Genesis chapter nineteen. Read one verse with me, taking
the title of this message from verse seventeen. And it came to pass, when they
had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life. But look not behind thee, neither
stay thou in all the plain. Escape to the mountain, lest
thou be consumed." Escape for thy life. Now, everyone in here is familiar
with this story, the story of the destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah. It is a story of damnation, destruction. Yet, this blessed story of salvation
here also. This story is more filled with
warnings than anything. Warnings to all, all of us. Warnings
to lingering lots, such as we are. And the fact of the matter is,
this is so relative. to our day. The fact of the matter is, we live
in Sodom, and God is going to rain fire
upon this land just as sure as I'm standing
here. And unless we escape, we'll be
consumed with everybody in it. But this is a story of salvation,
the salvation of Lot. Peter said the Lord delivered
just Lot. He called him just Lot because he justified him. We'll
see here that there wasn't much that was just about Lot or much
to be admired about Lot. Maybe he meant the Lord saved
just Lot. Nevertheless, he was considered
just. And that's the story. That's
the picture of salvation. The Lord saves us in spite of
ourselves and justifies us, not due to anything. Let's turn back
to chapter 11. Let's begin our story there.
Let's look at something of Lot's life. Chapter eleven will tell
you who Lot was, beginning with verse twenty-seven. Genesis eleven,
verse twenty-seven. Now these are the generations
of Terah. Terah begat Abram. Terah was
Abraham's father. He begat Abraham, Abram, Nahor. Abram's his name before the Lord
changed it. Nahor and Haran. And Haran begat Lot. So Lot was Abraham's nephew,
his brother's son. Now Heron, Lot's father, died
before his father, Terah, in the land of his nativity, in
Ur of the Chaldees. So Lot's daddy died, and Abraham
and Nahor, the two remaining brothers, took them wives. The name of Abraham's wife was
Saraiah, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah. the daughter
of Haran, the father of Milca and the father of Isca. But Sarah
was barren, she had no child, and Terah took Abraham, his son,
and Lot, the son of Haran. So here the father of Abraham,
the grandfather of Lot, took his family, and they went forth
with them from Ur of the Chaldees to go into the land of Canaan.
And they came unto Haran and dwelt there. And the days of
Terah were two hundred and five years and Terah died in this
land called Haran before he got to Canaan. So Lot was the son
of this man named Haran and the grandson of this Terah, the nephew
of Abraham. Now look at chapter twelve, verse
one. Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country,
and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house. unto a land
that I will show thee." Now, Abraham here in our story is
a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is a picture of Christ. He
is a type of Christ whom the Lord God said, Leave me and go
to a country. Go down to planet earth. Go down to that country. And
Christ left his Father and came to this earth. Now look at verse
2 and 3. And the Lord said unto Abraham, I will make of thee
a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great,
and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless
thee, and curse him that cursed thee, and in thee shall all families
of the earth be blessed." That is a clear picture of Jesus Christ,
that God Almighty made him a father of a people. Or that he is the
firstborn among many brethren. And he blessed all those that
are in him by faith. All those that come to Christ
by faith are blessed. But all those who do not, who
reject him, are cursed. Now, verse four. So Abraham departed
as the Lord had spoken unto him. And Lot went with him, and Abraham
was seventy and five years old. when he departed out of Haran. Abraham was seventy-five years
old and he left this land and Lot went with him. Abraham did
as the Lord said and Lot went with him. Now this is a picture
of Christ who came to this earth and did as the Lord God told
him to do. Go down to the earth leave me,
go to earth, fulfill all righteousness for my people, establish my covenant
with them, pay the penalty of their sins, and come back to
me." The Lord demanded of the Lord Jesus Christ that he go
to the cross and die the death of his people, and all his people
went with him. They were crucified with Christ,
and they follow him still. They follow him with it, soever
he goeth. All right, now look at verse five. And Abraham took
Sarah his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance
that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in
Haran. And they went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and
into the land of Canaan they came. Abraham took Lot all the
way to Canaan. Now you get the picture there? Abraham is a type of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He left his father. Upon the command of the father,
he left him, came down to this earth, and did as the father
told him to save a people, and he did that. And he took his
people with him to the cross, nailed their sins to the cross,
and he arose from the cross, and someday he's coming back
and he says he'll take them all the way back to glory with him
someday. And it assures we're sitting
here tonight. Christ will someday bring all
of us safely home. All right, but we're going to
look at the story of Lot here. We're not going to make this
type try to walk on four legs. It doesn't always stand in every
place. Now, at first here, things look pretty good to Lot. Things
look pretty good for him. Abraham took him with him, and
the Lord God made Abraham great. And it says in another place,
Abraham was very rich in cattle and gold and many things. Abram was very rich, and he had
Lot with him. And Lot was blessed as long as
he was with Abram. As long as he stayed with Abram,
he was blessed. And everything looked real good
to Lot at the start. Starting out, there were no troubles.
