I'm going to sing hymn number
161. This is a song that I have never
led here. I used to sing it all the time
when I was a child and I've always loved it. 161 is the number. Oh, spread the tidings round,
wherever man is found, wherever human hearts are found. And human
woes abound Let every Christian tongue Proclaim the joyful sound
The Comforter has come The Comforter has come The Comforter
has come The Holy Ghost from heaven, the Father's promised
gift Who'll spread the tidings round, wherever man is found
The Comforter has found The long, long night is past,
The morning breaks at last, And hushes the dreadful waves, And
fury of the blasts, As old golden hills The day advances fast,
the Comforter has come. The Comforter has come, the Comforter
has come. The Holy Ghost from heav'ns,
the Father's promised gift. Oh, spread the tidings round,
wherever man is found. Lo, the great King of Kings,
with healing in His wings, to every captive soul of good deliverance
brings. And through the vacant cells
the song of triumph rings, The comforter has come The Comforter
has come, The Comforter has come, The Holy Ghost from heav'n, The
Father's promised land. Oh, spread the tidings round,
Wherever man is found, O boundless love divine How shall
this tongue of mine To wandering mortals tell The matchless grace
divine That I, a child of hell Should in His image shine The
Comforter has come! The Comforter has come! The Comforter has come! The Holy Ghost from heaven The
Father's promised land Oh, spread the tidings round Wherever man
is found The Comforter has come Oh, spread the tidings round
Wherever man has found, the Comforter has come. I believe he has. The Comforter
has come, that is, because He takes the things of Christ and
shows them to His people. That's how we know Him. Go back
to Genesis 19 now. I forget to look at the clock
every now and then. I've got me a timer here. Just before the flood, before
the Lord destroyed the world by water, it says, the Lord looked
upon the earth and behold, it was corrupt. All flesh had corrupted
his way upon the earth. The Lord said to Noah, he told
Noah, the end of all flesh has come. But Noah found grace. and the eyes of the Lord. And
the Lord told him of Nark. And he put him in his house,
his family, in that ark. The Lord being merciful to him. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
who that was speaking. And he said, when upon this earth,
he said, as in the days of Noah, so shall the coming of the Son
of Man be. When you see that the earth is corrupt, The end
is near, as in the days of Lot, he said. Eating and drinking
and buying and selling and building and so forth. No thought toward
God, but corrupt. This is something we've looked
at before, but it bears repeating, especially as you see the day approaching,
the day of the Lord, which most surely must be soon. Look at verse 13. It says in
chapter 19, verse 13, I will destroy this place because the
cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord. Not a cry
for mercy, brazen cry, not cry, O God, O my God,
have mercy, but just, O my God, just blaspheme in that. The cry of their rebellion, flaunting
their sin. Listen to Isaiah. concern Israel. He said, their
show of their countenance, a look on their face, doth witness against
them. And they declare their sin as
Sodom. They hide it not. They're proud
of it. Act up, you know. That's the day we live in. popular saying, I think it's
cute, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. No it doesn't. It comes up into the ears and
eyes of God Almighty. And you know it so that sins
once hidden just thirty years ago are now flaunted. So the end must be soon. This is what the Lord said. This is why. He said, their cry
has come up, their sin is great, and it's over. Verse 16 here in our text says,
ìThe Lord was merciful unto Lot.î You know, this is the first time
the word ìmercyî is used in the Scripture. The first time youíll
ever see the word ìmercyî is right there, because the Lord
is merciful. The Lord being merciful. And
Lot said when this was over, he said, you have magnified your
mercy in that you have brought me out. And that's what I want
to do this morning. That's what I want to do. I hope
the Lord will do it for us. See, this is every believer's
story. If the Lord had not revealed
Himself to us, had the Lord not chosen us, God's mercy is sovereign mercy.
I will be merciful to whom I will. And Lot found mercy and found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. The Lord chose Lot. The Lord
came to Lot. The Lord laid hold of Lot. He
wouldn't have come out had not the Lord been merciful to him.
