What is righteousness? What is righteousness? What is a righteous person, righteous
man, a righteous woman? Our Lord Jesus declares, except
your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of
heaven. What a statement. Those scribes and pharisees lived
more nobly, more outwardly, uprightly, morally, with religious devotion
than any group of people you or I have ever known. Our Savior
said, except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness
of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into
the kingdom of heaven. Without righteousness, perfect
righteousness, holiness, without which no man
shall see the Lord. Without perfect righteousness,
we must forever perish under the wrath of God. So this question
is of immense importance. What is righteousness? What is a righteous man? Well,
I'd ask you to give me just one example of a righteous person. Just one. Just pick me one example.
Wonder who it'd be. Open your Bibles with me if you
will to the book of 2 Peter chapter 2. 2 Peter chapter 2. I want to give
you God's portrayal of a righteous man. What I have to say about
this matter is really insignificant. What you think about this matter
is very, very, very much insignificant. But what does God have to say?
Let's look at God's portrayal of a righteous man. As we do,
I hope it will be obvious to all of you that before God, righteousness
is not something that men do. It is not something accomplished
by what men and women perform. God simply is not impressed with
you. God is not impressed with me. Righteousness is something God
imputes to sinners. Chosen redeemed sinners in free
justification. It is something God imputes to
sinners because God makes sinners righteous. God does not just
pretend that they are righteous. Would to God I could get this
across to this generation. God Almighty never plays let's
pretend. If God declares a man righteous,
it's because he's righteous. If God declares a man holy, it's
because he's holy. God never pretends that he's
righteous or holy. He imputes righteousness to chosen
sinners because they are redeemed and made the very righteousness
of God in Jesus Christ the Lord. And that righteousness, that
perfect holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord, God
imparts to redeemed sinners when he calls them and saves them
by his grace. We call it regeneration. We call
it sanctification. When God gives a man or woman
new life in Christ, he creates in you a new man created in righteousness
and true holiness. And in both cases, in regeneration
as well as in redemption, the Lord Jesus Christ is made of
God unto us righteousness. That means that all God's people
in this world, every sinner who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ,
Every sinner who trusts Christ alone for acceptance with God,
resting his soul in the finished work of the crucified Redeemer,
every sinner who believes that Jesus is indeed the Christ of
God, having accomplished eternal redemption, is righteous. Do you trust the Son of God?
Do you believe on the Lord Jesus? then you are sanctified. Sanctified. Somebody told me
last night, I don't keep up with things much obviously, somebody
told me last night that silly old man in Rome, you know the
funny fellow that looks like he's wearing a Masonic order
costume, they call him the Pope. They finally made that gal Teresa
a saint. Isn't that something? Isn't that
something? Right yonder sits Saint André
Gillet. Right yonder, Saint André. Well
he doesn't look much like a saint to me. He does to me. Cause I
see him in Christ. You understand that? If you believe
on the Son of God, you are the saints of God. This is not something
we're going to be. This is what we are if we're
in Christ. Saints, sanctified, holy people. God says so. Read the epistles
of the New Testament. The Apostle Paul writing to men
and women that he did not even know. Men and women he had never
seen. Writing to the church at Corinth,
writing to men and women, I'll be honest with you, if I were
their pastor, I'd probably be looking for someplace to go.
I mean, he was right into a mess. He was right into a mess. And
he said to those men and women at Corinth who believed on the
Son of God, in the teeth of everything about which he rebuked them sharply,
he said, you're washed, you're sanctified, you're justified.