He was just as happy as he could be, glad to be with Abraham. He was glad he followed Abraham.
But then hard times hit. A few years went by, and a famine
arose in the country. And as they journeyed along,
Lot journeyed with Abraham, a famine arose and trouble started. This
also is a picture of every believer who walks with the Lord. Any
amount of time at all, trouble will arise. Things seem very
great at first. You're happy and you're glad
and no troubles really, but after you walk with him a while and
mature and grow in grace, the trials come, the troubles start.
And Lot and Abraham separated. Look now at chapter 13. Look over chapter 13, beginning
with verse 8. Because of these troubles, Lot
left Abram. Lot was given a choice by Abraham.
Verse 8, Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray
thee, between me and thee, and between my heard men and thy
heard men, for we be brethren. We be brethren. So Lot was offered
a choice. Verse 9, Is not the whole land
before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee,
from me. If I will take the left hand,
I will go to the right. If I will depart to the right
hand, then I will go to the left. Lot was offered a choice. Now,
Abram wasn't telling him to go. He was offering him a choice.
OK? Man does not have a free will
at first. He's dead in trespasses and sin. But once a man is saved,
then he becomes a free agent. And the Lord gives us many choices. Yes, he does. And had Lot remembered
the Lord's mercies to him, had he just looked back a few years
previous and remembered the Lord's mercies to him, he was an orphan
and he was taken in by Abram. Had he remembered the Lord's
blessings and salvation in Abram, how that he was made rich and
how he was blessed everywhere he went with Abram, he didn't
suffer hunger even though there was a famine. He would have forsaken all of
his goods and said to his men and his people, now y'all go
where you want to, I'm going to stay with Abraham, or Abram.
I'm going to stay with Abram. You can have everything else,
I just want to be with Abram. But no, look down at verse ten. He got a sight of Sodom. Verse ten, Lot lifted up his
eyes, and behold, all the plain of Jordan that it was well watered
everywhere before the Lord God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
And it was even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of
Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar." Lot began to lust with his eyes
after the land. He got a sight of Sodom. And
look at verses eleven through thirteen. Then Lot chose him
all the plain of Jordan. And Lot journeyed east, and they
separated themselves one from the other, that is, Lot and Abram.
Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of
the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of
Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly." So Lot left Abram and chose the
well-watered plains of Sodom and set up his residence there. So Lot left Abram in favor of
a land. He left the blessings of God
in favor of a land. And so Lot settled down in Sodom,
away from Abraham. No doubt that Abram told Lot
what the Lord told him there in chapter twelve. No doubt he
heard the story that I will bless them that bless thee and curse
them that curse thee. No doubt Lot heard that but he
forgot didn't he? And he left Abram anyway in favor
of this land. And he began to set up residence
in Lot and he began to be very comfortable in Sodom and he began
to be very happy there. until more trouble arose. Now
look over chapter fourteen. A great war broke out. The kings
of the earth gathered together and came and besieged Sodom and
the city of Gomorrah. And Sodom and Gomorrah were ravished.