He would have perished with Sodom, but God was rich in mercy. And that God of mercy is the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's who came and laid hold
of me. And had not the Lord revealed Himself to me, this side of mine,
had not the Lord come to me through the preaching of the gospel,
sent an angel, more than one, many angels, and laid hold of
me through the gospel, I wouldn't have come out. And He continues
to do the same thing because I linger. And if the Lord does
not continue to show mercy, I'll perish with Sodom. But his mercy
endureth forever. And how you know it is you hear
the gospel. Because this is what continues
to warn us and pull us out, Sherry. This is what continues to separate
us, to bring us out, lest we perish with the gospel. Lot was in Sodom. Scripture said
in 2 Peter that Lot was a righteous man. Lot was a righteous man. It says
that righteous man, that just man, call him a just man, a righteous
man. It says he was vexed. That righteous
man vexed his soul day in and day out with the ungodliness
of the people, the place where he lived. It vexed him. This
is one way you know he was a righteous man, that he was a just man. But now you know. that nobody
is righteous in themselves by their works or by their goodness.
No, no, no. There's none righteous. No, not
one. We heard this plainly this morning. Why was Lot righteous? You know, if the only thing you saw was
this story, would you think he was a righteous man? The Lord does not hide the sins
of His people in this book. Thankfully, he shows them, he
exposes them, but he does cover them under the blood. He does
forgive them. He shows us the sin, the worst sin of some of
the best men in Scripture, but every man at his best age. But that magnifies the mercy
of the Lord, you see. The Lord saves the chief of sinners.
And Lot, if the Lord hadn't said he was a just and a righteous
man, you might not know it. But why is he justified? Because God said so. Because Christ died. And you
can count on this. You can write this down. Lot
believed and looked to the Lord Jesus Christ. He knew who it
was that came and found him. But here this righteous man was
in Sodom. He was in Sodom. This righteous
man, this just man living in Sodom. He shouldn't have been
there. This story doesn't begin here.
Go back to chapter 12 of Genesis. Genesis chapter 12. Lot shouldn't have been here.
He brought most of these troubles on himself and his family. Yes,
he did. By moving to Sodom. See, he was
given a choice with Abraham. You remember that? And look at chapter 12, verses
1 through 4. The Lord had said unto Abram,
Get thee out of thy country. Abram lived in Ur, the Chaldees,
idolatrous. And God told him, get out from
your kindred, your family, from thy father's house unto a land
that I will show thee. I will make of thee a great nation. I will bless thee and make thy
name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless
them that bless thee and curse him that curses thee, and in
thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. So Abraham
departed as the Lord had spoken unto him, and Lot went with him. And Abram called Lot his son
from that day forward. He was really his nephew, but
his dad had died. And what a picture this is, all
right? This is Christ and His people.
We read this, I think it was Wednesday night, wasn't it? But this is God the Father speaking
to the son to go and take a peep and go from your father's house. I'll make you a blessing. And
I'll bless those that bless you. And everybody that's with you
will be blessed. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
came to save the chief of sinners, and we were with him when he
came. Any found him. And God made that
oath and that covenant, didn't he? I'll bless them that bless
you. Everybody with you. But this
is a real story too, a true story, that Abram was a man and God
called him And Lot was with him. God blessed Abraham, revealed
himself to Abraham, and Lot was with him. And the point is that
there's safety, there's salvation with God's people where God is
found. Okay? Abraham ended up in Bethel. You know what Bethel means? The house
of God. Does that sound familiar? That's
where old Jacob ended up. The house of God. Calling on
the name of the Lord. That's what Abraham did. You
notice in our story, he got up in the morning and did what he
always did. Call on the name of the Lord. While Sodom was
being destroyed, Abraham was calling on the name of the Lord.
That's a picture of Christ, too, isn't it, John? Interceding.