He called them God's saints. And yet God's saints are often
vilified, commonly vilified as wicked men. the ungodly of this
world, those who do not know God, who do not know us, who
do not know the gospel of God's free grace, try to appease their
own consciences, trying to convince themselves and others that God's
saints are really wicked, hypocritical people. And so they, you know,
go to church down there, Fairmont, ooh, I know those folks, they're
all hypocrites. I know them. Well, one more won't hurt, come
on down. They try to justify themselves
by their pretense that God's people are wicked. That kind
of slander, hard as it is to bear, is to be expected from
ungodly men and women. But sometimes God's saints are
vilified by other saints as terribly wicked people. Horrible as that
is for us to think about, it does happen, and we're guilty. You and the one talking to you. May God forgive us the evil of
participating in such wickedness against his chosen. May he teach
us and give us grace to bridle our tongues and each esteem other
better than himself. Of all the men in history who
had been unjustly maligned, By those who ought to highly esteem
them, one man stands out above all others, one that is most
extraordinary. I can think of no one other than
our Savior, the Lord Jesus, who has been so unjustly and yet
so universally misrepresented as God's nephew, or Abraham's
nephew, God's servant, our brother, whom the Holy Ghost distinctly
calls Just Lot. Just Lot. Lot has been constantly
repudiated by theologians and commentators, by preachers all
over the world throughout the ages. They have represented Brother
Lot as a very bad man. The ancient Jewish writers denounced
him as a vile reprobate. And most of the very best commentaries
I've read have made him just a little bit better than that,
but not much. So I want us to see what God the Holy Spirit
tells us about this remarkable man, Lot. 2 Peter 2 verse 7. 2 Peter 2 verse 7. My text will be verses 7, 8,
and 9. But let's begin in verse 1. This
is an important passage of Scripture. There were false prophets also
among the people. even as there shall be false
teachers among you who privately, that is in private deceitful
cunning conversation, shall bring in damnable heresies. Now this is not a mistake about
prophecy or a mistake about the kind of jewels Aaron had in his
breastplate. These are damning heresies. Heresies,
if you believe them, that will take you to hell. Damnable heresies. What are they? Even denying the
Lord that bought them. Now let me help you with that
text of scripture. That does not in any way suggest that the
Lord Jesus died to save those folks who go to hell, even these
false prophets. The word translated Lord here
is very distinct. It is not the word that is commonly
translated Lord in the New Testament. The word, if it were transliterated,
would read this way. Denying the despot who bought
them. The despot. The despot. You know who a despot is, don't
you? That's the fellow who rules this business, like it or not.
A despot. Saddam Hussein was a despot.
Vladimir Putin is a despot. Whatever that fellow's name is
over there in North Korea, he's a despot. You're born in his
realm, he rules you, your life's in his hand, he can snuff it
out like that. He's a despot. Denying the sovereign
despot who bought them. And the word bought here is not
the word that's commonly translated bought or redeemed. The word
means not to buy out of, but simply to purchase. If I should
go down the road to one of these car dealerships and I purchase
a new car, you know what I'm gonna do with it? I'm gonna drive
it off the lot and drive it home. That means I redeemed it, I purchased
it, I bought it out of that stock of cars. That's the word that's
commonly used when you speak of Christ redeeming his elect,
redeeming his people. This word is a different word.
This word is the word you would use if you saw that house over
yonder. I believe I'll buy that house.
You don't move the house, not normally. Some folks do, but
you don't normally move the house. But rather you move on to that
property, and you take possession of the house. And Jesus Christ,
the man of Nazareth, by his obedience to God as Jehovah's perfect servant,
bought the right to be the sovereign despot over all men, and he rules
them, whether they know it or not. These false prophets who
bring in the damning heresies of our many and free will works
religion and they are damning heresies. They'll take you to
hell if you believe them. These preachers deny the sovereign
king who rules them. Read on. And they bring upon
themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious
way. pernicious ways I mentioned that
old man in Rome I'm not going to give him any respect and if
you expect it you'll have to go somewhere else but I'll give
him as much as I give to other preachers pernicious seems so
sweet butter won't melt on their tongues you couldn't get sugar
to dissolve in their mouths that's so sweet so nice cunning deceitful
pernicious man pernicious man pernicious a more evil word couldn't
be used to speak of a preacher pernicious by reason of whom
Christ shall be evil spoken of the way of truth evil spoken
of they call what we preach hard doctrine they call it antinomianism
they call it licentiousness they call it ungodliness One of our
ladies walked out the door one day. She doesn't come all the
time, but one of the ladies comes to our church sometimes. She
was raised in the congregation. She had been on the internet. She
walked out the door. She said, do you know what folks say about
you on the internet? I said, well, I've been told. I've been
told. What do you do? Ignore it. The
way of truth shall be evil spoken of. Read on. And through covetousness. That's what rules false prophets. Desire for gain. Man studies
this book. I don't care if his name's Fortner,
Crabtree, or Chris. Man studies this book and stands
in the pulpit and lies on God. He does it because he's covetous.
He does it for his own gain. Well, don't you think they're
sincere? They're sincerely covetous. They're sincerely greedy. They
want a name, they want power, they want reputation, they want
money through covetousness. I had a preacher, oh this was
years ago, the first time I preached in Buck Mountain, Tennessee. Several preachers came that first
time. That took care of that, but the
ceremony came that first night. And we had dinner after services
and just like we do back here, sitting down back in the dining
hall. And there's a preacher sitting right across the table
from me. And we chatted a little bit, and I thought I'd be pretty
nice to him. He said to me, he said, I'd give
anything if I could preach like you do. I said, what? He said,
I'd give anything if I could preach like that in my pulpit.
