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[0:00] Father, as we approach your word now, Lord, we come, but it is with a little bit of a heaviness, just looking at this. And then next week we're into Abraham's failure with Abimelech. And Lord, I think, what are you trying to show us?

[0:12] And Lord, what you're showing us is your faithfulness, your absolute, abject, unmerited, unexpected, unearned, and sadly, many times unappreciated.

[0:23] Faithfulness, God, you are faithful. We can look back over our lives and see nothing but the pattern of God's faithfulness. Despite our failures, despite our weaknesses, you are faithful.

[0:35] But Lord, we don't wanna end up like Lot. We don't wanna have lapses of our faith, Lord. We don't wanna walk in the flesh. So Lord, we come just empty. We come needy.

[0:46] Lord, we come surrendered. We wanna just ask you to speak to us through your word, Lord. Again, almost the silliest thing that the God of the universe would say, do you wanna get to know me? Do you want your life to be edified, blessed, and changed?

[1:00] Read this book. You wrote a book for us. We thank you for your word, Lord. You know us better than we know ourselves. You know the greatest good for us is to be here right now in your presence and just soaking in your word.

[1:12] We pray that you would anoint it by your spirit and in Jesus' name, amen. So you remember we are still in our meanwhile, right? If you're watching the movie, if you're reading the book, if you're, it's meanwhile.

[1:26] Meanwhile, another part of town. This is what's happening with Lot. We've been journeying with Abraham. It was never supposed to have turned out this way. It was as if someone had pulled the single thread that held his entire life together.

[1:39] In one moment, it had all unraveled. His wife had left him. His kids were a mess. Drugs, suicide, and unwed with child. The job, the prestige, his standing in the community, gone.

[1:55] What had happened? He had done everything he was supposed to. Everything that made for a successful life in this world had been placed at his fingertips and then had slipped through them.

[2:07] But he had found God. Or more accurately, God had found him. In the midst of the wasteland of his life, he had discovered the mercy and grace of a God who loved him.

[2:17] Surely his children, they would rejoice with this news. Surely the men of his acquaintance, who at one time lauded him as the very answer to their community, they would hear him.

[2:29] But no. They laughed. They mocked. They distanced themselves and treated him as a stranger, or worse, as an enemy. How had things come to this?

[2:43] So last week's theme, if you remember, it was, it's time to leave. And that's where while Lot lingered, they grabbed his hand and they said, buddy, it's time to leave.

[2:53] Well, today is only one refuge. And so Lot is going to have the opportunity, he's been given the opportunity, to enter into that refuge. And we're going to see, unfortunately, he tries to choose something else, or go a different way.

[3:08] So as we move into the text, let's back up into 16, and then kind of read a few verses into our text for today. So while Lot lingered, it was time to leave, it was time to leave Sodom and Gomorrah, the men laid hold upon his hand, upon the hand of his wife, upon the hand of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful unto them.

[3:29] And they brought him forth and set him without the city. What happened before that doesn't matter. It's over, Lot. You're not going to go back. It's too late. It's too bad. It's time to move on.

[3:40] So Lot, his two daughters, and his wife, the Lord is physically intervening in their life and removing them from this situation. The Lord being merciful. And they brought him forth and set him without the city.

[3:53] And it came to pass, when they brought them forth abroad, that he said, the angel said, escape for your life. Look not behind you. Don't linger, that same idea.

[4:03] Not just don't glance back, but don't desire. Don't sit there and longingly look for something that's now past. Look not behind you. Neither stay thou in all the plain, escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

[4:18] And as we said, who was in the mountain? As we saw in those higher elevations, Abraham. Lot, go home. Go back to Abraham. Get out of this place. And Lot said unto them, and here it is, what will Lot choose?

[4:31] He had an opportunity. God's mercy stepped into his life, turned his heart from sin, turned him from this place, removed him from a situation of horrible influence, a dangerous situation for him and his family.

[4:45] And Lot said unto them, oh, not so, my Lord. What is Lot's heart in this? It's going to be kind of a, the front part of this message is going to be a little bit front loaded, the beginning part.

[5:00] And we're going to go a little quick through the end part with Lot and his daughters. There's some stuff there, but I was thinking about what is Lot's heart? What kind of a man was this that would find himself in this position?

