Let us turn to the book of Genesis,
chapter 19, and we'll read verse 26. The book of Genesis, chapter
19, and reading verse 26. But his wife looked back from
behind him and she became a pillar of salt. this is one of the very interesting
accounts really in the Word of God and something which attracts
our natural attention and we can believe it is indeed very
true and it did occur exactly as we're able to read here in
this 19th chapter because we read about Lot's wife turning
into a pitter of salt because she disobeyed God and we know
from history, several hundred years later, that that Pīrusul,
as she was, still existed so it wasn't just something which
was imagined it was indeed very true and it was there to point
everybody to the truth of God and to warn everybody that what
God said and does say is to be obeyed now we know that Sodom
and Gomorrah were wicked cities and it's interesting just to
remember that Abraham and Lot were living together and they
both had big flocks and the land wasn't big enough for them to
live together. So Abraham said to Lot, well
you choose where to go because we should live separately. So
Lot looked up and he looked down and he saw the lovely plain of
land fertile and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah so he elected
to go down and to take his family and to take all his cattle and
to live in those cities but the very significant aspect was this It appears from the Word of God
that Lot did not pray to God for direction. He just looked
naturally and thought, well, that looked a pleasant place
and I think I'll go there. And so he did. But the truth
was, those cities were not cities really to be lived in. They were wicked places where
people did not worship God. People did many wrong and evil
things. And so that's where Lot lived. Now God had spoken to Abraham,
and you can read of that in the previous chapter, the 18th chapter,
that he would destroy those cities. And Abraham prayed to God that
if the Lord was to destroy the cities, if they were just, and
he came right down to 10 righteous people, the Lord would not destroy
the cities. and the Lord told him if there
were ten he would not destroy them but sadly there were not
ten so therefore as we read in this 19th chapter the Lord determined
to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and indeed he did destroy Sodom
and Gomorrah but very wonderfully and very blessedly he had mercy
upon Lot and Lot's two daughters so they were brought out of Sodom
and Gomorrah and we read the account as we read two angels
came and spoke to Lot and Lot was brought out and it's interesting
even then you see he didn't really want to go and we're told that
he lingered he lingered because we're told when the morning arose
then the angels hastened Lot saying arise take thy wife and
thy two daughters which are here lest thou be consumed in the
iniquity of the city and while he lingered the men laid hold
upon his hand and upon the hand of his wife and upon the hand
of his two daughters the Lord be merciful unto him and they
brought him forth and set him without the city now the relevance
of that little position is that we today need to be very aware
that if God leads us and speaks to us and directs us in a certain
way we are to hear and we are to obey the word of God and we
are not to linger and here was Lot you see in a wicked place
and yet you see obviously he had friends there he no doubt
had his possessions there and therefore He didn't really want
to leave. He lingered there. It's a good
lesson for us, you know, in the many things that we find in our
lives that we may hold on to things which are wrong and things
which are evil. It's not wrong to hold on to things which are
good and right, but if we hold on to things which are not good,
then you see it's wrong and so we find here that God very graciously
came to Lot through these angels and although he lingered the
men grabbed hold of him grabbed hold of his hands and his wife
and his daughters and took them out and what do we read? the Lord being merciful unto
him and they brought him forth and set him without the city
well how good and kind and gracious God was but the Lord spoke to
them and this is what he said as he brought them forth he told
them escape for thy life look not behind thee neither stay
thou in the plain that was very simple instructions, wasn't it?
escape to the mountain lest thou be consumed well they were able
to observe and to listen to hear what God said it takes us back
really to that case of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden when
God spoke to them and told them exactly what they must not do
and they didn't listen and they disobeyed God and of course because
of that tragic scene sin came upon them and upon the whole
world but here we have in this case they were told to do something
and they didn't obey God or at least Lot's wife didn't and Lot
wasn't very happy about going to the mountains to start with
and God was very merciful allowed him to go to this city of Zohar
and therefore to escape and again we're told they were spoken to
in similar terms hastily verse 22 hastily Escape thither, for
I cannot do anything till thou become thither. Therefore the
name of the city was called Zohar. And so the sun was risen upon
the earth when Lot entered into Zohar. Well, we see then the
Lord was now gracious And the Lord then fulfilled what he said
he would do. And the Lord rained upon Sodom
and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven,
and overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants
of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. So we see that God is faithful. And we should understand that
what God says does come to pass. We read in Malachi those words,
I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. And God spoke very clearly here
to Lot and to his wife and to his daughters. that they were
to escape and they were to not look back well it was clear and
yet as we read here this morning in this 26th verse, but his wife
looked back from behind him and she became a pillar of salt we
may ask the question, why do we think she looked back? well
She looked back because clearly, firstly, she didn't want to leave
the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. That had been her home. She'd
always lived there. All her possessions were there.
