Turn in your Bibles, please,
to the book of 2 Peter, 2 Peter chapter 2. I told Brother Bill before the
service that I always wonder, what am I doing here? I told him that in the Lord's
toolbox, He has some fine instruments, like micrometers and torque wrenches
and fine tools that he uses. And they're like Brother Bill
and Brother Richard, fellows like them. Then over in the corner
of that toolbox, he has an old, rusty, greasy, adjustable wrench. And that's more like what I am.
But you pray for me. And read with me and look at
2 Peter chapter 2. But there were false prophets
also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers
among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies, even
denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves
swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious
ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken
of. And through covetousness they
shall with vain words make merchandise of you, whose judgment now of
a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. For if God spared not the angels
that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into
the chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment, and spared
not the old world, but saved Noah the ape person, a preacher
of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the
ungodly, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes,
condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those
that should after live ungodly. and delivered just Lot, vexed
with the filthy conversation of the wicked. For that righteous
man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous
soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds. The Lord knoweth
how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve
the unjust until the day of judgment to be punished. May the Lord bless His word to
our understanding. In this text, the Apostle reminds
us of the man lot. I call this message Learning
from Lot. When you read the book of Genesis
in chapters 11 and 12 and 13 and 19, you find this man Lot in a very
precarious position. And over the years I've read
so many commentators and I've heard so many preachers preach
on Lot. And they kind of make Lot a whipping
boy. They question his motives for
being in Sodom. They accuse him of greed and
such as that. Why really was Lot in Sodom? He was in Sodom because of God's
unchanging eternal purpose. God had him there on purpose. Some say he had a problem with
his children, and they blame him for not raising his children
right, but they could blame me for the same thing. They say
he made a lot of bad decisions, that he looked upon the well-watered
plains and that he was out of greed motivated for what he could
get out of Sodom and various things like that of which nobody
really knows. But we know one thing, we know
that he was there according to God's providential purpose. And I asked myself, why does
God record this? He certainly did not record it
for Lot, but he recorded it for us to teach his people, I feel
like, some important things, and not only to warn us, but
also to encourage us. We, Lot's today. Almost everybody here, I'm sure,
by one way or another, by one decision or another, by one failure
or another, we all come to be where we are. And if we know
anything about this book, we know that wherever we are, it's
the will of God or we wouldn't be there. We're there, we're
here, we're wherever we are, we're in whatever situation we
are, we are there and we live in these times that we live in
according to the will of God. And I always think of Mordecai's
words to Esther, who knows? why thou art come into the kingdom
for such a time as this. Who knows in God's purpose why
we live in these times. But we live in these times and
we know that what is written in this word is for us as Paul
says that these things happened unto them for in samples, and
they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world
are come." They're written for us. And if they're written for
God's people, we know that even at this time, in these awful
situation we see ourselves now in, in these awful times, in
this world, we know that they are written for our admonition,
for our instruction, and for our encouragement, those of us
upon whom the last days or the end of the ages shall come. God has not left his people. He has not left himself without
a people in our day. There is even at this time a
remnant according to the election of grace. And he has not only
not abandoned them, he has not only not abdicated his throne,
he has sent us examples as well as warnings to encourage us in
all the things we face. There are four things that I
want to say to you tonight, God helping me. You see, this man's very name,
to me, stands out as an example of all God's people. His name is Lot. And when we
see what the Bible says about the lot, we know what the lot
is according to scripture. It says the lot or the dice,
what appears to men as the chance. Why is this man where he is?