And look at verse twelve of chapter fourteen. And they took lot. These evil kings ransacked these
cities, and Lot was taken captive, Abraham's brother's son, who
dwelt inside him, and his goods. Lot, his family, his goods, was
taken captive. He was captured and lost his
goods. And so Lot became a captive of
wicked kings and in great trouble, great trouble. But Abraham comes to the rescue
again. Abraham, faithful Abraham, the
father of the faithful. Look at verse 14. When Abraham
heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained
servants, born in his own house, 318, and pursued them unto Dan. And he divided himself against
them, he and his servants, by night. and smoked them, and pursued
them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And
he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother
Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. So Abram
rescued Lot again. Now you see the story here? Lot
was an orphan. And Abram, out of his goodness
and mercy and kindness, took him in. And everywhere Abram
went, Lot went at first, and he was blessed because of Abraham,
all because of Abram. Lot was blessed, but Lot got
aside of Sodom and pitched his tent toward Sodom and dwelt there
and became at ease in Sodom. And then he began to be in much
trouble. and he became a he was taken
captive and all of his goods were taken and abraham came again
to his rescue came again. i look at verses seventeen here
i love this part of this chapter fourteen and the king of sodom
went out to meet abraham abram after his return from the slaughter
of cheeto cheeto or lay omar and of the kings that were with
him at the valley of sheba which is the kings dale and melchizedek
Now, this was a great thing here, this salvation by Abraham. This was a great thing, a great
type, a great picture here that Abraham had come to rescue his
brother from captivity and restore all of his goods, a perfect picture
of salvation, the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ. So Christ
came down himself to honor this type. Melchizedek was his name. King of Salem, that means peace.
And he brought forth, look at his offering, bread and wine.
And he was the priest of the Most High God. He was a king
and he was a priest. And he blessed Abraham, now he's
a prophet. The only man in all the Bible that all three of those
offices were given to, prophet, priest, and king, Melchizedek.
So that tells me this is a bodily presence of the Lord Jesus Christ
on earth. And he blessed Abram and said,
Blessed be Abraham. Now this is the second time now
that Abram had been blessed by God in an unusual way. Blessed
be Abram of the Most High God, a possessor of heaven and earth.
Blessed be the Most High God which hath delivered thine enemies
into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of a hawk. Now Lot witnessed all this again. Lot heard Lot was standing there. Lot had been rescued by his uncle
Abram and a miraculous salvation. He thought perhaps he would never
be rescued, but he was. And he stood there in the midst
of this valley and watched all of these proceedings as the Lord
came down himself and blessed his uncle Abram. And he witnessed
all this. Yet, after it was all over, after
the service was over, after communion was over, Lot went back to Sodom. He went back to Sodom. He should have stayed with Abraham.
He should have stayed with Abraham again, but he didn't. And poor
Lot went right back to the place where all his trouble started,
right back to it. Because he had a little taste
of Sodom. Now, much transpired during this
time. If you'll look through chapter 15 and 16 and 17 and
18 in your own free time, much, much, much transpired between
the Lord and Abram. Abram, in chapter 17, received
the covenant from God. Are you with me now? This is
a beautiful picture. While Lot kind of laid around
in Sodom and got rich again and lazy, Abram went back to wherever
he was and received the covenant from God, the sign of circumcision,
the covenant, and Abram received a name change. Abram received
from the Lord because of his great and successful exploits. He received another name, a name
which up to this point was above every name, Abraham. God changed his name to Abraham,
which meant father of a nation, father of many people. A name
was given him, but Lot just grew old and lazy and sinful in Zion. And the Lord said, after so long
a time, many years passed by again, and Lot became at ease
at Sodom. And finally the Lord said, It's
time to destroy Sodom. The Lord looked down, as he said
in another place, to see if there were any that did seek after
God, if there were any that did understand. If there were any
that did fear him, he looked toward the cities of the plain,
toward the great cities of Sodom, the great cities of Gomorrah,
and said, I'm going to destroy it. There's none righteous. No, not one. None. And so the
Lord appeared to Abraham. He appeared to Abraham, and Abraham
interceded in chapter 18. Abraham interceded for Lot. You remember the story, don't
you? I'll not read it all to you. Abraham interceded for Lot. You remember when he asked the
Lord? The Lord said, I'm going to go down and I'm going to destroy
Sodom and Gomorrah. And Abraham said, Lord, I hate to speak to you. I ought
to be quiet, but would you destroy the city if you could find fifty
righteous? And the Lord said, No, I wouldn't. Well, how about
forty-five? Now, Abraham knew there wasn't
forty-five. He knew that city. Abraham didn't have any part
with that place. He lived someplace else, didn't
he? He knew all about that city. He was a God-fearing man. How
about forty, Lord? I won't destroy it. Thirty? Why
was Abraham doing this? Why was he doing it? Thirty?
Twenty, Lord? Ten. Why was he doing it? Why was he praying for Sodom?
He wasn't praying for Sodom. He was praying for Lot. He knew
at least one man and his family, two daughters and two sons, and
his wife. That's how many? That's six people. That's a little less than ten.
