We turn to Genesis chapter 13. I've entitled the message for
this evening, The Two Accounts of Lot. I hope you'll understand
why I entitled that by the end of the message. The Two Accounts
of Lot. Now, in many ways, if you read
about the life of Lot in the Old Testament, he appears to
be an enigma. someone that puzzles and baffles
us. There were great contradictions
and inconsistencies in his life. Now his name means veil or covering
and until we reach the New Testament account of him, there is so much
that's veiled and covered. A lot. Does he sound like anybody
you know? You don't have to look far to
see him, do you? Now we're introduced to Lot in
Genesis chapter 12 verse 4 as the nephew of Abraham. When Abraham
left, Lot went with him. But let's pick up reading in
Genesis chapter 13 verse 5. And Lot also, which went with
Abram, had flocks, herds, and tents, and the land was not able
to bear them, that they might dwell together, for their substance
was great, so that they could not dwell together. And there
was a strife, contention, division, between the herdmen of Abram's
cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle. And the Canaanite and
the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. And Abram said unto
Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee,
and between my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before
thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take
the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if thou depart
to the right hand, then I will go to the left. And Lot lifted
up his eyes, And beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was
well watered everywhere, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and
Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of
Egypt, is thou comest into Zoar." Now where would you want to take
your herds? Where would you want to take your flocks? You'd want
to take them to the well-watered plain. Then Lot chose him all the plain
of Jordan. He showed no deference to Abraham.
He took what was best. Lot chose him all the plain of
Jordan, left everything else to Abraham, which was not much.
And Lot journeyed east. Journeying east in the scripture
always represents going away from the Lord. Remember when
Cain left Eden, he went east. They separated themselves the
one from the other, and 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." Now what do we learn about Lot
here? Lot was a selfish man. Lott was a self-centered man.
He showed no deference to Abraham. He chose what he thought would
be the most materially advantageous and prosperous to him. Now he
should have given deference to Abraham at this time, but he
didn't. He chose what would make him the happiest. Notice Abraham
didn't want any strife, but it didn't bother a lot because he
wanted to have his way, so he pitched his tent towards Sodom,
a decision that he would live to regret for the rest of his
life. He just pitched his tent towards
Sodom. He's not there yet. He just pitched
his tent in that direction. Then in chapter 14, we read of
Sodom being raided. And Lot and his family carried
off. Now, Lot has gone from having
his tent pitched towards Sodom to living in Sodom. When the
five kings come in, they... Take Lot and his family and everybody
else, and Abraham goes and rescues them. With 318 trained servants,
he destroyed five kings in order to get Lot and his family back.
Lot's redeeming characteristic was Abraham, wasn't it? Abraham
did so much for Lot. In this 14th chapter is also
where we read of Melchizedek. Now, he pitched his tent toward
Sodom, and he finally lived in Sodom. What is Sodom known for? Sexual sin. That's what you think
of when you think of Sodom. Particularly, homosexuality. Look in Genesis chapter 19. Verse 4. This is when the angels were
in Lot's house. But before they lay down, the
men of the city Even the men of Sodom compassed the house
round, both old and young." What a gruesome sight to think about,
isn't it? Everybody, both old and young, as far as the men,
all the people from every quarter, and they called unto Lot and
said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this
night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them. How perverted! Homosexuality represents man's religion. It cannot produce life. That's what I can understand
about it. Man's religion cannot produce life. Now, there are
two places in Scripture destroyed with fire and brimstone, Sodom
and Babylon, in Revelation 18. Man's religion. Homosexuality
represents human religion. It cannot, under any circumstance,
produce life. Now, when I talk about a homosexual
or homosexuals, don't be homophobic. You know, that's very ugly. It
really is. Don't be homophobic. God saves
homosexuals. I'm thankful for that, aren't
you? He saves homosexuals. And what happens is here's a
sin people don't feel, well, I don't commit that one. And
therefore, it's easy to get against that one, because I don't commit
that one. I don't have any trouble with that. And that's the only type of sin I
know of I don't have trouble with, you know? And you can really
get on the bandwagon against people. Homosexuals, you know,
don't be homophobic. But understand it for what it
is. It is a great sin. God hates it. Hates it mainly,
I believe, for what it represents. And that's what Sodom is known
for. The men of Sodom, look what verse
12 says of Genesis 13. This is God's testimony. Verse 13, chapter 13, verse 13,
that the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Now you probably remember in
Genesis chapter 18 when the Lord came to Abraham and said, I'm
going to destroy the city. Their cry has come up before
