You will find my text and the
title of my message in Luke chapter 17 and verse 32. Few warnings in Holy Scripture
are so solemn as that which here falls from the lips of the Son
of God. Luke 17 verse 32. The Lord Jesus says, remember
Lot's wife. Remember Lot's wife. Lot's wife, our savior here holds
before us as a glaring, alarming beacon to warn all who profess
faith in him and yet love the world. Her husband was Lot, a
righteous man. When God sent his angels to destroy
Sodom and Gomorrah, she fled from Sodom with her husband.
But we're told in Genesis 19, she looked back from behind her
husband. In disobedience to God's express
command, she looked back. And when she looked back, she
was struck dead at once and became a pillar of salt, standing in
a preserved state as a monument to the fact that God, who knows
how to deliver the just from temptations, knows how to reserve
the unjust unto everlasting judgment in the last day. Here, the Lord
Jesus holds Lot's wife before us as a beacon. He says, remember,
Lot's wife. These three words form one of
the most brief statements in all the scriptures and yet one
of the most important. This is a solid warning when
we think of the person our Lord tells us to remember. He doesn't
say remember Abraham or remember Isaac or remember Jacob. He doesn't
say remember Hannah or Sarah or Ruth. He singles out a woman
forever lost, standing vividly before our eyes as a pillar of
judgment, a pillar of salt. One who is reserved by God now
in hell to be raised at last to the everlasting judgment of
eternal condemnation. He says, remember Lot's wife. This is a solemn warning. when
we consider the context in which the warning is given. Our Lord
is talking to us about the distinguishing free grace of God, the gift of
faith in himself. He's just told us in this passage
that in the day when the son of man is revealed. We must not
return to our own stuff. In the next verse, he says, whosoever
shall seek to save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall
lose his life shall preserve it. In a word, the Savior is
telling us that the call to faith in Christ, the call to faith
in Christ is a call to unreserved total consecration of our lives
to him. The man's on the housetop when
he's called. Don't let him go down into his house to get his
stuff. Forsake all and follow him or follow him you cannot. Forsake all and follow him or
follow him I cannot. The Savior calls us to faith
and when he calls us to faith he calls us to unreserved consecration
to him. Faith in Christ is the surrender
of your life to Christ the Lord. Nothing else is faith. Faith
in Christ is the surrender of your life to Christ your Lord. Nothing else is faith. Our Savior
says, remember Lot's wife. This is a solemn warning when
we realize who it is that gives the warning. The warning is given
by our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the friend of sinners,
full of mercy, grace, and love, ever compassionate, tender, one
who delighteth in mercy. He is that one of whom Isaiah
speaks and says he shall not bruise, he shall not break the
bruised reed or quench the smoking flax. This tender, merciful,
gracious Savior says, remember Lot's wife. This is a solemn
warning when you understand to whom it is given. Our Lord is
not speaking here to the scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees.
He's speaking to his disciples, those men and women who walked
with him. He's speaking to those who believed
him. and the multitudes around them
who professed to be his disciples, who professed to believe him,
who would soon, as we saw this morning in John chapter 6, turn
and walk no more with him. He says to all who profess faith
in his name, to all who claim to be his disciples, to all who
say, I follow Christ, he says to us, remember Lot's wife. And this is a solemn warning
when we consider the words our Lord uses to give the warning. He doesn't tell us to beware
of Lot's wife as he tells us to beware of false prophets.
He doesn't tell us not to follow the example of Lot's wife as
many followed in the steps of Baal and of Korah and others
like them. But rather he says, remember
Lot's wife. What does he use that word remember
to tell us? It's not because we're apt to
forget that she existed. It's not because we're apt to
forget her turning back from behind her husband. It's not
because we're apt to forget that she looked back to Sodom and
was turned into a pillar of salt. What we're in danger of forgetting
is the lesson to be learned from Lot's wife. Our Savior tells
us to keep Lot's wife ever before our minds. He says to you and
me, remember Lot's wife. Why? Because he would have us
to remember, he would have us to remember that though she thought
she was safe, She was not saved. Though she thought she was perfectly
safe, she was not saved. Her heart was still in the city
to which she looked back. Lot's wife escaped Sodom with
her husband, but she never came to the place of refuge in Zohar.