But in case there was somebody else, ten? Would you not destroy
the city for ten, Lord? I'll not destroy it if there
be ten righteous in all the city. But there weren't. There weren't. There weren't ten people in that
city. that were righteous, so the Lord determined to destroy
Sodom. So the angel of the Lord went
to Sodom to destroy the city, but he also went there to save
Lot. Now this was a city that most
Bible historians say had as many as seven million people in it. One man. You'll see a little
while later, even his family wasn't much, one man. And the angel of the Lord went
to Sodom to destroy that city, but for the sake of one sheep. And Christ the Lord, Christ the
Lord, left this earth the first time, just like Abraham, when
Lot stayed where he was. And Abraham went back to where
he was and received the covenant. The Lord Jesus Christ left this
earth after he came the first time and finished that work of
redemption and was buried and rose again and went back to the
Father. And he went back there to receive
a name, which is above every name, Lord. His name every knee
shall bow, ratify the covenant. He received the covenant, ratified
it with his blood. And in due time, though, over
the course of years, about two thousand, God said to the angel
of the Lord, it's time to destroy the earth. It's time. But Christ ever liveth to make
intercession for his people. He continues to pray. Will you
not destroy the earth if there be fifty? He knows how many there
are. He knows every one. He calls
them by name. He prays for his sheep. And he
prayed for them, and he ever lived to make intercession for
all of his people. And then the Lord sent his Holy
Spirit down here to save his people from their sins and to
save them from this untoward generation and to burn this land
up. Now, here's the story, and we'll
stay in it from chapter 19. Look at it. Every guy, look at
chapter 19, verse 1. And there came two angels. Now,
folks, this is like reading a newspaper now, and this is you. Your name
is Lot from here on out. And there came two angels to
Sodom at evening, and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot sat
in the gate. Now, what's he doing sitting
in the gate? Why isn't he in there in the
midst of Sodom? Well, Lot was living in Sodom, and perhaps
he looked like a Sodomite. And perhaps he resembled the
Sodomites, and he was living there. He shouldn't have been
living there, but he was, and he was stuck. He got in a rut that he couldn't
get out of. Yet Lot was unhappy, and Lot
had separated himself somewhat from the society, from society's
wickedness. He had indeed separated himself
from society, and he was sitting out in the gate. Perhaps he was
sitting there. Perhaps he was praying. I don't
know what he was doing. Who knows? He doesn't say what he was doing.
Perhaps he was dreaming of a way out. Oh, that somebody would
come and get me out of this mess I've got myself in. Huh? Maybe
he was. Peter said his righteous soul
was vexed with the conversation of the wicked every day, and
he got tired of listening to them, and so he'd go outside
to the gate Tired of all this wickedness and sit in the gate
and just, oh, somebody come save me. I used to work on the railroad
and I'd sit with all together, a bunch of heathen, a bunch of
men, wicked fellows in one room together to receive all of our
orders and do this and that and the other, eat lunch and all
that. One big room and it'd be a man. The more men you get together,
the more they become like wild dogs. They try to outdo one another,
try to outbark one another, become more wicked. Isn't it true? The
more men you get together, one man by himself is not too bad.
You get two or three or more together and they'll be like
a wild pack of dogs. And especially if a she-dog goes
by. Right? You construction men. And I used
to sit in that place and I'd be so vexed. Finally, it doesn't
matter if it's ten below zero, I'd have to go outside. I'd sit
on a bench out there. You ever done that, Stan? You
go outside and just sit there and think, Oh, Lord God, come
down and get me out of this mess. Lot was sitting in the gate,
and two angels came along. Two angels came to Lot. Lot didn't
go to them. They came to him. And Lot met
them. And doesn't Psalm 23 say, Surely,
goodness and mercy shall follow me? Doesn't the Scripture say,
Mercy and truth met together to go save an old sinner? Doesn't
it say, righteousness and peace? Two angels kissed one another,
made an agreement to come down and save an old lot like you
and me. The Holy Son and the Holy Spirit
got together to come down here and save the people. And even
the law and the gospel agree on this point. Something's got
to be done to save them. And verse 1, so Lot, seeing these
men, rose up to meet them, and he saw who it was, and he bowed
himself down. Lot bowed down. and receive them. Now look at verse three, and
he asked them to come in, and they said, no, we'll stay out
in the street tonight. And verse three, and Lot pressed
upon them greatly. No, stay with me. And they did. They turned in
unto him, and entered into his house. And he made them a feast,
and baked, look what they ate, unleavened bread, and they did
eat together. And Christ himself sent the prophets,
and John the Baptist, the kingdom of God is preached, and men—what? Anybody quote the rest of it?—press
into it. Press into it. Men press into
the kingdom. Christ said, I stand at the door
to his church. I stand at the door and knock.
