, says this, and without doubt the lesser person is blessed by the greater. He's commenting on this very scene, Melchizedek blessing Abram. So in the story, who is the lesser character and who is the greater character? Abram is the lesser. Melchizedek is the greater because the lesser is blessed by the greater. And Abram is willing to admit that. He acknowledges by receiving this blessing that Melchizedek is superior to him. Now whenever we taste a measure of success, our tendency is to grow proud to even have an air of superiority over other people that we have arrived, we have achieved. And so others should be blessing us. Others should be serving us, recognizing us. But Abram recognizes by receiving a blessing that Melchizedek is greater than him. There's nothing in this text that would indicate that Abram in any way tried to one up Melchizedek, that he tried to show his superiority. After all, who won the battle? Who did this great deed? Abram never tried to impress Melchizedek with any of that. He simply received a blessing that was given basically to the God of Abram, the most high God. President Abraham Lincoln was often fond of saying what kills the skunk is the publicity it gives itself. And the publicity we give ourselves is what ultimately destroys us. Whenever there is some measure of success and we want to take the credit for it, we want to see ourselves or present ourselves or make sure everybody else sees us as superior to other people. Then we have not learned how to respond to success. Abram's response to success, how to handle that success, was with a submissive attitude to others. Leonard Bernstein was once asked the great conductor of the New York Symphony Orchestra was once asked, what's the hardest instrument to play? And without missing a beat, he said, second fiddle. Now, when I want to explain, I can get a lot of people to play first chair violin who think they're the best, but the person who plays second chair violin or second chair flute, second chair trumpet, and does that with all of their ability and all of their zeal and his eager about it, that's the person who makes the orchestra great. He was right because too many people want to be seen as the first chair violinist, you know, the one who walks out after the other members of the orchestra are seated and takes a bow and everybody applauds. And he's the one that tunes everybody up to get the concert started. There's a lot of honor involved in first chair violin, but the person who plays second chair just as eagerly, just as energetically is the person that really makes the orchestra great. A submissive attitude. But Abram also responded to the success with a consciousness that the glory belonged to God. That the glory for whatever happened belonged to God. Melchizedek's blessing shows that because he blesses God and he blesses Abram by God most high. And what does Abram do? Does he take all the glory in for himself? No. He gives a tithe of everything that he has gotten in the battle to God through God's representative, Melchizedek here. He gives a tithe to God, recognizing by his actions that the honor and glory for this victory does not go to him, but it goes to the Lord. That's a consciousness that the glory and honor goes to the Lord. When God grants us whatever measure of success he will grant us, the way we respond is a real indicator of where we are spiritually. It's an indicator of where we are, whether or not we're really great spiritually. Walter Cronkite used to tell this story about himself. He used to tell a story about one day he was out boating with his wife and he noticed some people in a nearby boat waving very friendly like. And he turned to his wife and he said, listen to what they're saying. They're saying, hello, Walter. Hello, Walter. And he kind of said to his wife, you know, I just can't go anywhere without being recognized, I guess. His wife brought him down a few notches when she said, honey, you're not hearing very well. Are you? The reason they're waving their arms is not to recognize who you are. And what they are saying is not, hello, Walter. They are saying, low water, low water. They were warning them of low water. It's awful easy to think that we deserve the praise of men when really the praise and the glory all belongs to God. Abram shows true greatness by handling success humbly. And then lastly, he shows true greatness by resisting temptation, resolutely, verses 21 to 24. The King of Sodom said to Abram, give me the people and keep the goods for yourself. But Abram said to the King of Sodom, I have raised my hand to the Lord most high God creator of heaven and earth. And have taken a note that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal so that you will never be able to say, I made Abram rich. I will accept nothing but what my men of Eaton and the share that belongs to the men who went with me to Ainer, Eskil and Mamri, let them have their share. Now there are two things you see here about Abram very quickly. One is that Abram understood the consequences of this temptation. You see in these verses the King is offering, the King of Sodom is offering him a very handsome reward. You know, just give the people back to us, you can keep all the stuff that you brought back. But Abram sees through that. Abram sees some consequences. That's a very tempting proposition. But he sees the consequences of that. And the consequences of accepting that are that it would put him in a compromising position with the King of Sodom, a Sodom who was by all accounts and by history, we shall see later of Sodom, a very wicked man. Ruling over a very wicked area. And Abram saw that what this