Multitudes there are among God's professed people exactly like
Lot's wife. They profess faith in Christ.
They outwardly appear to follow him. But their faces and their
hearts are not fixed on him. Their hearts are divided. They
are not among the pure in heart who shall see God. But with divided
affections, they seek to follow Christ and love the world. And
let me show you four things revealed in the book of God about Lot's
wife. that we should remember. I'll try to be brief. Number
one, remember this. She was Lot's wife. And learn
from that that salvation is not a family inheritance. In Baptist
churches, that shouldn't be anything that needs to be repeated very
often, but it does. There's much speculation about
who Lot's wife was, where she was born, what her background
was, when she became Lot's wife, and so on. But the fact is, we
know nothing about her, nothing at all, except this one fact,
she was Lot's wife, and she perished. That's all we know about her.
The Holy Spirit has seen fit to reveal nothing else. He knew
everything, but he reveals nothing else about her. Why? It is the
Lord's intention for us ever to remember that grace is not
a family possession. Brother Mark and Sherry were
talking to me after the service this morning. The one thing we
do give our sons and daughters is our nature. How sad. But you children listen
to me, young and old. Being related to a mom and dad
who worship God doesn't make you one of God's. Did you hear
that? Being related to those who know
God doesn't mean you know God. Because your parents worship
God doesn't mean you worship God. We have a tendency to think
people are raised as Christians. No, you're born again to be Christians. Christianity is not a social
thing. Christianity is not an ethnic
thing. Christianity is a heart thing.
Christianity is the gift of God. It is the Lord's intention for
us to understand that salvation does not come to us simply because
we're related to others who possess God's salvation. Look in John
chapter one, John chapter one. I want to spend a little bit
of time here because it needs being stated clearly. We're told
in verse 11 that our Lord Jesus came to his own and his own received
him not. And then we read in verse 12,
but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God. You receive Christ yourself.
And to you, he has given power, the authority and the right to
be the sons of God. even to them that believe on
his name. That's what it is to receive
it. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, which were born again, not because
you're related to somebody by blood kin, not because you exercise
your free will, not because your mama and daddy willed your salvation,
but rather are born again of God. Salvation does not run in
families. This woman was married to a righteous
man. She was united to him in the
closest possible relationship. Yet she perished. She dwelt in
the tents with holy Abraham and seemed to share the privileges
of Abraham's family. Yet she perished. She was dear
to one who was dear to God. Yet she perished. Though this
fact is plainly revealed in Holy Scripture, it's commonly ignored
and needs to be repeatedly proclaimed. Grace does not run in bloodlines. Grace does not run in families. I know few families, few families,
few families around the world, be they few or many. I know few families around the
world where more than a couple, two, three in the family know
God and worship God. Very few. You may be the wife
of the faithful, godly man of God, and yet yourself be a daughter
of Belial. You may be the husband of one
of the king's daughters and yet be a castaway. You may be a child
of a prophet and yet before God a child of wrath. You may be
the father of most gracious family and still be an alien to the
commonwealth of Israel. No earthly relationship. No earthly relationship. can put you in good relationship
with God if you're destitute of faith in Christ. No earthly
relationship can put you in a good relationship with God if you're
destitute of faith in Christ. No one is born into the kingdom
of God by their first birth. To enter the kingdom of God,
our Savior said you must be born again. Except the man be born
again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is
born of the flesh is flesh and will certainly perish. We must
be born again. Only the new birth, wrought in
us by God the Holy Spirit, brings us into the bond of the covenant.
You can't go to heaven on your husband's coattails, your wife's
apron strings, or your parents' faith. You must trust Christ
yourself. It will have benefited you nothing.
