All right, brethren, if you will,
let's turn to Luke 17. We're gonna be in Genesis 19, but I
want us to look at Luke 17 first. I'm gonna save announcements
till after, once we're off the internet wires. Not for everybody,
that's for us. Luke 17, I was thinking, I just
got a card in the mail. I was talking to Miss Shelby,
and I wonder how much she spent on thank you cards over 40 years,
or on stamps. A lot, isn't it? A whole lot. I'm thankful for her. Luke 17,
verse 26. All right, Luke 17, 26. And as
it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days
of the Son of Man. They did eat, they drank, they
married wives, they were given in marriage until the day that
Noah entered into the ark and the flood came and destroyed
them all. 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, 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. In that day, He which shall be
upon the housetops and his stuff in the house, let him not come
down to take it away. He that is in the field, let
him likewise not return back." In one verse, remember Lot's
wife. Remember Lot's wife. Turn over
to 2 Peter chapter 2. 2 Peter 2, verse 4. For if God spared not the angels
that sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into
chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment, and spared not
the whole world, but saved Noah... There's Noah first again, isn't
it? ...but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness,
bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly, and turning
the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with
an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after
should live ungodly, and delivered just Lot." That doesn't mean
only Lot. That's justified Lot, holy Lot. "...and delivered just Lot, vexed
with the filthy conversations of the wicked. For that righteous
man dwelling among them, and seeing
and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their
unlawful deeds. The Lord knoweth how to deliver
the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust until
the day of judgment to be punished." If we had just read Genesis 19,
as we go through it, I'd like to spend 40, 50 messages. There's
a whole lot. Oh, it's rich. It's rich in judgment. There's plenty of warnings. But
boy, that's the first time merciful is used in the Scripture. Do
you know that? Genesis 19. And what horribleness, what wickedness
of sodomy. That's when the Lord was merciful.
He chose to be. But if you read Genesis 19 and
the accounts before of Lot, the foolish things he did, and the
horrible wicked acts at the end of the chapter, you'd say there's
no way this man is a child of God. But the Lord, God the Holy
Ghost moved Peter's finger to write, moved that pen to say
Lot was just, he was righteous, he had a righteous soul. This
was a godly man. We need to be taught how to judge
things, don't we? That's what we need. Back in Genesis 19.
This is for our instruction. The Lord told us, we'll see here
in a couple weeks. It's only one paragraph when the Lord speaks
of Lot's wife. And it says, but his wife looked
back from behind him and she was a pillar of salt. That's
one paragraph. That's one verse, but that's also one paragraph.
Is the gospel in that? You better believe it is. The
Lord told us to remember Lot's wife. Well, that could be preached
and you turn from the Lord and you will be killed right then.
And that could also be preached. The second one of his children
tries to run to destruction, he will immediately make them
like Christ. That's right either way. It's the truth that the
principle is the same. We're looking at some comparisons
here. Here in Genesis 19, Lot's sitting in the gates there in
Sodom. How did Lot get in Sodom? He
was with his uncle Abraham, who God spoke to. They worshiped
God together. They had the altar there. That's
where God's people was. But the cares of this world are
under shepherds. Those people that's in charge
of the sheep, they started getting into it. And Lot went to Abraham
and said, this can't be. This is going to get worse. This
is going to fester up. And instead of saying, let me
get rid of everything I got. We have the gospel here. I want
to be with you. I want to worship God. He said,
we got to do something about this. And Abraham said, well,
if you go left, I'll go right. You go up, I'll go down. whatever
you want. And Lot eyed those well-watered
plains. Oh, the choice land. He said,
I think I'll take that. And in wisdom, Abraham said,
have at it, buddy. Have at it. Go ahead. He prayed
for him. He interceded for him. And Lot
pitched his tent towards Sodom. Was he in Sodom? Not yet. Not
yet. He just kind of started easing
that way, didn't he? Well, I'll go out there a little bit. I'm
gonna pitch my tent kind of in that direction, but I'm still
in the good land. Well, some people say it's about
14 years later. Times have changed and those
herds got a little big and he got a little more industrious.