[5:11] And how would he react? And how did he get here? Well, we know from 2 Peter, chapter two, verses four through eight, Peter tells us, for if God, turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, that's key that word there too, and we look a little later at that area, the ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly, and delivered just Lot, vexed, or literally worn down, that word means, he's worn down, with the filthy, the unbridled, no restraint, no boundaries, the unbridled conversation or lifestyle of the wicked.

[5:52] For that righteous man, dwelling among them, and seeing and hearing, vexed, or wore down his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds. So Lot has a righteous soul.

[6:03] Lot is saved. We are saved by grace through faith, that not of ourselves. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Okay, that's Lot.

[6:14] Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. You shall. Doesn't mean someday. The text is, you are. It happened. It's done. We are seated with him in the heavenlies, positionally.

[6:27] That doesn't become undone. We are born again. There's no such thing as being dead again. Okay? Once in Christ, your soul has been redeemed. Well, what about people like Lot?

[6:38] A redeemed soul, but check out his life. What's going on? I think Paul gives us a little clue into that. In Corinthians, Paul is dealing with this church in Corinth that they're believers.

[6:49] They're a church. They're a body of Christ. And yet they've got some issues. And he boils it down kind of to this. In 1 Corinthians 3, verse 3, he says, For you are yet carnal.

[7:01] For whereas there is among you envying and strife and divisions, are you not carnal and walk as men? The implication being, you should not be carnal and walk as men.

[7:12] It's no longer for you to be walking as men. What does it look like to walk as men? Men of this world envying strife and divisions. Carnal means having the nature of the flesh or under control of the appetites of the flesh.

[7:26] Right? So we are spirit, soul, and body. We fell in the garden and now we are body, soul, spirit. And there are people today who will live up to their highest potential as, shall we say, a fallen son of Adam.

[7:41] Right? They will live by the desires, their higher desires of knowing right from wrong, of the soul. But it's still not a live spirit. And then there are those who live after the most basest of their nature and they live after the flesh.

[7:54] And there's a downward spiral. It's what you see in Romans 1. It's what you see in a society that at one time seems like they had morality, they had judgment, they had reason, they had understanding, they had good and bad.

[8:05] What happened? Well, they're still falling. And so it's still going to go down short of their heart being renewed with a new heart and then a new nature.

[8:15] Their nature's still fallen. So they may start at the highest part of their fallen nature, but eventually will devolve into the lowest part of their nature. So to be carnal is when the nature of the flesh and the appetites of the flesh is what controls, is what rules.

[8:32] Romans tells us in chapter 8, verses 6 and 7, it says, for to be carnally minded, to be having the mind, we see that word a lot, having the mind of the natural appetites of the flesh, having the mind of the fallen nature, of our human nature, is death.

[8:50] It leads to death. But to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Well, that seems like there's an option and a difference there. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God.

[9:02] In other words, it can't fit with what God does. For it's not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. And that is many times why when we approach the scripture, or the scripture approaches us, or the Holy Spirit speaks into our life, our first reaction is almost like, oh dear, I don't quite get that.

[9:20] That doesn't quite fit. I don't quite understand that. It's because our carnal mind cannot subject itself to the law of God. We have to have the mind of the spirit. So what is a carnal Christian then?

[9:31] Well, I thought this was my definition. A carnal Christian is one whose soul belongs to God, but his life belongs to himself. And I think that is Lot. Lot's soul belonged to God, but his life belonged to self.

[9:44] The motivating principle of a carnal Christian is self. The motivating principle of a spirit-filled Christian is the cross.

[9:55] That's what motivates us because self is crucified on the cross, and now we take on ourselves a new nature and a new life in the spirit. That's no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me.

[10:09] And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So it's no longer I that live. It's not my faith. It's his faith. It's his life. I need to crucify that life.

[10:22] And so the motivating principle of the spirit-filled life is the cross. I go to the cross and recognize this is where I end and he starts. This is where real life can begin.

[10:33] So Lot had a righteous soul, but he had an unrenewed mind and an uncrucified flesh because what did we see there? That the flesh cannot be subject to the law of God, so the flesh needs to be crucified.

[10:48] The mind cannot be, so we need a new mind. Lot's soul was righteous, but he did not subject himself to God. He did not have a mind that was renewed or a crucified flesh.

[11:00] Where do we see that? Again, as we go to the New Testament, looking through that filter of the cross, from this side of the cross, we can look back at these things that were written for our edification and see, oh, that's what's happening here.

