Would you turn to Luke chapter
17, verse 28. Luke 17, verse 28. Likewise, also, as it was in
the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, They
sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went
out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and
destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the
day when the Son of Man is revealed. In that day, he which should
be upon the housetop and his stuff in the house, let him not
come down to take it away. And he that's in the field, let
him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife. That's what I've entitled this
message. Remember Lot's wife. The Lord gives us this solemn
warning to me and to you. Remember lot's wife. We don't know her name, but we
do know that she was married to a true believer lot. He's described in the scripture
as just lot. And we read of his righteous
soul and that righteous man. That's how the scripture describes
this man lot. That's the description only of
a believer. Now this woman had special privileges
being in the home of Lot. And she was actually in the family
of Abraham. Can you imagine that? Abraham,
she was raised up under the influence of Abraham himself. What a woman
of great privilege. Now you're familiar with the
struggles of Lot. He was a very weak man. Instead
of deferring to Abraham, he chose the well-watered plain. He pitched
his tent towards Sodom and eventually he moved into Sodom. And I believe
his wife probably had something to do with that. And he lot lost
any power of his testimony. Turn with me to Genesis 19. You'll remember the men of Sodom
wanting to come after the angels that were at Lot's door. Verse
six, and Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the
door after them. And he said, I pray you, brethren, do not
so wickedly. Behold, now I have two daughters,
which have not known man. Let me, I pray you, bring them
out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes. Only
unto these men do nothing, for therefore came they under the
shadow of my roof. And they said, stand back. And they said again,
this one, fellow, this nothing, came to sojourn and he'll need
to be a judge. Now we'll deal worse with thee
than with them. Now they looked at Lot and they
said, who are you to tell us what we ought to be doing? Look
in verse 14. And Lot went out and spake unto
his sons-in-law, which married his daughters, and said, up,
get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city.
But he seemed as one that mocked. unto his sons-in-law. He didn't
have any power in what he said. If he said it, it made it seem
like it didn't even count. Lot was a very weak man. Now, at any rate, the Lord had
to determine to destroy this city. I'm sure you remember the
story, but first turn back to Genesis chapter 13. I'm going
to read several scriptures out of chapter 18 and 19. Now, this
is when Verse 12, Abram dwelled in the
land of Canaan and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain and
pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked
and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Look over in Genesis 18, verse
17. You remember this story, and
the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham the thing which I do,
seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation?
And all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him, for
I know him. that he'll command his children and his household
after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice
and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which
he hath spoken of him. And before I go on reading, that's
talking about spiritual blessings. That's not talking about his
physical descendants, because they were a bunch of rebels.
That's talking about his spiritual descendants. Every single one
of them will keep the way of the Lord. That's a promise. That's
what he's talking about. Let's go on reading. Verse 20,
and the Lord said, because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is
great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will go down
now and see whether they've done all together according to the
cry out which is coming to me, and if not, I'll know. And the
men turned their faces from thence and went toward Sodom, but Abraham
stood yet before the Lord. And Abraham drew near and said,
wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Per venture,
there'd be 50 righteous within the city. Now it was a big city.
He said, what if there are 50 believers there? That's a lot
of believers. He said, will you spare it for
the sake of 50 believers? 50 righteous? Verse 25, that
be far from thee to do after this manner to slay the righteous
with the wicked, and that the righteous should be as the wicked,
that be far from thee, shall not the judge of all the earth
do right? And the Lord said, if I find
in Sodom 50 righteous within the city, then I'll spare all
the place for their sakes. And Abraham answered and said,
behold, now I've taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which
am but dust and ashes. Peradventure, there should be
five of the, lack five of the 50 righteous. Wilt thou destroy
all the city for the lack of five? And he said, if I find
45, I'll not destroy it. And he spake unto him yet again
and said, peradventure, there should be 40 found there. And
he said, I'll not do it for 40's sake. And he said unto him, oh,
let not the Lord be angry and I'll speak. Peradventure, there
should be 30 found there. And he said, I'll not do it if
I find 30 there. And he said, behold, now I've
taken upon me to speak unto the Lord. Peradventure, there should
be 20 found there. And he said, I'll not destroy
it for 20's sake. And he said, oh, let not the Lord be angry.
And I'll speak yet but this once. Peradventure, 10 shall be found
there. And he said, I'll not destroy it for 10's sake. And
the Lord went his way as soon as he left communion with Abraham.
