So we are to depart from the
spirit of this world, the principles of this world, the acts of this
world, and to come ye out from among them, and separate yourselves,
saith the Lord. He says here now, arise, denotes
an urgency Arise. Be quick about it. Do something. Get with it. Let's get moving.
Arise, ye, and depart. Make an exodus. Get out of it. For this is not your rest. This world is not your rest.
Depart from it. Why? Because it is polluted. This world is corrupted. This
world is polluted. This world is controlled by the
devil. The influences of this world
are evil. The practices of this world are
evil. And this world will overcome
you if you don't get out from it, from the spirit of this world. Get out from it. Separate yourself
from it. Because this world is polluted,
this world is dangerous, and it'll overthrow you and swallow
you up and consume you before you know it. So you're to get
out of it. If you value your soul, you'll
get out of this world. Now he's talking, or I'm talking
primarily here this morning to people who are Christian people,
people that have experienced the grace of God in their hearts.
And I don't know whether you need this or not, but I think
in a measure I do. I need to give heed to what God
says here through this messenger Micah. And I need to arise and
I need to depart For I know that this world is not my rest, and
I know that if I don't get out of it from the spirit of this
world and the pollutions of this world, that this world will take
me, because this world is dangerous. Now, it shall destroy you, that's
what it says. Arise ye, depart, for this is
not your rest, Because it's polluted, it's corrupted, it's dangerous,
and eventually, it'll swallow you up. Eventually, it'll sneak
up on you. Eventually, it'll consume you.
Eventually, your end will be destruction. It'll destroy you. Even with
a sore destruction, a heavy destruction, a grievous, incurable wound. Now, the prophet here is prophesying primarily to the
chief cities of the Israelites in that day,
Samaria and Jerusalem. They were the cities where politics
were and where religion was and where anybody that was anybody
lived in Jerusalem, the center of all commerce and activity
and politics and government and what have you. Primarily speaking
to these two chief cities here, down in Verse 5 of the 1st chapter
says, For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the
sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of
Jacob? Is it not Samaria? What are the
high places of Judah? Are they not Jerusalem? And so
the prophet here, in his message from God, prophesies that God will come
down and destroy these cities and those that are vitally linked
to it, the Israelites. Now this applies to you and I. This is the type of the world,
the type of the judgment of God coming upon this world. And so
the application It needs to be taken into consideration here,
and we need to apply it because it speaks to us that we need
to arise and depart because this is not our rest. We need to arise
and depart from this world, from the spirit and the acts and all
that's enmity against God, to disassociate ourselves from this
world. We need to do that because the
judgment of God is going to be upon us. Now listen to what he
says. He says, Let me read verse number two.
Well, verse number one, the word of the Lord that came to Micah,
to the prophet. Here is a message from God, and
the message of God to a people is through a man whose name is
Micah. It's a message of God through
a man, and it's directed to, as I said, Samaria and And we
read in the New Testament that judgment must first begin at
the house of God. Here it is. Now it's just not
primarily to be applied to the chief cities back here in Samaria
and Jerusalem. Verse number 2 says, Here, give
me attention. Here, I've got something to say.
All ye people hearken o'er, and all that there is. Everybody, it applies to everybody.
Let the Lord God be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. And behold, the Lord cometh forth
out of his place, and will come down and tread. That is, he'll
squash. the high places of the earth,
the mountains shall be molten under him, the valleys shall
be cleft as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured
down from a steep place." In other words, arise ye and depart,
this world is not your rest. This world is polluted and it
is dangerous And it's going to overtake you and destroy you,
and God's going to do it. God's going to do it. You get
out of it. Now, get out of it. Separate yourself from it, because
God's speaking to you from His Holy Temple. And He's going to
come down, and He's going to smash down these high places. He's going to do it. I'll make
Samaria, verse number 6, as a heap of the field, and as plantings
of a vineyard. And I will pour down the stones
thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations
thereof, and all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces,
and all the hires thereof shall be burned with fire, and all
the idols thereof will I lay desolate. For she gathered it
of the hire of a harlot, and they shall return to the hire
of a harlot." And so forth, you can read it yourself the first
and second chapter here. I'm just reading that in order
that you might know, to keep it in a setting that you might
know exactly what he's talking about. Arise and get out of it. Well, notice in verses number 8, chapter 2, he said, Even of late
my people is risen up as an enemy, that is, against me, the people
who are supposed to be his people. They have regarded me as an enemy.