Well, now he has a big, fine, fancy townhouse in Sodom. We
can move in the big city, the metropolitan area. I don't live
out in the hicks, out in the sticks. I don't do that stuff.
I live in the big city. I can worship God and be in the
big city. It'll be fine. Now he's sitting in the gates of
Sodom. He's one of the five judges of Sodom. That's what sitting
in the gates was, wasn't it? He had been elected. He's an elected
official. I'm going to change things for
the better. I'm going to serve God. I'll just get elected to
Congress. I can make everything. Uh-huh. Yeah. Keep sitting in
Sodom. That's what that means. But there's
also two ways of looking at things, isn't there? That's what Peter
was talking about, how his ears were vexed, his soul was vexed. And he sat in that gate staring
out. God, what have I got myself into? Have you ever been stuck? Have you ever known the Lord
willfully left him, willfully left his gospel, and then you
cannot get out of it? And you look for him. And your
soul is vexed. inside of you, and you start
losing your hair, and you start going gray real early. I have. And so as in love, I want to
tell my brothers and sisters, don't do that. I know what I'm
talking about. I love you. Don't do that. Don't
do that. Well, how can I know if I'm just
and righteous and godly like our brother Lot is? God must
send a messenger. We're going to see some examples
in this text of what not to do. I'll tell you some stuff I did.
Don't do what I did. Do as I say, not as I do. Don't
do what I did. But we'll also see some of the
mercifulness of God in this. We'll see some things that are
right. We kind of have to have a bifocal lens on everything.
And that's okay. That's what Henry did, wasn't
it? There's a bifocal meaning here. I always thought he meant
glasses, but I get it. says in Genesis 19 verse 1, and
there came two angels. Who are these two angels? Well,
three of them just met with Abraham, didn't they? The Lord was there,
and two of his angels had met with Abraham. And we'll see this
parallel all the way through. What Lot did is the same thing
Abraham did. It goes hand in hand. There came two angels to
Sodom at Even in the evening. There's not an idle word in the
Scriptures. God's messengers, His servants, were put into a
wicked land right before it got dark. We are in the last days. I'm not going to be a heretic
and go telling people what time and date and all this nonsense.
That's silly. We know the season. A thousand years is of a day,
a thousand years. The Lord spent six days building
this earth, and on the seventh, He rested. We had 2,000 years
to the flood, 2,000 years to Christ's coming. It's been 2,000
years, isn't it? We'll see more. We're in the
last days. Today might be your last day. Today might be my last day. This
may be the last day I stand in this pulpit and preach the gospel
in this city. God may rain fire and brimstone down on us personally
or on this whole city. I hope He teaches us something
this morning. I hope He calls out one of His own. But these
servants came at evening, and lots sat in the gate of Sodom.
Where did Abraham sit? Parallels don't always mean the
exact same. Abraham sat in the door of his tent, didn't he? This matriarch, this powerful
man known throughout, renowned, God's only prophet, the only
man God spoke to, he sat in the door of a tent where the young,
wise Lot sat in judgment in the gates of Sodom. Moving on up. Not so. And Lot, seeing them,
arose to meet them. And he bowed himself with his
face toward the ground. And he said, Behold, now my lords,
turn in, I pray you. He saw them coming and he stood
up. He saw that was God's servant
and I'm going to respect them. And he stood up and he bowed
himself down towards the ground. That's what John did in the Isle
of Patmos, wasn't it? He bowed to that angel and he
said, Get up. This ain't me, but it took it
a little too far, but that's reverence, isn't it? That's reverence.
And he said, Behold, now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into
your servants' house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet,
and ye shall rise up early and go on your way. But I'll spend
the night with us. Stay with us. And they said,
Nay, but we will abide in the street all night. And he pressed
upon them greatly. Oh, he pressed upon them like
those two that rode to Emmaus. The Lord walked with them, and
he hadn't yet revealed himself. And he revealed himself in the
Scriptures to them, he preached to them, And he acts like he's
going to keep on walking. They get to their destination.
