Turn with me this morning to
the book of 2 Peter. 2 Peter and the 2nd chapter. Many people are deceived by things that they are taught concerning
what some call the end times, or the last days. But the truth of the matter is,
we are already there. If you read what it says in Hebrews
1, the apostle says, God has in these last days. spoken unto us by His sons. And one deception of the devil
is to have somebody always looking off to the future while he keeps
them in bondage and captivity in the present. I call this, this morning, the
righteous in the last days. And I'd like for you to look
down, in light of what Joe read there in Genesis 19, to the same
subject, but here it is addressed by the Apostle Peter, 2 Peter
2 and verse 6. and turning the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah into ashes. Who did that? We read in Genesis 19 that the
Lord destroyed the cities of the plain and all the inhabitants
in those cities, and that without remedy, and turning the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making
them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly, and
delivered just lot vexed with the filthy conversation of the
wicked, for that righteous man dwelling among them in 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 temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto
the day of judgment to be punished." Now, there are a lot of commentators
and preachers and such that have cast a dark shadow on the life
of this man, Lot, who was Abraham's nephew. And no doubt his life was, like
all our lives, just filled with many failures and fearful things
and ups and downs. A lot of them you can read there
in the book of Genesis. But as we read here in 2 Peter,
as Peter is led by the Holy Spirit, We are made to know that he was
one of God's sheep. He was one of God's elect. And though there are a host of
things, I'm sure, that we would not want to emulate concerning
his life, there are some things and some ways in which we must
be like him if we do not perish, if we enter into God's presence. This man undoubtedly made a lot
of bad decisions, and he was chastened of God for his disobedience. But as was said in our reading,
the Lord had mercy on him. The Lord had mercy on him. And he was apparently the only
one in his immediate family that had any understanding or any
interest in the things of God. We know that by what is said
of his wife. who disobeyed God and looked
back and was turned into a pillar of salt. And also from his own
daughters as well as his sons-in-law, who when they were told this
truth, they looked at him as if he were crazy, as if he mocked
them. But there are a few things that
I want us to see this morning in light of whatever ways he
might have failed and disappointed us or himself, whatever it might
be, because Lot is a type of a believing sinner. You see, those who preach salvation
by work would rather just make him a warning so that men do
not do certain things and rather trust in what they don't do,
but he is really a type of a believer. And I believe that he is also
a type of believers in that time prior to the second coming of
the Lord Jesus Now, I say that because of what Christ Himself
said. He says in Luke 17, 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, he says, shall it
be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. In that day
he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let
him not come down to take it away. And he that is in the field,
let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife. Whosoever shall seek to save
his life shall lose it. and whosoever shall lose his
life shall preserve it." He likens the day of Lot to that time just
preceding his second coming, the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And there are three things that
characterize this man, three or four things that are obvious
by what Peter tells us that we must be like him in if we are
to be saved. And here's the first thing. The
first thing is that he was, Lot was, righteous in the sight of
God. Now, not long ago, I was in a
doctor's office, and I heard a lady speaking of a man. And without any reservation,
without any hesitation, she said of this man, she said, He's a
righteous man. A righteous man. Well, the truth
of the matter is, He is a righteous man who is one not in man's sight,
but he is a righteous man who is one in God's sight. You see, you and I have not a
clue of what righteousness is all about except we find out
from the righteous God. And this man Lot, with all his
faults and with all his failures and weaknesses and such as that,
he was, and we are not left to guess or debate it or wonder,
he was righteous in the sight of God. How do we know that? Well, look down in verse 7. where
the apostle, by the Spirit of God, describes him as just lot. Or look down also in verse 8
and hear him described as a righteous man. And here the apostle speaks
of his righteous soul. And then look even down farther
in verse 9 and hear him put in this group that are described
by God as the godly. So regardless of what we read
of his failures, regardless of what we read of all the things
that we wouldn't want to follow, he is in the sight of God a righteous
man, a godly man. I remember hearing a lady say
one time that she could just look. She could just look at
a person and a crowd and tell those who were godly and those
who were not. How foolish can you be? And I don't imagine that anybody,