All her friends were there. And she didn't want to leave.
And therefore perhaps, she hoped perhaps that it wouldn't be overthrown. and she'd be able to return what
we should observe is it would appear her heart was still there
her heart was still fond of those things in Sodom and Gomorrah
and she looked back and then secondly she perhaps looked back
to see whether what God had said would come to pass was coming
to pass perhaps she didn't believe what God said and therefore she
looked back well it's a very sad thing isn't it today God
speaks and very often people do not believe what God says
and what is the result? like it was with a widlots wife
She was disobedient. And it's very easy for us to
be disobedient to the Word of God. Now, we should not think
that we can just do what we want to do. We may think, well, I'm sure
I can do this. There's no harm in it. I'm going
to follow my own inclination. the great question should be
as to whether we are doing God's will what is God's will for us? what is God's will for each one
of us? are we truly concerned to do
the will of God? you see Lot's wife was more concerned
about doing what she wanted to do. She wasn't worried about disobeying
the word of God. And as we look around today,
in the world in which we live, so many people today are not
worried about disobeying the word of God. Now, there was a very solemn
judgment that came upon Lot's wife. And what we should recognize
is this, that God is not to be trifled with. We should not think that we can
disobey God's word and get away with it. We shouldn't think that
if God has spoken, we can ignore the Word of God. You see, God
is a just God. God is a righteous God. What God was doing to Sodom and
Gomorrah was just. There was nothing wrong with
it. He was a just God. We should realise the same today.
God is still today a just God. Well, this account here is very
important. Important for us to realise that
we today live many years afterwards, but God has not changed. And God is to be feared. And God is to be obeyed. It's very easy for us to fall
into the trap of thinking that you and I can ignore the commands
of God. And we can think, well, I don't
think I'll listen to what God has said to me. I think I'll
carry on in my own life. But you know, it's a wonderful
blessing if God makes us willing in the day of his power. You may say, what does that mean?
Well, when God speaks to our very hearts, we realise God has spoken. And it's very humbling to think
that almighty God should speak to us. That God should indeed
direct us Now when God directs, just remember
this, God always directs in a right way. And God always directs for his
honour and for his glory. And God always directs in that
way which shall be good for us. God never directs his people
in a wrong way He never directs them in a way which will be bad
for them God is kind God is gracious God is merciful We can go back,
can't we, to the words in the 107th Psalm which are so applicable
and so important Very simple He, God led them forth by the
right way that they might go to a city of habitation now that
is in reference to Israel of old the Lord led them down into
Egypt they were there for 400 years the Lord delivered them
out of Egypt He led them through the wilderness for 40 years. He led them into Canaan. His
promise, which he'd given to Abraham many years ago, came
to pass. He led them forth by the right
way. Now today, my friends, God's
word directs us in two ways. First of all, in our natural
lives. And secondly, in our spiritual
life. And it should be very encouraging
to understand that God still leads today very clearly. People wouldn't have expected
the leadings of God to his people Israel to be the right way. And when we think and ponder
how that all occurred the detail of it is very intriguing and
it's very wonderful because we have to trace it back to not
only Abraham but to Isaac and to Jacob and to his children
and to Joseph, to the dreams that Joseph had, to him being
sold into the Moabites, and then being sold into Potiphar, and
then being put in prison, and there for 13 years. Long time, wasn't it? Until God
in his almighty and great plan caused Pharaoh to have some dreams
which he couldn't interpret. Joseph was called upon to interpret
those dreams, which he did, giving honour to God. Didn't claim any
virtual ability himself. God had the glory and because
of that he was placed in charge of Egypt and the years of famine
came to pass the years of plenty came to pass the other way around
rather plenty first and then famine and then of course Jacob
led then to go down into Egypt and to live there and then all
his family and all the families which came from him a great multitude
and there for 400 years until the promise was to be fulfilled
and they were brought out of Egypt you may read the account
it's a wonderful account really you can read it in the beginning
of Exodus how they came out of Egypt and again we trace their
lives and they weren't always obedient they disobeyed God and
especially having been in the wilderness just for a year and
God told them to go and possess the land of Canaan 12 spies went
and had a look round said it was a wonderful land but there
were giants there and it was too difficult to conquer and
therefore they shouldn't And only Joshua and Caleb said, we're
well able to go and conquer it. And so they refused. And the
spies had been 40 days having a look around Canaan. And the
Lord said, for each day they would wander in the wilderness
40 years. And so it came to pass. And then
God eventually, through Joshua, brought them across the River