No, no, come with us. Come with us. What's the desire
there? Unity. That ain't brain science and
that ain't rocket surgery, is it? They want to be together.
They want to be together. And they turned into him. They
went in and entered into his house and he made them a feast. and did bake unleavened bread,
and they did eat. You ever baked bread? It takes
some effort. You ever made a feast? It takes
some effort. Some effort goes into it. Some
sacrifice went into this. Just like Abraham did, didn't
he? Those three came, and he went to Sarah, and he said, you
go make three measures of meal, a fine meal, and eat it. And
then he said, take a calf, tender and good, top shelf, best we
got. That's what they're getting.
And he said he took butter and milk in the calf and dressed
it, and he said it before them. Lot did the same thing, didn't
he? Gave his best. Verse 4 says, But before they
lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed
the house round. They surrounded the house, both
old and young, all the people from every quarter. And they
called unto Lot and said unto him, Where are the men which
came into thee this night? Bring them out unto us that we
may know them, that we may know them. That's to know them as
Adam knew his wife. You understand? That's what they
wanted to do. What can we learn from that,
from the old and new, the old and the young? First off, we're
all sinners. We come from the womb speaking
lies. Those sweet, precious little
children we see around, precious little babies, they'll cut your
throat, God took your hand off of them. They're sinners, children
of Adam. Wicked, that's all we are. And
young and old. The Lord said that as in the
days of Lot. Prosperity was abounding. Abounding. They planted, they
bought, they sold, they gave them out. They were building
houses all over. Things were booming, wasn't it? but the young
and the old sought to know these handsome servants of God." These
were angels that appeared as men. God's creation had no sin
in them. Handsome fellas. Good-looking
fellas. And they wanted to know them.
That seems a little on the nose, Kevin. Too bad, that's so. I
hate that for you. Paul said, as it is written.
That means God said it, God wrote it, God preserved it, and I bow
to it. That's too rough. I'm sorry. From my childhood,
I've wondered about this. I've always thought, why does
it say young and old? Why was there young people there and
old people there? They're all under sin. I could enter into
that. I get that. But why did the old people and
young people? Why did the angels at the end of this, they smite
them with blindness, great and old? Grownups, we can understand,
can't we? Right now, what's going on downtown?
the parades and the festivals and people flying in from all
over this country to this city. Grown-ups. We understand that,
right? But what about the young? Those old people, we understand.
It's been thrown in our faces for decades. It's been thrown
in God's face for a long time. But do you think Gil wrote about,
or Spurgeon wrote about, or these men that are dead and old and
you can't go talk to about a 10-year-old transitioning? Is that what that is? Telling these young people what
to do. As in the days of Lot. It's time we quit sleeping through
everything we hear and feeding ourselves on the smorgasbord
that suits our little precious needs and we serve God while
it's day. Make hay while the sun's shining.
Put your shoulder to the work. And quit talking about putting
your shoulder to the work. Did Lot say, bring the fire and
brimstone? Lord, this is wicked. This is
the soapbox I'm going to stand on. I've been looking out the
gate waiting for you. You finally showed up. Burn this
place up. Is that what he did? He pleaded
with those that the Lord took his hand off of. Oh, that I could
plead with those too. I could go downtown and plead
with people. And you listen to me. And old
dead folks can't tell you this either. Don't be homophobic.
Don't be. Don't be. This generation needs
men in this generation to tell them these things. We need to
be taught these things. Sin is wrong. Do not make an excuse
for it. It is wrong to sin against God. But we need to not get too
high on our horses looking down our nose at someone that suffers
from a different sin that we don't currently suffer from.
We need to be careful about that. This sin is against nature, against
the natural order of things. But like any sin, who's it against? Against God. Against God. Does
the sodomite need a different blood than Christ's blood for
an atonement? Does someone that has a gender
reassignment surgery and lives in this world declaring both
in word and in deed, no God, you got it wrong, I know better
than you. Is that unbelief and warring
against God any different than thinking you can do God a favor
by learning Hebrew and Greek. I'm going to hang Bible verses
all over my home. I'm a good little boy. What's
the difference? What's the difference? I knew a fellow, one got on one
time, they said, well, your child's a devil worshiper. This is terrible.