Any man open unto me, I'll come in and sup with him, and we'll
have a feast. And he does. He comes in. But
it's a pressing and it's a seeking. It's an asking. Lord, would you
come in? It's a knocking. Lord, please
come. Don't leave me alone. Lord, don't stay out. Come in
to me. Come to me, Lord, and sup with me. Would you feast
with me tonight on the gospel? One of the ladies Sunday morning
after service, she said, it's true. I said, what's true? She said, it's true what you've
said, that if you pray for the preacher, the Lord will bless
you. Lord bless me. Lord bless me."
Men prayed. Now look at the wickedness of
this people of Sodom, these men of Sodom. Verses 4 through 7.
Let's read these. But before they lay down, before
they even got in the house to lay down, the men of the city,
even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and
young. All the people, men and women,
old and young, from every quarter. And they called unto Lot and
said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this
night? Bring them out unto us, that
we may know them." You know what they're saying
there, don't you? And Lot went out at the door
unto them, and shut the door after him, and said, I pray you,
brethren, oh, don't do so wickedly. Don't do so wickedly. Romans chapter one says that
God gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own
hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. They
changed the truth of God into a lie. The word of God, the gospel,
is perverted beyond recognition. Worship and serve the creature,
man, more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For
this cause, God gave them up unto vile affections. Even their
women did change the natural use into that which is against
nature, selling their bodies. women with women, likewise also
the men leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their
lust one toward another. Men with men working that which
is unseemly and receiving in themselves that recompense of
their error which is meat. It's right. And even as they
did not like to retain God in their knowledge, not think about
God, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which
are not convenient. being filled with all unrighteousness,
fornication in every manner, wickedness, covetous, maliciousness,
full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignancy, whisperer,
backbiter, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boaster, inventors of
evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant
breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmovable. unmerciful,
who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such
things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but they have
pleasure in them that do them." God gave them up. Homosexuality, based upon that
passage, seems to be a certain sign of reprobacy. a certain sign of God leaving
people to themselves, never to be recovered. And any society that condones
it, that's what verse thirty-two says, those who know the judgment
of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death,
and they not only do the same, but they have pleasure or condone
or consent with them that do them. Any society that condones
it is going to suffer the same punishment as those who enter
into those things. will suffer. Get ready, America the beautiful. And Lott, though at least Lott,
called sin, sin, didn't he? Even though he had compromised
his profession of faith, even though he had become somewhat
like unto them, and a hypocrite, and living in in ease, at ease
in Sodom, yet Lot did have enough faith to stand up and say, hey,
that's sinful, didn't it? And they said to Lot, verse 9,
they said, stand back. They said again, this fellow
came into sojourn, well, he needs to be a judge. They might have
quoted Matthew 7, right? Judge not. Right? God loves everyone. Who do you think you are to judge
us? We are made this way. And they would have abused him.
Verse 10, But the men, those angels, took forth their hand
and pulled Lot into the house. You know, the Lord God restrains
every evil from you and from me. By the Lord's mercies, Brother
Henry, that you're not just like the rest of the world is. You're
pulled out. There's a brand from the burning, right? And we're
restrained daily, Brother Henry, from evil, all manner of evil.
They that be before us or with us are more than they that be
against us. He has his ministering spirits,
his ministering angels. The people's angels do always
behold the heavenly Father's face, and they pull us out constantly,
Barbara, constantly. We want to take a step here,
or that which is an automobile or whatever is about to destroy
us, or whatever, an angel of the Lord saves us. We don't see
His hand do it, but it just assures us that this happened a lot.