It's out-and-out rebellion. Ye pull off the robe with the
garment from them that pass by, and securely, as men at birth
from war, and the women of my people have ye cast out from
their pleasant houses, that is, to God so bad as kicking the
widows out and so forth, and from their children have you
taken away my glory. That is this world, this is the
time, this is the scene, this is what is taking place when
God speaks to Micah here. So he says now, Micah, I tell
these people to hear, all the inhabitants of the earth, to
hear this, arise and depart. Separate yourself from the principle
and the spirit of what's going on. Get out of it! For this is not your rest. It's
polluted, and it'll destroy you. It'll eventually overcome you.
That is, avoid its company. The friendship of this world
is enmity against God. Renounce it. Renounce this world. Live above this world. Don't get caught up in the web
of this world. You remember in the second chapter
of the book of Colossians, it says, set your affections on
things above, not on the things of this earth. That is, give
heed to the urgency of the command here. Arise and depart. This world is not your home.
It's not your rest. You see, you and I, we're Christians
and we're living in this world. Now, there's no way we can get
out from this world. That is, entirely get out from
this world apart from our Lord coming to get us or dying. That's the only way. But from
the spirit of this world, from the way this world operates,
from the acts of this world, and from the influence of this
world, from the identity, we can renounce it and separate
ourselves from it and stand back from it. Leave it go. Use it
as God gives opportunity, but not become a part of it. Don't be taken up with it. Avoid it! We're apt to grow careless. We're apt to settle down. And
we're apt to find out that this world's ambitions become our
ambitions. And we're apt to find out in
our carelessness when we settle down that we're influenced by
the same thing that influences this world. And we lose sight. We lose sight of the fact that
we have a rest, and our rest is in God Himself in Christ. But we've got to divorce ourselves
from this world. We've got to do it, or we're
going to get caught up in it. Well, all right, let me tell
you of a true story. a true story that actually happened
of a man who was a Christian, a Christian man who got caught
up in this world. I'm going to tell you about this
fellow, a fellow that all of you have heard of, a man who
was a Christian and he got caught up with this world. the things of this world and
the spirit of this world, and they so influenced him that his
end was not too good. You turn with me over here in
the book of Genesis for just a minute. The book of Genesis. I'll have to find a chapter.
I'm not sure. The book of Genesis. Look at verse number, or chapter
number 22, is it? No, that's not it. Chapter 19. Look at chapter 19. And the fellow that I'm telling
you about, this true story now, is a fellow by the name of Lot.
His name is Lot. And he got caught up in this
world. He got caught up in it. He got
influenced by it. And he made a selfish choice. There come a time when lots of
herdsmen and the herdsmen of his Uncle Abraham got to arguing
and bickering with one another. And they come together, these
two great men, Lot and Abraham. And Abraham said, there's no
sense of this quarreling and arguing, strife, discord among
you and I. He said, these herdsmen here
are causing all the trouble. And somehow it's going to, if
something doesn't take place, it's going to cause strife between
you and I. And he said, we be brethren,
we be brethren. So he said, the best thing for
us to do is separate. You go your way and I'll go my
way. Well, Lot said that sounded all right to him. And so Lot
was looking in the directions of the plains of Mamre, fertile,
fertile plains. look down towards a city way
off into the distance. It was the city of Sodom. And
it said, the scriptures say that Lot said, well, I'll take the
plains. I'll take the plains towards
the city of Sodom. That'll be my choice. Abraham
said, fine with me. I'll take whatever's left. So
anyhow, he moved down into that city. Well, he pitched his tent
towards the city, and the first thing you know, he was in the
city. And finally, God came to Abraham
and spoke to Abraham, and He said, Abraham, He said, the cry
of Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Now, this is the city of destruction. This is the world here. Sodom
is a picture of the world. Arise, ye, and depart, for this
is not your rest." I'm saying that if we don't give heed to
this command and depart and separate ourselves from the principles
and the spirit of this world, the first thing you know, it'll
slip up on our blind side and consume us. Give heed to it. Now, here's a fellow who was right in the middle of
it. God said to Abraham, He said, The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah
is great because their sin is very grievous. And He said, I'll
go down now and see whether they have done altogether according
to the cry of it which has come up to me, and if not, I'll know
it. And the men turned their faces
from fence and went towards Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before
the Lord. And Abraham drew near and he
said, Will thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Abraham knew that his nephew Lot lived down in that city.