He's there because this has fallen his lot. Fallen his lot because
it was given to him by God. Who says, the lot is cast into
the lap, but the disposing thereof is of the Lord. God controls
every detail of this world. He controls every act and everything
that goes on in this world. Everything is of the Lord. If it happens, it's of the Lord. We know God's will perfectly. We have eyes to see God's perfect
will when we look back and see what's happened. That's the will
of God. And Lot is here, he's in this
situation, he's in this place by the will of God. And there are four things about
him. Number one, Lot was a just man. I know there are some who say
that can't be possible. But I don't know about you, I'm
going with the book. Verse seven, and God delivered
just Lot. Now I know this, there is not
a man in this world, or a woman, a person, whatever you want to
call them, there's not a being in this world of Adam's race
that is a just man except he be a justified man. So what is actually being said
here is Lot was a just man. When he lived, he was a just
man. And this does not refer to his
character. He was obviously a sinner just
like you and me. He wasn't even a worse sinner
than you and me. He might have been a fine upstanding
man, but he was a sinner just like all of us. And the only
people who are just before God and can be called just by God
are people that God has justified. When he was just, it means that
he was declared righteous by God. That might not fit your
theology, but that's what the Bible says. Lot was not only
a just man, but look at verse 8, for that righteous man. I'm not good at Bible timetables
or anything like that, but I can tell you this, it was a long
time ago. But even then, when Lot lived
in this world, believing God as he did, he was a righteous
man, and dwelling among them in seeing and hearing vexed his
righteous soul. I don't see how anybody could
ever view him as any other thing, any other way, in these three
statements that are made by him. He was just, he was righteous,
he had a righteous soul. That's a justified sinner. And he was justified by God,
even then. In other words, God had blessed
him as he had all his elect. He had blessed him with all spiritual
blessings in Christ. The Bible talks about the gift
of righteousness, the gift of faith, the gift of repentance. Not only those three gifts, but
every other gift that God gives of His grace, every other spiritual
blessing, you can name them all in whatever way we can find them
set forth in the scripture, but it was all the same. God had
given him all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. And when we
look at this book, it says in Psalm 32, blessed is the man
unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity and in whose spirit
is there is no God. In other words, it had to be
that God in his purpose in before time justified this man and determined
not to impute his sin to him. All the purpose of God is bound
up in this. All that God would do for his
people flows out of this determination by God. Not only a determination
by God, but a declaration by God not to impute the sins of
his people to them, but to impute them to the Lord Jesus Christ
and to impute to them the righteousness of Christ. Else they couldn't
be justified. Else they couldn't be called
just men. Some say that's on credit. I
don't find that word credit. God don't do business on credit.
He doesn't call what isn't something that it is not. In his sight,
it may not be actually so before our eyes and in the world, but
in the purpose and mind of God, it's a done deal when he declares
it. As a matter of fact, it says
that the eternal God who changes not, who viewed him in Christ,
who made Christ his surety even then, and put upon him all responsibility
to save Lot, he justified him, and he put him in union with
Christ, who is the Lord a righteousness. What else is there? But the amazing
thing is that in all of this ungodliness, in all this trouble
that preceded the most harsh judgment of this world, when
there was sinners vile and blatant sinning and all kinds of activities
going on in the world, so much that God rained fire on those
places in the plains. But yet in the midst of that,
there was a just man. And that encourages my heart. Even in this day, we talk about
how bad times are. We talk about how wicked men
are. We talk about all this awfulness,
but praise God, he's still got a people. There are still some
just men and women in this world who are justified just on the
same basis, in the same way, on the same Christ, in the same
blood, through the same death as Olac was. He was a just man. God says he was a just man. That
means he was a justified man. That means he was righteous,
as righteous as he would ever be in the sight of God. He wasn't
waiting to do better, to be righteous. He wasn't growing in righteousness. He was righteous in the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is the only righteousness there is. We understand
that. You can't grow in something that's
outside of yourself. You can't grow, though you go
in grace and the knowledge of him, you can't grow in what he
gives you and what he bestows upon you and what you're made
in him. He was a just man. Scripture says, blessed is the
man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. It says even David
describes the blessedness unto whom God imputes righteousness
without works. He was a blessed man, blessed
with all spiritual blessings in the Lord Jesus Christ because
God put him in that union with Christ, what those old theologians
used to call the grace union. He put him and united him to
Christ. He was made the righteousness
of God, not by Christ, but in Christ. And he had done it through the
crucified cross, Christ. You see, in Romans 3, in verse
24, it says, being justified. Young's literal translation translates
that being declared righteous. being declared righteous freely,
that is, without a cause, without any cause in us. Lot didn't have
any cause in him. No saint has ever had any cause
in themselves, being justified freely by his grace. Through. That's an important
word to me. Through. Through. the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. Not by the works of the law,
as Paul said, not by his doing, not by his fine person, not by
his shining out as an outstanding citizen amongst all that wickedness. Under a pinch, he was willing
to give his daughter away. You say, oh boy, I'd never do
that. You don't know what you'd do. Even as a believer, you don't
know what you'll do. You may be like David. You may
lay down your head in the harlot's bed. You might be like Noah. You might drink till you're drunk
with wine. You might do something that all
the saints of God have done when God records what he does about
them, and yet it says they all died in the bath. You say, preacher, you'll not
say that. You'll excuse the wickedness and sin of people. You ain't fooling me, and I'm