will do is it will place me in a compromising position, it will actually in the culture of that day, would have placed him in a sense of obligation to this King. It would be like a lord and a servant. And Abram would be taking the place of being under this King and would be obligated, no gifts like this in the ancient world came without strings attached. And Abram recognized there are consequences to yielding to this temptation. Oh my, all of those things must have looked tempting. But their consequences of that, their strings attached that Abram simply would not compromise. He would not compromise his testimony. And he says it very plainly, I don't want you to ever be able to say, I made Abram rich. I am not obligated to a wicked King. That's really what he's saying. I'm not going to put myself under obligation to a man that would compromise my testimony. Only let what we have used to sustain ourselves on the trip back and what my comrades want, let them take that. I'm not taking a thing. He saw through the consequences of the temptation. One of the greatest ways to resist temptation is to think very carefully about the consequences that will occur, that will happen in your life if you follow the path that you're being tempted with. I mean, the book of Proverbs is full of that kind of instruction. All of us are tempted. There are things that are alluring to all of us and it can be any number of different things, maybe different with each person. Nobody is above temptation. But we can resist it if we take the time to think through, okay, what if I follow the way my heart is leaning or being tempted, the direction that my sinful nature is pulling me? What if I do that? What are the consequences going to be? What's going to happen? Boy, when you think through that, it'll draw you up real short. It'll cause you to really think carefully. This is what would happen. Look at what I would destroy. Look at who would be hurt and that's one of the things that will really keep us away from sin will help us to resist temptation to understand the consequences of it. The second thing Abram did is he had already firmly resolved in his heart to resist whatever temptation came. He's awake. I think he probably knew on the trip back that he would be faced with this temptation. He probably recognized that this could happen and so he had already resolved in his heart firmly to resist if this temptation came up. That's why he says what he says in verse 22. Abram said to the king, I have raised my hand past tense. This is already done. I have raised my hand to the Lord God most high and have taken an oath that I will not accept anything belonging to you, not even a threat or a thong of a sandal. He's already thought this through. In his heart, he has already decided how he would respond if this temptation came his way. It's the only way to resist temptation. It's the only way to resist temptation is to purpose in your heart ahead of time how you respond if you're put in a certain situation. It's not a bad thing for us to think through how we will respond if certain temptations will come our way. Map out a plan with God's help giving you wisdom. Map out a plan. I will firmly resolve in my heart that this is what I will do. Daniel did that. Bible says that Daniel purposed in his heart. He would not defile himself with the king's meat. He had already decided ahead of time when the temptation came. I'm going to say no. I am going to say no. Joseph did that. Joseph had decided in his heart when Potiphar's wife was tempting to him that he would say no. And the very first time that temptation came, he said no. And he kept saying no over and over and over and over again because he had already purposed in his heart how he would respond. Most of us want to be delivered from temptation but we would like for it to keep in touch. Don't go too far away. I was really strong and resisted this time but that really did sound good. It must, it takes, it must have in our hearts a firm resolve to say no. So when the temptation comes we will be ready. Abraham was great because he resisted temptation resolutely. Most of us in this room, probably none of us in this room will ever attain outward marks of greatness. Well a few of you might. On a local level at least some will probably attain some elements of greatness at least as identified by the world, power and influence, wealth, fame, accomplishment. But most of us will never really be known for those things and that's okay because everyone in this room can be known in God's eyes as a great man or a great woman. Every one of us can be. If we follow and cultivate in our hearts and lives these kinds of characteristics, then in God's sight we can be seen as great. And after all in that whose opinion is more important than anyone else's. You know one day we're going to be in heaven and there's only one opinion that will count there, only one opinion. And that's the person who has the capacity to say to us well done, good and faithful servant. That's the only opinion that counts really. When all of a sudden done that's the only opinion that counts. You can be great in God's sight just like Abraham was. Let's pray together. Father help us to make the adjustments we need to make in our lives today to pursue true greatness, not to settle for the cheap imitation that the world offers. But to really desire and cultivate in our hearts that we will be great in your sight that we will cultivate the kind of character where you would call us great where you would be able to say someday honestly of us well done, good and faithful servant. Help us to be people like Abraham. We ask in Jesus name Amen.