And he said, Will you destroy the righteous with the wicked?
He said, Peradventure, there'll be fifty righteous within that
city." He said, Will thou also destroy and not spare the place
for the fifty righteous that are therein? And the Lord said,
That's right. He said, If you can find fifty
righteous men, I'll spare the whole shooting match. And it
went on and on until it got down to ten, I believe it is, or yes,
to ten. Verse 32, and he said, Oh, let
not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once, that's
Abraham in his conversation with the Lord. Peradventure, ten shall
be found there, and he said, I will not destroy it for ten's
sake. And the Lord went his way, and
as soon as he had left communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned
unto his place. Now in chapter 19 we have the
scene here of what's going on down in Sodom. And it said there
came two angels to Sodom at evening. And who was at the gate of Sodom
but old Lot? Lot was right out there at the
gate at an evening time, probably a judge of some sort, waiting
to hear some particular news. But he was out there nevertheless.
Lot, seeing them, rose up to meet them, and he bowed himself
with his face toward the ground." Well, you know the rest of the
story here. This is Lot. Lot got caught up
in this world. And the verse that, well, look
at verse 16 there with me, of the 19th chapter. Verse 15, And when the morning
arose, the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife,
two daughters which are here, lest thou be consumed in the
iniquity or the punishment of this city. Notice this, And while Lot lingered,
he had been warned by these angels from God to arise and depart
out of this city. Get out of this city! Arise and
depart! And notice what he said, or what
describes what he was doing. And while he lingered, he lingered. You see, Lot got caught up in
this got caught up in the ways of this city, the spirit of this
city, influences of this city. This city of destruction, which
is a type of the world, he got caught up in it. I'm saying we
can get caught up in it if we don't watch out. Arise and depart! This city, this world, this earth
is not our rest. It'll destroy us, it's dangerous,
it'll consume us. Get out from it! Separate yourself
from it! Alright? He lingered in Sodom. Lot did. Now, who is this man
who lingered in Sodom? He is the nephew of faithful
Abraham, the friend of God, and the father of the faithful. When
did he linger? It says he lingered. And while he lingered. Now, when
did he linger? Alright? The very morning that
Sodom was to be destroyed. He lingered right on the edge
of the city that was about to be destroyed, yet he lingered
there when God told him to arrive and depart from this city, yet
he lingered there, still thinking about this city. I suppose then,
well now, I've been down here for a number of years. All my
possessions are here. What am I going to do? All at
once, leave everything that I own and go yonder to a mountain someplace
and start all over again? I don't know what he thought.
He could have thought that, but said he lingered. And he was
lingering the very morning that this city was to be destroyed.