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Would you be happier if he's
a Southern Baptist? Now, let's get down to where the rubber
meets the road. Which is it? You outside of Christ or in Him?
There ain't multiple camps. You're either in Christ or you're
going to die in your sins. Run to Him. Does the message
change? Run to Him. Come, all the work's
done. Bow to Him. He delights to show
mercy. Then, like I said, this is the
first time mercifulness is mentioned. How did all this come about?
Paul wrote to us in Romans 1, who changed the truth of God
into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than
the Creator. Bruce article. Oh man, I'm just
off. Bruce Crabtree wrote a wonderful article about self. Oh, they worship Mary. Is that
bad? Yeah, that's bad. Don't worship Mary. Did the Lord
worship her? No. She come to him and said,
hey, they're out of wine. He said, what's wrong with you, woman? What are
you doing with me? Don't you know I gotta be about
my father's... My hour's not come yet. Is that wrong? Yeah, that's wrong. What about
this one? What if I was on a deserted island
all by myself? Would there be pride? Would I
worship the creature more than the Creator? Do I serve myself
or do I serve God? Oh, I'm serving God. We're about
to see. We're about to see. And the sacrifices
we've made ain't nothing. I don't serve God. Oh, I hope
someday I can enter the ministry. I hope someday I could serve
God. I do. Because the preaching went away.
Because people serve the creature and not the Creator. For this
cause, because of that, as goes the pulpit, so goes the pew.
For this cause, God gave them over to vile affections, for
even their women did change the natural use to things which is
against nature. Men's doing it. Women did it
too. Why? Christ wasn't preached. Christ
wasn't exalted. Nobody heard the gospel. That's
it. Paul said, No, ye not, the unrighteous shall not inherit
the kingdom of God. Be not deceived, neither fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with
mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous. It's so easy for us to look at
others, isn't it? Well, they're covetous, but I'm frugal. Rubber meeting the road, isn't
it? What's the difference? nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."
Is that plain? And such were some of you. What's
that? Hope. Hope. That's me. I'm everything. Guilty. Guilty. If I fought against
it, I've done it. So the Lord says, right? I'm
guilty. You guilty? And such were some
of you that you're washed, you've been sanctified, you've been
set apart, you're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and
by His Spirit of our God, because He saw fit to do so. What did
Lot do? So much can be learned of what
to do and what not to do. And you children remember this.
The choices that you make can last a lifetime. You can be the
Lord's and He'll deliver you out of Sodom, but the scars from
you maiming yourself may last until this life's over. It may
stick with you. Sometimes that can destroy the
testimony of a child of God, too. The Lord will shut you up,
not use you. That's what happens to Lot. He
goes to his sons-in-laws, heads of his daughters' houses, and
pleads with them, God's coming. He's going to destroy this city
in 40 days, four hours. And this city will be overthrown.
Come! Come! And they said, you're mocking
us. We're just fine where we are. I could put that in modern terms
too. We have technology here in Sodom. We don't need to go
nowhere. We're fine. He mocked them. You're here. You've been here
forever. Why should we listen to you? Our testimony can be
destroyed too. Verse 6 says, And Lot went out
at the door unto them, here's what he did, and shut the door
after them, and said, I pray you, brethren, do not sow wickedly. He prayed to Him. He used a term
I couldn't use. My pastor came and preached in
this state 30-some years ago, 25 years ago, and he used some
terms I couldn't use. But I hope I could be that endearing.