And Abraham returned unto his place. And there came two angels
to Sodom. at even, and Lot sat in the gate
of Sodom, and Lot, seeing them, rose up to meet them. And he
bowed himself with his face toward the ground, and he said, Behold
now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servants' house,
and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and you shall rise
up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay, but we'll
abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them greatly.
They turned in unto him and entered into his house and he made them
a feast and did make unleavened bread and they did eat. But before
they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom compassed
the house round, both old and young, all the people from every
quarter. And they called unto Lot and
said unto him, where are the men which came to thee this night?
Bring them out unto us that we may know them. And Lot went out
the door unto them and shut the door after him. And he said,
I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold, now I have
two daughters, which have not known men. Let me, I pray you,
bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as good as in your
eyes. Only unto these men do nothing, for therefore came they
under the shadow of my roof. Now I know everybody's wondering,
how's that, right? I don't know, but that's what took place. Let's
go on reading. And they said, stand back. And
they said, this one fella came to sojourn and he will need to
be a judge. Now we'll deal worse with thee than with them. And
they pressed upon the man even lot and came to break down the
door. But the men put forth their hand and pulled lot into the
house to them and shut the door. And they smoked the men that
were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great,
so that they weird themselves to find the door. And the men
said unto Lot, hast thou here any besides, son-in-laws, thy
sons, thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring
them out of this place. For we will destroy this place
because the cry of them is waxing great before the face of the
Lord and the Lord has sent us to destroy it And law went out
and spake unto his sons-in-law which married his daughters and
said up get you out of this place for the Lord will destroy the
city But he seemed as one that mocked under his sons-in-law.
They didn't take him seriously and And when the morning arose,
then the angels hastened a lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife
and thy two daughters which are here, lest thou be consumed in
the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, while
he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand and upon the hand
of his wife and upon the hand of his two daughters, the Lord
being merciful unto him. Now that's mercy, isn't it? That's
mercy. And they brought him forth and
set him without the city, and it came to pass when they brought
them forth abroad that he said, escape for thy life. Now look
at the command. Look not behind thee, neither
stay thou in all the plain, escape to the mountain, lest thou be
consumed. Look not behind thee. Now, which of you or which of
us, I know this used to always bother me, looking at this passage
of scripture. When I think of Lot's wife looking behind, and
I thought if I was running and I knew the place was being destroyed,
I couldn't resist turning around and looking. I didn't want to
see it. And I've always kind of felt sorry for Lot's wife.
Is that kind of severe? I mean, I would have been very
tempted to look back. But understand what this word,
look, means. The word is also translated to
have respect, to regard, to regard with favor,
care, or pleasure. Don't regard this place. Don't
favor this place. Now, what was Sodom? It was a
very wicked place. There were not 10 believers in
that entire city, and it was dominated by the sin of homosexuality. You could see that taking place
with these men wanting to break down the door to get at those
angels. Now, homosexuals are called in
the scripture, sodomites. And homosexuality represents
man's religion. It can't produce life. It goes to the act, but it cannot
produce life. No one can be saved through this. Now, homosexuality, the sin itself,
of course it's a horrible, evil sin. But it is representative
of something, man's religion. And as far as that goes, before
you get too hard on the homosexuals, our Lord said to Capernaum, Sodom
and Gomorrah, is going to have it better than you. These people
were these homosexuals. They're going to have a better
on judgment day than you because you're the ones who've seen me
and heard me and rejected me. Sodom was a very wicked place
and Sodom and Gomorrah, there's typical significance. They represent
the world. the world of unbelievers, whether
dark, evil, perversion, or whether man's religion, it's still of
the world. It's that world that John warned
us, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in
him. For all that's of the world, the lust of the flesh, the cravings
and desires of sinful, fallen human nature, the lust of the
eyes, as caring about what men think rather than what God thinks,
being concerned about what men see rather than what God sees,
the pride of life, salvation by works, self-righteousness
and so on, the pride of life. It's not of the Father, but of
the world. Love, not the world. Now, when he said don't look
back, what he's saying is the same thing as love, not the world. This same world of which Christ
refused to pray for. Now, I want you to think of how
intense that is. Christ Himself said, I pray not for the world. He refused to pray for them.
He said, I'm not of the world. So, they run out of the city
towards the little town of Zoar, and Lot's wife was with him.
She escaped out of the city, begin reading in verse 23, The
sun was risen up on the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. She
got out of the city. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom
and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.
