All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn back Genesis chapter 19. Genesis 19. Lot has mercifully been rescued
by the Lord out of Sodom. Sodom has been destroyed. And part of Lot's family died
in that destruction. Lot's wife is against the warning
of the Lord, the direct warning of the Lord. She looked back
from behind him, the scripture says, and she became a pillar
of salt. She looked back with desire. with respect for. And God knew it. God saw it. And Lot with his two daughters
have entered a little city called Zoar. Now, verses 27-28 of Genesis
chapter 19, the scripture declares, and Abraham got up early in the
morning to the place where he stood before the Lord. And he
looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the
plain, and beheld. And lo, the smoke of the country
went up as the smoke of a furnace." Now, Abraham had drew near. I'm saying this because it says
he got up in the morning to the place where he stood before the
Lord. There was a place where he was
standing before the Lord. And he was interceding. He was praying, asking the Lord. He said in verses 23 through
32, he was asking the Lord, chapter 18, I'm sorry, he was asking
the Lord, to spare Sodom for the sake of
the righteous. He said if there'd be 50, and
you know what happened, 45, 40, 30, 20, 10. If there would be any righteous
in that city, would you spare that city? Far be it from you,
Lord. to destroy the righteous with
the wicked. Would you spare it? He said,
I would. I'll spare the city if there's any. Talk down to
10. And the Lord said he would for
the sake of the righteous. He'd spare it if there were any
righteous found among the wicked. Abraham prayed. Ask him. The
angels go on in. We looked at what happened as
far as Lot being brought out of the city and his wife, Pillar
of Salt. He's entered his own war. But
Abraham is still out there, outside, looking. No record that he knew
exactly what was going on. And the scripture says he got
up, got up early in the morning. He's risen. in the morning after
Lot and his daughters had entered Zoar. Sun was up that morning
before and God reigned on that city, destruction. Now obviously,
now all day, night, but I know this, he got up the next morning
and he's standing in the very place where he had stood before
God. interceding, praying on behalf
of the righteous. And he looked, the scripture
said, towards Sodom and Gomorrah. But he didn't look like Lot's
wife looked. We looked at that last time.
He didn't look with regard or pleasure or care, but rather
he beheld with a careful expectation of what the Lord was pleased
to do. The scripture says he got up
early in the morning, where he stood before the Lord, and he
looked, he inspected, he perceived, he considered. He looks toward
where Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities were, land of the
plain. One time it was a well-watered
land that even as the scripture says, the land of Egypt. It's gone. It's just obliterated. Smoke is going up like a furnace
where there used to be cities. It's just annihilated. Abraham had done that which we're
all instructed to do. Philippians 4 in verse 6 says
this, Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer
and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known
unto God. He had asked, Lord, if there's
any righteous there, would you spare that city for the sake
of those? The Lord said, I will. And those
cities are gone. And here we're taught afresh
that God Almighty is just. And His counsel is going to stand.
Lot had been removed. God took Lot out of that city. Therefore, with no righteous
one found in the city of Sodom, God destroyed it. Now, I want
you to turn to Leviticus chapter 10. Read something here. Leviticus chapter 10. I want us to notice something
here too. Leviticus chapter 10. I'm going
to read verses 1 to 3. But Abraham, he said he beheld. He had asked. He sought the Lord. If it's in there, would you spare
it? It's gone. It's gone. But here we're taught
something. from Abraham's actions. It doesn't
say anything about Abraham saying anything. He just looked. Abraham
wisely didn't question the Lord. He did just as Aaron did. Whenever
Aaron the priest was silent when God killed his two sons for their
actions. Leviticus chapter 10, and Nadab
and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer,
and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered
strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not.
And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them,
and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said unto Aaron, this
is that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them
that come nigh me. And before all the people, I
will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. Abraham got up. He prayed for
that city, prayed, asked God to have mercy if there's any
there. Righteous before you, any that
you've loved before the foundation of the world, chosen in Christ,
would you spare Sodom for their sake? I will. It's gone. And he just looked and beheld
and considered. Ecclesiastes 3.7 says there is
a time to rend, a time to sow, a time to keep silence, and a
time to speak. And when the Lord had made His
will known, when God makes His will known, we bow and we'd be
quiet. Just as the Lord was pleased
to rain fire and brimstone upon the cities of the plain and His
judgment was right, His judgment was holy, His judgment was just,
In the great day of His wrath, the redeemed are going to praise
Him for His righteous judgment. Turn with me to Revelation 19.