I hope I could be that open and caring to others. I hope I could
bend over backwards and kiss my heels and forsake anything
of me or any idea I have apart from the truth of the gospel
to endear and love Him to Christ. He said, I pray you, brethren,
do not so wickedly. We saw in Luke 14, a couple of
weeks ago, that servant, he brought the poor, the maimed, the haught,
the blind to that great supper. The master sent him out. And
the Lord said unto his servant, go out into the highways and
the hedges. The hedges. What's that? The barriers. Go
out in the fringes of society and compel them to come in. Compel
them. Urge them with everything in
you. Here's one man standing alone
against the city. And He says, I compel you. I
plead with you, brethren. I plead with you. Verse 8 says,
Now behold, I have two daughters, which have not known man. Let
me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and you do to them
as seems good in your eyes. Only unto these men do nothing.
For therefore came they under the shadow of my roof." They're
in my home. They're protected in my house. And I'll bring out
my two daughters. That's not married yet. They
don't know a man. And you do anything you want with them.
But leave these two alone. If you don't have children, have
you been a child? Walk that through. Sit on that
for three days and dwell on that. There's two different ways to
preach a lot of things, right? And it's right both ways. What's
the first thing here? What not to do. What not to do. Why would Lot do such a thing?
Well, it don't make sense to me, does it? How could he do
such a thing? We'll see later on in this chapter
what his daughters learned, but the longer you separate yourself
from the preaching of the gospel, the longer you're out from underneath
the preaching of the gospel, the longer you sit and have the
gospel preached to you and you don't give a hooey about it,
and you don't pay attention, and you just snooze your way
through it, the more like this world you become, the more hardened
you are to sin, the more calloused you are, and the less you care.
and it gets easier as time goes on. It snowballs itself as time
goes on. What happens when you're a small
child and you disobey mommy and daddy? Oh, you weep and cry. Oh, I'm
so sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. What happens
whenever you're a young adult? Well, I'm kind of sorry. What
happens in your late twenties? You'll get over it. You'll be
all right. We become callous to sin, don't we? Is that so?
Am I lying to you? You can fight it and stick your
nose up there at me if you want to, but it's so. I know these
things. Paul wrote to us, said, Be not conformed to this world,
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. And that
can happen in this world. That prodigal son, where'd he
end up? Eating corn out of a pig trough. Didn't he? Was that slowly? Did he get there or did he just
wake up one morning in a pig trough? No, that was getting out from
underneath the preaching of the gospel, walking his own way, being calloused
in this world, and the Lord pigeonholed him and hedged him about that
mobile fortress to bring him to the fortress. Hedged him about
and got him right down to hog trough. And he said, boy, my
servants in my daddy's house eat better than this. Let this mind be in you, not
the mind of this world. That's what not to do. That's
what not to do. Lot offering this thing to the
city of Sodom, how is this something to do? I don't feel like my sacrifice
to serve the Lord and his people is much at all when I consider
this. What have I given for the gospel? A gospel that costs you
nothing is worth nothing. What have I given for the gospel?
You imagine your young daughters to protect the Lord's servants.
Take them. I've dwelt on that for a couple
of days too. I would not tell you to do that
for me." What did the Lord's servant say to him? This is a
hard saying. Who can enter into it? Is that hard? Importunity. People like big fancy words.
Importunity. You serious? We're going to serve
God. You're going to find out. Like
David, I love him. You're going to find out. I trust
him. We're going to find out if you trust him. The Lord's
going to prove to you if he's put his love in you. If He's
made you His servant, made you believe Him, He's going to prove
to you that He made you believe Him. God will prove to us that
He's worked in us, and it's not pretty, and it must be His doing.
It must be His doing. This is wrong, what Lot did.
He learned this from Sodom. When his daughters enter into
him in that cave, where'd they get that from? He had them in Sodom. Willfully, didn't he? How's this
something to do? just after the Lord gave that
parable in Luke 14. He said, if any man come to me
and hate not his father or his mother and his wife and his children
and brethren and sisters, what is that? Well, mommy and daddy
saved. Now they're saved under a heathen
gospel that I wouldn't sit underneath, but now they're just God's people.