I know a good many who've been baptized as babies, not really
baptized, a little water sprinkled on their face, and thereby assured
that they are in the kingdom of God. I can think of nothing in the
world more certainly damning to a child than to be raised
under such influence. No, salvation doesn't come because
somebody promises to raise you in a Christian home or promises
to raise you in the church or promises to raise you as a Christian. Salvation comes by the grace
of God bestowed upon sinners through faith in Christ. Personal,
God-given faith. Personal faith, but God-given
faith. God-given faith, but personal
faith. You must yourself believe on
the Son of God. Second, remember the privileges
this woman enjoyed. In the days of Abraham and Lot,
true saving faith was a rare, rare thing. There were few who
knew God, few who trusted God. Few who were born again. Few
to whom the arm of the Lord had been revealed in omnipotent saving
mercy. Few who, like Noah, found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. Few who, like Enoch, walked with
God. Few who, like Abraham, were called
of God and believed God. The knowledge of God was confined
to a few favored people. Most of the world, most of the
world, As in our day, most of the world lived in darkness,
ignorance, superstition, and idolatry. Very few people had
a good example. Very few people had such spiritual
company. Very few people had such good
instruction as Lot's wife, yet she perished. Not only was she
married to a righteous man, she had Abraham. the father of the
faithful for her uncle by marriage. Imagine that. She had Abraham
for her uncle. What a privilege. The faith,
the knowledge, the prayers of Abraham and Lot, these two righteous
men, were things with which she was familiar. These were men
who knew God, who worshiped God, who believed God, and walked
with God. She had for her husband godly,
just, righteous lot. She watched lot for years, for years, as he vexed
his righteous soul from day to day with the ungodly deeds of
the Sodomites. Religion in Abraham's house and
in Lot's house was not a formality. Faith in Christ was the ruling
principle of their lives, the mainspring of their actions. All of this, Lot's wife must
have seen and known. What a privilege, what a great
privilege. She lived in the house of godly Lot. She lived under
the influence of godly Abraham. When Abraham first received the
promise of God, when God called him out of the counties and Lot
came out with him and God gave him his promise, promised a redeemer,
promised a covenant surety, promised one who would be from the seed
of Abraham by whom all his seed would be saved. Lot's wife was
there. When Abraham offered sacrifice
to God and drove the vultures away from the sacrifice, Lot's
wife was there. When he pitched his tent between
Ai and Bethel, Lot's wife was there, yet she perished. When the angels of God came to
Sodom, angels of God came to Sodom, they came to her house. She fed them at her table. She
made the beds in which they slept, yet she perished. When the angels
of God took them by the hand to bring them out of the city,
she was one of those. The angel took her hand and brought
her out of the city, yet she perished. Notwithstanding all
her opportunities, notwithstanding all her privileges, all that
she had seen and heard, Lot's wife lived and died a godless,
graceless, Christless, unbelieving soul. She lived and died without
Christ, an alien from the commonwealth of Israel, a stranger from the
covenant of promise, having no hope without God in this world. The eyes of her understanding
were never enlightened. Her heart was never broken. Her
will was never made to break and bow before God. She had a
lamp, obviously, of professed faith. But there was no oil of
life and grace in her lamp. She conformed to her husband's
way, but she didn't walk in the way. She did not oppose Lot's
religion. She didn't give him a hard time
over it. She was just indifferent to it. She had no interest in it. The
world was in her heart. And her heart was in the world. And she lived and died in just
that state. In all this. There's much to
be learned. Come and hear what God would
teach us. Privileges without grace will
only add to your eternal misery. If I were you, I'd write that
down, especially you young people here hearing my voice. I'd write
this down. And I'd stick it somewhere where
I see it often. Privileges without grace will only add to your eternal
misery. Privileges without grace will
only add to your everlasting condemnation and torment in the
fires of hell under the wrath of God. You who hear my voice,
live in the sunshine of the richest opportunities and means of grace. You enjoy the privilege of hearing
the gospel regularly. If you care to be here four times
every week, you will hear the gospel of God's free grace. Four
times every week in the Bible classes, in our services, you'll
hear the gospel of God's free grace. There are few people in
this world with that privilege. Few people in this world with
that privilege. Not only that, I have seen to
it as your pastor that you've had the privilege of hearing
the most gifted, most faithful, most useful men in our generation,
in the world. You've had the privilege of hearing
the best of preaching. You've had the privilege of hearing
the most exemplary of faithful gospel preachers. You live in
households where the Christ of God is worshipped and served.
You know truth from error. I don't suppose there's one child
in our congregation who, for a moment, would be confused with
Arminian free will works religion. I don't suppose that's the case.