by looking at him, would have figured that Lot was a righteous
man when the Scripture says, there is not a just man upon
earth that doeth good and sinneth not. That's the Old Testament,
the book of Ecclesiastes. And then in the New Testament,
as it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. And when you look back in verse
6, you see that this reason for judgment, the reason for destruction,
and here Sodom and Gomorrah is given as an example, a warning
of those who after that would live ungodly. Don't you imagine? That lot lived
ungodly? And would we, if we are honest
one little bit with ourselves as well as with God, Would we
not have to say that every son and daughter of Adam have done
just exactly the same, lived ungodly? And most especially,
could we not confess that we have lived ungodly? Would we dare? Want to die today
and stand before God based on what we have done? You see, God gives us this example
in Lot that we might know how, and I might say the only way
that any sinner can be in His sight just and righteous and
godly. And we know immediately, we know
without a doubt in what we have just read in these two portions
of Scripture with Lot, we know that it was not anything in him
or anything done by him. You wouldn't want to hold up Lot may be as a shining example
of godly living. As a matter of fact, I remember
a person say to me after I read this portion of Scripture one
time, they said, I know what it says, but I don't see any
way that Lot could be righteous. I can't see any way that he can
be godly. And she was right. She could
not see that because she was spiritually blind and knew not
the gospel. The only thing is, at that time I was almost as
blind as she was. He is said to be righteous. And so how can God's Apostle
here, in the light of everything Lot did and was, how can he here
call him just and righteous when in Proverbs we read this plain
statement and principle with God? He that justifieth the wicked,
and he that condemneth the just, Even they both are an abomination
to the Lord. So here is the dilemma, I guess
you might say. Here is God over here calling
this man who is unrighteous in himself, He's calling him righteous,
and over here on this cross is a truly righteous man, and he
is calling him or dealing with him as if he is unrighteous. Isn't he just doing exactly what
he himself forbids and condemns? You see, that actually brings
us to have to deal with the question that everyone that God ever saves
is confronted with, the one that Job asked in Job 9 when he said,
how then should a man be just with God? If to justify a wicked one is
an abomination to God, And at the same time, to condemn one
that is truly just is an abomination to God. How then can man, who
is a sinner and who drinks iniquity like water, how can he be just
with God? Well, the truth of the matter
is that Lot Lot found out through his uncle Abraham the only way
that any sinner can be just before God. You see, you and I have defined
out some way, and that's the message of the gospel. And that's
why so many in our day have never heard the gospel. They think
they have. They've been told how to live
and how to give and all these things, but they've never heard
how it is that God says that a sinner like we are can be just
before God. I had to hear from someone. I had to hear the gospel. You,
if God ever saves you, have to hear the gospel. And here is
this man Lot, and he heard how it is that God saves sinners,
justifies sinners from his uncle Abraham, and that is for them
to be justified by God. What does that mean? Well, it
means to be declared or counted as righteous by God. But it not only means this, which
is an act of God. It is something that God does. It's not something that faith
does. It is something that God does. He justified His people. He declared them righteous based
on another person, the Lord Jesus Christ. He declared all His people. He counts all of His people as
righteous based on the person and the work of his Son. And if the Lord ever teaches
that to your heart, you will know the truth. You will receive the peace of
God that passeth all understanding. You will know what is called
the wisdom of God. And he gives us this picture.
He gives us this man Abraham. And it says of Abraham, Abraham
believed in the Lord, and he counted it unto him for righteousness. Abraham believed God, and God
counted it for righteousness. Was that his believing? No. Was it this act of faith? No. No, it was the one that he
believed in. He believed in Christ. He believed in that promised
one. And he, as his very life is a
clear example of, was brought to this because God loved him
before the foundation of the world, and God chose him before
the foundation of the world, and sovereignly made a distinguishing
difference in him. Why did God deliver Lot out of
Sodom? and destroy all the other inhabitants
of the cities of the plain. Why did God preserve Noah and
his family and destroy every other person in the world in
the flood? Why did He choose Isaac and bypass
Ishmael? Why did he love Jacob? And it says, he hated Esau. Well, let me give you the first
reason. And this is something that you also have to be confronted
with. And that is, because he wanted
to. You see, we can't sit back in
judgment and say of God, who does everything right, We can't
sit back in judgment and say that he can do this, but he can't
do this. Or if he does this, it's right.