I said, you mean you don't? He said, oh no, I can't do that.
I said, I'll tell you why. He said, why? I reached in my
back pocket and got this thing out. I said, that right there
is the only reason. That's the only reason. That
makes you covetous and pernicious. That's the only reason. That's
the only reason. Well, what text says here? Through covetousness
shall they with feigned words, pretentiously nice, good words
of righteousness, transforming themselves into angels of light,
make merchandise of you. They deal with your soul like
a man deals with apples and oranges. Shine them up, polish them up
so that you can sell them quick. They've made merchandise of you,
whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their
damnation slumbereth not. Now you can be sure of it, for
if God spared not the angels that see it, but cast them down
into hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness to be
reserved unto judgment, and spared not the old world, but saved
Noah the eighth 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 overflow,
making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly."
Now watch this. Here's a text. and delivered
just lot. Vexed with the filthy conversation
of the wicked for that righteous man dwelling among them and 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 under
the day of judgment to be punished. Here God the Holy Ghost identifies
Lot as a truly righteous man. a godly man, a just man. One who lived among wicked men,
and in their midst, every day he lived there, vexed his righteous
soul. All the time Lot was in Sodom,
day by day, that righteous, just, godly man vexed his soul. Now let me remind you the background.
You're all familiar with Abraham and Lot. You'll remember that
they parted company when there was a strife between their herdsmen. Not a strife between Abraham
and Lot. A strife between Lot's herdsmen and Abraham's herdsmen. They didn't part company in bitterness.
but they parted company as friends, as brothers. The reason why they
parted company was the strife between their herdsmen had grown
so bad and they wanted it to stop, both Abraham and Lot. And
Abraham, being the magnanimous man he was, offered to his nephew
Lot the choice of the land. Now, there's much that could
be said about Abraham's magnanimity in this regard, and should be.
He was a generous character. But far much that is evil has
been said about Lot's attitude in this regard. If you're living with an old
man, an old man, Abraham, remember, was an old man. And he says,
you take whatever you want to, son. I'm an old man now, and
I've got plenty. If that looks like the best place
to raise your family and your sheep and your cattle, you go
down there and take it. If this one looks best, you take
that. And Lot looked it over, and the scripture tells us, Lot
lifted up his eyes and beheld the plain of Jordan that was
well-watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and
Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of
Egypt, has now come as the Zohar. Then Lot chose him all the plain
of Jordan. And Lot journeyed east, and they
separated themselves one from the other. Abram dwelt in the
land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and
pitched his tent towards Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked
and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. About 14 years later, when the
kings of the plain were taken captive along with the inhabitants
and possessions of Sodom, Lot and his family were taken into
captivity, but not for long. Abraham took 300 men and delivered
Lot, the kings, and the people of Sodom, and all their possessions
from the hands of their enemies. After that, Lot and his family
sometime moved into Sodom. And they dwelt there until God
sent his angels to destroy the wicked cities of the plain along
with all their inhabitants except for just Lot and two of his daughters. Three people out of all the cities
of the plain, just three, just three. They were delivered from
the cities of destruction by the distinct intervention of
God. Then after being delivered from
the cities and from the impending judgment of God upon Sodom and
Gomorrah, Sot was twice enticed by his daughters into a drunken
stupor and into incest. Oh, you can't understand that.