Most of our children, when they're just knee high to a grasshopper,
know what works religion is. You know truth from error, but
you refuse to believe God. If you go on in your willful
rejection of God's revelation, if you go on, if you persist
in your willful denial of Christ's right as Lord, If you go on in
your willful denial of the son of God, you will perish under
the wrath of God. You must be washed in his blood.
You must bow to his righteousness. You must be born of God. If you
go on stopping your ears. Refuse to hear. You'll go to
hell, and you'll go to hell under the sound of the gospel, as it
were, pushing God out of your face. Get out of my way, God! I won't have you, and you'll
suffer for it forever. Years ago, I was just a young
man, 17, 18 years old. I heard a sermon by Ralph Barnard
titled, The Hounds of Hell. Described in shocking terms how
that sinners who've heard the gospel In hell, they'll see the
face of John the Baptist and hear her scream get out of my
face. Get him away from me You'll hear
the see the face of Ralph Barnard to preach the gospel to you and
scream forever. Get him away from me Get him
away from me You'll see my face in hell and scream forever, get
Don Fortner out of my way! Tormented with a guilty conscience. It takes something more than
providential privileges to save your soul. It takes something more than
the influence of others to save your soul. Joab was David's captain. Gehazi was Elijah's servant. Demas preached with the Apostle
Paul. Judas Iscariot was one of Christ's
disciples. And Lot had a worldly, unbelieving
wife. They all died in willful rebellion
and unbelief, turning their backs deliberately
on everything God had given them. What rebellion? What rebellion? They all tell us it takes more
than the means of grace. It takes more than providential
blessings. It takes more than a good relationship
to live before God. It takes the mighty operation
of God the Holy Spirit to give you faith in Christ. I preach
the gospel to you. But only God can give you faith.
I preach Christ to you. Only God, the Holy Spirit, can
reveal Christ in you. I preach righteousness of Christ
to you. But only God, the Holy Spirit, can strip you naked and
clothe you with the robe of Christ's perfect righteousness. I preach
his precious blood to you. But only the spirit of God can
sprinkle your conscience with the blood and give you peace
with God. I call you to faith in Christ.
but only God can give you faith. The reason we do not engage in
the tomfoolery of religious deception and try to twist arms and get
people to make a profession of faith and work on your emotions
and try to get you to make a profession of faith is because we understand,
we understand faith is God's gift. I can take any child and
talk it into making a profession of faith. That's not a problem.
That's not a problem. Please don't bring your children
to me and expect me to talk them into a profession of faith. I
won't do it. I won't do it. I won't try to talk you into
one. I won't try to talk your children into one. We'll preach
the gospel to them and wait on God and wait on God. Anything else is but the deceiving
of their souls. Highly value the privileges God's
given you. Highly value the means of grace,
the opportunities you have, but don't trust them. If they do
you no good, they will do you positive harm. The same sun that
melts the wax hardens the clay, the same sun that makes the living
tree grow, dries up the dead tree and prepares it for the
burning. JC Ryle made a statement to I
read as a young man, I've never forgotten it. He said, nothing
so hardens the heart of man as a barren familiarity with sacred
things. Nothing so hardens the heart
of man as a barren, fruitless, lifeless familiarity with sacred
things. Reciting the right creed, knowing
the right doctrine, going to the right church will not save
your soul. You must believe on the son of
God. Lot's wife had many privileges,
but no grace. Third, remember this. Lot's wife
escaped from Sodom only to perish with Sodom. She believed the city was going
to be destroyed. She believed that. She rose up early in the
morning with her husband's lot before daylight and prepared
to leave the house. She ran down the street with
Sodom, streets of Sodom, and she fled through the gates of
the city. And she reached the open plain
with her husband. She was willing for a while to
walk with lot, to run with lot, following his example. She did
so for considerable distance till she began to think over
what she was doing. She began to think of Sodom. She began to think of her daughters
in Sodom. She began to think of her fine
house in Sodom. Lot was a rich man. He was a
rich man. Genesis 13. Tells us how his
herds increased and he was a rich man, rich beyond our imagination. And she began to think of all
she's leaving. She began to return to her stuff. What our Lord called it in Luke
17. And when she did, she slackened her pace, lingered behind and
looked back. She went part of the way to Zohar,
yet she perished. This woman was actually out of
Sodom. She was almost at Zohar, the
city of refuge, yet she perished. She was almost there, yet she
perished. Let me tell you a story, a true
story. More than 100 years ago, a Welsh ship called the Royal
Charter safely sailed around the world, navigating the treacherous
waters in every part of the world. When the ship docked briefly
at Queenstown, one of the sailors sent a telegraph to his wife
saying, I'll be home in a few hours. She hadn't seen or heard
from her husband in months and months and months. You can imagine
her excitement. She hurriedly ran through the
house, cleaning things up, sprucing herself up, prepared a meal for
him, and she sat down in the parlor waiting for him to knock
at the door. Instead, a messenger knocked
at the door and reported to her that his ship was smashed in
pieces in Malfra Bay on the coast of Wales, and her husband was
drowned. When her pastor heard what had
happened, he hurried over to try to minister to her needs.