sure I'm not fooling you. We're naturally wicked to the
core. That's why this foolishness about
a new nature is so bugging me. Everything natural to us is sin. And the only hope, just like
Lot's only hope, like Abraham's only hope, like David's only
hope, and all these other precious saints of God, sinners saved
by the sovereign grace of God, justified in Christ Jesus, he's
our only hope. Lot was a just man. Thank God
now, even now in these times, there's that remnant according
to the election of grace. And how they justified? Same
way Lot was justified in Christ. The second thing is this, and
I'm gonna move fast. Lot was a vexed man. He was righteous. But he was
a vexed man. Look at verse 7 and 8. And God delivered just Lot vexed
with the filthy conversation of the wicked. For that righteous
man dwelling among them in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous
soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds. I hate to tell you this, but
verse 8, that word there and there is in italics. He vexed himself from day to
day with unlawful deeds. You say, oh. But you know, if I'm honest,
I do the same thing every day. That's what Paul is talking about
in Romans 7. What I want to do, that's what
I don't do. What I don't want to do, that's
what I do. He was a vexed man. Now I'm sure
that the actual conversations of the day As today, I'm sure
that they were filled with cursing, vulgarity, filthy language, sexual
innuendos, suggestive language that characterizes our day. And you can't even turn on the
TV. without hearing it. And sadly, it's even named among
professing believers. I'm telling you, that doesn't
glorify God. You say, I don't talk that way. If you hit your finger on the
hammer with a hammer, or if there's nobody looking when that raunchy
commercial comes on TV or that movie that, you know, ain't so
good. Could these things characterize
that age? in this age. Evidently, the blatant immorality
that was present, such as homosexuality and such, that was, according
to what we read in Genesis 19, that was common in that day. But I say, Lot was vexed. in a different way because he
was a righteous man. I believe that Lot was more vexed
by what Peter calls the filthy conversation of the wicked, the
unlawful deeds of the day. He was vexed more so by the idolatry
all around him that gave birth to those things. Now if you want
to find out what kind of reprobate individuals, what is the cause
of some of these obviously reprobate individuals whose immorality
is in the pits, as we say. It's so violent, so wicked, we
can't even think about it. You read Romans 1. It flows from idolatry. They changed the image of God. They changed and denied the incorruptible
God. And they changed that image to
corruptible things. Therefore, God gave them over. to a reprobate mind, to defile
themselves with one another. But I'll be honest with you tonight.
While all the cussing, all the vile language, all the filthy
conversations, I hear them all, all the time. You can't live
in this world without it. And they bother me. Don't get
me wrong, they bother me. I know what the Bible says about
let the words of our mouth and the communication of our lips
be such as becomes godliness and glorifies God. That bothers
me. But I'll tell you the thing,
the filthy talking and language that bothers me the most is the
language of wickedness in the idolatry. around us. When I hear all these people,
especially preachers, lying on God, when I hear them talking about
their works having to do with their salvation, when I hear
all the things and see all the things of the idolatry of false
religion and the false gospel and the false prophets. As a
matter of fact, all this is in the context about false prophets. That bothers me a whole lot more.
I may be vexed by just things that are not nice, but this is
what really vexes me. But as I was thinking about that,
when I was trying to study, thank God it does. It didn't used to bother me.
I used to partake in it. God loves you. We love you. God wants you to be saved. Christ
died for every person in this world. God's trying to save every
person of the world. If you would just let him, if
you would just, if you would, all that stuff. That's what vexes me. But I'm
so thankful it does. That God has given us his people
ears to hear the truth. He's given them a spirit that
repels against all that is not true to Scripture, all that is
not glorifying to God. They find repulsive. It vexes them all of this language
of a false gospel that's spread so commonly in every hand of
our day. That's what vexes me. If God has given us understanding,
if he's given us faith, if he's taught us the things of this
word, not of this world, but of this word, if he's caused
us to have an understanding, it may vex us. But bless God,
it does. Thank God it does. Say, I'm just
so tired of hearing, I am too, but I'm glad it excesses me.
I'm glad I can't be content with it. I'm glad I can't agree with
it. The third thing is this. Lot
was a delivered man. Verse 7 says, and he delivered
just Lot. Well, he wouldn't do it against,
he won't save anybody and deliver them against their will. He sent
angels down there and they took Lot by the hand. This unwilling participant in
this departure He took him out of the place of judgment. The
angels even said, we can't bring down the fire and brimstone until
we get Lot out of here. That's what God has to say about
all His people. Whatever it takes. It'll take
my son being sent into this world to die. It'll take Him suffering
the agonies of the cross. It'll take Him bearing their
sins in His own body on the tree. It will take charging Him with
their sin and unrighteousness. It'll take all of these things,
but He's the only one that can do it. So no matter what it took. Because God's people are a delivered
people. They have been and they will
be. And I love what it says here
in verse 19, the Lord knows how. The Lord knows how to deliver
them. That's why he calls himself a just God and a Savior. That
was how, that's what is the wisdom of God. He knows how to deliver
his people. He knew that his son dying in
their stead would deliver them from all their sins, that he would put away all their
sins and that they would be all everyone delivered that he died
for. Paul says, who gave himself,
that is Christ, for our sins, that he might deliver us from
this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father. Your will will never deliver
you. But God knows how. He sent his son. He did it to deliver them who
through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. It's through His blood that He
delivered them from the wrath to come. The Lord shall deliver me from
every evil work and preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom
to whom be glory forever and ever. And I'm telling you this, you
say I'm in a tight, I'm in a bind. I don't see any way out. No matter what it is. I can't see any way of deliverance.