Can't you? Can't you? Can't you? Which of you is above
that? Not the one talking to you. And
none I'm talking to. Lot was twice induced by his
daughters into a drunken stupor and incest. As a result, he sired
the wicked, cursed nations of Moab and Ammon. Those two nations
born of Lot's incest were cursed of God. And yet, This is how
God the Holy Ghost inspired the Apostle Peter to describe this
man Lot. Let's read it again, verse seven. 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, The Lord knoweth
how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve
the unjust to the day of judgment to be punished. Why did God write
these things for us in his word? What's the reason? Are these
things written to excuse sin? Not on your life. Are they written to make us feel
comfortable with our sin? Never! Never, never, never. Oh, may God give me grace to
speak with such force that you can't possibly be comfortable
with what you are. What Lot was is what you are. What Lot was is what I am. That's
our nature. That's our nature. and I'm not
comfortable with it. Oh, I pray God will make you
uncomfortable with it. Well, why did the Spirit of God
give us this record? Let me give you seven answers
to that question. Here are seven lessons to be
learned from Brother Lott. Number one, Lott was a righteous
man. He was a righteous man. This
is not something we have to guess about. We don't just surmise
that he must have been a righteous man. Our text tells us plainly
that righteous man. Obviously he was not righteous
by nature and he was not righteous by something he did. He did not
make himself righteous, nor did he in any way contribute to his
righteousness, nor did he improve his righteousness Lot was righteous
because God made him righteous in union with his darling son,
the Lord Jesus Christ God Almighty imputed righteousness to Lot
when he called him by his grace. Lot had the very same testimony
as a man who lived long before him by the name of Enoch. Do you remember brother Enoch?
Enoch was translated. He was taken to glory. He didn't
see death. He didn't see death. But before
he was translated, he had this testimony that he pleased God. He pleased God. Oh, man, wouldn't
that be a great testimony to have? Wouldn't it be? So that,
you know, when my friend Bruce Cradtree talks about me, he said,
Or Don Fortner, he's a godly man. He pleases God. Or my wife
talks about me. Or you talk about me. That's not too hard to get. That's not too hard to get. You
can drive down 20 miles from where I live and meet a whole
village of people who talk about each other that way. They dress
funny. They talk funny. The only thing
they don't do funny is hold on to money. Some of them don't
even wear zippers on their britches. They're so godly they wear buttons. No. That's not testimony you
can't. That ain't testimony yet. Now
don't misunderstand me. And don't misrepresent what I
say. I want you to always be honored by being my friend. I want that woman always to be
honored by being my wife. I want my daughter, my son-in-law,
my grandchildren to be honored to be related to me by my behavior. I want to behave in such a way
that I'm not an embarrassment to folks around me. But that's
not the testimony, Enocad. That's not testimony of a godly
man. No, sir. No, sir. A wicked man
can live just as good as you. Even better. That's just fact. That's just fact. Well, what
was testimony in a can? God gave him faith in Christ.
And God said, you please me. Now that's a testimony worth
having. When God speaks in your conscience and declares you're
just, you're righteous, your sins are gone, you're forgiven,
accepted in Christ. Now that's a testimony from God. Lot was a righteous man. because he was chosen in Christ,
redeemed by Christ, born again by the Spirit of God, had Christ
dwelling in his heart by the new birth, dwelling in his heart
by faith, so that he was made a new creature in Jesus Christ
the Lord. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. This is what God does for his
people. Should you go back to Winston-Salem,
North Carolina and find folks who knew me, in days gone by
you could find a lot of stuff. You talk about making a smear
campaign, I've got plenty of material. You wouldn't have to
go far. You wouldn't have to go far.
But God Almighty has declared to me that I'm a new man in Christ. God Almighty has put away my
sin. God Almighty declares in my soul
that I'm righteous so that none can condemn me, none can charge
me with sin, and God won't either. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord will not impute sin. Now preacher, you've got to put
some cautions around that. Well, I will. Believe it or go
to hell. That's exactly right. Let's see
if this is what the book says. First John chapter 3. First John
chapter 3. Verse 5. Now if you'd like to read a whole
bunch of gobbledygook. Are y'all old enough to know
what gobbledygook is? When I was in school I learned that early.
It's one of the few things I remember from English class. That's words
that don't mean a frazzling thing. If you wanna read a bunch of
gobbledygook, read commentaries on 1 John chapter three. None
of them make any sense, almost. 1 John chapter three, verse five. You know that Christ was manifested
to take away our sins. That's why he came in the flesh.
And in him is no sin. That means if Larry Chris is
in him, you don't have any sin. In him is no sin. In him is no
sin. I'm in Christ. In him is no sin. Well, that can't be what that
means, let's see. Whosoever abideth in him, look at what it says,
sinneth not. So that's talking about habitually
continuing in sin. Well, let's try that hat on.
Let's try that hat on. Which of you is not sinning right
now? Just raise your hand. I'll invite
you to stand up here. I'll sit down and shut up and
listen to you brag. Which one not? Well, I don't habitually
practice sin. Hogwash. Who you talking to? Man, I looked in the mirror this
morning. I know what you are. That's not what I was talking about.