Interceding. Well, but as long as Lot was
with Abram, he was safe. The blessing of the Lord, Psalm
3 says, is upon his people. Where he is found, where his
people are found, because there is a place that God has chosen
to put his name there. A place of worship where his
people worship God in spirit and truth, rejoice in Christ
Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, not theirs or anyone
else's. And that place, those places are few and far between,
and if you have found that place, rather you are found in that
place. God has found you and put you
in that place. Don't you leave that place for
anybody or anything, no matter what you accumulate. Don't do
it. But Lot did. You know the story. What happened
was there was strife. Look at chapter 13, verse 5. Lot went with Abram. Lot had
flocks and herds and tents. Chapter 13, verse 6. The land was not able to bear
them that they might dwell together because their stuff was great. They had too much stuff. So they
couldn't dwell together and they had strife. They were arguing
between their herdsmen and so forth. There was too much stuff,
and this stuff that they both had accumulated had caused strife
and wars and divisions among them. And isn't that exactly
what James said? From whence come wars among you? Come they not of your own lust?
You lust to have and have not, and you fight and quarrel and
stuff. Too much stuff. Well, what should
Lot have done? What would have been the wise
course? Get rid of some stuff. Our Lord said sell what you have
and buy bags that wax not old. Lay up for yourself treasures
in heaven where moths and thieves and rust cannot corrupt. Don't
put all your things in bags on the earth where moths and thieves
and rust doth corrupt and so forth. You might perish with
it. Don't do that, the Lord said. All these things will parry,
but Lot did not. Abraham stayed right where he
was. He drifted briefly. Went down to Egypt. The Lord
scared him to death. He almost lost his wife down
there. Scared him to death and brought him right back to Bethel,
and that is where he stayed. But Lot said, here's the story,
Lot beheld the well-watered plains of Sodom. It says it looked like
paradise to him. Oh, look at that beautiful city.
Sodom and Gomorrah apparently were beautiful cities, beautiful
to look at. It says Lot looked and beheld
those. His eyes longed for that place. And Abraham said, and Abraham
being a gracious man, you take what you will and I'll take the
rest. I'll go wherever you go, go, take it. It's all before
you, go. And he beheld Sodom of all places. He said, I'll take that. It looks
like paradise. And you know, we all are tempted. Every one of us will admit we're
flesh and blood, and there's still much of this world that
appeals to us. Oh, it's lost its luster, hasn't
it, Nancy? But still, there are times when
the earth appeals to us and we think, oh boy, I'd love to have
that and go there, love to live there. When I retire, I don't
know how many times I've said this, when I retire, and I don't
plan on it, But find me a little cabin by the ocean and just fish. Key West. Key West. What a paradise. That's one of the most godless
places on earth. Why? No gospel there. There's the difference. There's
the difference. You know, the same sins are in
every city. The same sins are lurking in
our hearts. One city is not any worse than
another, more evil than another, though it might be more widespread,
but they might flaunt it like Las Vegas. Sin City, they advertise
that brazenly. It's not funny at all. It's not
funny at all. Brazenly. And what makes one place worse
than another, though, is if there's no gospel there. That's when it's dangerous to
live there. That's when it's dangerous. That's
when you put you and your family, your souls in danger when there's
no gospel there. Young people, this message I
hope, I pray the Lord will let you listen, and all of us, young
and old. But the Lord in Genesis 18, the
Lord appeared unto Abraham. He sat in his tent door in the
heat of the day. So much to see. He was in a tent, in a temporary
dwelling. In the heat of the day, I thought
about this. Better to dwell in a hot tent
and be a little uncomfortable than in the well-watered plains
of a place that's about to perish. Better to be where the Lord is
And the blessings of the Lord are with affliction, with trial,
with some trouble, with some earthly and physical discomfort,
to have all the pleasures of Egypt and perish therein. Moses,
by the grace of God, made that choice. Well, after revealing himself
to Abraham, his covenant, his will, his purpose, verse 17,
chapter 18, the Lord said, from Abraham that thing which I do.