And where did he linger in this city? Sodom itself. And before
whom did he linger? Under the eyes of two angels
who were sent by God to bring him out of that city. Who was
this man Lot? I told you who he was. He was
the nephew of faithful Abraham. Now, was Lot a bad, poor, wicked,
unconverted man? Certainly not. Lot was a true
believer, a justified soul, a man who had grace in his heart. Here is a just man in a wicked
city, and he's being consumed by it, and he's commanded by
God to arise and depart out of it, because the city is about
to be consumed by a fire and brimstone. Arise and depart and
yet he lingers. He was slow when he should have
been quick. He was trifling when he should
have been running. He was cold when he should have
been hot. Now let me tell you why he was
lingering in this city and why he was down in this city. Simply
because he made a wrong choice early in his life. He made an
unscriptural choice that was based upon sight and not upon
faith. And this is what got him in all
of his trouble. He was concerned more about profit than he was
about the need of his soul. And it got him into a whole lot
of trouble. Well, he made the wrong choice. Remember, Abraham said, well,
I'll let you make the choice. Now, we got to separate and counter
by our herdsmen here, but you make the first move, Lot. You
take, go in whatever direction you, well, he looked over to
the well-watered plains. To the well-watered plains looks
like that'd be more profitable than going that direction. He
could see the city at a distance. Well, it looks like I could be
a little bit closer civilization than being way out here in the
desert where there's nobody. There's nobody but the servants
and the animals and my wife, and that's all I've got out here.
And Abraham to visit once in a while. And God to commune with. That's all I have out here. And
I think now, this is the choice that He made, I think that it
would be better off for me, more profitable for me if I would
choose the well-watered plains. And so it says that he pitched
his tent towards Sodom. And the very next thing we know,
he tore the tent down and he moved into Sodom. And the next
thing we know, we find him at the gate of the city of Sodom
as probably some sort of a judge, probably lived in a big house
on a wide street in the city of Sodom. You see, he asked no
counsel of God to keep him from making the wrong choice. He didn't
say, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Now, what should I
do here? He made no effort whatsoever
to to communicate with God in this matter, and he made a wrong
choice. I said he looked to the things
of time rather than to the things of eternity. He thought of profit
and not of his soul. He only considered what would
help him in this life. Bad choice he made. He lingered
here in sorrow, and he lingered here because he first made a
bad Choice, way back here when he was a young man. He made a
bad choice. Lots of people make bad choices. Won't listen to anybody. Won't
ask anybody for any advice, and when they get the advice, they
won't listen to it or pay any attention to it after they get
it. And they make a bad choice, and that's one step in the wrong
direction. Instead of going forward, the
first thing you know, they're going backward. Linear. I talked to a lady one time and
gave her some good advice. I gave her some godly advice,
some scriptural advice. And I said, this is what you
need to do. This is what you need to do.
You need to go where you can hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. You need to swallow whatever
pride you've got and come and listen to the gospel. You know
what she said? I'll have to think about that.
Well, I'll have to think about that. She lingered. She lingered,
and to this day, she's still thinking about it. She's still
thinking. Instead of going forward, she's
got to be going backward. I'll think about it. She's lingering. She made a bad choice. Just like
Lot made a bad choice when he first pitched his tent towards
Sodom. And the next step was, he moved
down into Sodom. And I'll tell you what happened
then. He mixed with worldly people when there was no occasion for
his doing so. That is, he went out of his way
to find misery. And I'll tell you, he found it
in that city. He pitched his tent. He lives
there. You see, when a man gets caught
up in this world, he's like Locke. He looks at
it and he comes under the influence of its spirit and its ambition
and its recognition and so forth. He wants to be recognized. He
wants to be somebody. I want to be somebody! I want
to make a name! And that's a consuming, consuming
an urge that I have that moves me on, I've got to be somebody. And if you've got to be somebody, then you're going to have to,
in most cases, you're going to have to fall under the influence
and the principles and the spirit of this world in order to gain
that recognition that you want. and not willing to renounce this
world and its acts and all that. Got to have it. Got to have it.