He said his sin is not. Not if he ain't in Christ. Whosoever
sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let
no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is
righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of
the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this
purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works
of the devil. Whosoever is born of God, what does it say? does not ordinarily every day
all the time sin. That's not what it says, is it? It says doth not commit sin. That new man in you can't sin. That new man created in righteousness
and true holiness can't sin. That old man, that old man, that's
another story. All he does is sin. Brother Todd
Kniper called me up one day, a year or two ago, talking about
this passage of scripture. He said, which one am I? I said,
yes, sir. But which one, the righteous
one or the wicked one? That's who you are. And while
we live in this world, as long as we live in this body of flesh,
there's no separating the two except as they're separated for
us by discernment of the spirit of God in the word of God. So
that our best efforts are performed by men and women in these sinful
bodies. And God, thank you for forgiving
me. I mess it all up. I mess it all up, all the time.
There's no way I can't. But that which sins is born of
the devil. That's my nature. That which
sins not, that's my nature too. That's Christ in you, the hope
of glory. As a child of God, being taught
of God by the grace of God to bring salvation, Lot lived soberly,
righteously, and godly in Sodom, even among Sodomites. Ooh, now
that's something else. That's something else. God's
saints are by no means perfect. Not one of them makes any pretense
of sinlessness. Believers know the evil of their
hearts and lives. But all believers live godly,
righteously, and soberly, being taught of God. That's how they
live. They live continually trusting
Christ. They live continually seeking
God's will. They live continually seeking
God's glory in all things. That's what it is to live soberly,
righteously, and godly in this present evil world. He is truly
a righteous man. who lives soberly, righteously,
and godly. Those things, sobriety, righteousness,
and godliness, now this comes as a shocker to this religious
world, don't have anything to do whether you wear Bermuda shorts
or whether you dress like the Amish folks or the Mennonite
folks or whether you have hair that hangs a little below your
ears if you're a man or hair above the ears if you're a woman.
Got nothing to do with it. Got nothing to do with whether
or not you have a television set or don't have one. Got nothing
to do with whether you go to a picture show or don't. Got
nothing to do with whether you have a beer with your meal or
have a glass of wine with your meal or have a shot of bourbon
with your meal or have water with your meal. It's got nothing...
Oh, you can't tell people that. Well, push the rewind button
and play that part again. I want you to hear it a second
time. It's got nothing to do with those things! To live soberly,
righteously, and godly in this present evil world, now listen
to me, is to live for God. And either you live for God or
you live for you. That's all. That's all. is to live for God, according
to his will, for his glory. All right, here's the second
thing. I've already touched on this, I'll be very brief. Lot
was a righteous man who lived in a terribly evil society. We're told that this man Lot
vexed, constantly was vexed, constantly
vexed with the filthy conversation the filthy manner of life of
all who lived around him in Sodom. I was preaching in Cape Girardeau,
Missouri a few months ago, and a fellow came to hear me. If
I called his name, you'd know him, a real well-known fellow. He said to my wife after services,
he doesn't mince words, does he? Well, I've never been known
for mincing words, so I'm not going to start tonight. A lot
lived among filthy men and women who you might think were 21st
century citizens of the United States living next door to you.
Folks who openly practiced and promoted with violence the filth
of homosexuality with all the perversities that it spawns. the filth of homosexuality, with
all the perversities it always spawns. I can't find words suitable
to denounce that form of wickedness, at least not words I can use
in polite society. And I won't waste your time talking
about it now. I mention it in this context
only to give emphasis to Lott's godly character. He is truly
a righteous man. who lives alone in righteousness,
who lives alone for God amongst folks who hate God. He's truly
a righteous man. Third, Lot was a righteous man
who endured great troubles and sorrows all the days of his life. There wasn't a peaceful day.
There wasn't a happy day. There wasn't a pleasant day.
He lived in trouble and sorrow. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. You see, faith in Christ, God-given
righteousness, godliness, do not exempt believers from trouble
and sorrow. I hear folks say all the time,
they do this, do that, well I'm just not happy. What's that got
to do with anything? Bruce Crabtree, your happiness
has got nothing to do with living right and doing what's right.
Got nothing to do with it. Happy. I'm God's, it doesn't
matter whether I'm happy or not. You're God's, it doesn't matter
whether you're happy or not. We live for God, regardless of
consequence. Lot lived in this world and understood
the Master's words, in the world you shall have tribulation. And more often than not, are
you listening to me? It's your own fault. More often than not. It's not
because you got a bad wife, or a bad husband, or a bad daddy,
or a bad mama, or bad children. It's your own blooming fault.
