Genesis 14 tells how Abram, having defeated Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, returned with the spoils of war, gave a tenth to Melchizedek, and kept nothing for himself so no one could say he had made Abram rich. In the same spirit David, after recovering all the Amalekites had taken, sent gifts from the plunder to the elders of Judah, calling it “a gift for you from the spoil of the enemies of the LORD.” These victories point forward to Christ, the true stronger man who binds the strong man, plunders his house, and cancels the record of debt that stood against us, nailing it to the cross.
Because Christ has already won the decisive victory, his people do not fight for a win but from a win already secured. The sermon calls believers, reconciled through Christ’s death for the ungodly, to labor as fellow workers in God’s field and building, planting and watering in confidence that God gives the growth and rewards every laborer, until Christ returns to share the full spoils of his victory with his church.