[11:11] Oh, that's why Lot's life was like this. Romans 12, verses 1 and 2. Speaking of the mind, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

[11:27] So you have an option if you want to present this body unto the Lord or not. And be not conformed to this world, do not follow the patterns of this world, but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

[11:44] How does that verse, that section start out? I beseech you, brethren. Paul's saying, please do this, which means I could say, no, I don't want to do this. I'm not going to do this.

[11:54] And if I do, then I live my life without a transformed or renewed mind. Paul says you need your mind renewed. Ephesians 4, 22 to 24, that you put off concerning the former lifestyle of the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.

[12:12] Well, is that not Lot? Living according to his old man, being led by deceitful lusts, a righteous soul, but an unrenewed mind, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on the new man.

[12:27] Those words there, put on and put off, are literally, take off your coat and put on a different one. Take it off, hang it up, take the other one and put it on. And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

[12:41] So be renewed in your mind. How do you be renewed in your mind? We're talking a little about this yesterday with the guys. It's through the word, right? God's truth comes through the mind.

[12:55] We don't hide it in our hearts by shoving it in there. We don't eat it. We don't put it under our pillow at night and hope it sucks in, right? Even our Bible app with the verse for today that throws it at us, you know?

[13:07] We need to be in the word. We need to be taking this in and digesting it. It needs to be going into our mind. God has designed the mind to be the gateway to the soul, to the heart.

[13:17] It is through the mind that God interacts with us and with our hearts. Can God supersede that? Of course he can. But there sure is an awful lot in this book that says, be in this book and let this book be in you.

[13:31] Galatians 5, 24 to 25, and they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. So we've renewed our mind. Now we need to crucify the flesh. If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit.

[13:45] Those two things are linked. Living in the spirit, great. What is it to walk in the spirit? It's to crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts. It's a daily thing. Daily.

[13:56] Every day. Luke 9, 23 to 25. And he said to them, Jesus said this, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.

[14:08] For whosoever will save his life shall lose it. But whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, Lot, if he gained the whole world and lose himself or be cast away?

[14:23] What does it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his family? To lose himself. I think it's Matthew or Mark translates that. For what does it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his soul?

[14:35] Here Luke says, what does it profit if he gained the whole world and lose himself? And you lose yourself. Lot has lost himself in this. Lot had a righteous soul but an unrenewed mind and an uncrucified flesh.

[14:48] As we saw clearly in the New Testament, Jesus and Paul tell us our mind must be renewed. Our flesh must be crucified so that we can have the full experience of the life in the Spirit.

[15:00] And that's our greatest good. When we don't do that, well, we end up like our buddy Lot here. He's walking by everything contrary to the will of God.

[15:12] Because as we saw, the mind, the carnal mind cannot be subject to the law of God. So someone who's walking after their own desires and flesh and will, they're not going to be in God's will.

[15:23] And that's just how it is. No matter, again, how high they may live up to their potential as a natural fallen man. And wow, they're a great guy. So smart.

[15:35] Wow, she is just so compassionate. But if it's the flesh, it's the flesh, guys. And he who sows the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption. And eventually, the flesh always will bear fruit according to its nature.

[15:49] What's God's heart? So in this moment, this is Lot's heart. As the angels drag him out and they say, escape, lest you be consumed. This is Lot's mind. This is Lot's heart.

[15:59] Lot's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. This isn't going to work because this is not who I am. Well, this is God's heart in this moment. Isaiah 52, 10 through 12.

[16:11] The Lord has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations. And he's going to do that with Sodom and Gomorrah. And all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Depart you, depart you, go out from thence.

[16:23] Touch no unclean thing. Go out of the midst of her. Be you clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight. For the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear word.

[16:37] So what looks to Lot like, whoa, I've got to make this decision. God's got this. This isn't like a, you've got to decide. The whole thing has been put on pause here because Lot's an indecision.

[16:48] And the angels are going to pretty much tell him, will you hurry up and do something? I can't do anything until you hit start again and get moving. But God's heart, depart you, depart you. Touch no unclean thing. That's our greatest good.

[16:59] We don't believe that. In my natural mind, my carnal mind doesn't believe that. Something's being withheld. Die? Something has to die? That doesn't make any sense because after death is nothing, says my carnal mind.

[17:11] The life of the Spirit says, oh, after death is resurrection. Die that you can live. Accept a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die. It remains alone.