Your sorrow is the result of your actions. My sorrow is the
result of my behavior. Our troubles, our tribulations,
our heartaches, more often than not, are a direct result of our
own sinful conduct. My dear friend, Brother Harry
Graham, said to me repeatedly when I was 19 years old, he said,
sometimes the way God chastens his children and corrects their
sins, is to give them what we think we want, but then says
live with it boy. He gives you what you think you
want and then makes you live with it. Certainly that was Lot's
case. Once he moved to Sodom, I don't
know why, but once he moved to Sodom, For some reason, he simply
could not extricate himself from that wicked place. He just, why
don't you move? I don't know how many times I've
heard folks say to someone, why don't you move? Maybe if you
knew, you wouldn't ask the question. For some reason, I don't know
what it was, for some reason, Lot simply could not leave Sodom
until God destroyed the city and jerked him out by the hair
of his head. He couldn't leave. Say he wouldn't
leave. Usually there's not much difference. Usually there's not
much difference. We're not told why he would not
or could not leave Sodom. But there was something holding
him in that abominable place. He couldn't leave until God took
him out. And I said that to say this,
be warned, my brothers and sisters. Be warned, preacher. Be warned,
oh my soul. Everything we do, every choice
we make, be it good or bad, has its consequences upon us and
upon those we influence I'm praying more today than I
ever have day by day God make me a blessing to that woman today
not a hindrance I'm around you brethren for a
little bit These few days, oh God, make me a blessing to them,
not a hindrance. Not a hindrance. Everything we
do, everything we say, every choice we make affects those
we influence for good or for evil. Lot made a bad choice early
in his adult years for which he suffered until he died. It was a choice, now listen to
me, it was a choice, if Lot's listening to me now in heaven,
he's saying amen, please tell him that. It was a choice that
cost Lot the destruction of his wife, his sons-in-law, and at
least two of his daughters. Is that fact? That's just fact. That's just fact. You can't take
fire to your bosom and not get burned. Number four, Lot was
a righteous man for whose sake a wicked, cursed people were
temporarily preserved from the wrath and judgment of God and
everlasting destruction. And for whose sake they were
given space for repentance. We use the term in the south,
I'm sure you folks use it too. You look at somebody and say,
boy, he's salt of the earth. I mean, man, he's a good man. He's a
good man. Our Lord said, you are the salt of the earth. He's
not talking about how good you are. Salt. We have something in the South
our northern friends can't hardly identify with. Every time somebody
comes down to visit us and we've got to eat and there's country
ham on the menu, I warn them you're not going to like that.
That's an acquired taste. You've got to be born here to
like that. Because it's salty. Oh, I like ham. I've seen dozens
of them order country ham, take a bite of it, leave the whole
thing laying on a plate, and me sitting there wishing they
hadn't chewed on it. Why is this so salty? Because salt's the
way you preserve it. Salt's the way you preserve it.
Shelby's daddy used to have a salt box. He slaughtered hogs and
he took those hams off the rear of those hogs and do you know
what he did with them? He stuck them right in the middle
of that salt box. You had to soak it overnight before you
could stand to eat it. It's salty because salt kept
it from rotting. God's people in this world are
the reason God doesn't destroy this world. And that's the only
reason. That's the only reason. God has
an elect people in this world whom he's determined to save.
And the Lord is not slack concerning his people. He's not slack concerning
his promises. Some men count slackness, but
is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any chosen,
redeemed sinner should perish. But that every one of them come
to repentance and knowledge of the truth. Well, how do you know
that's what that means? Because verse 15 says so. The
long-suffering of our God is salvation. That's exactly right. That's exactly right. If those
folks who lived in Sodom had only known what they benefited
from Lot living next door to them. If that's just known, do
you know if the folks in Danville, Kentucky knew how they profited
by having Grace Baptist Church there, by having Don Fortner
there, by having Shelby Fortner, if folks in New Castle, Indiana
had any idea how they profited from having Bruce and Joe Crabtree
live right there, they'd beat your door every day. What can
I get for you? What can I do for you? You need some groceries?
You need a new car? You need a new house? What can
I get for you? Stay right here. Hope you live forever, boy. Those
folks enjoyed sunshine when the ground was parched, got rain. When the crops wouldn't grow,
they got just the right breeze, just the right temperatures,
just the right measure of sunshine, just the right measure of night,
just the right measure of rain all the time just because Brother
Lot lived there. And God causes it to rain on
the just and the unjust, not because he's in love with the
unjust. Say, well, God loves him like he does a bug. Well,
if you give some satisfaction out of that, I'll give you that.