You see, when a man gets caught up in this world and moves into
it, lock, stock and barrel like old Lot did, don't be surprised
if you hear some unfavorable reports about this fellow. when
a fellow gets caught up in this world, gets caught in the web
that this world spins, moves into it, don't be surprised that
sooner or later you hear some unfavorable report about this
fellow. To me, I don't know of any sure
way of bringing almost irreparable damage to your spiritual life
than to get caught up in this world. That'll do more damage
to you than anything I can think of, getting caught up in this
world. That's what old Locke did. He
got caught up in this world. You see, you make a wrong choice
in this life, an unscriptural choice, and settle down unnecessarily
when you don't have to. When you seek out misery, and
you don't have to seek it out, settle down in the midst of this
world, then you go backward instead of forward. And your eyes become
dim to spiritual things. And you hardly and barely know
good from evil. And you've got palsy in your
feet. palsy in your hands, and you
limp around like a grasshopper, and your arms are tied, and you
are sucked of spiritual energy, and you have no appetite anymore
for the things of God. And you are like Samson, you
get your hair cut, and you become a slave to the Philistines, and
you begin to grind at their mill. That is what happens. And the
first thing you know, you find fault with your brother, you
find fault with your sister, you find fault with the preacher.
The preacher's dull, the preacher's boring. I wish we'd do something
down to that church. I don't care what it is, but
I wish we'd do something other than what we've been doing. That's
the attitude we get into when this world consumes us. When you take the first step
out into it, and its ambitions and recognitions become your
recognitions and desires and ambitions, then the first thing
you know, you're going backwards instead of forwards, and this
world sucks you off whatever spiritual energy you ever had. And the first thing you know,
you're tired. You're tired of that which you
once delighted in. Am I not telling you the truth?
I'm telling you the truth. So help me God, I'm telling you
the truth. You find fault with your brethren.
You find fault with the sisters. You find fault with the church.
You find fault with the preacher. You find fault with the Sunday
morning service. You find fault with the Sunday
night service. You find fault with the singing.
You find fault with the praying. You find fault with the Bible
reading. You find fault with the Wednesday
night service. You find fault with everything. And I'll tell you why. Because you did not give heed
to the admonition of God to arise and depart, for this is not your
rest. It'll consume you. Every time
it'll consume you. Just take one step in its direction
and the next step is a whole lot easier. And the next step's
a whole lot easier. And the next step's a whole lot
easier. And the first thing you know, you don't even know good
or bad anymore. Well, beware, is what I'm saying,
of making a choice like Lot did. Because any choice, any choice
that you make which will injure you in your worship and your
service unto God is a choice that ought not to be made. A
lot of young people make a choice, make a choice when they're young,
early in life. They say, well, I'm tired of
this. I've been under the... auspices and the authority and
the influence of mother and father for 14 years or 13 or 15 years,
and I'm tired of it now. I'm tired of it. And it looks
to me like these other fellas is having a better time than
I am. And I make my choice. Right now,
I make my choice. I'm going to try what they're
trying. And if I don't like it, I'll turn back. But you never
turn back. You make the choice and get involved. Get involved. And the first thing you know,
they continue on, and the first thing you know, they look down
their nose at mother and father. They don't know anything. You
see what I'm saying? You make an unscriptural choice,
and you live to pay for it. A man gets married, or he wants
a girl, wants to get married. And here he finds a girl, or
the girl finds the boy, one of the two. And one of them is a
Christian and one isn't a Christian. But he wants her or she wants
him. And they tell her. Parents tell her. And the preacher
tells her. Friends tell her. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't
do it. You're only asking for trouble. You're making an unscriptural
choice. You're joining yourself up to
an unbeliever for the rest of your life. And there's nothing
but heartache. There's nothing but depression. that will come from this unholy
yoke here. But don't listen. Don't listen.
Make an unscriptural choice. Marry someone who is not interested
in God, not interested in the Lord Jesus Christ, and then they
spend the rest of their lives crying and weeping, crying and
weeping, crying and weeping, because they made an unscriptural
choice. I could go on and on and on and
on about unscriptural choices. Don't do it. Arise! That's what
the prophet said. Micah said, this world, God's
coming down from His temple. He's going to crush this world. Get out from this world. Get
out of Sodom. Let me tell you this, Christian.
You and I profess to be Christian. We've got to get out of Sodom
or we'll never be saved. And don't tell me I don't believe
in salvation by grace now. We've got to get out of Sodom
or we'll never be saved. Lot would have never been saved
from destruction if he had not have got out of Sodom. Is that
right? He had to get out of Sodom. God,
shortly after he got out of Sodom, God destroyed five cities and
Sodom was one of them. Sodom and Gomorrah. God destroyed
them. Can't even find a trace of them no more. Can't even find
the bones of the inhabitants of that city. God burned them
up! And did nothing but smoke. They
are now by way of remembrance of those cities. He had to get
out of that city. He had to get out of it. Arise
and depart! This is not your rest! Get out
of this city! Get out of this world! This world
is not a testimony of the grace of God or the love of God. This
world is enmity against God. This world hates God. You've
got no business in this world. You've got no business coming
under the influences of this world. Get out of it! Separate
yourself from it! Now! Do it now! Arise! Arise! Be quick about it! Arise! Get up off of your feet and separate
yourself and get out of it! Now, this is not your rest. This world's polluted, and it's
dangerous, and if you stay in it, if you stay in it, if you
stay in it, it'll consume you. The other day Pat was, my Pat
was talking to him, he said, he said, what did they, he said,
I found out what they meant. Back in days gone by when they
talked about men and women dying of consumption. He said, that
was cancer. He said, yeah, I believe that's
right. He said the word consumption comes or indicates that it silently
consumes a man's life. It does it so secretly that a
man doesn't know what's going on until it's happened. Is that
right? That's the way cancer is. Cancer. Why? Here this morning, you and
I could have cancer of the lungs, right? Right now we could have
cancer of the lungs and not know it. Wouldn't have a bit of pain
in our lungs. We might wake up tomorrow morning.
We might wake up from our nap this afternoon and have a pain
in our lungs. And go to the doctor and they
say, well, your lungs are gone. You've got a tumor in your lungs. Well, how did that happen? I've
been cutting wood, I've been working every day for four months
here. I'm strong as a... But you ain't
got no lungs. You've been consumed. That's
the way this world will do you. It'll consume you and you won't
even know it. It'll slip right up on you and
you'll not know that it's consumed you until you're consumed. Like
that cancer. See what I'm talking about? That's right. You only have to
walk in Lot's steps and make Lot's choice, and your end might
be like Lot's end. That's all you've got to do.
It says, and he lingered. Here's a man in the world, and
God told him to get out of it, and he said, well, that's just
that prophet blowing off again. Why? They ain't going to destroy
this city. They ain't going to destroy it. I was born and raised in this
city. Some of the, at least probably his son-in-law said that. A lot
went to him and said you'd better get out of this city. God sent
two angels down here to warn me to get out of this city or
they're going to destroy it. But you know what those two men
done? They mocked. They laughed at him. They probably
said we was born down here. We've been here, we're 25 years
old, we've never ventured outside this city. What do you mean?
What do you mean there's going to become a fire from heaven?
And just catch all the buildings on fire and there's nothing going
to be but smoke left? Oh, you think we're crazy? That's
not going to happen. And they laughed at old Lot.