Revelation 19. I'd like to read the first four
verses. Revelation 19. Now, brethren,
this is the way it is. God is just. God is holy. His counsel is going to stand.
He will in no wise clear the guilty. I've got, I've got members
in my own personal family. I've said this, you do too. And
I pray God save them. Pray God have mercy on them. I've got, I've got some
that is getting older like me. and have no interest whatsoever
in the gospel. None. None. If they die, if they die like
that, I know what's going to happen. It's not going to be
as everybody always says, you know, well, they're always in
a better place. No. No. If they die without Christ,
they die without hope. But let me tell you what scripture
says. concerning the day of judgment and the attitude of God's people
in respect to the Lord's justice and God's counsel. Revelation
19, 1 to 4, and after these things, I heard a great voice of much
people in heaven saying, hallelujah, salvation and glory and honor
and power unto the Lord our God for true and righteous are his
judgments. For he hath judged the great
whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and
hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again
they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up forever
and ever. And the four and 20 elders and
the four beasts fell down and worshiped God that sat on the
throne saying, Amen. Alleluia. Abraham prayed for that city
for the sake of the righteous. He asked God, would you spare
it? If there's any righteous, I will. But there was none, and
God judged it, and Abraham beheld. Back in Genesis chapter 19, verse
29, and it came to pass when God destroyed the cities of the
plain that God remembered Abraham. and sent Lot out of the midst
of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt. Now there's a beauty that's set
forth here that's beheld in the sparing of Lot for God's remembrance
of Abraham, made up covenant with Abraham. And he spared Lot
for Abraham's sake. It's what the Lord did. It's
what He said He did. Just like the Lord remembered
Noah in the flood. And because Noah had found grace
in the eyes of the Lord, God put his wife and his three sons
and their wives, those animals, in an ark. He remembered Noah
in the flood and his family was spared. But do we not see the
greater, the greater than Abraham, the greater than Noah, concerning
for whose sake God has been pleased to spare all of His elect, all
that's been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
world. God has shown mercy, has spared this world up until this
moment right now. If this world is still here in
five seconds, it's because God still has a people in here that
he's going to call out of darkness. There's still an elect for the
sake of Christ, not for any other sake, for his sake. God has shown
mercy. That's why this world and all
the wickedness that's in it, why God has not obliterated it
now. God still has a people. And every
vessel of his mercy is going to be delivered from the wrath
to come. God remembered Abraham and he sent Lot out. And then in verse 30 it said,
And Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountain, and his
two daughters with him. For he feared to dwell in Zoar,
and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters." Now, you
remember we just studied this. How did he get in Zoar? God told
him to go to the mountain. You go to the mountain, escape
for your life. Flee the wrath to come. Go to
the mountain. Well, what? Ask him. How about this little
city over here? It's Zoar. It's just a little
one, just a small one. I looked it up, I think it's
Blue Letter Bible. I'd have to check. My memory's not as good
as it used to be, but I think it's Blue Letter Bible. Actually,
it means, you can see it in our Bible, it means a little one
or small. Blue Letter Bible says there's also another that means
insignificance, insignificance. Zoar. How about if I go over
to Zoar? Verse 19, Behold now, thy servant
hath found grace in thy sight, thou hast magnified thy mercy
which thou hast shown unto me in saving my life. I cannot escape
to the mountain, lest some evil take me and I die. Now he's calling
into question God's deliverance. He's calling into question God's
power, God's ability, God's wisdom. Behold, now this little city
is near to flee into. It's a little one. Oh, let me
escape thither. Is it not a little one? And my
soul shall live. I told you last week, we start
looking at things and we start thinking, you know, the grass
is greener over there. How about Zoar? That's a nice
little place. But God told him to go to the
mountain. Put him in a safety, put him
in a place of safety. How about I go over here? And
the Lord let him. He let him. Let him go. I don't
doubt for one second, I said last week, I don't doubt for
one second. Zoar's not nearly as big as Sodom. There can't
be wickedness there. You know, I, back some years,
you know, I think back on myself and I think about when I was
into things, messing stuff. just running around with rabble
rousers like myself. And finally you kind of grow
up a little bit, think you got a little bit of sense. Now I
don't do those kind of things anymore. I'm not hanging around
with that kind of crowd anymore, that Friday night, Saturday night
stuff. I can't do that. So you get in
and you kind of grow up a little bit. You get married and you
try to get into a group of people, society type, up to do stuff. And you know what I found out? They're the same as the rebel
rousers that I was running around with in college. There's no difference. They just call it a different
thing. That's all. I mean, it's the same things,
mess and stuff of the world. It's no different. But he thought,
I can go to Zoar. I can live there. I can live
there. I can do fine over there. Oh,
how blessed we are. to behold some of the great lessons
that are needful for all of us from the way and the walk of
Lot. God has been pleased to teach
us something. Now you remember this. Lot was
a believer. He was a just man saved by the
grace of God through faith. He was justified. But a man like
all of us who struggled with the body of death that is within,
that old man found within, and when God told him to go and escape
to the mountain, Lot had another way. My way seems to be better
than me. It seems right in my own eyes.