God loved a lot, and he sent the sunshine and the rain for
a lot, and other folks benefited from it. And when the last of
God's lots had been called by his grace to life and faith in
Christ, then judgment falls, just as it did on Sodom. Here's
the fifth thing. I want you to turn to Psalm 76,
and I want you to see it. Lot was a righteous man whose
life was absolutely ruled by his God for his everlasting spiritual
good, the good of God's elect, and the glory of God in the accomplishment
of his sovereign, eternal purpose of grace. That's a long statement. Let me give it to you again.
Lot was a righteous man whose life was absolutely ruled by
his God for his everlasting spiritual good. The good of all God's elect
and the glory of God in the accomplishment of his sovereign, eternal purpose
of grace in Christ Jesus. Now, I mean by that exactly what
you think I mean by that. God ruled everything about that
man Lot. Everything. Everywhere you see
him. When he left Ur with Abraham
and made a sojourn with Abraham and Abraham's herdsmen and his
herdsmen got fussing each other and they split up party company.
God's in control. And Lot chose to pitch his tent
towards Sodom. God's in control. And Sodom and
all the kings of the plain were taken captive. God's in control.
Abraham went and delivered them. God's in control. God's in control.
And Lot dwelt in Sodom. God's in control. God's in control. And Lot's drunk. God's in control. And Lot falls horribly to his
shame. God's in control. God's in control.
accomplishing good for Lot and good for me for his glory. Can I make good on that in scriptures?
If ever there was a man whose life was a commentary on Psalm
76 verse 10, I can name two, brother Lot and brother Don.
Psalm 76 verse 10, surely, surely, the wrath of man shall praise
thee the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain every wicked thing done by wicked
men since the fall of our father Adam will praise God and all
the wickedness that's in all the human race that God will
not and has not ordained to use for His glory and the good of
His people, God holds in restraint. He won't let them do what they
want to. I told you at the beginning about Lot's drunken, incestuous
act with his firstborn daughter was the beginning of the cursed
race of the people called Moabites. Did you ever notice that though
they were a cursed people? Cursed from the beginning. In
Deuteronomy, when God spoke to Moses, he said to Moses as they
made their way, the children of Israel left Egypt, and man,
they whipped everybody. I mean, they whipped everybody.
God said, don't leave anybody standing, kill them all. They
whipped everybody, except Moab. God said, don't distress Moab.
That cursed people. God has said repeatedly, Moaz,
my washpot, I'm going to destroy them, but you leave them alone.
You leave them alone. Why is that? Why is that? Considering
the origin of that nation, considering the wickedness and idolatry of
that nation, considering the ultimate destruction of that
nation, that to which God Almighty had appointed it, and yet God
protected the nation. Why did he do so? Turn to another
text, Matthew chapter 1, I'll show you why. Matthew chapter
1. Why did God protect that nation
for so long? Matthew 1 verse 1. The book of
the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of
Abraham. Verse 5. And Simon begat Boaz, Boaz of
Rachel. And Boaz begat Obed of... Who was that? Ruth. I remember
Ruth. That's Naomi's daughter-in-law.
The Moabites. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that
wonderful? And Obed begat Jesse. And Jesse begat David the king.
And David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife
of Uriah. Verse 16. And Jacob begat Joseph. the husband of Mary of whom was
born Jesus who is called to Christ so that the very thing for which
Lot is known most abhorrently the most abhorrent of all his
abhorrent deeds is overruled by God and identified by God
the Holy Ghost in the Book of Inspiration as being that which
God overruled to accomplish Lot's salvation and John Cofield's
too. God did all this for me? God
did all this for me? For me? for me, for you. Had Lot not gone to Sodom, had Lot not stooped to the drunkenness,
had Lot not fallen in the incest, Moab would never have existed,
Ruth would never have existed, David would never have existed,
Jesus Christ would never have been born. Now understand Romans 8 28 we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God
to them who are the called according to his purpose. Sixth, Lot was
a righteous man who vexed his righteous soul from day to day
with the ungodly deeds of the people among whom he lived. Ah, vexed. That word is only
used one other time in the New Testament. You find it in Acts
7 24 and there it's translated oppressed. It's one of those
words that has so many various shades of meaning it's hard to
really say this is what it means. So let me give you some hints. The word means oppressed. tormented, distressed, sick,
miserable, pained, exhausted, worn down with toil, worn out. When I was growing up, my mother
often said to me, Don, I am sick and tired of you doing this. Sick and tired, that's the word. Lot was sick and tired every
day, all day long with the ungodly deeds of the Sodomites among
whom he lived. He was vexed with the idolatrous
rebellion of Sodom. He knew what Paul later wrote
in Romans chapter 1. Churches all over the place fuss
and cuss about sodomy and fornication and adultery and all that stuff,
read the first chapter of Romans, find out the curse of this generation
was born in the doorsteps of fundamentalist Baptist churches.