me, I'm going to destroy it. Now let's begin reading in verse
7. Genesis chapter 18. This is when Abraham prays for
Sodom, after the Lord told him that he was going to destroy
Sodom. And Abraham drew near and said, Will thou also destroy
the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous
within the city. Now, I've read where it was estimated
that there was hundreds of thousands of people in this city. It was
a very large city. And yet, when Abraham prays,
he says, what if there's 50 believers there, 50 righteous people within
the city? Will thou also destroy and not
spare the place for the 50 righteous that are therein? 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 fifty righteous within
the city, then I'll spare all the place for their sakes. And
Abram answered and said, Behold, now I've taken upon me to speak
unto the Lord, which ain't but dust and ashes. Peradventure,
there shall lack five of the fifty righteous. Wilt thou destroy
all the city for the lack of five? And he said, If I find
there forty and five, I'll not destroy it. And he spake unto
him yet again, and said, Peradventure, there'll be forty found there.
He said, I'll not do it for forty's sake. And he said unto him, O,
let not the Lord be angry, and I'll speak. Peradventure, there
shall be thirty found there. And he said, I'll not do it if
I find thirty there. And he said, Behold, now I've taken upon me
to speak unto the Lord. Peradventure, there shall be
twenty found there. And he said, I'll not destroy
it for twenty's sake. Twenty's not many people. And
he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I'll speak yet,
but this once, peradventure, tin shall be found there. And
he said, I'll not destroy it for tin's sake. And the Lord
went His way. As soon as He left communion
with Abraham, and Abraham returned unto his place. Now the angels
are sent into Sodom, verse 1 of chapter 19, and there came two
angels to Sodom and even, Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Now he's gone from having his
tent pitched towards Sodom to living in Sodom and now he's
an actual civic leader in Sodom. That's what sitting at the gate
means. He had some kind of political position. He was somebody in
Sodom. And there he sat at the gate
in this special position. And there came two angels to
Sodom at even, and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom, and Lot, seeing
them, arose up to meet them. He knew who they were. And he
bowed himself with his face toward the ground and 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 will
abide in the street all night." They were going to see just what
was going on in this place. But Lot pressed upon them greatly.
Oh, he begged them, go stay at my house. And they turned in
unto him. And he entered into his house,
and he made them a feast, and did bake 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 at the door
unto them, and shut the door after him, and 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." Now I've
heard people say the Lord did a good thing there. I can't see
it. I can't see it. What's good about that? Because
he was in Sodom is why this was taking place. He brought all
this on himself because he's in Sodom. Here he is offering
up his daughters like this in order to save these angels as
if the angels needed his help. Remember angels are greater in
power and might and they could wipe out all Sodom without any
problem given the power of God. But here Lot is trying to protect
them. Verse 9 And they said, stand back. And they said again, this one
fellow came to sojourn with us. He's one of us and acted like
one of us. And now he needs to be a judge. All of a sudden he
becomes our moral judge. He judges us. Now we'll deal
worse with thee than with him. And they pressed sore upon the
man, even lot, and came near to break the door. But the men
put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and
shut the door. And they smote the men that were
at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great,
so that they wearied themselves to find the door. And the men
said unto Lot, Hast thou any Besides, son-in-law, 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 waxen great before the face of the
Lord. And the Lord has sent us to destroy it." And Lot went
out. and spake unto his sons-in-law,
which married his daughters. And he said, Up, get you out
of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed
as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law. He'd lost all credibility in
his family. He gives them this warning, and
they say, We don't need to take you serious. I mean, we watch
you. Verse 16, look what happens next. and while he lingered." Lot was reluctant to leave. He loved Sodom. He'd invested
a lot of time there. He'd invested a lot of money
there. He'd raised his family there. He'd seen perhaps his
business prosper. I don't know what was going on,
but he lingered after God said he was going to destroy Sodom,
Lot lingers. He doesn't want to leave. He sees much in Sodom that's
attractive to him. And he doesn't want to leave. And while he lingered, The men,
the angels, laid hold upon his hand. They seized him. And upon
the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters,
the Lord being merciful unto him. And they brought him forth
and set him without the city. Now, I love this. This is the
first time the word merciful is used in the scripture. Mercy
is not some kind of offer that God gives you or me to accept
or reject. No, when God is merciful, He
grabs Lot by the hand and He pulls him out. It's called reigning
grace. That's the kind of grace I want.