And he asked to go to Zoar, and though God permitted it, remember
it was a place of Lot's choosing. That's what Lot decided to do.
Probably thought this was going to be a more manageable refuge. But what is there in the mountain?
I mean, what's in the mountain? Here's a city, at least there's
something here. Can God prepare a table in the
wilderness? If God tells him to go to the mountain, do you
think God can take care of him? He found out, obviously, that
Zoar wasn't. what he thought it was going
to be. His thoughts were not God's thoughts. Lots probably
quickly realized that man's attempt to compromise God's way, no matter
how logical it sounds. It sounds so logical. This has
got to be better. It commonly proves to be uneasy
for a believer. It usually doesn't go well. He
longed for that which the scripture bears out that God did not initiate. And now the scripture says concerning
him being in Zoar, that's where he wanted to go. He wanted to
go to Zoar. Verse 30, went up out of Zoar
and dwelt in the mountain and his two daughters with him for
he feared to dwell in Zoar. And he dwelt in a cave, he and
his two daughters. I wanted to make sure I understood. I mean just reading without looking
at the words, looking them up. You could say he dwelt in a cave
and I could just come to the conclusion, well that's a place
of safety, refuge, city of refuge, being a Christ. Which is true
for a believer, there's no doubt about it. I mean there's safety,
safety. The meaning of that word cave
gives the understanding of what was happening here. The scripture
says, he went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountain. I will tell you this, without
a doubt, when God told him, you flee to the mountain, I can say
with assuredness, you flee to Christ. You flee to the mountain
of our refuge. You flee to the rock himself. You flee to him. And Lot's in
the mountain. No doubt, he's in the mountain.
He's a believer. He's a just man. But he's in
a cave. He's in a cave. And he's fearful. Now, I've got a couple of things
with this verse, and I'll stop. The scripture says, He dwelt
in the mountains with his daughters. He feared to dwell in Zoar. I want to just deal with that
word fear there for just a minute. He feared to dwell in Zoar. Now that word fear, and I don't
want to confuse you, but I want you to understand what these
words mean. It says he feared. It's a word. that vines, vines, I've got this
from vines and some good concordances, it actually means basically the
psychological reaction of fear where power and position is found. This word, fear, it's a verb. It's a verb. It's something that
he did. He did. He feared. It's a verb. It's an action word. So the fear
that he experienced was according to these concordances. I've got to look it up to know
what it means. It means to revere, to have in reverence, but it
also means to frighten, to make one afraid. So this word, it
indicates that Lot was afraid of something. He was afraid. But also, the word is a word
that does set forth a reverence for God, also. It's an action. It's an action word. It has a
reverence for God, but it also has a fear for men. It could go either way. So, the Scripture says, for he
was afraid of something. Now, I will say this, being a
believer, he was in reverence of God. Scripture says, Proverbs
1.7, the fear, the respect, that word fear there, 1.7, it's a
noun. It's a noun. The other one was a verb. This
is something that is a possessed attribute. It's fear. The fear
of the Lord, respect of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 9.10 says
the fear, that's a noun, the fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
So Lot feared. He did, he had an action. He
was afraid. He was afraid of those in Zohar
and he was reverence, he was reverence toward God. He reverence
the Lord also. But he was afraid of being in
Zohar. He saw what happened to Sodom. Gomorrah. He saw what happened
to the plain. He saw what happened to his wife.