Born in the doorsteps of idolatry. This rebellious, godless, reprobate
generation lives with the idea that God owes them everything
and God's in their hands and they can do with him as they
will. And so they live just like this, to hell with God, I'll
do what I want to. And they're taught that in Sunday
school every Sunday. God wants, but God can't. God
tries, but God can't. God wills, but you won't let
him. Lot was vexed with their idolatry and ungodliness. He
was vexed with the immorality of the society in which he lived.
He was weary, worn out, pained, sick, exhausted with the evil
around him. Seeing them and hearing them
constantly everywhere he went, everywhere he turned. It just simply ate away at his
soul. I understand. I understand. I understand. I understand. Having said that,
please hear me. Please hear me. Don't treat the
most wicked of human beings with contempt and hatred and meanness. Don't do it. Don't do it. God
has his elect in the cesspool of this world. That's where he
found you. And that's where he found me. Hold their idolatry and their
behavior in utter contempt, and don't be hesitant to say so.
But treat folks with kindness and gentleness and care. I have
no doubt. Brother Lot was vexed by the
impending wrath of God upon his family. his neighbors, and the
world in which he lived. You see, Lot was a man. He was
a righteous man. As such, he was a caring man,
a compassionate man, a sensitive man. As a man, our Savior looked
over the city of Jerusalem and wept. There was a rich young ruler
who turned and walked away from the Lord Jesus and he had compassion
on him. You and I ought not be any less
men and women. Lot was vexed by the wrath of
God that would soon fall upon the inhabitants of Sodom. I'm
sure he was also vexed by the indifference of professed believers.
I don't know who among them professed to believe God, but I'm certain
that his wife did. I'm certain that at least two of his sons-in-law
and two of his daughters professed to believe God. I'm certain at
least two of them did, at least those. But when Lot came and
told them what God told him, They said, what are you talking
about, old man? You popped a cork. You've gone too far. We've heard
you all these years tell us about God, his deliverance of his people,
and God's judgment, and God's justice, and God's grace. He
said, ain't nothing gonna happen here. Man, nothing like that's
ever happened in the world's history. Yeah, what you talking
about? He seemed as one that mocked. I'm a preacher. a preacher and the things that are dearest
to me and most important to me to my blood kid, my own sisters
and word to my mother and daddy just much ado about nothing Much ado about nothing. That's
not important. You're overbearing. You're too
strict. You're too hard. You're too divisive.
You're too, too, too, too, too. Locke was vexed with the indifference
of folks who professed to believe God. I'm certain Brother Locke
was vexed perhaps above everything else. I'm fairly sure above everything
else. with the sin, the callousness,
the indifference of his own heart. Bruce, the Lord Jesus said to
Lot, I'm coming to bring you out of here, get out of this
place. That's the Son of God talking to him. He said, get
out! Judgment's coming, get out! And
Lot, said let me hold on a little
while. He lingered. He lingered. He lingered. Nothing so distresses me as I
distress myself. Nothing vexes me like I vex myself. Nothing. I know that in me, in my flesh
dwelleth no good thing. To will is present with me. But
how to perform that which is good, I find not. Oh, wretched man that I am. Who
shall deliver me from the bondage of this death? And that brings
me to my last point. Lot was a man delivered by God. From all his temptations, who
is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. There's
therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus,
because a lot was delivered. Now let me tell you something,
my brother, my sister. Soon the God of peace shall bruise
Satan under your heels. It won't be long now. Soon the
God of peace shall bruise Satan under your heels. Would you have
this free salvation? This free, free, free, this salvation that makes a man like Lot, one
of whom God says he's a righteous man, he's a just man, he's a
godly man. Believe on the Son of God. And if you refuse, learn this
from Lot, the Lord knows how to reserve you. to the Day of Judgment, and He
will. Amen.