Look at verse eleven in our text. Verse eleven. And they smoked
the men that were at the door of the house with blindness,
both small and great. But they were so bad that they
worried themselves to find the door. They still tried to get
at Locke and these men, struck with blindness. And they still
wanted to get at them in order to have relations with them. And this evil and wicked world
that we live in, smitten and afflicted by God Almighty with
every pestilence and disease imaginable because of sin, yet people weary
themselves to continue in it. God said in Isaiah chapter 1
verse 5, why should you be stricken? You'll revolt more and more. The whole head is sick. The whole
heart is spanked from the sole of the feet to the top of the
head. There's no soundness in it. One of the greatest killing
diseases in history, this thing of acquired immune deficiency
syndrome, AIDS, is ravishing the world. Directly linked, nobody would
deny this, directly linked to sexual sins, but men and women
weary themselves to continue in this. No. This is like the Lord is letting
us read tomorrow's headlines. This is going to happen. All
right, look at verse 12. And the men said unto Lot, Do
you have any here besides your son-in-law, and our sons, and
our daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city? Bring
them out of this place. We are going to destroy this place.
The cry of them was waxing great before the face of the Lord.
The Lord has sent us to destroy it. And Lot went out and spoke
unto his son-in-law, which married his daughter, and said, Up, get
you out of this place. The Lord will destroy this city.
But he seemed," this is sad, Lot finally got serious, but
it was too late for his family. Let this be a warning, people,
those of you who especially have young people, young children.
Let this be a warning. He seemed as one that mocked
under his son-in-law. Perhaps he'd been silent too
long. Perhaps he'd grown somewhat careless
and indifferent to the things of worship. Obviously, he wouldn't
have been in Sodom. He'd have gone where the gospel
is today. Maybe he grew too much like the
people of Sodom, and his sons and in-laws couldn't tell any
difference between him and his neighbor. Perhaps he went places and did
things that the Sodomites did that didn't appear to be any
different whatsoever than the rest of them, without openly
correcting himself. without compromising too much. At any rate, he finally became
convicted, didn't he? Thank God. He finally became
convicted and warned his family. And we go right back to the start.
If only he had walked with Abram from the start, he wouldn't have
been in this mess. If only he had walked with Abram
from the beginning and grown closer and closer to and grown
like him, and instructed his family. Remember what I quoted
to you about Abraham? The Lord said, I know Abraham.
He'll instruct his family in the ways of God. If only he had
done the same, and if only he had been a stranger
in the pilgrim in the earth like Abraham, instead of settling
down at ease in Sodom. And finally, Lot lost his family. He not only nearly lost his own
soul, he lost his family. He lost his sons, he lost his
wife, and his daughters weren't worth a threat. Right? You know what happened
about his daughters, don't you? Where in the world did they come
up with an idea like that? Inside them, their daddy had grown Verse 15, And when the morning
arose, then the angels hastened lot, hurried up lot, saying,
Arise. Every time the gospel is preached,
we're in a hurry. I'm in a hurry. In the morning, and men ought
to be in a hurry to be saved. Today, well, it's called today.
When the morning arose, then the angels hastened lot, the
morning arose. You know, the Lord's mercy is
anew every morning. Lot should have left that night. But the morning arose, the sun
arose, and the angels hastened O Lot, and Scripture says of
Malachi, unto you that look for him shall the Son of Righteousness
arise with healing in his way. And they said, Take your wife
and your two daughters which are here, let you be consumed
in the iniquity of the city. Verse 16. And Lot lingered, while he lingered. That old boy still hadn't learned
his lesson. Charlie, he was about sixty years
old by this time. Lot was a believer, but you sure
wouldn't have known it. He might have sat around and
talked, he might have been a closet countess, Charles. He was a hearer
of the word, but he sure wasn't a doer, was he? He heard the Lord say, I'm going
to destroy this place, let's go. But he sat tight. He lingered. Lot hesitated, probably because
he had much goods. He had a big fine home, just
nothing else. And Lot did just exactly what
the men said to Christ when Christ said, follow me. Come and follow
me what they begin to say they began with one from from the
least of the grace make excuses what we bought a piece of land.
I'm going to come worship tonight we bought a piece of land you'll
see about it. Christ might come tonight Wednesday
to gather his elect whether they're gathered together. Thomas missed the Lord didn't
Well, I bought a piece of land. Well, let me bury my father.
Let the dead bury the dead. Well, I've got a wife, and my
wife's not feeling too good, and she's not doing particularly
well. You follow me?" Huh? Is there one wit difference?