If he does that, it's wrong. We know right and wrong only
by two ways, what he does and what he says. If he does it, it's right. You say, I can't see it. I don't
doubt it. If he does it, it's right. If he says it's right, it's right. If he says it's wrong, it's wrong. And he redeemed. And he made
righteous this man Lot on the same basis that he did his uncle
Abraham. And that is through the very
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. You say, He hadn't even
come yet. That's exactly right. But He
was coming. And none could stop Him. And
He could never fail. He would not fail till He came
and established righteousness, brought in that everlasting righteousness. so that Abraham became the father
of all them that believe? And it almost appears that his
first spiritual child was his nephew Lot. How did Lot find out about what
God says? Through that gospel that Abraham,
his uncle boy, And this is first spoken of immediately after Abraham
rescued Lot from being kidnapped by the kings, and he evidently
told Lot these things, and Lot believed God, and it was counted
to him for righteousness. What did they believe? What did Abraham believe? What did Lot believe? They believed that God would
save them and bless them and keep them and give them everything
in that one promised seed that was to come. And that was Christ. That's the
one that Isaac was a type of. And here is this man. Here is
Lot, and he is said to be a righteous man. Turn over to Galatians chapter
3. Galatians chapter 3, and look
down in verse 6. Even as Abraham believed God,
and it was accounted to him for righteousness, know ye therefore
that they which are of faith the same are the children of
Abraham." The true spiritual children of
Abraham is neither a Jew in Israel or a Gentile in another country. The true spiritual descendants
of Abraham are those who believe on Christ alone. And the Scripture, foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith preached before
the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be
blessed, so then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful
Abraham. For as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse, for it is written, Cursed is
every one that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do thee." That means everyone who
seeks the favor of God by what they do, they're cursed. But these who believe on Christ,
who look to Him for all righteousness and all salvation, they're blessed. Verse 16, Now to Abraham and
his seed were the promises made. He saith not to seeds as of many,
but as of one. You see, all the blessings were
promised to this man Abraham as the father of the faithful,
to all his descendants, not as physical descendants, but as
spiritual ones. And not that the blessing would
be to all the seed, but to one seed, or through one seed. And to thy seed, which is Christ. You see that? That's where all
the blessings are. That's where they've always been.
That's what Abraham heard by the Spirit of God. That's what
the Gospel says, preached by Paul and Peter and whoever it
is, that this blessing, these blessings, righteousness in the
seed, Christ. And then you look down at verse
29. I love this verse. Paul writes and he says, and
if you be Christ, then are you Abraham's seed and
heirs. Heirs. What does that mean? That
means you get the inheritance. That means you get everything.
That means you have righteousness in Christ. Heirs of God. Joint heirs with Christ. If you
be Christ, heirs according to promise. Look over in the book of Romans
chapter 3. Romans chapter 3. Look down at verse 21. I read
verse 20 last week, I think it was the week before. Therefore
by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now
the righteousness of God without the law, that is without our
obedience to the law because we couldn't keep it if we wanted
to. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets." What were the law and the prophets showing? Do you think God gave the Ten
Commandments and gave His law to Israel so that they would
know how to gain His favor? No. He gave them that law to
show them by their doing they could never gain His favor. They
never were blessed based on their obedience to that law. They were
always blessed simply by His grace. And in that law were all
the pictures that showed the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
which alone was the basis upon which He could bless a sinner. Why have that Passover land?
Because this is the only way to picture how we are justified
before God. Why have all those sacrifices?
Why have all those priests? Why have all those ceremonies?