I want the Lord to grab me and pull me out and not leave me
to myself. Oh, thank God for His mercy. Oh, how merciful the Lord was
to Lot. While Lot was lingering, I would
have said, well, let him stay there then, but not the Lord.
He's so gracious and merciful. He pulls him out. Verse 17, He set him without the city.
That's God's mercy. And it came to pass when they
had brought them forth abroad that He said, Escape for thy
life. This is a life issue. Look not
behind thee. Don't look back to Sodom. Neither
stay thou in all the plain. Escape to the mountain, lest
thou be consumed. And look what Lot said. Now you
think about what the Lord had done for him. He pulled him out
of the city. He said, Run. Don't look back.
Run to the mountains. And Lot said to them, O not so,
my lord. I don't want to do that. I can't
do that. I can't go all the way to the mountains. Behold, now
thy servant hath found grace in thy sight. Now is magnified
thy mercy, which thou showed unto me in saving my life. And
I can't escape to the mountains, lest some evil take me and I
die. Look how blessed he is. He can't trust the Lord to take
care of him. Oh, I'm afraid something will
happen to me if I do that. And he'll bang you. Behold, he says
in verse 20, this city is near to flee into, and it's a little
one. Oh, let me escape thither. Is it not a little one? And my
soul shall live. Let me get to this place that's
still real close. And he said unto him, See, I have accepted
thee concerning this thing also. Now that word accepted is the
word that's generally translated forgiven. I have forgiven thee. Aren't you thankful for the Lord's
forgiveness? I have forgiven thee. Concerning this thing also,
that I'll not overthrow this city for the which thou hast
spoken. Haste thee! Escape thither! And look what
he says next. For I cannot. I lack the ability. I'm not allowed to do anything
till thou become thither. Therefore the name of the city
was called Zohar." Now, do you hear what he's saying? He's saying,
I can't destroy this place as long as you're here. As long
as you're here, I can't do this. Now, what this lets me know,
here's the gospel. Here's the gospel. Do you know
if Jesus Christ the Lord died for you? If God chose you? If God gave you a new nature,
God cannot send you to hell. The very justice of God demands
your salvation, and this is something that He cannot do. Oh, that's
so wonderful. I'm so thankful for that. Verse 23, the sun was risen upon
the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. 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 up upon the
ground. But his wife looked back from behind him. You see, her
heart had never left Sodom. And she became a pillar of salt. And Abram got up early in the
morning to the place where he stood before the Lord. This is
where he'd been praying. If there's ten people, let it
go. And he looked toward Sodom and
Gomorrah and toward all the land of the plain, and behold, and
lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.
What do y'all reckon was on his mind? There wasn't ten believers
in that place. God is righteous. Shall not the
judge of the earth do right? And don't you reckon he was thinking
apart from the grace of God, that'd be me. The only reason
it hadn't happened to me is because of the freeness of his grace.