I have a wife, and here's salvation. Look at it. As he languored,
verse 16, the men laid hold on his hand. He said, You're coming,
buddy. They laid hold upon his hand, upon the hand of his wife,
upon the hand of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful unto
him. and brought him forth, and set him without a city." The
Lord said, salvation. Is there any doubt
from that passage that salvation is of the Lord? Salvation wasn't
of Lot. He lingered. Salvation is of
the Lord. Salvation of the Lord. And bless
the Lord God, He lays hold on every single lingering lot that
He's chosen, every single one. Christ said in a parable one
time, He said, What man is there among you that shall have one
sheep? And if it fall into a ditch on the Sabbath day, will he not
lay hold and lift it out? Leave the ninety and nine and
go after the one? That's what the Great Shepherd
did. Every black sheep fallen in the ditch, one lingering lot,
he lays hold on him and lifts him out. We sang that song. I believe you might be able to
sing it now. He lifted me out of the deep miry clay, settled
my feet the straight and narrow way. Salvation is to be laid
hold upon. Salvation is to be apprehended
by him whom we apprehend. Salvation is to be apprehended
of Christ. In verse seventeen, it came to
pass, when they had brought them forth, the angels brought Lot
and his family out, they said, Escape for thy life. Don't look
behind thee. Don't look behind you. Escape
to the mountain. Look not behind thee, neither
stay in the place. Escape to the mountain. And every time
the gospel is preached, God's Spirit warns us to flee the wrath
to come every time. A man has not properly preached
the gospel lest he preach the holiness of God and the wrath
of God that's going to fall on the ungodly and upon sin. It
tells us to repent, flee the wrath to come, escape to Mount
Calvary, to get in the ark. Noah was preached for 120 years,
the same message. Judgment's coming with every
blow of his hammer. Just as with every stroke of
the pen, a gospel preacher says, judgment's coming. He better
be in the ark. He better be in the ark. Judgment's
coming. And the Holy Spirit leads and
guides into all truth, every step to take. Leads us in paths
of righteousness, shows us from his word where we're to go, what
we're to do. That's exactly what these men
did to Lot, said, look not behind thee. Don't go to the plain,
go to the mountain. Go this way, not that way, this
way. Don't go to the right hand, go to the left hand, you go straight
ahead. Turn not either way, go to the mountain. Yet, in spite
of all this, verse 18, Lot said, Oh no, Lord, not there. Wouldn't you think, wouldn't
you think, Stanley, Lord, I said, You ungrateful wretch. You rebellious,
no good child. Go back to Sodom. What's wrong
with you? Don't you remember anything?
No more. No more mercy. No more. No, the Lord being merciful,
ever-merciful and gracious. Lot said, Oh, Lord, don't make
me go there. Let me go here. Boy, the Lord sure was long-suffering
to Lot, wasn't he? He sure has been long-suffering
with me. That's the reason Peter, Peter said the long-suffering
of the Lord is salvation. The fact that the Lord puts up
with you and I all the days of our life is salvation. And old
Lot said, Lord, verse 19, if your servants found grace in
thy sight, well Lot, of course you have. You've magnified your
mercy, you've shown mercy to me, you've saved me, you've saved
my life. But I can't go to the mountain. I can't go up there. Some evil will take me and I'll
die. I'm still full of unbelief. I
mean, right on the back of such salvation. Lord, I believe. Do you now? But I'm scared. Lord, I believe you're sovereign.
But am I going to die of this? I can't do that. I can't go there.
I can't forsake all for the gospel. I can't go through this trial
or that. I can't. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. A lot. OK. You know, sometimes the Lord
gives you what you want. OK. Go down there. That's what he
said in verse 20. All right. Here's the city. Go there. Stupid
little idiot. That's what he should have said
to me. Go your own way, and there is a way which Satan the Lord
lets us go our own way. Quite often the Lord gives us
our way and lets us go, and Lot went down to this place called
Zoar. It wasn't too long later, Henry, until Lot had to run from
that place, too. Now, the Lord said, Get to the
mountain. Why? That's where Abraham was
all the time, in the mountains. Look at verses twenty-three through
twenty-six. Well, the sun was risen upon the earth. Nice, bright,
cheery, sunshiny day. And the day when everybody thought
not. Sodom, the day the sun rose up. The stock market boomed. Men went to work. Same as always. Marrying, giving in marriage.
Everything continued. All things continue as they always
have. Where's the promise of His coming? What is all this
talk about? The sun rose upon the earth when a lot went into
that city. Verse twenty-two, he said, Lot,
I can't destroy this city until you come out. That's election
in it. Huh? If there had not been a
remnant according to the election of grace, we'd have been a Sodom
and Gomorrah a long time ago. Right? Lot, the sun rose on the planet,
on the earth, as always, and the Lord rained upon Sodom and
upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.