He met this grieving widow and chatted with her, and later,
this is what he wrote. Never can I forget the grief,
so stricken and tearless, with which she wrung my hand. As that
lady held her pastor's hand, these are the words by which
she expressed her grief. So near home, yet lost. So near home, yet lost. That was the case with Lot's
wife. And for you here, if you go to
hell, so near home, yet lost. So near home, yet lost. I can't think of sadder words.
So near home, yet lost, for want of one thing, faith in Christ. Faith in Christ. Here's the fourth
thing. Remember, Lot's wife perished
under the wrath of God. Moses tells us she looked back
from behind her husband and became a pillar of salt. What a little
thing that appears to be. She looked back. That's all. She just looked back. What a
little thing that appears to be. But little things are much
bigger than they appear. Our Savior tells us there's life
to be had for a look. Look unto me and be you saved
all ye ends of the earth for I'm God and beside me there is
none else he says Here is death for a look She looked back and
perished Why why did she look back? She didn't believe God
So she looked back Lord God had spoken plainly by his angel and
said look not behind thee, but she looked back But that which
is obvious from the context in which this text is given. Look
at Luke 17 for a minute. Is this fact? She looked back
because though she fled Sodom in fear. She still loved Sodom. Luke 17 verse 26. And as it was in the days of
Noah, so shall it be in the days of the son of man. They did eat
and drank. They married wives. They were
given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark
and the flood came and destroyed them all. That's the way it was in Noah's
day. Likewise, also. As it was in the days of Lot,
they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted,
they built it. That's the way it was in Lot's
day. That's the way it is in every day. Men live like cattle
for nothing but the earth. Men live focused on nothing but
the earth. They eat and drink and they plant
and they harvest their crops and they eat and they drink and
they plant and they harvest their crops and they marry and are
given in marriage and they raise a family and they make money
and they build houses and they die just like cattle on the open
field. Read on. Verse 29. The same day that Lot went out
of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven destroyed
them all Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man
is revealed That's not talking about our Lord's second coming
That's talking about today This is the day in this gospel day
when the Son of Man is revealed. Oh May he now reveal himself
to you verse 31 in that day. I He which shall be upon the
housetop and his stuff in the house, let him not come down
to take it away. And he that is in the field,
let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife. Now, hear what he says. Whosoever
shall seek to save his life shall lose it. And whosoever shall
lose his life shall reserve it. Our Savior calls for you and
me to give ourselves to him in unreserved total consecration. To give ourselves to him without
consideration of cost or consequence. to give ourselves to him with
relentless devotion to give ourselves to him. This is my prayer for me. I soon be 63 years old. God. Make my years now. To be more completely devoted
to you. than these past have been. Make
my labors to be more fervent. Make my usefulness to be more
full for Christ's sake. Our Savior calls us to relentless,
utter consecration to him. Remember Lot's wife. God give
you grace now to believe on his son and you who are God's sons
and daughters. Remember Lot's wife. And remembering
her, I beseech you, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies
a living sacrifice. Bob, how old are you now? 81. Right now, present your life
to him, a living sacrifice. Holy, acceptable unto God. Go to year 20. Present your life to him. A living
sacrifice. Holy, acceptable to God. How can you call on a young man
to give himself utterly to Christ? How can you call on an old man
to give himself yet more fully in devotion to Christ? Well,
this is your reasonable service. Nothing else makes any sense.
He gave himself for you. Amen.