Jordan and into Canaan, and they conquered Jericho and the many
cities. God's purposes, God's promises
came to pass. And that's so today. That's so
today. God hasn't changed. God still
does great things. But we have, in that account,
in that testimony, times of disobedience. My friends, we should realize
that God is not to be trifled with. God is not to be trifled with. You and I are insignificant little
mortals. And sometimes we seem to think
that we can disagree with God. And we can change things to our
advantage. My friends, God knows the end
from the beginning and you and I don't. And we should be concerned to
follow the Lord and to do his good will and his purpose. The Lord Jesus himself, when
he was on the earth, he refers to this account in the Gospel
of Luke he speaks to us very clearly and very significantly
and in the 17th chapter he speaks to them and he speaks like this
Likewise also, as it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they
drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went
out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and
destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the
day when the Son of Man is revealed. The Lord is speaking here. about
the end of all things, when the world indeed will be burnt up. And he tells us, in that day,
he which shall be upon the housetop and his stuff in the house, let
him not come down and take it away. And he that is in the field,
let him likewise not return back. And then he says just three words,
remember Lot's wife. Whosoever shall seek to save
his life shall lose it. And whosoever shall lose his
life shall preserve it. This is the Word of God. It's a very solemn and a very
striking word, isn't it? And the Lord used that illustration
just to warn us warn us today about the great truth of God's
Word and how we are to obey what God has said. and as we think of this account
we have it here very clearly in a natural way you know there
is obviously a very blessed and a very deep spiritual significance
in such an account as this and you may say, well what's
the significance? well we can take it like this
God says to us we are to flee from the wrath to come we are
to flee from the things which are wrong and the things which
are evil we are to turn away from them those things which
are around us and those things which are within us you see,
real religion deals with the heart Real religion deals with
the things that you and I think the things that we say the things
that we do and very often we perhaps relate these things more
to the things that we do and the things that we say rather
than the things that we think but we should realise the Word
of God tells us the heart, the things that we think is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. That's a very solemn
truth. It's a very solemn realisation.
But it is so. And we should not think that
our heart is especially good. We should not think that we have
some very wonderful ability to always do good things. it's a
great blessing when the Holy Spirit of God comes to us and
reveals to us that our heart in a spiritual sense is no better
than the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah and we deserve to be destroyed
we deserve to be destroyed But what a blessing to realise there
is mercy with God. And what are we to do then? What
if God tells us we are to flee to the Saviour? Flee to the Saviour. How is that
done? Well Isaiah spells it out so
beautifully in Isaiah 45, 22. look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth for
I am God and there is none else what a place of refuge the Saviour
is it was necessary essential that Lot and his family escape
to Zahar so that they wouldn't come under this distraction that
was to fall upon Sodom and Gomorrah and you and I today my friends
live in an evil world a sinful world and we have an evil heart
and a sinful heart and we are to look to the Lord for forgiveness
we are to look to the Lord for salvation We are to look to the
Lord that He will bring us at last safe home to glory. Like He did, Israel evolved safely
into Canaan, typical of glory at last. That's just the same
for us spiritually today. See, we have such accounts in
the Word of God, quite detailed. but there is always the fulfilment
of that word which we read in the Bible there is a deep that
couches beneath and what that means is this there's something
under the surface something very real something very glorious
something very spiritual which we are able to appreciate and
it's set forth in relief for us to understand. We have then
this picture of escaping from Solomon Gomorrah, the Lord bringing
them out. What a mercy God brings us out
of our sinful condition. and leads us to Christ. But you see, there's a very solemn
position here, isn't there? Because Lot's wife looked back. She wasn't really willing to
forsake the things that she'd enjoyed in her life. She wasn't prepared to obey the
voice of God. Well, it would be a wonderful,
wonderful blessing for you and me today if we are
willing to obey the Word of God. And as I read, it's very clear
how this is to be carried out. Haste thee, escape thither, not
dawdle, not hang around, and definitely not look back. Escape. Escape. And previously it says, escape
for thy life. Because we have a soul, an ever
dying soul, a spiritual life. my friends, what a blessing if
the Lord looks upon us the Word of God tells us this in regard
to numbers it says it gives us an example of two yes, just two
of a family and just one of a city just a few What a blessing if
God in his love, which it is, to Lot. Lot didn't set a good