To show us again and again the one way or the one person and
the one work by which God can count us righteous. And this
is how a lot is righteous, by the gift of God's grace, by the
gift of righteousness in the Lord Jesus Christ. Just like
the publican in Luke chapter 18, the one man stands up, this
proud, religious, moral man, he stands up and he looks around
him and this is his prayer, Lord, I thank you that I'm not like
other men. And especially not as this publican. But then it says that the publican would not so much as lift up
his head toward heaven, but he smote himself upon his breast. And he said, God, be merciful
to me, thee sinner. You know what the next thing
says? It says, this man went down to his house justified. He had been brought to the realization
of God's mercy and grace to him in Jesus Christ And now he had, by that revelation,
found out that God had justified him. That he was a godly man. Who do we think are godly people? Could you call a person godly
who judges whether people are godly or not based on their works? Just think about this now. Would you call a person godly
who at the same time hates the truth of God's free grace? Or would you call a person godly
because they don't have any outwardly bad habits, or maybe they have
such a pleasant disposition, or that they regularly attend
church, or they're morally upright? Would that be the standard upon
which they'd be godly? I'll tell you this, if you think
that is, you know nothing about the Bible. You know nothing about it. And
Lot is a testimony against what you might think. Or would you call a person godly
who is simply generous and charitable and humanly kind? Some of the
nicest people in this world, or so they appear to me, Hate
the gospel of God's grace. And they come, and they're so
pious, and so kind acting, and so gentle acting, and they just
love everybody, and they can't do enough for you, and all this
kind of stuff. But when you begin to tell them
the truth, When you begin to declare to
them God as He is, and they for what He says that they are, and
the only way that they can ever know Him and be accepted by Him,
something happens. And that facade falls off. And the real person, that natural
mind that is enmity against God, that heart that is desperately
wicked, that deceived mind shows itself for what it is. I tell you, it's a poor, judgment
that is made based on anything that a person appears to be or
says or does. And the only accurate judgment
is a judgment based on what they believe and confess. God shows us In Lot, that the
only way we can be just and righteous and godly before Him is through
the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. That He counts us righteous
in Christ. And that He put our sins away
through the dying of Christ. And that's the only way. You
put a but on that, or an and to that, and you're lost. Lot was righteous in the sight
of God. But here's the second thing.
He was vexed in his soul. Now, that almost sounds like
a kind of a contradiction, doesn't it? But it says here, he was
vexed. Verses 7 and 8 tell us that he was vexed in his righteous
soul. He was, as the word means, he
was distressed. It's like he was happy, had to
be happy if he was righteous in God's sight, and yet he was
sad. He had peace in his heart, but
he was distressed. And that's really the way every
believer is. This word is only used one other
time in the New Testament. And that's in Acts 7 when it's
speaking of Moses. It says, And seeing one of his
brethren suffer wrong, he defended him and avenged him that was
oppressed. It has the notion of being worked
until you're tired, exhausted. Why was he vexed and nobody else
in Sodom was vexed like this? Well, because he was born of
God's Spirit. If you don't know the truth, any error will do. If you don't
know the true God, any false god will do. But if you know the true God, if you've been taught the truth
of the gospel and all this other stuff, is
vexation. Vexation. You see, the Holy Spirit
bears witness in the heart of God's people against everything
that is against God and everything that is against His glory, everything
that is against His gospel. That's why so many say, well,
I don't see anything wrong with this, and I don't see anything
wrong with that, and I don't see anything wrong with the other.
A blind man doesn't see anything wrong with anything. What distressed him? What vexed
Lot? Well, I don't think there could
be any doubt that the conduct of all the people of Sodom, all
their filthiness and their cursing and their godless activities
and their immoral conduct, all these things were bound to have
exited. As a matter of fact, evidently
it was in that day, just like it is now, that homosexuality
was rampant. Because you can't read Genesis
19 and hear what is said concerning those angels that came into Sodom
that night. And what the men of the city
said to them, which was, bring them out that we might know them. That wasn't just to find out
who they were. Whenever you read in Genesis
that Adam knew his wife, you understand what that means? It is the same exact word. The same exact word. And so that's
why Lot responded the way he did. He said, men, don't do that. Don't do that great wickedness. As a matter of fact, he said,
rather than that, take my two daughters. I'll tell you, that which goes
on in our society, which is directly contradictory to the plain commands
of God, that vexes the Lord's people. And if everybody does it, it
still won't be right. If everybody accepts it, it still won't be right. That and
a host of other things. But everything that he knew to
be contrary, every word and deed and activity in Sodom that he
knew to be contrary to the law of God, that vexed him. And that's
the way it is with all believers in this day. Because true believers,
they know some things. You can't read and study this
book without knowing some things that God says, that God commands,
that God forbids, that God gives warning about. So if you see
it all around you, it vexes us. You can't listen
to the news. You can't read the newspaper. There are things that go on.