I know that's what he was thinking as he saw the smoke rise up. Verse 29. Now if you want to
understand the gospel, listen to this verse. And it came to
pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God
remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow,
when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt. Why was Lot delivered? One reason. God remembered Abraham. That's
the only reason. Why am I delivered? God remembers
Christ, and He delivers me from the overthrow. That's the God. Oh, God remembered Abraham and
he delivered Lot. Be ye kind, tender-hearted, forgiving
one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. You know, God only has to have
one reason to forgive you. You know what that is? Christ's sake.
And there are no other reasons. But that's the only reason that's
needed. Now let's finish this chapter.
This is the first account of Lot. And Lot went up out of Zohar
and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters with him, for
he feared to dwell in Zohar. I mean, the Lord told him, I'm
going to spare you, and I'm going to spare that city. He still
couldn't believe God, so he takes off up into a cave. And he dwelt
in a cave, he and his two daughters. And the firstborn said unto the
younger, Our father is old, and there's not a man in the earth
to come into us, after the manner of all the earth. Come, let us
make our father drink wine. And we will lie with him that
we may preserve seed of our father. And they made their father drink
wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father,
and he perceived not when she lay down nor when she rose. And
it came to pass on the morrow that the firstborn said unto
the younger, Behold, I lay yesterday night with my father. Let us
make him drink wine this night also, and go thou in, and lie
with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. And they
made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger
rose and lay with him, and he perceived not when she lay down,
nor when she rose. Thus were both the daughters
of Lot with child by their father. Incest. And the firstborn bear
a son, called his name Moab, that was just a scourge to Israel
throughout the centuries. The same as the father of the
Moabites unto this day. And the younger she also bear
a son, and called his name Ben-Ammi, the same as the father of the
children of Ammon, that were a scourge to the children of
Israel all their days." Now, that is the first account of
Lot. Now turn with me to 2 Peter chapter
2 and let's look at the second account of Lot. 2 Peter chapter
2 verse 4. For if God spared not the angels
that sinned, but cast them down to 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 overthrow, making them an example unto those
that afterwards should have lived ungodly, Now hear God's testimony
concerning this man we just read about. He 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 temptation, and to reserve the unjust under the
day of judgment to be punished." Now, when God refers to this
man Lot, He calls him Just Lot, He calls him Righteous Lot, He
calls him that righteous man, he refers to his righteous soul,
and he calls him godly. Now that's God's testimony. Did you notice there's not one
mention made of his contradictions, of his inconsistencies, or of
his weaknesses? Why? Because he was just Lord. He didn't have any. Because he
was a righteous man. And he had a righteous soul.
And he was a godly man. That is God's testimony of this
man. That's not my testimony. Now,
if you ask me what I thought about Lot, I would say this guy
has issues. He has problems. He has problems
galore. I mean, you want to talk about
an inconsistent man? You want to talk about a man that seems
so weak? That's what I'd say about him. But look at God's
testimony. Now, what testimony is right? If God says Lot is just, you
know why? There's only one reason. It's
because Lot is just. You see, this is what Christ
accomplished for His people. This is what justification is.
I've said this a lot of times over the years, but let me say
it again. Justification is not just as if I never sinned, because
if it's just as if I never sinned, that means I still sinned. It's
just like I didn't, but I still did. Justification is, I never sinned. The righteousness of Jesus Christ
is my personal righteousness before God, and I never sin. You know, this talks about the
work of Christ for you and in you. He talks about just law,
that righteous man speaks of his righteous soul. That's the
work of Christ in you. You know, Clare, you read 1 John
3, and did you notice where it said, He cannot sin, He lacks
the ability to sin, for His seed, the seed of God, remains in Him.
God can't sin. That which is born of God can't
sin. Lot had a righteous soul. That's what's given in the new
birth. Just Lot. Righteous Lot. Lot is called,
by God, godly. Now, in the Old Testament account,
we would call Lot a selfish, self-centered, worldly, weak,
contradictory, greatly conflicted, incestuous, and drunken person. Isn't it amazing how honest the
Bible is with the way things are? The Bible is like no other
book. And this is the Old Testament
account. But then in the New Testament account, the second
account of Lot, we read that he's just, righteous, has got
a righteous soul, and he is godly. Now here's my question. Which
one of these accounts are true? Beloved, they're both true. They're both true. But here is
the difference. One account is only temporary
and the other account is eternal. Now, Lot has a different history
in this new account. Now you'll notice in this second
account not one thing is brought up of all of his glaring inconsistencies. Why? He's got a new history. History can't be changed, can
it? Now I said this recently, if the Lord gave me a clean slate
and a new start, you know how much good it would do me? Absolutely
none. Do you know that about yourself?
Do you know it? If you had a clean slate and
a new start. He wouldn't do you good. You'd
mess it up. You know you would. I don't need a new start. I need
a new history. And this is what God gives in
the gospel, a new history. A history that has no sin, no
guilt. I'm not ashamed to have my whole
life put out on a screen for everybody to see. There won't
be anything there but that which is holy, righteous, and true. I'm just Todd. I've got a righteous soul. I'm
that righteous man. I'm godly. That is true of every
believer. Because God gives a new history. And this is the one that is eternal.
That other one is temporary. And Christ put it all away. This
is what the Lord did with sin. He put it away so there's nothing
there. There's nothing there. You know, it almost... I was
thinking about this. It almost seems... It almost seems unfair
to speak of Lot, this just Lot, and righteous Lot, and his righteous
soul, and how godly he is when you look at his life. It almost
seems unfair. How can that be? The Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And let me tell you this. Can't
you see so much of Lot in yourself? Can't you see? I can identify
with this man in so many ways. I feel sorry for him because
he's a black man. I'm so thankful for that grace that grabs me
by the hand and yanks me out. Aren't you thankful for that?
That's grace. Let me show you. Let's go back
to 1 John chapter 3. Let's finish there. This is the great mystery of
godliness. How God can take somebody like
Lot and make them to be just, righteous, holy, and godly. That's the great mystery of godliness.
Now, 1 John chapter 3, verse 4. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth
also the law, For sin is the transgression of the law. Now there's the definition of
sin. If you lie, you've sinned. If you fail to love God with
all your heart, you've sinned. If you covet, you've sinned.
All the Ten Commandments. Sin is the transgression of the
law. Verse 5, And you know that he
was manifested, to take away our sins. And did he do it? When he said it is finished,
was sin taken away? Absolutely. That's why his body
didn't go through the process of decay. He rendered complete
satisfaction for sin, and they were all taken away. And in him, is no sin. Now how can I know if I'm in
Him? How can I know? I want to know if I'm in Him.
I want to know right now. I want to know tonight if I really am
somebody that's in the Lord Jesus Christ or whether I'm just fooling
myself. Am I somebody that is in Him? We'll look at the next
verse. Whosoever, verse 6, abideth in
Him, sinneth not." Now, what does
it mean to abide? There are so many simple illustrations
from the scripture. When God was going through the
land of Egypt to destroy the firstborn, where was their safety? In the house with the blood over
the door. You wouldn't want to get outside
of that house that night, would you? When the rain began to fall.
If you were in the ark, you didn't want out, did you? I simply want
to be found in Christ. I abide in Him. I don't want to be anywhere else.
All of God's blessing, all of God's favor, all of God's mercy,
all of God's grace, all of God's acceptance, all of God's love,
everything God has for the sinner is in the person of His beloved
Son. And I simply want to be found
in Him. Just like Paul said, oh, that
I may win Christ and be found in Him. If God comes looking
for me, I just want to be found in Christ. Now that person who
abides in Him, look what it says. It says, He sinneth not. If I'm in Him, I don't sin. Because He didn't sin. And if
I'm in Him, I do not sin. Now, here's Lot's history. The
second account. We saw the first account. Depressing
account, isn't it? You read some of these Old Testament
scriptures, and I'm reading them, I'm almost tingling when I'm
reading them. I think, am I really reading this? Is this stuff really happening?
You know, I mean, it's just, it's scary. But, oh, this New
Testament account. Just Lot. Righteous. I like that second count better,
don't you? Let's pray together.