I know they was. Cling to them and apart from
God. That's what you're doing. I have it cut loose. Huntington
and Gill and all these old dead folks and Spurs and everybody
else and call people out by name and just get it, just get it
and shoe leather as much as we live right here to us. Because
I'm scared to death if I do that, I won't stop. Hear me, I want
to tell you these things. If you don't give up all that
stuff and your children and your brethren, that's what Lot did,
didn't it? What's gospel worth to you? Take my children. We
can enter into that a little bit, can't we? Give my children
for the gospel. Give my wife for the gospel.
Give everything I've got for the gospel. He said, if you don't
give up your wife and children and brethren and sisters, yea,
and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. That's the cost
of discipleship. That's the terms of surrender,
O'Barnard said. What's it going to cost you?
Everything. Because it cost him everything, didn't it? Do we
enter into his sufferings or no? Like David said, who have I in
heaven? But I don't want to exit this
world to go see grandma and grandpa, and to go meet Brother Lot, and
to go do this. I want to go see Christ. I want
to see the one that saved me, the one that gave himself for
me. What's that worth to you? What's it worth to have a gospel
in Humboldt, California? Despise not the day of small
things. That candle that's on the hill, it's not hid underneath
a basket. The Lord's put it here. Foolishly. They have a lot. I've got my
candle. I'm going to let my light shine
in Sodom. The Lord sent out 70, didn't he? How many places did
they go to? 35. Sent them out two by two. He didn't send them out alone.
What's that worth to you? He was with Abraham, wasn't he?
What was that worth to Lot? Now it's changed. He departed
from all that stuff before. Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful that promised.
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good
works, not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together, as the
manner of some is, but exhorting one another. And so much the
more as you see the day approaching. Is the day getting any closer?
Is old and young surrounding us? Exhort one another more. For if we sin willfully after
that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth
no more sacrifice for sin. Come to the feast and eat. Well,
I bought some land. I live in a big city. Come to
the feast and eat. Well, I got some ox. I ain't never seen before,
but I bought them. Come to the feast and eat. I'm married. I
talked to a man used to. I don't talk to him no more.
And every time I start talking to him about the importance of
Christ, about giving yourself to him and being knit with his
people, and it will help you. Sheep are a herd animal. He'd
say, oh, oh, oh, my daughter's calling. Oh, I gotta pick my
daughter up from the airport. Oh, my daughter, my daughter, my
daughter. She's older than me, I think. What's wrong with you,
man? Hogwash. Dust your feet off. Huntington
said he was preaching this fellow and he just believes the Lord
was working in him and he was agreeable to the gospel and he
seemed to treat the gospel. And a clergyman came by and took
him hunting. They went out duck hunting or
something. He was a clergyman of the Church of England. And
in parentheses, Huntington wrote, Mark that. Mark that. He wasn't of the Church of God.
And then that man come back and said, Well, I think everything
you said is wrong. So and so said this. It happened. Watch it. So and so said this. Verse 9. And they said, Stand
back. Lot says, Don't do anything wicked.
Take anything I have, but don't take the gospel. Take anything
I have. Take my life. Kill me and leave
these men alone. Leave God's servants alone."
And they said, stand back. Stand back. And they said again,
this one fellow came in to sojourn. He needs to be a judge. We know
who you are. You weren't born here. You came
in here to sojourn. You said you were just here for
a little bit. You had a tent out there. You used to be up
there with Abraham, then you pitched a tent. Now you're in
here, and now you're a judge, and we've elected you, but now
you're judging us. Now you're telling me what I'm
doing is wrong. You like to be told what you're
doing is wrong? Now we will deal worse with thee
than with them. You know what was going to do
to them two boys you brought that came in here? We're going to do worse
to you, Lord. You opened your mouth. You said
something loving. I can't hardly stand up sometimes.
You get that? Don't do wicked. I'll do anything
you want. Keep the gospel here. Listen
to His servants. Bow to God. And they said, we're
going to do worse to you than we're going to do to them. That's
going the opposite way, isn't it? And they pressed sore upon
the man. locked and came near to break
the door. They're pushing into him, and
they're reviling him, and they're biting at him, and they're leaning
into him so hard the door's about to give way, and all of them's
going to fall into the house. Persecuting him. Persecuted for sacrificing
and defending the servants of God. Because, and, or, however
you want to look at it, he's got himself willingly into a
mess and a half. Didn't he? Bend his arm, make
him go into Sodom. He willfully did it, didn't he?