See, and that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation. Verse 19, parents, this is a
wonderful verse to put a mark beside and remember it. He said,
God said of the Lord Jesus Christ said of Abram, I know him that
he will command his children and his household after him,
and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment
that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken
of him." That's certainly a glorious picture of Christ who commands
his, who are all taught of the Lord, and they will do justice. And it's also a true picture
of a true man whom the Lord commended and said he will raise them up
in the way that they shall go. And when they are old, they will
not depart from it. That's the promise of the Lord. But the Lord said, Shall I hide
this thing from Abraham? Are you with me? I'm building
up here. Like I said, the story didn't
start in chapter 19. The Lord said, Shall I hide this
thing from Abraham? I'm going to destroy Sodom. Shall
I hide it from Abraham? No. God doesn't hide these things
from His people. He reveals them. They're hid
from the wise and the prudent. Stanley, they're hid from the
world. God made it plain to Abraham who he was, holy, righteous,
just, the just God, who by no means cleared the guilty, angry
with the wicked every day. The soul that sinneth must surely
die. God is holy. The wrath of God
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men, Romans 1 says. Clearly revealed. His eternal
power and Godhead is clearly revealed, Romans 1 says. His people. Do you see it? Oh, if you do. Flesh and blood
didn't reveal it to you. In fact, they're removing these
things. The religious world is not hearing
this anymore. Was it Elijah who said, Where's
the God of judgment? Isn't it? Elijah. Where's the
God of judgment? He's nowhere to be found because
Paul's prophets are telling everybody, God loves you. And Jesus died
for you. He has a wonderful plan for your
life. No evil shall follow you. But that's not what God says
to His people. God says, the wrath of God abides
upon the ungodly. God hateth all workers of iniquity.
Huh? Bread God! And this is the first
mercy of God. This is the first way in which
God Almighty revealed Himself to be God, to be merciful, is
to His people, is to the fear of the Lord, is the beginning
of wisdom. When God came to Noah, Noah first, when God made Himself
known to Noah, it says, Noah moved with fear. Fear of the Lord. And what did
he do? Where did he move? Ark! He fled like that for that
city of refuge, that only place of salvation. When a man realizes who God is,
when a woman realizes who God is and who they are, sinners,
God is holy. They'll flee to Christ from mercy. And only then will they flee
to Christ. Shall I hide this thing from
Abraham? No. I'm going to show him, reveal
it to him. I'm going to reveal it to him. And like Egypt of
old, remember all of the plagues came upon Egypt, nine different
plagues? Plain. But Egypt didn't recognize
it as the hand of God, did they? They didn't do it. Israel saw
it plain as day. Plain as day. It's been that
way more than once with Sodom. And we do, don't we? We see it
by the mercy of God. And you know, the Lord Jesus
Christ said to Abraham, and Abram stood before the Lord and interceded
for the people of Sodom. He interceded. And all of this
is a picture of Christ. He interceded for such a sinner.
But Abram is a real man and he had people down there he knew.
Lot was one of them. He was concerned about Lot, his
children. And Abram interceded on their
behalf. Please don't destroy this. He
said the judge of the earth will do right. I know you will. That
was his comfort. That was his hope that the judge
of the earth will do right and that God will not destroy the
righteous with the wicked. He won't. He won't do it. And he began to plead. You remember,
if there's 50, if there's 40, if there's 30, if there's 20,
if there's just 10, will you destroy the city for just 10?
A tenth? Will you destroy the city if
you just find 10 righteous people in that city? And the Lord being
so merciful. Although there's 10 million in that city, the
Lord said, I won't destroy it. If I find 10, I won't destroy
it. He had my word on it. He couldn't find 10. My, my. You think about that. And we know it so, people. What
is a righteous man? Here's the true circumcision.
They worship God in spirit. And not with their lips. They
don't call Him Lord, Lord with their lips. They know He's Lord.
They believe God is God. They worship God for who He is.
They love God as God. Sovereign. majestic, awful, they
fear His name, they glorify His name, they glorify God as God,
won't even speak His name unless they do it in reverence and fear.
They worship God from the heart, not with the lip, not in the
show, but from the heart and spirit and truth, for the truth
to say. And they rejoice in Jesus Christ,
knowing that Jesus Christ is their salvation. They are all
and in all. They really do rejoice, not in their church, not in their
denomination, not in themselves, not in their doctrine, but in
the Lord Jesus Christ. They rejoice in Him that He is
all and in all. They really do. They love Christ. They come to God in pride and
they put no confidence in the flesh. They don't use the flesh.
Trust the flesh, not themselves, not anybody. They trust the Lord
and the Lord only. They look to Him and Him alone.