And now he's in a place that's not what he thought it was going
to be. There was no difference. And those people there just wasn't
as many of them. But there was no difference and
he was afraid to dwell there. And he reverenced God. And he
left. But where did he go? He feared
to dwell in Zoar. and he dwelt in a cave. Realizing that Zoar wasn't the
place of safety and comfort and peace that he thought it was
going to be. What's happened, now he's realized
he's come out of Sodom, I'm out of the frying pan into the fire
now. He's realizing this ain't what
I thought. By seeing the destruction, knowing
what happened to his family, he fears. He feared to dwell
in Zoar. And the scripture says now he's
in a cave. There was a time when he enjoyed
the fellowship with his uncle Abraham. Abraham was his uncle. He was blessed to reside in the
land between Bethel and Haiyath, what scripture says, with Abraham.
His flocks, his herds, tents. But because of strife, strife
over there being enough land, a lot at Abraham's suggestion
to keep the peace, he chose to pitch his tent towards Sodom. be delivered out of that wicked
city only by the grace of God. And now he's dwelling in a cave.
He used to be with Abraham. The Lord blessed him. And now he's found to be dwelling
in a cave with two of his daughters. That's all that's left. And that
word cave, now here's the meaning of it. The meaning of the word
cave is this. a dark cavern, a hole. It's from a primitive
word that means to be bare or naked. And here we learn for
all found to be in Christ, Lord who directs the steps of his
people and he's going to guide us and he's going to direct us
And we're going to learn by His directing hand. These times when
we decide that we don't want to go to the mountain, we're
going to go to Zoar. And the Lord's going to chasten us, going
to correct us. Lot, like the prodigal, though
he thought he knew best, thought that he could direct his paths,
his steps, and now the Lord, who is pleased to show mercy,
draw a lot out of Sodom to demonstrate the blessing of his affliction.
Psalm 92.12 says this, blessed, blessed is the man whom
thou chasteneth, O Lord, and teacheth him out of thy law. Turn with me, I want you to look
at these. Proverbs 3, I just got a couple of verses here.
Proverbs chapter 3. Proverbs 3. Lot thought he knew
better than God. And the Lord's going to show
him something. You don't. Proverbs 3, verse 11 and 12. Despise not the chastening of
the Lord, neither be weary of his correction. For whom the
Lord loveth, he correcteth, even as a father the son in whom he
delighteth." I told you, you think I enjoyed getting Gabe
or Sarah or Hannah or Becca? You think I enjoyed taking them
back in that bedroom? taking my belt off and wearing
them out. Did I enjoy that? It grieved
me. It grieved me. I didn't want
to hurt them. I did not want to hurt them.
And every time I had to spank them, it just broke my heart. And I told you, every time, I
would take them after I spanked them. I'd put them on my knee.
And there they are just wailing. And my heart just Just, oh, and
I'm kissing him and I'm telling him, I said, I love you. I love
you. I don't, I can't let you do that.
I'm going to have to correct you. If I don't, I'm going to
pay the penalty. God loved Lot. He loved him. He loved him. Lot, thinking he
knew better than God. How about me go over here? Okay,
go ahead. Go ahead. But you're going to
learn. You're going to learn. He feared
to stay in Zohar. God put him in a cave, in a dark
place, in a hole, and let him experience. Revelation chapter
3, this is the last one right here. Revelation 3 verse 19.
Revelation 3, 19, as many as I love. I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. It's always good, no matter the
hardships, the trials, the tribulations, the testing that we're made to
endure, when the Lord is pleased to drive us to Christ. Think
about this. God didn't leave him in Sodom. He left a bunch of them. They
say there was 500,000 people in those cities in that area.
That's approximately what they guessed. Bunch. He didn't leave Lott there. He
brought him out. Lott was going to have to be
taken behind the woodshed. He was going to have to learn
a lesson. And he did. He did. What a blessing to be made to
see our own frailty. to behold the fleetingness of
this world and to may be satisfied with the simplicity of Christ.
He must increase, we must decrease. Oh, the blessing of being put
in a cave, learning a lesson. David said, it's good that I've
been afflicted. I might learn of your statutes.
I pray God bless this to our hearts for Christ's sake. Amen. Okay.