But he's the Lord's. There's no way out for him. He
cannot fix this. But he's the Lord's. You are
literally backed into a wall and they're about to torture
you and execute you. Put your head on a platter just
like John the Baptist. No way out. But he's the Lord's. Verse
10, But the men put forth their hand, Those two angels, those
two servants of God inside that home, they put forth their hand
and they pulled Lot into the house with him and they shut
the door. How are we saved? By the right
hand of God, the one sitting on his right hand, by his power,
by his strength. We'll see again this hand gets
a hold of him and takes him out of there. We're saved by the
right hand of God. And what does he save us to?
He pulls us into His house. You get that? Outside a house
and then you go inside the house. He takes His child and brings
them into His kingdom. He takes their child and brings
them into His house with His people where He is. And shut the door. And shut the
door. What happened with the ark? Noah
was brought in. So keep getting Noah and Lot,
Noah and Lot, Noah and Lot, that's scriptures, right? Noah was brought
into the ark. He went in, went in male and
female of all the flesh, and God commanded him, and the Lord
shut him in. Are we sealed with the promise?
Are we sealed by the blood of Christ? He came to us because
we were willfully in disobedience. We willfully went and lived in
Sodom, and we got elected to the local office. He sent his
messengers to us. He took his right hand of power
and got a hold of us. He pulled us into the house.
He brought us out. He shut the door. He sealed us
in. Verse 11. That's not all. That's
salvation. There's also judgment. Verse
11. And they smoked the men that were at the door of the house
with blindness, both small and great, the young ones and the
old ones, so that they wearied themselves to find the door. Two places in Scripture this
word blindness is used as it is here. The other ones in 2
Kings, when Elisha, they were surrounded by all that king of
Syria's chariots and armies and everything else. That boy with
him was scared to death, and he said, fear not. And he prayed
to the Lord, said, open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord
opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain
was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. God's heavenly host was around.
You see that now, boy? When they came down to him, Elisha prayed
unto the Lord and said, smite this people, I pray thee, with
blindness. That same term, blindness, that's a sparkling, it's a dazzling
light. What is young people and old
people just enthralled with in this world? Whatever shines,
whatever tinkles. I got a shiny new car, I got
a shiny new houseboat, I got a shiny new whatever, shiny new
job, shiny new baby. blinded. They blinded both small
and great that they wearied themselves to find the door. The Lord spoke
through Isaiah and said, Thou art wearied in greatness of thy
way. They're wearied. Apart from the
simplicity of Christ, they're looking into everything underneath
the sun but Christ. I wish I could quit having word
studies and start having a Christ study. Wouldn't that be helpful? Yet saidst thou not, there is
no hope. Thou hast found life of thine
hand, therefore thou wast not grieved. For his people aren't
grieved. Those he struck with blindness,
those he's allowed their hearts to harden. They're wearied. They can't find the door. They're
struggling because they can't find the door. He said, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. They can't
find Christ is what it is. Oh, what a sad thing. At one
time, the Lord looked at His disciples and said, they're mad
at you. He said, let them alone. Every
time I read that the Lord departed from a city, oh, doesn't that
make you quiver? Don't take Him lightly. All that
ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did
not hear them. I'm the door. By me, if any man enter, he shall
be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. How are
we going to find this door? How is everybody going to find
the door? All around this nation is a bunch of wicked, evil men
after filthy lucre. It says, you gotta come, you
gotta do something. Poor little Jesus is just wanting something.
No, he ain't. You gonna go through that door same way Lot did. He's
gonna yank you in, isn't he? I hope we could find him. I pray
the Lord comes to His people in our foolishness, in spite
of ourselves, in our wickedness, in our ignorance, in our folly,
and everything else, and yanks us like a bran from the burning,
like a coal, an ember from the fire, and pulls us to Him, unites
us with Him and His people. That's what I pray. All right.
Another mic.