Now, you tell me if you've found ten people like that where you
worked, or out there anyway. Have you? Can you find anybody? Sammy, can you find anybody that
you've talked to? Have you found anybody yet who says, Oh, I'm so thankful
God's on the throne. Boy, I'm so thankful God is merciful
to a sinner like me. Boy, I'm so thankful. Salvation
by the grace of God in Jesus Christ. I'm so thankful for the
blood on the mercy seat. I'm so thankful Jesus Christ
came into the world to save a rotten sinner like me. I'm so thankful
because in my flesh, I don't have any confidence in it. In
my flesh dwelleth no good thing, but God who is rich in mercy
and His great love wherewith He loved me, quickened me and
put me under the blood of Christ and saved me by His grace. Oh,
thank the Lord! Have you found sin? But wait, hold on a minute, hold
on a minute. Look around, look around. There are more than ten
in here. Isn't that a miracle? You see,
if we just had ten, it would be a miracle. If there's just
three. If there's just one. Couldn't you say with lot, oh,
you've magnified your mercy and you've brought me out. If there's
just one. Just one. That's all the Lord
found. And I remind you of what our
Lord Jesus Christ said, when the Son of Man comes, shall he find faith on the earth. That has always been one of the
most frightening and amazing scripture
that I've ever read. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes
back to this earth, shall he find faith on the earth? Meaning,
it's going to be so rare and so precious, so hard to find, you have to look for it. That's
something that is really something. If you have it, It's precious
faith. The faith delivered to the saints.
Like precious faith. Roberta, it's precious. It's
rare. It's valuable. You didn't produce
it. God gave it to you. Oh my, magnify His mercy with
me, would you? Well, in the chapter 19 now,
27 minutes. 27 minutes. Chapter 19, it says, Lot, there
came two angels to Sodom at evening. The day is about over. Two angels
came to Sodom. Oh my, why would God send his
blessed holy angels to a despicable place like that? That's what David said, what
is man that thou art mindful of him, the Lord would visit
him. Why would God send his angels of mercy, let alone his Son,
to these rotten places just like Sodom? Rocky Mount. As I said,
it's no different than Sodom, is it? The only thing that makes
Rocky Mount different from Sodom and Gomorrah is the arts here,
the Gospels here. And that's the mercy of the Lord.
And the Lord has sent not one angel, but two and three and
four. How many angels, Brother Henry,
how many angels have you heard the gospel from in this pulpit? Lot will never forget this as
long as he lives. That the Lord sent his angels
to Sodom, and not just Sodom, sent them to him. He's one of his elect. Yeah,
I'm going to say it. This is the salvation of God's
elect. And Lot, it says, sat in the
gate, verse 1. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom.
I believe Lot sat in the gate. He's longing to get out. Don't you? I believe he's in
the gate looking like the song says, on Jordan's stormy banks,
I stand and cast a wishful eye. Lots sitting in the gate beside
him thinking, why am I here? What am I doing in this place?
I want out of this place. Maybe he's calling them. I believe
he is. Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be
saved. The Lord will send his gospel to that person. And Lot
is in the gate thinking, Oh, I'd like to get out of here.
Oh, if I only was with Abram, with God's people. And lo and
behold, God sent his angels to Lot. And Lot, because Lot knew
they were angels, he looked up and he saw them. Nobody else
saw them. They just saw two men come in.
They just thought they were men. But Lot saw angels sent by God. And Lot rose up in respect and
honor and bowed down. And what did he do? He entertained
these angels. He was well aware of it. He entertained
these angels. He besought them greatly, verse
3, pressed upon them greatly, made them a feast of unleavened
bread of all things. But he besought, he pressed upon
them greatly. And people, this gospel is a
pressing matter. Our Lord said that. He said,
the kingdom of heaven is preached from John, It's preached, and
men press into it. It's a pressing matter. When
the Lord really sends the gospel to a person, and they see it's
from God, and they see it's His mercy to them, that He sent it
to them, oh, it's a pressing matter. They've got to have it.