I'm doomed. The Lord knows how. It won't tax him a bit. He lacks
neither knowledge nor ability. The Lord knows how. He knows
how what? To deliver them godly. He knows how. He's delivered us from so great
a death and death deliver in whom we trust that he will yet
deliver. You might say, the Lord knows
how. We're delivered people. We've
been delivered, we're being delivered, and we will be delivered. That's
what that verse says. You say, I'm just such a wicked
person. I fall into these evil habits. I think these awful thoughts. I do all these things. How in
the world can I be a Christian? How can I ever triumph over all
these things? Paul was the same way. He said,
Oh wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? And I'm told that that was an
expression born out of a Roman practice of tying a dead man
to another living man as part of his punishment. He just rots
on the back of that living man. That's what Paul was saying. I got an old man, I'm carrying
around, he's dead. He shows himself over and over
again as being dead. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? Next word, I thank God. I thank God through Jesus Christ,
our Lord. So that with my mind, I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. The Lord knows how to deliver.
He has delivered, He is delivering us, and He will deliver us. From
Satan, from sin, from everything and every enemy. This morning I talked with my
daughter. She found out yesterday that
she would have to undergo surgery today. Today's her birthday.
Surgery on your birthday. To remove your last two toes
on your left foot. Gangrene. You'll have to have a fourth
surgery to reconstruct your foot. If you're a parent, you know
just about how that makes you feel. And I guess she could sense that
I was pretty down. But she said, Dad, just remember
Psalm 3419. I don't really remember exactly
what that is. I mean, I know you people all
remember all the verses, but I'm afraid I don't. I said, OK. We hung up the phone. And I turned to some 3419. Many are the afflictions of the
righteous. Ain't no easy road. Mental afflictions,
family afflictions, bodily afflictions, so much. Many are the afflictions
of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. Lot was a delivered man. And
all God's elect are delivered people. He keeps delivering us
until He's one day going to deliver us into His presence. And here's the fourth thing.
Lastly, I believe Lot was a typical man. I believe he was a type of all
God's elect preceding the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Turn over to Luke chapter 17. Luke chapter 17, verse 28. Here's Lot again. Likewise also as it was in the
days of Lot, They did eat, they drank, they
bought, they sold, they planted, they built. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, It
rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the
day when the Son of Man is revealed. That's how all God's elect are.
We're living in solemn. There's wickedness on every hand.
It's at our doors. most especially the wickedness of these false prophets, who
he says in 2 Peter, their days are short. Their judgment is
sure. Their lies on God will be exposed. There comes an hour when they'll
no longer vex the people of God. But like Lot, God will take us
out of here before that judgment comes. As a matter of fact, Peter
in the next chapter, in 2 Peter 3, talks about that judgment. How will the final judgment be?
With fire, not water. Just like they mocked and scoffed
the first prophesied judgment, the flood, they also say, where
is the promise of his coming? I thought you said Christ is
coming. He is. He comes at such a time as men
think not. But he comes at such a time as they're characterized. People eating and drinking, giving
in marriage, and all that stuff. wickedness. But he takes all of his lots. I find it easy by grace to identify
with law. You say, well, he's there, they
made some bad decision. So have I. So have I. Oh, well, he says things and
he does things that he ought not to do. So do I. But that didn't change the fact
that he was just, by grace, through Christ crucified. Vexed, just,
delivered, and typical. Chapter 3, it says in verse 9, The Lord is not slack concerning
His promises. Some men count slackness, but
is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish.
Not willing that any of the usward. Read these two epistles and see
who they're addressed to. The elect of God. He's not willing
that any should perish, but that All of them should come to repentance. He's going to burn this world
up. He's going to burn this house
down. But not before he delivers his
lots. Old Abraham, he was trying to
barter with God a little bit. And he said, now, what if you
find 50 righteous men in the city, 40,
30, 20, 10. And the word that God gave him
was this, shall not the judge of the earth do right. He spoke it to God. I believe
God comforted him in that. The judge of all the earth will
do right. And he will do right by saving
and delivering every one of his lots in Christ crucified. He makes them righteous by an
imputed righteousness. Their sins are already put away
by the dying of Christ. They're already just in God's
sight. God bless you.