Just because of what they are, they distress me. But what they
are in the sight of God, they distress me even more. But let me tell you what I think
the worst thing was that distressed him. And that is the thing that
made all these things come to pass. And that is when he looked
out and he saw the idolatry of Sodom, the false religion of
Sodom, the false gods of Sodom. As a matter of fact, that is
the context in which Peter writes this. Look back in 2 Peter, that
first verse in chapter 2. He says, but there were false
prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false
teachers among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies,
even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves
swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious
ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken
of." They will speak evil. They will call evil. They will
teach against the way of truth. What's the way of truth? Christ,
who is the truth. Christ, who is the way. And only
Christ. You'll say, well, yeah, I know
they preach salvation by grace. And it is. And we know that they
preach salvations in Christ. And it is. We believe the same
thing. But. But. But you've got to live right. But if you don't do this or that
and the other, you can fall from grace. Let me tell you something. If
salvation is of the Lord, if salvation is in Christ, who He
is and what He does, if salvation is by grace, the free gift, If
salvation is given of God to His people, you tell me how you
can mess it up. And then they say this. If you
tell people this, you know, that salvation is in Christ, it's
of grace, it's all of God, and it's a perfect salvation, He
counts you righteous in Christ, He put all your sin away by the
shed blood of Christ in His death. Well, people will go right out
and they'll just live in sin. And I want to say to them, what
do you think they do anyway? Have you ever lived a day without
sinning? No. Not at all. It has to be this
way or nobody would be saved. And it has to be this way, first
of all, for God to get all the glory. All the glory. And men and women,
they'll go, they'll be a part of whatever will be a mixture
of works and grace and all this kind of thing. He saw their temples. He heard
their religious talk about their gods. He saw how contrary it
was to Jehovah God, and it distressed His righteous soul. It burdened his heart for them. And that's the feeling of all
true believers. All their church signs, all the
conversations of religious people, all the activities of religion,
they're always talking about all the promotion of human works
and merit free will and universal atonement, all the praise of
man, all the diminishing of God? Talking about Jesus every breath,
and every breath saying something contrary to what the Scriptures
say about Him. He was vexed, distressed. And so is everyone born of God. All these things vex the souls
of the righteous, and all these things around us in this world
to those who are not of this world is distressing. when you can't call wrong, right. And you can't call error, truth. And you can't call those who
are obviously lost, saved. And when you can't do that, they
don't have any more use for you. You can be the best friend But
you take a stand for the truth of God. That's just the way it
is. You can be religious, they'll
love you. You can blend in. They already knew Lot and Sodom.
They said, this is that fellow that he came just to dwell here
a little while, now he's going to try to judge us. Isn't that
what it says? Yeah, who are you, you know,
to judge us? You don't think we're saved,
do you? It's not up to me. But based on God's Word, He says
you're not. But what if it didn't vex us? What if it didn't burden ourselves?
What if it didn't distress us? But if our goal, if our desire
first is the glory of God, it has to. Most aren't distressed by these
things. Most believe them and accept
them as the norm and as right and as good. And they're deluded
by them and satisfied with them, pleased with them. They're going
to stand before God. They're going to say, Lord, hadn't we done many things in
your name? Hadn't we done many good works
in your name? Wonderful things? Hadn't we preached
in your name? Hadn't we cast out devils in
your name? Just read Matthew 7. He says,
straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life.
Few there be that find it. is the way. Wide is the gate
that leads to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat." Christ said, I'll say to them
in that day, to them that have called Him Lord, to them who
offer up and say, our only hope is You, no, but who say, well,
You know, we were members of the church all our lives, and
we were good people, and we gave, and we sacrificed, and we preached,
and we witnessed, and we did all these things. This is what
he said he'll say to them. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. But everybody said it was Right. But everybody said it was good
works. But everybody patted us on the back, and they bragged
on us, and they thought we were upstanding Christians. Depart
from me, you that work iniquity. I never knew you. Iniquity. Inequity. That which was not
equal to what I required, which was righteousness. Let me just briefly give you
this last thing. He was delivered by God. I have to be delivered by God. Verse 7, it says, that he delivered
just Lot. Delivered him from being condemned
with them first, and delivered him from being destroyed with
them secondly. He did not suffer the judgment
of the wicked. God delivered him. And so are
all God's elect. They are made righteous in Christ
and justified freely by His grace through the redeeming blood of
Christ and made godly in the Beloved. And He delivers every one of
them out of error. He delivers every one of them
out of unbelief to believe the gospel. He finds them where they are.