And they entertain angels. They support His men and they're
glad to do it. They insist upon it. Thank the
Lord for sending you to me. Please, please stay right here. Would you stay right here with
me? And they did. They did. They
did. And then you know what happened. The men of that city, old and
young, from every corner. It's too wicked to even talk
about it. You know, it's become so commonplace
in our day, homosexuality. It's so commonplace in our day
that it's not even a shame anymore to talk about it. It used to
be a shame. Scripture says it is. And now it's not only out
in the open, but it's lauded, it's extolled, it's even thought
to be okay, it's acceptable, even honorable to be. And again, I remind us all that
it's no worse than any other sin. God groups that with covetousness. However, let me say this, Romans
1 is very clear about it. That what it generally reveals,
though, is a reprobate. That God, because the truth is
taken away, that's where it starts. when men don't stand up in the
pulpit and declare God's Word, the truth. The truth is taken
away because there's no God, no God of judgment. He quoted
it, John, John Michael, and you and I talked about it. The last
verse in Judges said, because there's no king in Israel, every
man did that which was right in his own house. No sovereign
God, no God of judgment. No law. And you can do whatever
you want to. And whenever God put a godless
king over Israel, over the land, there was godlessness throughout
the land. And that's what we have. I'm
just telling it like it is. Though it's no worse a sin, yet
it generally reveals as a sign of reprobacy and someone completely
left to themselves. And you see what it produces.
You see, it's total degradation of the person, mind, body, and
spirit. Total degradation. That's what
it reveals. And they got mad at Lott. Remember,
Lott came out and said, don't do so wicked. They got mad. They
said, who do you think you are to call us wicked? You're a homophobia, Lott. That's
what you are. Nothing's changed, you see. Nothing's
changed. But the Lord laid hold of Lott. He's in the middle of all that.
Why wasn't he caught up in it? The Lord is merciful to him.
And Lot went out to tell them, this is wrong, this is wrong. And the Lord laid hold of him
and brought him in the house where the angels were, where
God's mercy was, and shut him in. Does that sound familiar?
Like Noah. The Lord shut him in. Shut him
in. I believe the door is open right
now. I believe it's open, a door of mercy. Seven days the Lord
waited before he shut Noah in that ark and no more mercy. And
I believe as long as the Gospels preach, there's still mercy for
the worst of sinners. It's not that homosexuals are
beyond mercy. Not so. All manner of sin be
forgiven. But as a general rule, according
to Scripture, it reveals people totally left to themselves. And those men, it says, groped
for the door, struck with blindness, groped for the door. Well, let
me go on. All right, look at verse 12.
The Lord said, the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? That is, they were looking at
those two daughters. son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, whatever
thou hast in the city, outside there, living in Sodom, whatever,
bring them out of this place." I just discovered this. Lot had
more than two daughters. He had two virgin daughters at
home. You reckon the Sodomites thought that they were strange?
Are you with me? Mary, you reckon the Sodomites
thought Lot's daughters are virgins. Had nobody in Sodom a virgin.
What's wrong with them? Huh? You reckon? Lot had more than two daughters.
They had two daughters at home, but never knew man. They were
virgin. But he had other daughters that were married to Sodomites.
They were married to sons and they had husbands, sons-in-law,
and he had sons. That's what they said. Daughters,
the Lord generally when he says plural, it's more than two, it's
several. Lot lost most of his family in Sodom, except two daughters,
himself. Do you see the point I'm trying
to make here? He said, whatever you have, Lot, whatever is found
here with you, Whatever you have in the city, bring them out.
Bring them out. He hastened, he said, look down
in verse 15. Arise, take your wife and your
two daughters which are here, lest you be consumed in the iniquity
of the city. Today is a day of salvation,
in other words. Today is a day of salvation.
Lot, grab hold of your wife and your children and bring them
out. And... I'm not trying to be dramatic
here at all, but it's just true. It's what the Scripture says.
Today, the gospel is being prayed. And if we lay hold of our wife's
hands and our children's hands and say, you're coming with me.
You're coming to the church house. You're coming to the house of
God to worship. I don't want to. You're coming
with me. As long as you're under my roof, you're coming with me.
If I have any say at all in the matter, you're coming with me.
