Genesis chapter 19. Genesis chapter 19. Throughout the Scriptures there's
lots of warning. I spent a long time this morning
reading through Jeremiah. What a warning there is to someone
that takes upon themselves to speak on behalf of God. Wormwood and gall will be their
end. What a terrible thing that is.
And he said, these false prophets, and he has horrible, horrible
things to say for them verse after verse. He said, they will
not profit my people at all, thus saith the Lord." And he
said, don't you dare speak to me about the burden of the Lord.
He said, you take it out of your mouth. He said, I'll forget you.
I'll forsake you. I'll leave you. I'll cast you
out. I'll never talk to you again. Now where does that leave me
and you? You want to stand up and preach?
You eager to get in the pulpit? We cry out for mercy. Lord be
with us. Like Moses, if your presence
ain't with me, don't let me go. Don't let me go. Throughout the
Scriptures, we have warnings. Strong, hard warnings, lest we
presume. Lest we just, well, I'm saved.
I always have been. Once saved, always saved. And
go gallivanting around this world like a fool. With strong warnings
for us, lest we presume. And the Scriptures are full of
promise. lest we despair. There's no way. Who's sufficient for these things,
Lord? There's no way this could be me. There's no way I could
be your child. His word's promises. It has promises in it, don't
it? Often it's in the same sentence. Often it's in the same word as
that two-edged sword that goes forth, that does not return to
him void. Boy, that's a blessing. And we ought
to take heed greatly to the warning unless we die and go to hell
in our sins forever. And we ought to be sued and comforted
and rejoice in His promises. I hope we can see that this morning.
Here in Genesis 19, we need both, don't we? We need both. We need
to be warned and we need to see the promises of our God. In Genesis
19, we just see sin abounding all throughout. Here in Genesis,
Lot left Abraham. Bye. because of great riches,
so much so his servants were getting into it. And he left. He ended up in Sodom. He pitched
his tent towards Sodom. Then he got taken up with the
Sodomites whenever those four kings came through. And now he's
setting in the gates of Sodom. He gets delivered by these two
angels, his wife and two of his daughters. But here Lot's wife
turns. She turns back. She looks back.
And then after she looks back, there's atrocities that take
place between Lot and his daughters. But grace abounded at every turn
in this chapter. Grace explodes off the page at
every event in this chapter. Does that mean that we should
just leave where the gospel is and go out on our own? Absolutely
not. Does that mean we should just
embed ourselves in a sin-cursed world and try to turn that barrel
of bad apples good by this one good apple? Of course not. That's
foolish. Who's bewitched you? That's nonsense. Should we commit grievous sin
that way grace may abound? What would Paul say? What shall
we say then? Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound? God forbid. You know better than
that. An onlooker would think those
things. An onlooker would perceive those things. A child of God
knows better because the Lord's taught us better. This is for
our learning. Here in Genesis 19, Paul told
Timothy that all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof. Stop it. Stop doing that. For correction,
here's how it's supposed to happen, and for instruction. Now going
forth, what you're doing wrong, here's why, here's what we do
from now on. For reproof, for correction, or for instruction
in righteousness to show us Christ. That's what it's for. that the
man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."
We can learn something from this. I hope to show you what the Lord's
taught me this week. It's beautiful. Can't wait to tell you. If this
is the only message we get today, I'm okay with it. You'll be okay
too if He gives you ears. Genesis 19, verse 17. And it
came to pass when they had brought them forth abroad that He said,
escape for thy life. An angel spoke to Lot. Escape
for thy life. Look not behind thee. Neither
stay thou in all the plain. Don't kind of leave, get plum
gone. Escape to the mountain, lest
thou be consumed. And Lot said unto them, oh, not
so, my lord. Behold, now thy servant hath
found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy,
which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life. I now see
your mercy. I now see the glory of God, because
I've been spared, because I've been saved. And I cannot escape
to the mountain, lest some evil take me and I die. Now that you've
saved me, you might let me go die. Behold now, this city is
near to flee unto. And it's a little one. It's a
little one. Oh, let me escape thither. Is
it not a little one? It's a little town. And my soul
shall live. Oh, if I could just go to a small
town. Small town's much better than the big town, because that's
the problem, wasn't it? You was in big city living. You was in
bright lights and concrete, and all kinds of rambunctious things
happened down there. But if I go to a small town,
there's less sin there. Left to our own devices. I never was part of the bad crowd
growing up. I was the bad crowd growing up. You understand that? Small town is no better than
a big town if there's no gospel there. A small town is no better
than a big town if there's no gospel there. Don't matter where
you live. I told a guy at one time, he said, what do you think
about Hawaii? He said, we're going to go there on vacation.
We're going to decide if we want to live there while we're there.
I said, who's going to say no? He said, would you live there?
I said, I'd love to live in Hawaii if I didn't have a God like you.
I was godless. And I thought, oh, that's harsh.
It's true. That's profitable. I'm not my own. I'm bought with
a price. I'm going to be where God's people are. I'm his. Why didn't Lot go back to Abraham? The angel told him to go to the
mountain. Which mountain? Might have been that mountain
that Abraham's worshipping on, huh? He wouldn't go to a little
town. Why didn't he go back to where
Abraham was? Abraham was up there in a mountain praying for Lot,
wouldn't he? Wouldn't he make an intercession for Lot and for
those in Sodom? Say, if he was ten righteous,
what if he was twenty righteous? Would you spare the city? He's
up there interceding for him, wasn't he? Praying for him. Was
Lot praying for Abraham? I'm afraid not. Evidently not.
And it wasn't too long ago that Lot had so much stuff in his
house. We'll see that in Luke 17 a little
bit. He had so much stuff in his house, he couldn't be with
Abraham no longer. They had to divvy it up. They had to split and go their
own ways. Now he's going to be living in a cave shortly. Destitute. Verse 21. And he said unto him,
See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will
not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. I
won't throw or throw the small city. Haste thee, hurry up, escape
thither, for I cannot do anything till thou become thither. Therefore the name of the city
was called Zoar, little. I can't destroy Sodom and Gomorrah
until you're gone. The righteous cannot perish. How long could we spend on that
one? What a promise, what a promise. Verse 23, the sun was risen upon
the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. It was a new day, looked
just like every other day. People got up, shaved, got ready
for work, put the work boots on. What are you going to do
this evening? What are you doing next week?
You want to have barbecue? Then the Lord reigned, verse
24. Then the Lord reigned upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah, brimstone
and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those
cities and all the plain, everything around it. and all the inhabitants
of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. Now here's
a paragraph all by itself. You'll see that little backwards
P and what looks like a T over top of it means paragraph. This
is a paragraph all by itself, it's one verse. But his wife
looked back from behind him and she became a pillar of salt. What a dire warning for us. Our Lord had that. We're gonna
look at a little while in Luke 17. Three words. Remember Lot's wife. What a dire warning. You talk
about sobriety. Every one of us ought to put
everything out of our minds and concentrate solely on this individually
and not care about nobody else. He didn't say, you tell your
cousin to remember Lot's wife. He said, you remember Lot's wife,
didn't he? Remember Lot's wife. A dire warning. What did this
woman do? What are we to remember? It says there, she looked back.
She looked back. The word looked here means to
look intently at, to regard with pleasure, favor, to have care. She looked back caring. This
ain't the same thing that happened whenever Abraham was sitting
at the door of that tent back in Genesis 18. He said he lifted
up his eyes and he looked and lo, three men stood by him. He
was observant. This is a different look. This
is a desire. She wasn't just seeing what was going on. She
desired Sodom. We all know what Sodomites are.
We all know what Sodom represents in this world. Homosexuality
doesn't. What was in Sodom for her? She had some children, didn't
she? She had some physical offspring.
She's heterosexual, at least for a time. Her daughters were
there. Her sons-in-laws were there.
That was her Sodom. Build a house around the children,
the children's the idol. You build a house around a spouse,
the spouse is the idol. That was her Sodom, that's what
she looked back on. Would God turn a single person into salt?
Would God kill them immediately because of just a look? Touch
not, taste not, right? She just looked, that's all she
did, wasn't it? Wasn't it just a look? Would he do that just
for a look? What happened to the entire human race because
of a look? Very careful how you can't your
eyes. Watch it. Lord knows, Lord looks
on the heart. And the eye is a window to the
soul, isn't it? Here's what happened to the whole human race. And
when the woman saw, when Eve saw that the tree was good for
food and that it was pleasant for the eyes, a tree to be desired
to make one wise, she took the fruit thereof and did eat, and
it also gave to her husband with her, and he did eat. Right there. One look. We all entered sin. I sinned right there. Look, when
Adam ate, his wife looked on and saw it was good. What are
we supposed to look at? We're told in Isaiah, look, turn,
face, desire, look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the
earth for I am God and there is none else. There's none else. Look to him. That's what we're
to do. She looked to Sodom. She looked to these worldly things.
Did Mr. Zlot? Hear the brimstone exploding
and instantly look back. She was jolted. You ever got
jump scared? Big loud bang. Been dozing off. Wake you up. You ever had that
happen? Is that what happened? That fire and brimstone started hitting
and she desired to know what was going on. Oh no, that's not
what happened, was it? It was a gradual thing. Look
at verse 26 again. These are not idle words. The
Lord doesn't give us words that we can just tinker with them,
play with them, make up our own. I think, I think, I think. What's
God say? But his wife looked back from
behind him, from behind him, from behind her husband. She
began slowly, little by little, no longer walking in step with
her husband. Lot's wife left with Lot and
these angels of the Lord and her two daughters. And you think
of the benefit that she had being married to a righteous man. a
godly man, a just man. Abraham preached to her, you
think? You think Abraham had some words? You think you're
going to be around a child of God long and not find out what they think,
what they believe, who their God is? What about Lot? Lot probably preached to her.
They prayed whenever they ate dinner. He was a witness to her. His witness was shot. His witness
was no good. His testimony was just discredited
because of where he lived, because of what he did, because he forsook
the assembly of the saints. But he knew the Lord, and he
was the head of that house. He was more of a headache than
a head, but he knew the gospel, didn't he? That's what Paul was
speaking of concerning the children of Israel, physical Israel. He
said they had all these things. They had all these pictures,
the tabernacle, the priests, the tops, the ceremonies, the
feasts. They had all these things all
pointed to Christ that's told of Him and His redemptive work,
who He was, what He accomplished, and they didn't care for none
of it. They just got wrapped up in the physical exercise of
it. That's plain church. That's what we do at Sunday.
Don't go worship a living God that saved our souls. It's just,
oh, I got to do that before I can go to lunch. Then we go out and
eat. You like golden crow? God being merciful, walked these
four souls hand in hand out of this city set for destruction.
Look up verse 16, Genesis 19, 16. And while he lingered, a
lot lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand and upon the hand
of his wife and upon the hand of his two daughters. That's
four of them. Four people, that's two angels, they got two hands
apiece. They're in a straight line. The Lord being merciful
unto him, and they brought him forth and set him without the
city. They were side by side, hand in hand, walking together.
She began to slip back a little. She began to get behind a little.
That's what the Hebrew writer said. Now the just shall live
by faith, but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure
in him. But we are not of them that draw
back. unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving
of the soul." It says that Lot lingered there. That literal
translation is hesitated. He questioned. He was reluctant. What's the difference? What's
the difference between him and Mrs. Lot? Basically the same
thing, isn't it? This was after they had left
the city. It was her thing. The Lord said, Wherefore I say
unto you all manner of sin and blasphemy, shall be forgiven
unto men." Lot was a child of God. That's the difference, isn't
it? He was a child. Sonship is what
the difference is. How can we be healed of this reluctance? How can we have any hope of being
turned back? How can we? Hosea 14. Hosea 14 verse 1 says, O Israel,
return unto the Lord thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine
iniquity. It's your fault. Take with you
words and turn to the Lord. Say unto Him. That means pray
unto the Lord. Pray unto Him this. Take away
all iniquity and receive us graciously. Lord, forgive us. Save. So we
will render the calves of our lips. So we'll praise you. Asura
shall not save us. We will not ride upon horses.
Neither will we say any more the work of our hands. You are
our gods. Look at what we did. This is our God. For in thee,
the fatherless findeth mercy. And Lord says, I will heal their
backsliding. I will love them freely for mine
anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel. That's why David says a couple
times in the Psalms about that dew. God commands the dew the
same as He commands the salvation of His people. He shall grow
as the lily and cast forth His roots as Lebanon. What's going
to keep me from turning back? What's going to keep me from
lingering, from pondering, from questioning to the death of my
soul? It's my fault. What's going to
keep me? God's going to have to. He's gonna have to. Now, is that a strong warning?
You better believe it is. Don't you dare do that. I can't
keep from it. I know. Cry out for mercy. Cry
out to him to save you. Turn over to Luke 17. Luke 17. Lord, speaking of that last day
of judgment, he will return and this earth will burn. Luke 17, 28 says, Likewise also
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 it shall be in the
day when the Son of Man is revealed, when He comes. In that day, He
which shall be upon the housetop and all His stuff. They lived
in Sodom a long time, didn't they? We haven't lived in one
place too long, but the longer you live in a place, the more
stuff you get. And you have children, you get more stuff. Then you
have grandchildren, you get more stuff. That's a lot of stuff,
isn't it? And 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's in the field, let
him likewise not return back. That's so fearful for me. I'm
fearful. I have fear in me. If left to
my own devices and not being just taken by the hand, turned
and made to leave, I'm just going to run back inside the house.
Not necessarily after plastic stuff, plastic things, but after
loved ones, after children, after my wife, after whoever, after
you all. Oh, what about them? Instead of just standing in the
field and waiting. Look up, come Lord, haste the day. What is our Lord's word of warning
and promise? What's that two-edged sword?
Remember Lot's wife. Well, that crushes me. All those
things he said, you cannot be my disciple. He lists some things,
doesn't he? I can't be your disciple. Who's
sufficient for these things? How could I? Remember Lot's wife?
She turned. I'll turn too. Three words. Remember Lot's wife. I remember
our text is one paragraph by itself. But his wife looked back
from behind him and she became a pillar of salt. That's one
paragraph. How could that be the gospel?
When I see myself on top of a roof going back inside the house for
stuff and people and things, and I'm told to remember Lot's
wife, that's a dire warning. But that's a promise from my
Lord. She turned back from behind him She became a pillar of salt. How could that be the gospel?
How could it be in that one paragraph? Is it? You better bet it is.
Turn over Leviticus chapter 2. I'll try to go quick. Leviticus
2. What's this salt? Lord, turn
to the salt. What's salt in the scriptures? That's a good question
to ask, isn't it? Turn to Leviticus chapter 2, verse 12. I know it's hot in here. That
AC didn't kick on. It ain't catching up. It's still
75, and it's real easy to get sleepy, especially if you had
a big breakfast. Stay with me. This'll be precious, I promise.
Stay with me. This'll be good for us. Leviticus 2, verse 12. As for the oblation, what's that?
An offering of sacrifice, a sacrificial offer, something to hurt. As
for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye shall offer them unto the
Lord, that they shall not be burnt, on the altar for a sweet
savor, and every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou
season with salt. Neither shalt thou suffer the
salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering. With all thine offering thou
shalt offer salt." If there's going to be an offering made
to God, you better salt it. Period. Is that clear? He says that over
and over about three different ways, doesn't he? If you're going
to bring a sacrifice to God, you better salt it. No sacrifice
will be accepted without salt. That's what he's saying. Now
turn over to Numbers 18. Numbers 18. Numbers 18 verse 19. It says, all the heave offerings
of the holy things with the children of Israel offering to the Lord
I have given thee and thy sons and thy daughters with thee for
a statute forever. It is a covenant of salt forever. You see that? Numbers 18, 19.
It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord unto thee and
to thy seed with thee. You cannot have a sacrifice without
salt and this salt is a covenant forever. It's a toking of the
everlasting covenant of God. So we said back in Leviticus
2.13, it's God's covenant. He owns it. He established it.
It's His. And it's an everlasting covenant. It's not just a piece of paper
behind a thick glass to be seen. You know that? I thought our
Constitution hid somewhere in a building. Well, there's a covenant.
It's not just the rules of bodily exercise that we're to perform.
Well, that's the guidelines This required salt, this covenant
of salt, it does something. Do you know that? Salt does something. Turn over to 2 Kings 2. 2 Kings
2, verse 19. 2 Kings 2.19, And the men of the
city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of
this city is pleasant, as my Lord seeth it, but the water
is not. The water's bad, and the ground
barren. All of our women, they keep miscarrying
because it's bad water. And he said, Bring me a new cruise. He bring me a new vessel, not
an old vessel. Bring me a new vessel, a new cruise, and put
salt therein. And they brought it to him. And
he went forth unto the springs of water, and cast the salt therein,
in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these
waters. There shall not be from thence
any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto
this day, according to the saying of Elijah, which he spake. Salt
is what heals these bitter waters. See that? It heals the barren
that there may be life. It makes the pure waters. It
gives life. and literally heals the cursed ground. That's what
it does. You ever gargle salt water? You
ever get sick? Well, you gotta gargle salt water.
You ever have a wound? I hurt my foot real bad one time. They
said, go down to the ocean. Go down there and stick your foot
in. It'll heal you. Remember what we've been studying lately?
How are we healed? How's the waters healed? How's
our wounds healed? Jehovah Rapha. I'm jumping ahead
of myself, but Jehovah Rapha, the Lord that healeth thee. That's
what heals, isn't it? It says over in 2 Chronicles,
You not know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over
Israel to David forever, even to him and his sons by a covenant
of salt? Turn over to Ezekiel 43. We're
building something. Stay with me. Ezekiel 43. It's all that's necessary for
the sacrifice to be accepted. It's the everlasting covenant
of God. It heals. It gives life. It's
the very means of this healing, very means of the atonement,
of the at-one-ment, how it's accomplished. Here in Ezekiel
43, verse 23. And thou hast made an end of
cleansing it. Ezekiel 43, 23. And thou hast made an end Of cleansing it, thou shalt offer
a young bullock without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without
blemish. And thou shalt offer them before the Lord, and the
priests shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them
up for a burnt offering unto the Lord. Seven days shalt thou
prepare every day a goat for a sin offering. They shall also
prepare a young bullock and a ram out of the flock without blemish.
Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it." Salt purges. Salt purifies. It removes sin. It purges it. It makes holy. Lord Jesus Christ is the salt.
No sacrifice will ever be accepted apart from His blood, apart from
His work. He's the one that the everlasting
covenant was made with and us in Him. It was made to us because
of Him, isn't it? He's Jehovah Rapha. He's the
one that heals. Just as that salt heals, made
those waters pure, not waters of wrath, drink living water
to us. He's the one that did that. He's the one that purges.
He and the Father are one, aren't they? He said, every branch in
me that beareth not fruit taketh away, and every branch that beareth
fruit, he purges it. And it brings forth much more
fruit, doesn't it? Our Lord's the only one that
can make anyone or anything a holy thing. He's the one that declares
it. He sets it apart for His use.
He purifies it. And that's what we must be. It
must be done by Him. Can two walk together except
they be in agreement? We must be made like Him. So
speaking to all the congregation of the children of Israel and
saying to them, you shall be holy. You shall be purged. You shall be purified. For I
the Lord your God am holy. We have to be, don't we? For
a sacrifice to be accepted, there's got to be salt. For everlasting
covenant made in salt, that the covenant works by salt, we're
purified and we're purged, preserved forever. Last one, Matthew 5. Matthew 5, verse 13. Matthew
5, 13. The Lord just gave us those Beatitudes
and He's speaking to His people. Matthew 5, 13, it said, Ye are
the salt of the earth, but if the salt hath lost its savor,
wherewith shall it be salted? It is henceforth good for nothing.
If we're His people and we've lost Christ, and we've left Him. And it's just, oh, I've heard
that. I've heard seven messages out
of that. If we wake up Sunday morning, why do we come here
today? Why are we here? It's what we do. To be seen,
so that so-and-so would see us? Are we here to worship God? To
hear a word from Christ? Are we here to be comforted today? We have means of sending this
gospel. That's what we're supposed to do, right? Go to all the world
and preach the gospel? Push it out? Well, how are they going
to go unless they'd be sent? See the order of priorities here?
I have to have a message for you, for your soul. Tell you
the truth about God. Seek a word from Him for you. So often Christ has just lost
His savor to people. Ye are the salt of the earth,
but if the salt hath lost its savor, wherewith shall it be
salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing but to cast out.
What's done with that salt that don't have no savor in it? Catch
this. And to be trodden under foot of men. cast it out, it
just mixes right in with the dirt that it comes from. Mixes
right into the ground. Flat, doesn't it? And it's trodden
down. What else is trodden down? A
sower went out to sow his seed, and he sowed, and some fell by
the wayside, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the hour
devoured it. That salt's good for nothing.
What did that one paragraph say? But his wife looked back from
behind him, and she became a pillar pillar of salt." Does that mean
something? Was she flat? Was she trodden
down? It's hard to walk on top of a
pillar, ain't it? Life-size statue. She became a pillar of salt.
Paul told Timothy, "'If I tarry long, that thou mayest know how
thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is
the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the
truth.'" What's that mean? I pray if I
turn back to this sin-cursed world, if the Lord's brought
me out of my depravity and gave me life, and I'm a new cruise
that He's put His salt, His Son in, and I'm so prone to wonder,
I'm so prone to linger and to lust after this world and to
run back to Sodom, and I turn, and the second I fall behind
Him and I go to leave Him and forsake my first love, instantly
make me just like Christ. Kill me. Right then, take me
out of this world and make me like your darling son, Lord.
Make me pure like he's pure. Remind me of that everlasting
covenant that he made. Make me a pillar, not to be trodden
underfoot. Lord, stand me up where I can't
stand. That's what I pray happens. Be merciful to me. It says in
Revelation 3, 312, He that overcometh, I will make a pillar. in the
temple of my God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write
upon him the name of my God, and then the name of the city
of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven
from my God, and I will write upon him my new name. I can't
be made the Saul of the earth unless God makes me that way.
I can't make myself like Christ unless he does it. He has to.
And Lord, if I'm prone to wander, if I go to leave, slay me. Slay me. Do you know Lot's wife's
name? Me neither. Isn't that precious? Isn't that wonderful? That means
it's a warning to every single one of us. Starting with me.
I've slept on this all week. Oh, I need to be warned. It's
me. I'm so prone to look back. And
it's a promise to absolutely any of us. Whosoever. Whosoever. Salvations of the
Lord run to him. Either way, call on his name
for salvation. That doesn't sound appealing
sometimes. I like this world. Yeah, I get it. Job said, though
he slay me, yet will I trust him. He's worthy to be trusted
in. All right, let's pray together. Father, forgive us for what we
are. Lord, we're so prone to desire this earth, desire the
things of this earth, desire the people of this earth. Lord,
don't leave us to ourselves. Don't allow us to turn from you.
Keep our eyes fixed firmly upon our Redeemer. Allow us to praise
him. Allow us to walk with him in
full agreement. Lord, allow us to be made like
him. Thank you for your word. Thank you for your people in
this world that you've given us, brethren, and we can know
them and give us a heart that prays for them and we encourage
one another to press on. Thank you for this hour. Be with
us. Don't leave us to ourselves. It's in Christ's name that we
ask. Amen.