example, did he? He didn't pray with regard to
direction, where to go. You may think, well, Lot, it
serves you right. You're to be consumed. But because of God's love to
Lot, He was brought out of that city. Delivered, wasn't he? What a blessing that was. He
never deserved it. And you and I will never be able
to say, well I'm a good person, I deserve to be delivered. Be quite clear about this, none
of us deserve to be delivered. None of us deserve to be saved. None of us deserve to receive
that great and blessed gift of salvation and that great and
blessed gift of eternal life. But what a mercy it is if the
Lord indeed blesses us and is gracious to us. when the Apostle Paul wrote the
epistle to the Hebrews a lot of wonderful instruction there
and in the first verse of the 4th chapter
he says this let us therefore fear lest a promise being left
us of entering into his rest any of you should seem to come
short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached
as well as unto them, but the word preached did not profit
them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. Well,
as we hear the gospel, do we believe it? Does God give us
faith to believe it? you see faith is something which
God gives it's not something which you and I can grasp naturally
no doubt we'd like to but no, we're told in the 11th chapter
faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things
not seen that's what faith is My friends, what a blessing it
is if God gives you and me this faith to believe the great and
glorious truths of the Gospel so that we understand it. And
it is indeed blessed to us for, as the Apostle goes on to say,
for we which have believed. What a mercy then if you and
I believe the truth of God and if we obey the Word of God. See, it is those who are given
faith to believe, doers of the Word, but not hearers only. You see, Lot's wife had heard,
she'd heard, but she wasn't a doer of the Word of God. My friends,
we cannot, we must not ignore the word of God. My friends,
if God in his goodness and mercy has shown us our need of salvation,
our need of a saviour, shown us we are a sinner, shown us
that we have come short of the holiness of God, and we have
to concur with what the Apostle Paul said in me he didn't look
and say in that person he said in me that is in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing and if you realise there's no good thing in ourselves
what a blessing then if that directs us to that one who is
all good the blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we
see in Christ all that we need, and that He is our salvation. And we can say, He is my salvation. He's the one that's taken all
my sin away. He is the one who died in my
place upon that cross at Calvary. He bore the punishment due to
me instead. And that will bring forth an
echo from our heart. What a saviour. What a great
and glorious saviour we have, who has not dealt with me as
my sins deserve. Well, then says the word here,
his wife look back. from behind him and she became
a pillar of salt so we should realise that here we have this
statement here to warn us in our life and you might think
it was a very small thing she was going out of Sodom and Gomorrah
toward this city of Zor she may have even come into this city
of Zor And you might think, well, surely there was no harm in just
turning around and looking back. It's what people do today. I
think there's no harm in that. You see, that's the devil's,
we might say, trump card that he uses. He says, there's no
harm in it. You can do that. Never listen to the devil. Listen to the word of God. The
word of God to Lot's wife here was very clear. Escape for thy
life. Look not behind thee. My friends,
God's word to us today as already quoted in that verse in Isaiah. Look unto me. Nowhere else, my
friends. Don't look anywhere else. What
a blessing there is to look to the Saviour for salvation. Look to the Saviour for forgiveness. Look to the Saviour for the gift
of eternal life. My friends, you and I are fast
hastening through life. Eternity stares us in the face. Is it well with our soul? That's
the important thing. Is it well with our soul? Is
Christ our saviour? Are our sins forgiven? Is he
to us a friend of sinners? Is he that one to us who hears
and answers our prayer? Is he that one who is leading
us as I've said, in the right way that leadeth to eternal life. Oh, my friends, rest in the promises
of God. Hear God's voice. Hear God's
warnings. They're there for our instruction. Let us not ignore them. Let us
hear such a word as this. May it be before our eyes, day
by day, But his wife looked back from behind him and she became
a pillar of salt. Amen. Closing hymn in worship this
morning, hymn 521. 5-2-1. To the tune Hanover, 807.
Hymn 521. Thanks be to my head, the great King of Kings, my life
from the dead, the death of my sins, who took all my woes and was
made sin for me, who died and who rose, and from sin set me
free. His Spirit, he sent, to soften
my heart, the old veil to rend, and life to impart, to bring
me from darkness to light in the Lord. to kill me to Moses,
to sin and the world. And the last verse, my soul then
rejoice. Let Christ be thy song with heart
and with voice, with lip and with tongue before men or angels
sing. Worthy is the Lamb of unceasing
praises forever. Amen. Hymn 521. Thank you Yes! you Now may the grace of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the love of God our Father, and
the fellowship and communion of the Eternal Spirit, rest and
abide with us each, now for evermore. Amen. Yay!