They laughed at him. It says, and he lingered. After
he knew it, he lingered. Instead of saying, let's get
out of here. If someone would tell me this morning, someone
would come here this morning and say, listen, I've got it
on good authority. I haven't got time to prove it
to you, but I've got it on good authority. And it'd be a brother
or a sister that I evaluated their opinion and evaluated their
word, and they said this roof was going to fall down in the
next five minutes, you know what I'd say? I'd say, move over,
I'm getting out of this building. Move over and open the doors,
or I'll make a new one, because I'm getting out of here. Now
God told Lot, he said, get out of this city, I'm going to burn
it up. And said Lot later. And did you know, I never noticed
that until just here recently. I never noticed that. In the
rest of that 16th verse, it says that they had to take Lot by
the hand. These angels had to get a hold
of Lot by the hand and get his wife's hand and leave them out
of the city. They didn't want to go. It says
in Wally Lingard, in Wally Lingard, all right, look at that 15th
verse. The angels hastened, Lot saying, Arise! Get with me. Take thy wife and thy two daughters
which are here, lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of this
city. In Wally Lingard. He waited around. Well, I don't think that will
happen. I don't think that will happen. I've heard that preacher
on and on and on and on. I've been listening to him ever
since I was a little boy or a little girl. And he's been saying the
same thing over and over and over and over and over. He's
been saying nothing's ever happened. One of these days it will. One
of these days it will. Maybe it's already happened.
Maybe you're already. Instead of going forward, you're
going backwards. I don't know. But while he lingered,
the man laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife,
And upon the hand of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful
unto him, and they, that is, these two men, they brought him
forth, that is, him and his wife and his two daughters, they brought
them forth and set them without the city." Had to do it. Had
to do it. Oh, rise, arise and depart. This is not your rest. Lot, this
is not your rest. Arise and depart. This city is
going to be destroyed. Get out of it. Get out of it. Your end will be like his. If
you make the choice that Lot made and walk like Lot did, it
will be like cancer. It will eat your spiritual strength
without your knowing. Remember now, this is not your
rest. You remember, this world is not
your rest. You remember what I said, this world is not your
rest. You're just passing through this
world. It's polluted and it's dangerous.
And what do you need to do? Arise and depart from it, from
the spirit of it, from the acts of it. This world is an enemy
of God. You've got no reason, no justifiable
reason whatsoever to become a part of it. It's an enemy of God.
And He's going to destroy it. All right, what happened to Lot?
What happened to him? I'll tell you what happened to
him. He got out there and wasn't nobody left but just him and
his two daughters. You know what happened to his
wife. God said, when you go out of this city, I don't want you
to even look back. Don't even look back. And they
started out of that city and the whole lot was plodding ahead. And his wife turned around and
she looked back. And brother, that's as far as
she went right there. She never committed another act
in her life. She turned to a pillar of salt
that quick, a monument of unbelief and disobedience. As far as I
know, she's still there, Bob, a pillar of salt. Well, he didn't
have no why. He continued on without complaining
or murmuring. Finally got to that mountain.
He didn't want to go to that mountain. After God told him,
he said, Look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the
plain. Escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed. Verse 17.
And listen to what Lot said. God showed mercy to him, brought
him out, almost forced him out of that city. And Lot said unto
him, O not so, my lord, O not so. He said, I don't think I
can make it to that city, I mean to that mountain. Oh, he said,
what about this little old city here? He said, I cannot escape
to the mountain lest some evil take me and I die. Behold, now
this city is near to flee to, and this is just a little city,
the little city of Zor. And God spared that city at Lot's
request, but nevertheless, oh Lot, oh Lot finally wound up
at that mountain. Look, verse 30, And Lot went
up out of Zor and dwelt in the mountain. Here he is now. You
see what I'm saying? I am saying that you only have
to walk in His steps and make His choice, and your end might
be like His. I am not saying it will be like
His, but it might be like His. Here is what His end was. His
two daughters went with Him, for He feared to dwell in Zor.
And He dwelt in a cave, He and His two daughters. And the firstborn
said unto the younger, Our Father is old, and there is not a man
in the earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth.
Come, let us make our Father drink wine, and we will lie with
Him that we may preserve seed of our Father." And that's what
happened. That's what happened. What happened to Lot? Well, you
remember this. There was not one righteous person
that could be found outside of Lot's home. Not one righteous
person. Lot moved. He pitched his tent.
Well, some folks, like a fellow told me one time, he said, He
said, I like to play poker with my friends. Here's a doctor.
He said, I like to play poker one evening a week with my friends.