He found me in a pulpit. If you're His sheep, He'll find
you. Everything, now listen to this, everything to accomplish
two goals in particular. The first one is to glorify Himself. He does everything to glorify
Himself. And secondly, He works everything for His people. everything. If you knew what was behind the
uprisings and the downfallings of those he's raised up in power
and those he's brought down, if you knew why Things go on
in Iraq as they do right now, or in this country, or that country,
or what's going on in every life, in every area, with every politician,
everything, all of it working together is God bringing His
people to the gospel. To the gospel. He brings them
some way, somehow, by His providence, to the place where they hear
the truth. When they first hear it, they
are as dead spiritually as the next one. And they are by nature
the children of wrath, even as others, as they appear. But He brings them to the gospel.
and brings the gospel to them. You remember Paul in the book
of Acts? It says that he knew that God
sent him to preach the gospel. He had this vision of a man over
in Macedonia saying, come over and help us. And he said, I knew right then
that God would have me to go there and preach the gospel.
So, he started in a direction. It said, the Spirit forbid him.
He started in another direction, the Spirit forbid him. Started
in another direction, the Spirit forbid him. Then he started in
this particular direction, to this place, not knowing, not
knowing who he'd meet or what would befall him there. But he
got there, and we know now that God's purpose
was to take the gospel he preached, to a woman named Lydia. And then he got thrown in jail.
Oh, things are all messed up now. No. It's so the jailer would
hear the gospel. Wherever his sheep are, as the
shepherd, he seeks his sheep till he finds them. And He's
never lost one. And I don't know if you're one
of God's elect or not. I don't know if He loves you
in Christ in that covenant before the world began or not. I don't
know if Christ died in your place on the cross or not. But I know
this. If you're His, He'll have you. He's on your trail. And it's
like we're drowning people And we're to the point that, you
know, someone's come to rescue us, swum out to where we are
to rescue us, and how are we? We're fighting and kicking, we're
so afraid, we think they're trying to do us harm or something like
that. And so they always teach the
rescuer, wait until they're almost gone, until they're limp and
weak, and they quit trying to save themselves and lay hold
of them. and bring them in. That's what
He does. He opens our eyes to see the
truth. He delivers us. He delivers these
who, it says, are taken captive by Satan at His will. causes them to see their only
hope, their only salvation, their only righteousness, their only
way to heaven, their only way to please God is in this One
that God has appointed and given. And that by who He is and what
He did. He satisfied all the law and
justice against us in the matter of our sin. And God wraps us
in The language of Scripture imputes us, counts us righteous
in Him. And so Paul could say, I'm not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. And he keeps on delivering. You
know, he delivered Lot all his days. And he delivers his people. Job said, He shall deliver thee
in six troubles, yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. In six troubles. He didn't say
from them and that, but in them, in the midst of them. We'll have
trouble, but he delivers us in them. And then one day, he'll
finally deliver us from them, from all of them. The psalmist said, The eyes of
the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their
cry. The face of the Lord is against
them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from
the earth. The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth
them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that
are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the
righteous, but the Lord delivereth them out of them all." He'll deliver us. He delivered
Lot. He'll deliver all His people. And He'll deliver us from all
our afflictions one day and all our trials, which sometimes in these last
days they seem to be many. But like Lot, He makes His people
righteous, because so they are vexed with
all that's around them. But He'll deliver. He'll deliver. That man Saul of Tarshish was a very religious man, a teacher
of the Jews, a moral man, so that under their law nobody could
find a spot or a blemish in him. He was a Hebrew. At the same
time, he was a Roman citizen. But he said it was just all worthless. And God came to him on that Damascus
road and revealed Christ to him and brought him out. Brought
him out. through Jesus Christ the righteous. We're in the last days. They
begin when Christ came the first time. They'll end when He comes
the second time. Don't ever let anybody tell you
otherwise. But the righteous are safe now and forever. God help us to look to Christ.
To cast off the old filthy rags of our past experiences and our
church memberships and our little things we think we've done good. Paul said, the things that I
thought were gain to me, now I see they're nothing but loss. That I might have Christ righteous. Our Father, this day we give
you thanks and praise and pray that you would call out your
people. We preach this gospel because
you command it, because you get glory in it, all the glory, because
it is the means by which you call out your sheep. And Lord,
we know the shepherd said that your sheep will hear your voice
and follow you. May everything that is, everything
that is said, and everything that is done redound to your
glory now and forevermore. Amen.