Why should I? Because there's mercy to be found, and I don't
want you to be destroyed with this city. Come with me. Come
thou with us. We'll do you good. And if you
go out there, though, and marry, there's no promise that if you
go out in that city. Joseph? Laura? Why did I call her name? There's no promise. But if you
go out there and be joined to this world and the people of
this world, that God will have mercy on you. And what we're doing right here
is a lie for death. It really is. It really is. I wish I was more
urgent about this, Brother Gay. Don't you? I wish I was more
urgent about it. But there's mercy with the Lord.
And that mercy is only found in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
God will be merciful to you if you marry someone who loves Christ. Because they'll love you like
Christ loved the church. If not, there's no promise that
you'll find any mercy at that man or that woman's hand. There's
no promise that that marriage will last. There's no promise.
It's difficult enough as it is between two believers. But if
you don't find someone who loves God, who knows God and worships
Christ, God said, I will destroy this
place. Lay hold of your daughters. Lay hold of your wife. Lay hold
of them. It's an urgent matter. Well,
verse 16, it says, while he lingered, Lot lingered. And I understand
this. I know what happened. Wesley,
I know what happened. Oh my, I've lived here for 30
years, 40 years. Look at what all I've accumulated. There's my sons and daughters
out there. I love them. My grandchildren. I love them.
I can't bear to leave them. I've worked hard. Accumulated
little things. I don't know if I could leave. We all establish a lot
of ties, don't we? A lot of relationships. Accumulate
a lot of things. If you're honest, I don't know
if I want to leave them or not. Hannah grew up and got
married and left the house. But then along come these little
grandchildren. And it's just joy, we just love them dearly,
as much as we love you. It's incredible. Can you love
your grandchildren like you do your children? Absolutely. I keep calling Isabella Hannah
all the time. Time has flown so quickly, it's all running
together. I love her just as much as I love you. I really
can't bear the thought of being without her. Could you? I can't
either. Huh? We've got lots of cause
to linger. That explains it. He sure does. Lot lingered. He
looked around and said, Oh my, but the Lord be in mercy to him. He laid hold of him. Took him
by the hand. Two men, alright? Here's Lot
and his two daughters. And these two angels have four
hands. And he laid hold of all of them
by the hand. Take them by the hand. His wife,
his daughter, take them all by the hand. They are able. The Lord's arm is not short.
When he lays hold of his people, he will bring them out. He will
bring them out. Linger though they might, he
will bring them out. And laid hold a lot, and it says,
here it is, we are magnifying his mercy, the Lord being merciful
unto him. And it says, he brought him forth
and set him, where? Without the city. That's sanctification. Set apart
to spare. And the mercy of God is in Christ
Jesus. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
here in this story that comes and appears to Abraham and the
Lord Jesus Christ who spoke to Abraham and the Lord who laid
hold of Lot here. The Lord rained fire upon Sodom. The Lord Jesus Christ said, ìEscape
from your life. Donít look back. Donít look back.î
And hereís what Lot said in verse 19, ìBehold now, thy servant
hath found grace in thy sight.î I know it. ìAnd thou hast magnified
thy mercy which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life.î Isnít
that our story? The Lord God has magnified his
mercy in sending the Lord Jesus Christ, the gospel of Christ,
down to this earth to lay hold of a sinner like me who lingers,
who lingers. He lays hold of me, though, and
I lay hold of him. And hopefully, by His grace,
I will hold fast the beginning of my confidence, steadfast unto
the end. You know, but that's not the
end of this story. Much went on, didn't it? Much time went
by. And the Lord did destroy that
city like He said He would. And then a great sin happened.
Why? After so great a salvation. See, the Lord's Word is so perfect. Even after so great a salvation, after
such a miraculous deliverance, after the Lord showed such mercy
to Noah, look at him. Look at him. After the Lord showed
such mercy to Lot, look at him. What does this prove? That every
man is capable of anything at any time, at any point. Right? And what does this prove? His
mercy endureth forever. Kelly, the same Lord that had
mercy on Lot and pulled him out of Sodom, when he found him like
that, after so great a mercy and such great salvation, the
Lord still had mercy on him. It was all in his purpose. Moab,
Lamanite, they had to come. The Lord's ways are past finding
error. His goodness, his mercy, so great.