And he overthrew those cities and all the plain and all the
inhabitants of the city, and that which grew upon the ground,
everything was scorched and killed. Verse twenty-six, But his wife
looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. Remember Lot's wife. She had her affection set on
Sodom, though she looked like she was following Lot. Well, old Lot settled down in
Zoar, and God had to roust him out of there too. And he finally
fled, verse thirty, to the mountains. Lot left Zoar. You'd think he's
a changed man by now, but after all of this. He was about 70 by this time.
Changed man. Got drunk and committed incest
with his daughter. He was still a sinner, wasn't
he? That was his greatest sin yet. But the Lord saved him anyway. And people, you couldn't have heard a more
solemn message than this tonight. And I'll read this in closing
to you. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without
wavering. He is faithful. That promised. What did he promise?
that all the Father giveth to me will come to me, and him that
cometh to me I will no wise cast out. And if he stay with me,
he'll not get in any trouble." So he says, Paul said in Hebrews,
let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good
work. I'm trying to provoke you tonight. Not forsaking assembling ourselves
together. I don't know the reason why people
are not here tonight or whatever. I know why you're here. And God
was merciful, pulled you out of Sodom on Wednesday night and
brought you into this city. He said, You worship. You consider
it the mercy of the Lord. And I'm trying to provoke you
unto love and to good works and not to forsake the assembly of
ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one
another Anybody quote the rest of that
scripture? Exhorting one another, and so
much more, as you see the day approaching. I'm not trying to be an alarmist,
but this nation's going down to two, people. We've elected a man who has no
contrition whatsoever, lived a life of open immorality
for years, showed no compunction or contrition whatsoever for
it. I'm not getting into politics,
I'm just telling it like it is. His first and highest and greatest
act in office now is to open up the military to homosexuals. It's covering our newspaper.
This is all he seems to be obsessed with right now. Open up the floodgates
of AIDS and every affliction known. Let it consume our military. Let it consume our nation. Give
them all the rights they want. Let's turn this flat into Sodom. I don't devote all my messages
to things like this, but the time has come to say something
about it. Woe unto them that call good evil and evil good. And it's becoming a way of life.
It's going to come into this little town, and they're going
to teach it in our school as an alternative lifestyle. And
people are going to be settled down, act like there's nothing
wrong with it. And in a moment, in a twinkling
of an eye, God's going to rain fire on this earth. We read it
in Revelation, didn't we? It's coming. It's coming. And
the sooner the better. The sooner the better, as far
as I'm concerned. Are you a lot? I hope so. The Lord laid hold on you. Save
yourself from this untoward generation. Don't get settled back and at
ease in Zion and at ease in Sodom and become taken up with this
nation's wickedness and perversion. Don't do it. Don't come lax. Come lax. Warn your family. Warn people. Don't cease to be
vexed with the conversation of this filthy and wicked world.
Don't do it. Every transgression of the law
is sin, worthy of judgment. And this nation, this world full
of false prophets and preachers and religion are spreading their
message of God's love for everybody, even the homosexuals and so forth.
God loves everybody. No talk whatsoever, the judgment
of God. And God's going to start with
them and judge them and cast them down. And that great harlot
or whore that he talks about in Revelation, I think, is the
false or apostate church, religion. Religion, going to start with
them, cast her down. Save yourself from the poor generation. The true prophets of God, the
true messengers of the covenant, the true prophets have the same
message today they always have had. Repent. The kingdom of God
is at hand. The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Repent. Judgment's coming. Judgment's coming. Bow. Repent.
God is angry with the wicked. God hates our workers. My, my, my. Okay, stand with me and
I'll dismiss this in a prayer. Heavenly Father, have mercy upon
us. Have mercy upon our land. But do what seems good in thy
sight. Your judgments are true and righteous. And we'll say amen to the death
of the wicked. Amen to thy judgments upon this
earth. and only if we are saved, only if we are pulled out like
Lot. Lord, forgive us for being like
Lot, for being as one that mocketh. Deliver us from ourselves. Make
us like Christ. May we dwell with Him. May we
ever sit at the feet of Christ, gazing at Mount Calvary. Make
us like Christ. Deliver us from this people.
In His blessed name we pray. Amen. You're dismissed.