And I said, well, don't you think that's kind of a bad testimony,
you being a Christian and going out a certain night and joining
up with a bunch of ungodly men and playing poker? I said, well,
he said, I might win him to Christ. He said, I'd tell him about the
gospel. I said, you'll never win them, they'll win you. They'll
consume you, they'll overtake you, they'll shut your witness
off. Not one righteous person. He
lived down in Sodom and there was not one righteous person
in that whole town to be found except in Lot's house. Even his
sons-in-law were not converted by his influence. Arise and depart. This is not your rest." Well,
not one of his friends in this wicked city of Sodom honored
the Lord that Lot worshipped. No one cared for Lot's opinions. His influence carried no weight.
His words were not to be listened to. His religion drew no followers. He escaped Sodom, that's for
sure. He escaped Sodom. And the last
we hear of him, he's in a cave committing incest with his own
daughters. In a cave, that's the last you
hear of Lot. Well, the Bible doesn't tell
us anything as to when he died or how he died. or if he ever
seen Uncle Abraham again. The Bible is silent in these
matters. The Bible speaks of how David
died and where David was buried, and it tells us of the end of
Abraham and Jacob and Isaac and Joseph and a whole lot more biblical
characters, but doesn't say anything about Lot's end, how he died,
where he died, where they buried, doesn't say anything about it.
It just says that his daughter said, come, let's make some wine
here, let's make some wine, and let's get our father drunk, and
then we'll go lie with him. And they bore children from their
own father. I'm saying you might not wind
up this way. I hope not. But I'm telling you
this on the authority of the truth of God. Our text says arise
and depart. This is not your rest. Arise
and depart from this world that God's going to come down off
his throne and destroy it one of these days and you'll never
be saved while you're in it. You'll never be saved while you're
in it. You've got to get out of it. Get out of this world. Get
out from underneath the influence of this world. Don't let this
world consume you. I know you want to make a name
for yourself. Make a name for yourself by the
help and strength and the grace of God. Don't depend on this
world to do it for you. Trust in God. Trust in God and
He'll exalt you in due time. You trust in Him. Believe in
Him. Follow God. Why the Bible says that Enoch
walked with God and was not, for God took him. God exalted
him. He can exalt you. You don't have
to be out here, like one preacher I knew, he said, well, he said,
I thought that you had to socialize and get out here in the world
and do this and do that in order to build a church. I thought,
yeah, he built the church. He built the church, but the
people that he built it with was worldly-minded, and they
used worldly-minded ideas to operate the church, and when
he got to preaching something from the Bible, they threw him
out of the church. Would you be found ready for
the Lord Jesus Christ at His second appearance? Would you
be found ready? Well, with your loins girded, your lamp burning,
yourself bold and prepared to meet Him? Then arise and depart
now. Do it now. Would you enjoy some
comfort in your religion? Would you feel the witness of
the Spirit of God within you, and know whom you have believed,
and be not a sour, gloomy, complaining, downcast Christian. Arise and depart now, for this
world is not your rest." Would you enjoy some strong assurance
of your own salvation? Would you do that? especially
in the day of sickness and in the time of death, would you
desire to have that? Well, then arise and depart now,
for this world is not your home. It will consume you, it is dangerous,
it will overtake you, and it will kill you and destroy you.
It will destroy your influence, destroy your testimony, it will
destroy everything about you, and you might wind up like Olat.
Would you like for me, as the preacher, to lay you in the grave
with comfortable hope and talk about your state after death
without a doubt in my mind, would you? Then arise and depart now,
for this is not your rest. Would you be useful in this world? Would you serve your generation?
Would you be used by God to draw men from sin unto himself? Would you? Then arise and depart. Count the cost and pay the price,
and be quick about it, and arise and depart, for this is not your
rest. Now tonight, God willing, I'll
talk about what our rest is. This world is not our rest. We
must have a rest someplace. We've got to have a rest. This
world is not our rest. Depart from it, it'll destroy
you. It's dangerous. Let's stand,
we'll be dismissed.