And he overthrew those cities and all the plain and all the
inhabitants of the cities and that which grew upon the ground.
But his wife looked back from behind him and she became a pillar
of salt. And our Lord says, remember Lot's
wife. Now, the only way that you and
I can truly, genuinely not look back to this world and not love
this world is if there's something we love better, or if there is
someone we love better. Turn with me to Galatians chapter
6. You know, when we hear, love
not the world, I guarantee you there's something in us that,
you know, because we'll start thinking about certain things
in the world that we do love and it scares us to death. And James
says, if any man be the friend of the world, he's the enemy
of God. Well, what is this thing of how does someone go about
not loving the world? Well, look here in Galatians
chapter 6. Paul says in verse 14, but God
forbid that I should glory, that I should rejoice in, that I should
have confidence in. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world
is crucified. And I unto the world. Now Paul
said, the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ has such glory in it that
in light of the cross. And what's meant by the cross?
Let's have God save sinners. I was saved by what our Lord
did on the cross. And I see all the glory of God in that. I see
God's purposes come to pass through the cross. Him ordaining to save
in the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and lo, it comes
to pass. I see God's justice, how all sin is punished. I see
God's sovereignty, how His will is done. I see God's mercy and
grace in providing for sinners. Oh, I see such glory, such glory
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in light of the cross,
I see this world as a crucified thing. The pleasure of knowing Christ
is better than the pleasures of this world. It really is. You take the lust of the flesh,
knowing Christ is better. The lust of the eyes. And every
one of us have been dominated by that. Caring about what people
think rather than what God thinks. Looking at what men think. When
you see the Lord Jesus Christ and what He accomplished on the
cross, you could care less what men think, could you? I mean,
you really don't care. You only care what God thinks.
In light of the cross of Christ, the pride of life, self-righteousness
seems like an obnoxious thing. You see, it's only as I see the
cross. By whom? He didn't say by which,
by whom? You can't separate the cross
of Christ and the person of Christ. By whom the world is crucified
unto me, And I unto the world. Now, when she looked back, she
was saying, I love the world better than I love him. Turn to Luke chapter nine. Verse 61. Luke 9, 61. I feel like I've
understood this really for the first time. I've always wondered
about this verse of scripture. And another also said, Lord,
I will follow Thee. Anything that begins with an
I will is going to end up bad. You can just count on that. Lord,
I will follow Thee. But let me first go bid them
farewell, which were at home at my house. Let me do this first. And look how our Lord replied.
And Jesus said unto him, no man having put his hand to the plow
and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. Now, what is
this all about? putting your hand to the plow
and looking back and that renders you unfit for the kingdom of
God. You know, there is no clearer
or simple or better illustration of what faith is than plowing
a furrow. How's that? There's only one
way to plow a straight furrow. You know what that is? is to
fix an object, your eyes on that object, and just look at that
object and go toward it. You don't take your eyes off
that object. The only way you're going to get a straight furrow
is by keeping your eyes on that object. Now, if you're plowing
and you look to the side to see how somebody else is doing, what's
going to happen? You're going to veer off. You look at somebody
else it's just going to mess you up. You're not going to,
don't look at anybody else. Well, so-and-so, they, they discouraged
me. They're, they're nothing, you know, they're, they ought
to be, forget them. What's that got to do with you?
Absolutely nothing. When you're plowing, don't look
at your feet. you don't look at your walk.
I guarantee if you're looking at your walk and if you can find
some goodness in your walk, you've missed it all together. Boy,
my walk's really good. But if you look at your walk
while you're plowing, I guarantee you'll go all over the place.
You can't do a straight furrow like that. And if you look behind
you, what's going to happen? You're looking behind to see
how straight it is. You're going to go to the side. Don't look back
to your experience. Don't look back to something
in the past. The only thing that faith is, is looking straight
to Christ. The only way you can follow Him
is by looking at Him, looking to Him. And this is what the
life of faith is. It's not looking at your walk.
It's not looking at somebody else's walk. It's not looking
back to some past experience. It's looking to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, what does it mean to look
to Christ? Since I've never seen him physically,
how am I to look to him? I can answer that. In looking to the Lord Jesus
Christ, that means I look to him as my salvation. I can't
see him physically, but I believe my salvation, all my salvation
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I look to him only. I look to his life as my life before God. His personal life. is my life
before God. His obedience, I'm looking to
His obedience as my obedience. I look to His death as my complete
sin payment. I look to His resurrection as
my justification before God. I look to him at the right hand
of God, can't see him physically, but I'm relying on him as my
salvation. I'm not looking anywhere else.
I'm not looking at my walk. I'm not looking at your walk.
I'm not looking at my experience. I'm looking to him only. That's what faith in Christ is.
It's looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. You're familiar with this passage
of scripture. Now, he had named all these people
in Hebrews chapter 11, who by faith had done so many things. He says, Wherefore, seeing we
also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight and these sin, which doth so
easily beset us. You know what that is? It's unbelief. That's the sin that doth so easily
overturn us. And let us run with patience
the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus. Now that's
how I'm to run this race, looking unto Jesus, just the way that
man plowing a furrow, he looks at that one, looking unto Jesus. How do I look to Him? Looking
unto Jesus as the author of my faith. I don't try to work up
faith, I know it comes from Him. And I look to Him to perfect
it or finish it. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and the finisher of our faith. That means I'm looking to Him
for everything. I'm looking to Him for my faith. I'm looking
to Him to keep my faith going. I don't come to Him with faith.
I come to Him for faith. Faith comes by looking. You don't
bring your faith to Him. You look to Him and you believe.
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who
for the joy, the joy that was set before Him, and cause him
to not look back, the joy of doing his father's will, the
joy of obeying his father, the joy of saving me. Joy! Who for the joy that was said
before him, he never looked back. He endured the cross. The scripture
says he set his face as a flint. He endured the cross, despising
the shame and all the shame he experienced. You think of the
most humiliated you've ever been when you've been exposed or caught
in something and nothing can be done about it. There you are,
you've been exposed and you feel so terrible. He felt that much
more acutely than you and I've ever felt. When my sin became
his, he had all the shame and the humiliation of it, yet he
despised it, counted it as nothing and sat down. Having finished
his work, sat down at the right hand of the Father. He sits as
my righteousness. He sits as my wisdom. He sits
as my sanctification. And he sits as my redemption. And there's nothing for me to
look back to. Here's my experience. Him. That's my experience. Looking unto Jesus. Now I want
us to turn to one of my favorite passages of scripture. Philippians
three. Philippians three. This is where Paul spoke of forgetting
those things that are behind. I'm not gonna look back to those
things, I'm gonna forget them. And reaching forth into those things
were before. But let's read the verses that come up to that.
He says, finally, my brethren in verse one, rejoice in the
Lord. And to write the same things
to you, to me, indeed is not grievous. It's not irksome, but
for you, it's safe. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil
workers. Beware of the concision. He's
talking about preachers, religious people. For we are the circumcision
which worship God in the spirit. I know this. The only way I can
worship God is in the spirit. I can't worship him without the
spirit of God. The only way I can prove the worship is by God,
the Holy Spirit causing me to worship. And that's why I don't
say Come worship with us. Well, come hear the gospel, come
hear the truth, but I can't do, you know, it takes the spirit
of God to worship. We are the circumcision, which
worship God in the spirit, rejoice, glory in Christ Jesus. That's
the same word used, glory in the cross. We have confidence
only in Christ Jesus, and we have no confidence in the flesh. Verse four, though I might also
have confidence in the flesh, If any other man thinketh that
he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I've got more than
him. Paul didn't lack confidence, did he? circumcised the eighth
day of the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin as a Hebrew
of the Hebrews as touching the law. I was a Pharisee concerning
zeal. I was so zealous about what I
believed that I felt it my moral obligation to persecute anybody
who didn't believe the way I did. That's why I persecuted the church
and thought I was serving God in doing so. Touching the righteousness
which is in the law I was blameless. Now, I can't get hold of that.
But he said I could look at the Ten Commandments outwardly and
say I've kept them. That's a pretty impressive resume,
isn't it? But, verse 7, what things were
gained to me, I considered them beneficial to me, those I counted
loss actually harmful and destructive. All this stuff that I thought
was in the plus column, I found out that it was in the minus
column and it was actually destructive and hurting me. He says in verse
8, yea doubtless. I count all things but loss,
but garbage, but refuse for the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord. And if you're a believer, you
feel that way too, don't you? Every believer, I know it. Every
believer will say, I count all things but loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. I love this. My Lord, he's my
Lord for whom I've suffered the loss of all things and do count
all that stuff that I lost. But what? Doug. He wasn't sorry and over was
he? He wasn't talking about all the things that he gave up for
Christ. Oh, I gave up Doug. Well, you know, that's that's
not much to lose, is it? That I may win Christ, here's
what I want, that I may win Christ and be found in him. When God comes looking for me,
this is the only place I want to be found in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Just like when God passed through
to smite the firstborn, where's the one place you'd want to be
found? in the house with the blood over the door. I bet you
wouldn't stick your hand out the window, would you? You'd
want to be in that house and nowhere else. Oh, that I may
win Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law. I don't want to have anything
to do with my righteousness because I know what it is. It's filthy
rags. I don't want to bring that before God. I really believe
that. But that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith, that I may know him, that I may have
a relationship with him. That doesn't mean know stuff
about him. That means I want to know him
so that he knows me. I know his name and he knows
my name. Where I wouldn't be just name
dropping if I mentioned him, he'd say, he's one of mine. I
want to have a relationship I want to know the living God in the
Lord Jesus Christ. I want to know Him. Paul, don't
you already know Him? Yes, I do. But I sure want to
know Him better. And I feel like my knowledge
of Him is about like a dog's knowledge of its master. And
I want to know Him more. Oh, that I might know Him and
that I might know the power, verse 10, of His resurrection. Now, that means a couple of things. First in knowing the power of
His resurrection, I want to know the justifying power of His resurrection. I want to enter into this thing
of justification. I don't want it to be just a
document. I want to know that I stand just before God. Not guilty. He was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our what? Justification. And I want to know something
of the life-giving power of His resurrection. Here's what I mean
by that. Paul said, But God, who is rich in mercy for His
great love, wherewith He loved us even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. You know what that
means? When Christ was quickened and when Christ was given life,
so was every one of His people. When did you live? When Christ
was quickened. That's what I live. You see,
his life literally is my life. I want to know the power of his
resurrection. And look what he says next. I want to know the
fellowship of his sufferings. What's that mean? I don't want
to suffer the same things he did. I mean, if the Lord calls
me, I mean, if we're called to suffer physically,
so be it, if that's what the Lord would have. But that's not
really what he's talking about. What he's saying is, I want to know I had
a share in what he did. I want to know what He did, He
did for me. I want to know I had fellowship in that. I want to
know that I was in Him, that when He suffered, I suffered.
That when He was raised, I was raised. I want to know my fellowship
with Him, my having a part in what He did. And then He says
in verse 10, being made conformable unto His death. Now what's that
mean? Christ became obedient. unto
death. For him to be obedient to God,
he had to die. And I say this with fear and
with trembling, but I know this is so. I ought
to choose death over disobedience in any way. That's a solemn thing
to think about, isn't it? Paul said, I want to be made
conformable to Him in His death. If by any means I might attain
to the resurrection of the dead. That's what I want. Now turn
back to Luke 17 where we began. Now this thing is Lot's wife. She
looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. I don't want us thinking, oh,
I'm afraid of looking back and turning into a pillar of salt
or being left to myself or being brought under the judgment of
God. I want us to see such glory in the Lord Jesus Christ that
it's not a temptation to look back. Remember, our Lord said, remember
Lot's wife, verse 33. Now, remember Lot's wife, whosoever
shall seek to save his life shall lose it. And that means two things. If
you attempt to save your life by your works, you're going to
lose it. You can just write that down. And if you attempt to save your
life by avoiding confessing Christ and the trouble that comes with
it, you'll lose it. Whoever saves his life will lose
it. But if you lose your life, trusting
Christ to save you and confessing him, you'll preserve it. Now Lot's wife is an example
of love for this world. Lot's savior If by the grace of God, I see
Lot's Savior, I'm going to be like Lot. Just, righteous, righteous
soul. Looking to Christ, my righteousness.
May God give us such a view of Lot's Savior. And what a Savior
Lot had, because there wasn't anything to Lot, was there? I
mean, if you read his example, what is there that's commendable
about him? I don't see anything. I mean,
the guy was, he was a mess, wasn't he? But what a Savior he had that
made him righteous and just. You look to Lot's Savior. May I look to Lot's Savior, and
we won't be looking back. Let's pray together. Lord, we ask in Christ's blessed
name. That you will buy your spirit. Enable us. To look only. To that blessed son. And to not
look back. Bless this word for Christ's
sake. In His name we pray. Amen. I
would like to sing as a closing hymn, Fade, Fade, Each Earthly
Joy. We'll stand and sing, Chuck,
if you'll be so kind.