[17:22] But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. And so Lot has an opportunity here. He could have turned to the Lord, and he could have experienced that fruitful life.

[17:34] But Lot doubles down, unfortunately. And he says unto them, oh, not so, my Lord. Behold, now thy servant has found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life.

[17:46] And I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me and I die. There's bad guys in the mountain. Lions, tigers, and bears. Abraham's up there. Oh, have you tried to live with?

[17:58] And his wife? Oh, no. Lot. The word, the name Lot means covering. It means to cover. Doesn't that describe this man? He's always covering. He's always trying to cover one thing or the other.

[18:09] Oh, no, no, no, no. I'm not really with those angels. Now that they're in my house, don't worry about them. No, I'm with you guys, Sodom. We tight. I'm in the gates with you. And he's trying to cover. Oh, no, family. It's all good. Yeah.

[18:19] No, no, don't worry about that. We've got God's people in the house with us. He's always trying to cover. But the word covering actually is the same word. It's used in Isaiah 25, 7. It's the same idea of the covering that is between God and his people, a covering of sin that is there.

[18:35] It says, And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people and the veil that is spread over all nations. It's essentially Lot represents the uncircumcised flesh, the uncircumcised heart.

[18:48] Lot is a covering. Abraham has entered into that covenant and he circumcised his heart, right? Because like Paul tells us, circumcision avails nothing. But of the heart. And Lot's name means covering because he's unwilling to remove the covering of his heart and let God in.

[19:04] And so we see here that Lot has made it a habit of questioning God's word. He can't accept anything God says anymore. It's time to go, Lot. Well, are you really sure? And then here he says, Escape lest you be consumed.

[19:15] He says, Oh, not so. Oh, no, no. It's not going to be that. It can't be that. No, no, no, no. And so he says, I thank you that you've saved me. I recognize its grace, that I found grace in your sight.

[19:26] You've magnified your mercy. You saved my life. So the flesh sees grace only as an escape hatch. The flesh sees grace as a way to get out of jail and out of trouble.

[19:37] Maybe you know people like that. I do. My crisis friend who calls me only when he's in crisis and wants God to, you know, pull the hatch and bail him out and everything's going to be okay.

[19:51] But he goes right back into it again and again and again. He only sees grace as an escape hatch. No willingness to walk in what's been put before him. So Lot was willing to recognize that God had saved his life, but he was not willing to let God direct his life.

[20:07] God saved him. He says, Thank you, God. You saved me, but I cannot escape to this mountain. Not so, Lord. I have a better idea. Thank you for saving me. I'm so glad I'm not getting consumed in fire and brimstone, but I'm going to direct my life.

[20:23] It's been going pretty good so far, don't you think? Everything's fine. What could go wrong? And sometimes we do that when God's grace comes in so magnificently and he kind of resets us, you know, and then we think, in the afterglow of that, we think, well, of course, everything's going to work out now, but we still head off on our own ideas and directions, right?

[20:43] And then we get right back there. It's like, Lord, how'd I find myself here again? And then God's grace resets it. Thank you, Jesus. Everything's going to work out now. And off we go again instead of putting our trust in the Lord.

[20:57] Lot was happy to escape outward destruction, but unwilling to let God rescue him from the inward corruption. Lot's heart had been corrupted. His righteous soul was being worn down every day by the life he lived.

[21:12] You know, we, as we looked at last week, we're to be in the world, but not of it. And the most amazing thing is not that God can reach down and grab a sinful man and take him out of this world and save him and clean him up. It's amazing.

[21:24] The most amazing thing is he can take that then sinful man, cleaned up and made righteous, put him back in the world and keep him. That is amazing that God can keep us in this world, in the midst of this corruption. But there's a part we play as we looked at.

[21:37] Will we renew our minds? Will we crucify our flesh? Will we say yes to the things of the Lord? Lot, was like, I cannot escape lest some evil take me and I will die.

[21:49] The flesh is just irrational. Wait a minute, Lot. God's about to smoke these cities. He sent angels to rescue you. He pulled you out. Like, has anybody had angels?

[21:59] Like, grab them and say, we're leaving here now. You know, I know some of you have had interactions with people that were not quite what they seemed and seemed like the Lord had sent them, that they might have been angels.

[22:11] But this is pretty overt. So, don't you think, Lot, like God's got a plan? Like, he can keep you? Remember what the Lord said back in chapter 18 in verse 20.

[22:24] The Lord said, because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry. God is there.

[22:36] We said, well, it's just two angels. Remember, at the end, in verse 33 of chapter 18, it says, and the Lord went his way as soon as he had left communing with Abraham. Well, what was his way? Where was he going? He told him, I'm going down to Sodom to see.

[22:50] So, Lot saw the angels. He didn't see the physical presence of the Lord, but the Lord was there. God was there. God was with Lot in this. God is with him now.

[23:00] And so, when Lot says, I can't go, some evil may befall me. Lot, the Lord's gone before you. He's with you now. But you just cannot see or sense his presence because you are living after the flesh.

[23:14] Lot could not imagine living without the appetites of the flesh. He'd grown comfortable with them. They were familiar to him. It's all that he knew. And so, he allowed the desires of his flesh and will to direct his life back into the same danger that God had so recently removed him from.

[23:32] It wasn't that he was in Sodom and Gomorrah. That wasn't the issue. What was it? It was that Sodom and Gomorrah were in Lot. So, wherever Lot goes, Sodom and Gomorrah go too. Behold now, he's got a plan.

[23:47] He's like, Lord, I got this idea. There's this city near to flee unto. And it's a little one. It's not a big deal. Just a little thing. Oh, let me escape thither or there.

[23:59] Let me escape there. Is it not a little one? He reiterates that. And my soul shall live. Please, this is just, it's just a little, a little compromise. Just a little thing. No one will even know.

[24:11] It's all good. Little compromise leads to big problems, doesn't it? Because that little compromise is just a seed. It's just a seed that's going to sprout and grow and bear fruit later.

[24:26] Something interesting here, though, he gets his request. Matthew tells us in chapter 21, verse 22, Jesus says, in all things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.

[24:39] It's like, okay, so, God, I want a million dollars. Where is it? Right? Is that what it means? Well, we know other places it says, if you ask anything according to my will, you shall have those things for which you ask.

[24:50] But wait, Lot just asked for something and received it. Psalm 106 is a scary verse. Or, well, verse 13 through 15. There's a scary verse tucked in Psalm 106.

[25:02] Speaking of Israel in the wilderness, it says, they soon forgot his works. They forgot God's works. They waited not for his counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted God in the desert and he gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.

[25:18] Be careful, Christian, what you petition God for. He may just give it to you. Right? He may give me that thing. I'm like, oh God, I need this. I want this. I want this. I want this. He says, okay, here it is.

[25:29] You know? But it brought leanness to their soul. Think of the leanness. Lot's soul was on life support already. He didn't need it any leaner here. But God's mercy.

[25:42] I love this. As it continues, and he said unto him, see, I've accepted you. Lot, there's nothing you can do about that. I've already accepted you, Lot. I've already bared with you.

[25:54] It literally means that accepted to bear, to lift up. Lot, I've got you. I've got you, Lot. I've accepted you concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city for which thou hast spoken.

[26:07] You see, guys, we bear God's mercy. We are the bearers of God's mercy and grace. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Period.

[26:19] You are the light of the world. Period. And then he gives an example of that. A city set on the hill cannot be hidden. But you are the light of the world. He didn't say, go and be the light of the world. He didn't say, shine really bright is the light of the world.

[26:30] He says, don't cover your light because you are the light of the world. The idea being, wherever you go, you're carrying God's light. Wherever you go, the spirit of God goes. Wherever you go, God's mercy goes. And so Lot can't help it.

[26:41] He goes into this city and God's mercy goes with him. He bears and carries God's mercy. And he says, I cannot do anything. The compromise will block God's plan.

[26:52] Right? He's saying, I can't do anything. I have to deal with this first. You're compromised. I've got this plan I want to do. I need to bring judgment. Matthew 13, 58, when Jesus was at his hometown, it says this about him, this commentary.

[27:06] He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. That there was an ability by the hearts of these people to block what God wanted to do.

[27:17] Jesus would have done mighty works there. They weren't willing to receive it. And here we see Lot's compromise is standing in the way of what God has desired to do.

[27:28] And whatever God desires to do is our best interest. Remember back where it says in verse 16, the Lord being merciful unto him, it didn't look like mercy to Lot.

[27:41] Being dragged out of his city, God sending judgment on his city, how's that mercy? God, just don't judge the city. Do something different. Save them. We think that a lot.

[27:52] Well, why did that have to happen? Couldn't Jesus just have saved everybody? Guys, he did. He did. The cross, in a sense, covered everybody. But he's not going to make anyone partake of that salvation.

[28:03] And so there are those who will say, no, I don't want it. And God's not going to force them into it. And so Lot enters into Zoar. Therefore, the name of it in verse 22, the city was called Zoar, or literally became the name little or small.

[28:22] Insignificant. It's an insignificant thing, but not so insignificant. Then the Lord. I like that part. Here's all this stuff happening, but the Lord gets the last word.

[28:32] Always gets the last word. Then the Lord. When man has finished his last chapter, when his last, written his last sentence, placed a period at the end of his last line, closed the book and placed it upon the shelf, then the Lord.

[28:50] The furthest extremity of the arc of humanity, and then the Lord. The Lord's just like, okay, we can let it play out. I'm good. I've got a lot of time, a lot of grace, a lot of mercy.

[29:03] The longer we do this, there's just more people coming. Let's just bring the harvest, right? The Lord will always have the last word. But in this instance, it wasn't the last word of mercy, at least not as Lot pictured it.

[29:16] It was God's mercy because God knew I need to get rid of Sodom and Gomorrah and all of these cities because Israel, my people are going to inhabit this land. And boy, are they easily influenced. I can't have them here with the Sodomites and the Gomorrahites.

[29:30] Never really say that one, I guess. But a society in full decline has nothing redeemable apart from the righteous soul. Souls that still dwell in it. I'm all over my words today.

[29:43] A society in full decline has nothing redeemable apart from the righteous souls that still dwell in it. Once they are removed, the natural course of God's holy order will proceed to judgment.

[29:56] Guys, we live in a society in full decline. If God were to remove his righteous presence, the natural course of God's holy order, judgment. It's judgment. That's what's next. And so Lot, as he's being removed from Sodom and Gomorrah, then God rains down upon these cities, fire from heaven.

[30:16] And as we saw from that one picture, Zoar seems to be further to the south, so it was kind of off by itself a little. And he overthrew those cities, verse 25, and all the plain and all the inhabitants of the city and that which grew upon the ground, but his wife, Lot's wife, looked back from behind him and she became a pillar of salt.

[30:42] That word, look back, look behind, it's actually, so in the Hebrew, if you see where it says, but his wife looked back. But his is one word and looked is one word and they're the exact same word and they both point to Lot's wife.

[30:55] So in the Hebrew, you know, when you bookend a word, it's because it's emphasizing and emphasizing the word caught in the middle. And so that word means regard, that, like, they want, the scripture wants us to know Lot's wife was regarding what was behind, right?

[31:11] She was, she wanted that. She was stuck there and she got real stuck there. Why did Lot leave his wife behind? She was a little too salty. She became a pillar of salt.

[31:25] I used to know another joke about Lot's wife, but, you know, I didn't, I didn't want to bring it up. It's in the past. Anyway, now I have to find where I was.

[31:41] So Lot's wife, she had no regard for her husband, right? What is it? Lot's wife looked from behind him. She's behind him. She's not regarding him. He's like, come on, honey. And is she following?

[31:51] No. He lost that a long time ago. He lost that regard years ago. Where was she? Where was her heart? Well, her heart had followed her husband. It followed it into Sodom. He had promised, this is going to be great for our family.

[32:03] It's going to be awesome. And that's where her heart still was. The word regard, to look towards, to point or be directed, to attend with respect and estimation, to value everything she should have had towards her husband.

[32:17] She should have looked towards him. She should have been directed towards him. She should have had respect and estimation and paid attention. She should have valued Lot and his opinion. in the direction he was taking them.

[32:30] But she didn't. And Lot's lingering back in verse 16 when he lingered in that place of sin. Man, that compromise cost him his marriage. He lingered there. God said, I'm going to get you out of here.

[32:42] Imagine if he had said, yes, let's go. Come on. And they run to the mountain. Well, his wife would have been there. I bet his daughters wouldn't have turned out like they did. But Lot's lingering in that place of sin cost him his marriage and cost him his wife.

[32:57] There's a scripture that talks about regard. Psalm 28, verse 3 and 5. Draw me not away with the wicked and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts.

[33:09] Hello, Sodom. Because they regard not the works of the Lord. They do not place value in. They don't have any estimation towards his works. They're not looking toward them or being directed by them, nor the operation of his hand.

[33:23] And so he shall destroy them and not build them up. So I guess the question is when Jesus returns before his final judgment, he's going to return and remove us. At that time, what's he going to find me regarding?

[33:36] What am I going to be giving value and attention and direction to? Am I going to be looking over? Oh, man, I don't want to go in the rapture. I want a grandchild. No pressure. You know, I don't want to go in the rapture.

[33:50] I got all these things I want to do. Lord, we just started this church. I mean, there's people to save. There's things to do. We haven't had a baptism yet. No, that's our blessed hope.

[34:00] Our greatest good is being focused on the return of our Lord. And so Lot's wife, Lot failed as an influence for righteousness in the life of his family.

[34:12] He already lost some of his children. Now he's lost his wife. And now we have another meanwhile. Meanwhile, back on the farm. And we're going to move this through this section a little quicker.

[34:23] But we have Abraham. He says, meanwhile, doesn't say meanwhile, but meanwhile, Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord and he looked toward Sodom 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 the furnace.

[34:40] And it came to pass when God destroyed the cities of the plain that God remembered Lot. No. But God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.

[34:54] Who is Abraham as we've been going through this, right? He's our man of promise. He's the one who bears the promise. What have we seen? All those connected with the man of promise partake in the promise and fall under the protection and covering of him.

[35:09] Sarah, Lot, doesn't matter. But it all goes back to that one, to Abraham. Same with us. It goes back to our man of promise. It goes back to Jesus. But Abraham, I like where he says he got up early in the morning.

[35:20] This seems to be a pattern in his life. We're going to find out when he has to take Isaac to the mountain. He gets up early in the morning to go. There's one other place and I can't, oh, when he has to send out Ishmael.

[35:32] When God says send him out, Ishmael and Hagar, he gets up early in the morning to do that. Abraham started his day in the place of communion with the Lord. And that's a great example for us.

[35:43] But I wonder, and we're going to look at this next week when we get into with Abimelech, if this rocked him a little. He didn't get a call, Lot, you all good? Okay, good. He doesn't know what's happened. We're never going to hear from Lot again.

[35:54] He's going to squirrel off into the mountains. I don't know. Did this rock him a little? Did it cause him to like think, God, did you do that? Did you not? Did the Lord tell him he did that? I don't know.

[36:06] Because then, unfortunately, in chapter 20, we're going to see where he's going to kind of go back down into a not-so-great place. But either way, at this point, Abraham's up. He's seeing that God, you know, he must be thinking, there weren't ten righteous.

[36:21] Way to go, Lot. And it came to pass that God remembered Abraham when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.

[36:32] James tells us, we quote it all the time, the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. So God used Abraham's heart of intercession to forestall the reaping of what Lot had sowed.

[36:44] Abraham prayed and God forestalled the reaping of Lot's life. Lot was given a second chance to turn his life around because of Abraham. Lot did not choose to turn his life around, but he was given that chance.

[36:58] All right. This is the last section. Lot goes up, he goes to Zoar in verse 30. Lot went up to Zoar, or went out of Zoar. He went up out of Zoar. We don't know how long that is. A week, two weeks, a month.

[37:09] The scripture where it said in verse 23, tucked in there very quickly, it says, the sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Why does it say that? I think it's letting us know in full view, Lot comes into Zoar, and then poof, everything else is just smoked.

[37:26] So, all the people saw Lot come in. They all knew. Well, this guy just arrived, and then this happened, and hey, where are you from? Sodom? Whoa! Nobody else survived.

[37:39] Are you the reason this happened? Did you cause this? I think Lot was freaked out living in Zoar. You know, like, you think of when Peter denied Jesus, and I do not know the man.

[37:50] You can picture Lot. Where are you from? I'm some, you know, Hebron. But you got that accent, like you've been in Sodom. You know, are you sure? And so Lot doesn't stay long in Zoar, and he heads up into the mountain, the place originally that God wanted him to go, but not in the way God wanted him to go.

[38:08] And he goes up from there, for he feared to dwell in Zoar, and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father's old. There's not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth.

[38:22] What do you mean? There's nobody left? What? Lot, he's like, I'm not gonna let this happen to these two girls. I'm gonna shelter them. We are out of here, away from the world.

[38:33] Kids, there's nobody left. The Lord's destroyed the whole world. We're the only ones left. Don't go out there. They'll get you. Last desire to shelter his daughters was motivated, unfortunately, by fear and not by faith.

[38:45] He had thought he had a safe space in Sodom for them in his home. Nobody touches my home, and that didn't work. So now he's trying to get as far from society and the world as he could.

[38:56] Lot has taught his daughters to fear, but not to fear the Lord. And so they're up there and the oldest says, hey, there's no men left.

[39:09] We got no husbands. And they made their father drink wine that night. The firstborn went in and lay with their father and he perceived not when she lay down nor when he rose. And it came to pass on the morrow that the firstborn said unto her younger, behold, I lay yesterday night with my father.

[39:24] Let us make him drink wine this night also. And go thou in and lie with him that we may preserve seed after our father. And they made their father drink wine that night also.

[39:36] And the younger arose and lay with him. And he perceived not when she lay down nor when she arose. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. Alcohol and impropriety go hand in hand.

[39:50] From the outside, Lot looked like he was sheltering his children. It looked like he had removed them to this place of shelter. But from the inside, it was too late. Lot thought the solution for his children was to shelter them from all interaction with the world.

[40:05] I'm going to remove you from this. However, this goes directly against the heart of God. God desires us to be in the world but just not of the world. For Lot, he could remove his family from the world but he could not remove the world from his family.

[40:18] You can't quarantine from sin. And Lot thought, it's okay. But the sin had already entered into their hearts. Sodom was already the influence in their life.

[40:29] That's who they were. And Lot, instead of taking them to that place of refuge, the Lord is our refuge, he thought that if he could just get them away from the badness out there, everything would be fine.

[40:45] Clearly, these girls had no respect for their father, obviously. I think they lost that a long time ago but how could they? He's never shown them respect, has he? Malachi 4, verses 5 and 6, the last verses of the Old Testament.

[41:00] The promise, Behold, I'll send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

[41:14] Guys, if we wait, moms and dads, for our children to respond before we push into their world, we may be waiting a long time if we wait to push into their world.

[41:25] Lot could have waited, hey, I'll just wait until they respond. I've got them in a good spot. No, he needed to push in. He needed to be the one where it says to turn the heart of the fathers to the children, then the children to the fathers.

[41:39] We can't put it on them. They're waiting for us. They're waiting for us to lead. So what do we do? What do we do when we see the influence and wickedness of the world assaulting our families and homes?

[41:51] Lot recognized, late and far too late, this was bad. But he didn't seek the Lord and he didn't follow the Lord. He mimicked the Lord. The Lord said, come with me to the mountain.

[42:03] Well, he eventually went on his own. He mimicked what God was doing. Boy, there's a lot of that out there. There's a lot of people trying to mimic righteousness, hoping it's going to help their families.

[42:15] What do we do when we see the influence and wickedness of the world assaulting our families and homes? We are to run, not run from the world, but we are to run to the word. Don't try and run from the world.

[42:29] Just run to the word to keep you from the influence of the world. We are to be in the world with our families, yes, but not without first being in the word with them. Don't send your kids out into the world.

[42:40] Don't go out into the world yourself without having first been in the word to get the word in you. We are to shelter our families from the influence of the world. We are, but we do that by teaching them that the word of God is our refuge.

[42:54] There is no other refuge. There is no location you can get to. We could all move to Montana. It is not going to work, guys, because we are taking the sin with us. Sodom is already in there. The word of God is our refuge.

[43:08] There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safeties of the Lord. I think verse 31 was written kind of flippantly. The horse is prepared against the day of battle.

[43:20] Seriously? Safeties of the Lord. Who would think that a horse is going to protect you? Psalm 61, verse 3 and 4. For thou hast been a shelter from me and a strong tower from the enemy.

[43:31] I'll abide in thy tabernacle forever. I'll trust in the covert of thy wings. And then Psalm 91, 4, same type of verse. He shall cover thee with his feathers and under his wings thou shalt trust.

[43:43] His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. There's no greater refuge. So as we end our story with Lot, you know, his daughters says in verse 37, the firstborn bare a son and called his name Moab, the same as the father of the Moabites unto this day.

[44:01] The younger also bare a son and called his name Ben-Ami, the same as the father of the children of Ammon. You say, wow, that's really bad. That's too bad that worked out that way. Yes, but God's gracious.

[44:13] God's merciful. You know, if this didn't happen, there'd be no Moab, the son of this unnamed daughter. And without Moab, there'd be no Ruth.

[44:26] