Let's turn back to Genesis 19. Tonight I'm going to speak from
verse 32 of Acts chapter 20 where Paul said, I commend you to God
and to the word of His grace. I've entitled the message Why did Lot's wife look back? Now, this is a literal event. Fire and brimstone came down
from heaven and destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. And Lot and his family were fleeing. And Lot's wife turned around. Let me ask you a question. Wouldn't
you want to turn around and see what was taking place? Wouldn't
you want to see the fire coming down from heaven? I would. Why did Lot's wife turn
back? She had been delivered by the
angels. You know, when they took Lot
by the hand and pulled him out, he pulled her out and her two
daughters out. Well, she was running with Lot
and his two daughters towards Zoar. And she looked back toward
Sodom. Look what verse 17 of Genesis
19 says. And it came to pass when they
had brought them forth abroad, he said, this is the angel speaking
to Lot, his wife, and his two daughters, escape for thy life. Look not behind thee, there's
the command, neither stay thou in all the plain. Escape to the
mountain, lest thou be consumed. Well, as she's running towards
Zoar, she disobeys God's command. She looks back and was immediately
turned into a pillar of salt. Now, I don't know if this was
a likeness of her, like a statue made of salt. I don't know if
she became a block of salt. But she was turned into a pillar
of salt. This is not figurative language.
And the only other time she's mentioned is in Luke chapter
17, when the Lord says, and the Lord refers to this as a literal
event. Remember Lot's wife. Turn with me for a moment to
Luke 17. Verse 28, Likewise also as it was in the
days of Lot, this is before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. And notice the Lord does not
speak of the horrible things that were going on there at this
time. They did eat, they drank, they
bought, bought, they sold. They planted, they built it.
Now, there's nothing wrong with those activities, are there?
They were business as usual. They were trying to make a living.
There were all kinds of things going on, marriages. I mean,
this is a big place. Most people that I've read said
in the cities of the plain there were some 500,000 people. And
there was a lot going on during this time, much like people getting
up this morning with their plans for the days. Uh, tomorrow you're
going to get up and go to work. What are you going to get accomplished?
What are you going to do? Uh, what's going to come out
of this? What's going to happen with my kids? I mean, all kinds of
plans. They're not even talking about,
uh, the sexual perversions that were going on in Sodom. He just
talks about what everybody was doing. Verse 29. 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. And that day, he which shall
be upon the housetop and his stuff in his 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 the Lord says. He
says that to me. He says that to you. Remember
Lot's wife. Now go back to Genesis chapter
19. So we see from this, this is a nothing symbolic about this. This is a literal event that
took place to teach us something of the gospel. And I'm asking
the question, why did Lot's wife look back? Because I can see
the temptation to it. Why? Did Lot's wife look back? Now in Genesis chapter 19, we
read in verse 12, and the men said unto Lot, has thou any here
besides son-in-law and thy sons and 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 to destroy
it. Now that's why these angels were
there to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom and Gomorrah is first mentioned
in Genesis chapter 13, verse 13, where we read the men of
Sodom were wicked. and sinners exceedingly before
the Lord. And in Genesis chapter 18, the
Lord told Abraham that he would not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah
and the cities of the plain if they could find 10 righteous
men. 500,000 people. If I can find
10 righteous men, I'll spare them all. And you know the story. 10 righteous men were not found. Now look in verses four and five
of Genesis 19, this gives us some idea of the enormity of
their wickedness. Verse four, this is when the
angels had entered Lot's house, but before they lay down, the
men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compass the house round,
both old and young, and all the people from every quarter. And
they called unto the Lord and said unto him, where are the
men which came in unto thee this night? Bring them out unto us,
that we may know them." Now that gives us some idea of the perversity
of this group of people and what they were wanting done with the
angels. Verse 17 of this chapter. Now, verse 15 and 16. And when
the morning arose, the angels hasten 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, he was reluctant to leave. There was something about Sodom
that he found attractive and he didn't want it all destroyed. 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. And these are the same daughters
that he had offered to the men of Sodom. Here's my two daughters.
Leave the angels alone. Here they are. And what did they say? The Lord being merciful unto him. Oh, don't you want the Lord to
take you by the hand and yank you out? That's what he did for
these people. That's the Lord'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
to Lot, his wife, his two daughters, and he gives four specific commands. Number one, escape for thy life. Number two, look not behind thee.
Number three, neither stay thou in all the plain. Number four,
escape to the mountain. Escape for your life. Don't look
behind you. Don't stay in the plane that's
going to be destroyed. Flee to the mountain. And don't look behind you. That's what life did. What wife's
lost wife did. She looked behind her. Now, this
is not about looking at the fire in the brimstone coming down
from heaven. I'm sure of that. Now, if the Lord said not to
look back, I don't want to look back for any reason, but can
you imagine how much you'd want to see this taking place? Not that you're delighting in
the destruction, but you just want to see it. She looked back. Now, this word,
look, though, is not talking about physical beholding. This
is about showing regard to and respect for. God said to Samuel
when he was going to choose a king out of Jesse's sons, look not
on his countenance, nor the height of his stature, do not have regard
to the way he looks. That's what the word means. Psalm
13 three, David says, consider And hear me, oh Lord, consider
me. That's the same word in the Hebrew. Consider me. Have regard to me. Psalm 70 verse
20 says, have respect under the covenant. That's the same word
as look, look to the covenant, have respect under the covenant. Covenant, Isaiah 51.2 says they
regard not the works of the Lord nor the operation of his hands.
That's the same word, they regard not, they don't look, they don't
have any regard or respect for the operation of the Lord or
the work of his hands. Isaiah 66.2, to this man will
I look, even to him that's poor and of a contrite spirit and
trembles at my word. That's the man I'm gonna look
to. That's the man I'm going to regard. That's the man I'm
going to respect. Now don't have regard. Don't have respect for what is
behind. He says, don't stay in the plane.
That place is marked for destruction. In Christ is the only place of
safety. Everywhere else is marked for
destruction in Christ. That's the only place of safety.
Don't stare. Paul said, oh, that I may win Christ and be found
in him. Escape to the mountain. Escape
to Mount Calvary. That's the only place of escape.
In verse 23 of our text in Genesis 19, the sun was risen upon the
earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the Lord reigned upon Sodom
and upon Gomorrah, brimstone, 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,
the plant life. Look in verse 27. And Abraham
got up early in the morning to the place where he stood before
the Lord. Remember, he'd been pleading with the Lord. Started
with 50 people, then 40, then 30, 30, 20, then 10. If you can
find 10 righteous people in this place. And Lot was there, he
knew it. And he didn't know whether the
Lot was going to be delivered or not. But he rose early in
the morning. And he looked toward Sodom, verse
28, and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and
beheld, and lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke
of a furnace. He looked at the devastation
that had taken place. Verse 26, and here's where we're
gonna spend the rest of our time. But, but his wife, looked back
from behind him and she became a pillar of salt. Now there's been a lot of conjecture
about Mrs. Lott. Many think she was born
in Sodom because you don't read of Lott's wife in Genesis 12.
We read of Abraham and Sarah, his wife, but you don't read
anything about Lott's wife. It could be that he was not even
married. until he got into this place
called Sodom. And it could very well be that
she loves her life as Lot's wife. Lot was wealthy. And when it
says in Genesis chapter 19, verse one, he sat in the gate, that
always refers in the Old Testament to someone in a position of authority.
Perhaps he was the mayor of Sodom or had some kind of high ranking
position and perhaps she loved her life. Her husband was rich.
She had a place of authority. Many have said she was a very
worldly woman, and while she had left Sodom, Sodom was still
in her heart. She left Sodom, but she loved
Sodom, and Sodom was still in her heart. Now, that's true. Lot lingered as well. Yes, she loved Sodom. Lot lingered as well. Now hold your finger there and
turn to 1 John chapter 2 for a moment. Verse 15. 1 John chapter 2 verse
15. 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 is in the world,
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes. and
the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away and
the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth
forever. Now here we read of the lust
of the flesh, sinful pleasure. The lust of the eyes, popularity,
being concerned how other people view you. The pride of life, power. I love the passage of scripture
I just read. But it's equally true that my
old man right now, presently, present tense, has an affinity
and a desire for things. The lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, the pride of life, pleasure, popularity, power. Now somebody says, why not me? Not me. One of two things are true. If
you say not me, either you're saved and I'm not, or you're
a liar. It's that simple. Either you're
saved and I've missed out on something. I'm not, or you are
a liar. And I don't want to say this.
I don't want to say this right, but I am saved through the math. Math. If that's what you claim
for yourself, you've not found out who God is yet. You'd know
yourself better than that if you had. Now, what was going on with Lot's
wife, looking behind her, Well, this has something to do with
a failure to continue to believe. I've got four scriptures from
the New Testament that let us know exactly what Lot's wife
was doing when she looked back and became a pill pillar of salt. Now the first scripture is found
in Hebrews chapter 10, if you'll turn with me there. Hebrews chapter 10. Verse 38. Now the just, the justified. the righteous,
those who stand before God without guilt. The just shall live by
faith. But if any man, what's that next
word? Drawback. Drawback. My soul, God says,
shall have pleasure in him. Now that verse of scripture is
four times in the Bible, four times. It's found in the book
of Habakkuk chapter two, verse four, but his soul that's lifted
up is not right in him, but the just shall live by faith. Now the soul that's lifted up,
that's pride. That is taking credit for something
where it's not due you. I did this, I made the difference. That man who thinks anything
like that his soul's not upright in him but the just shall live
by faith. Romans chapter 1 verse 17 says, Therein in the gallows the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith as it's written, that just
shall live by faith. Now here's what faith understands.
The only righteousness that I have is the righteousness of God.
It's not human righteousness. The only way I can approach God
and be accepted is by the righteousness of God. Somebody says, how in
the world are you going to have the righteousness of God? If
I have the righteousness of Christ, I have the righteousness of God.
You see, my sin became His sin. On Calvary Street, that's why
I died. There's only one reason for death, sin. He died for sin
and just as truly as my sin became his sin, his righteousness become
my righteousness. Now the gesture to live by faith
has something to do with living by this, the only righteousness
that I have, the only righteousness I know anything about is the
righteousness of Jesus Christ who is God, my personal righteousness. And this passage of scripture
is quoted in Galatians chapter three, verse 11, but that no
man is justified by the law of God. It's evidence for the just
shall live by faith. Now this scripture, the just
shall live by faith means I can't be saved. They're excluded. Anything that has anything to
do with me, I have to do this before I can be saved, right?
To stop doing that before I can be saved. That's excluded. It's
gone. The just shall live by faith. And then Hebrews 10, 38, the
scripture I just read, now the just shall live by faith, but
if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. Now, what's it mean to draw back? When I first believed on Christ, and I don't
know when that was, I don't, but I know this. When I first
believed on Christ, all I had was Christ. No other hope. Right now, while I'm talking
to you, it hadn't changed a bit. All I have is Jesus Christ. To draw back is to leave that. That's to draw back. You leave
that. It becomes Christ and, rather
than Christ own. It's looking back behind me to
some experience, some work that I performed to give me some kind
of assurance. The just shall live by faith,
not by works. By faith. It never changes. Turn with me to Luke 9. Luke 9, verse 62, last verse of Luke
chapter 9, verse 62. Now first of all, that look back
is continuing to look to Christ only, nowhere else. Now look
in verse 62. And Jesus said unto him, no man
having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the
kingdom of God. Question, very simple. What is
absolutely necessary in plowing a straight furrow? It's actually very serious. You keep your eye at a fixed
point and you go straight to that point. Let's say I'm wanting
to plow a straight furrow to that clock. Do I look to see
how I'm doing? Do I look to the side? Do I look
behind? No. I look straight at that clock
and I don't take my eyes off of it. Now, when I cut the grass, I
do this every week, so I got some experience at this. I cut
my grass diagonally. I remember Michael Moore said,
do you really, Uncle Todd? Yeah, I guess I don't know why
I do it, but I like diagonal. But every time that I cut my
grass, I get at a point and I look at a crack in my sidewalk, and
I go straight at that crack. The moment I look to the side,
I veer, I got a crooked, You know, line. If I look behind
to see how I've done, I go way out. If I look to the, there's
only one way to plow this straight furrow, to have straight line,
is to look only at that fixed point. Now, if I look down at
my walk, how I'm doing, what's gonna happen? I'm gonna be able
to get off. If I look to the side, how you're
doing, and compare myself to you, what am I gonna do? I'm
gonna veer off. I'm gonna go crooked. What about
if I look behind me to see how I've been? Well, I'll start ending
up going in circles, won't I? The only way to look to Christ
is to look to him only and not look at anything else. What's it mean to look to Christ? It means you look to Him as all
that God requires of you for everything. That's what it means
to look to Christ. You look to Him and keep your
eyes on Him as all that God requires of you for everything. everything. You really BELIEVE that Christ
Jesus IS ALL. Now, turn on chapter 6. Before I read this passage of
Scripture, Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2 says,
looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of
faith. You know, I don't look to my
faith. I look to him who is the author of my faith. I don't look
to myself for a thing. I don't even look for my ability
to believe Look to Him, looking nowhere else but to Him. The moment you look anywhere
else, you're in trouble. Look in John chapter six, verse
64. But there are some of you that
believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And
he said, therefore said I unto you that no man can come to me,
except it were given unto him of my father. Now here's what
he's saying to these people. You've not come to me. You know
why? You can't. except it be given
you of my Father. Somebody says, well, that would
discourage people. The Lord said it. You know, everything he says
is just right, isn't it? I mean, he says things as they
should be said. And he looks at these people
and says, he said, you can't even come except it were given
you of my Father. That's what the Lord says. Verse
66, from that, says time in italics, the translators put it there,
and I suppose I could see why they put it there, but from him
saying that, from that, from that statement,
many of his disciples went back. They looked behind them and walked
no more with him. Now it's obvious these people
were not real disciples. It's obvious. They walked no
more with him. Verse 68, before I, well, verse
68, then said Jesus unto the 12, Will you also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him,
Lord, to whom shall we go? Now, you know what he meant by
that? It's not like we have any options. To whom shall we go? Wait, to
the law? That won't do us any good. We don't have any other options
but you. That's it. Now, what is it to look back?
It's to have options. If you have options, you will
look back. They had no other options. All I have is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Turn back to Luke chapter 17
for just a moment. You know, John says in 1 John
chapter 2, they went out from us, but they were not all of
us. For if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out, that
they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us. These people left. Now, here's
the last scripture, Luke chapter 17. These are the words of the Lord. He
says, remember Lot's wife. She looked back and then he makes
this comment. Whosoever shall seek to save
his life shall lose it. And whosoever shall lose his
life shall preserve it. You seek to save your life. You're looking back. You seek
to do something to save yourself. You're looking back and back.
That's what you're doing. Looking back behind you at something
to give you some hope. Well, I did this. I did that. I quit doing this. I experienced
that. I understood that. Surely I'm
saved. Look back and find some reason. You seek to save your life? That
ain't trusting Christ, is it? It's trusting yourself. That's
looking to yourself. You seek to save your life? You'll
lose it. But you, huh, lose your life. Lose all hopes of self-salvation. all of them, and look to Christ
only, you'll save your life. If you give regard to, if you
have respect for anything other than Christ, you will be turned
to a lifeless pillar of salt. That's the emblem of lifelessness. Now the original title of this
message, why did Lot's wife look back? Because she really did
not believe that Jesus Christ is all in salvation. That's why
she did it. If she believed that, she would
have never looked back. But she did not believe that
Jesus Christ is all in salvation. If she did, she would have realized
there's nowhere and no one else to look to but Him only. Now understand this thing about
perseverance. Perseverance isn't persevering and being religious.
A lot of people do that and die and wake up in hell. It's not
persevering and being religious. It's persevering in this thing
of Christ being all to God and all you have as your reason of
acceptance before God. You keep looking there. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that you would deliver us from being like Lot's wife, looking
back and cause us to look to your son as our righteousness
before you to look nowhere but him at all times as everything
you require. Deliver us from drawing back.
Let us be of those who believe leads to the saving of the soul.
I bless this message for Christ's sake. In his name we pray. Amen.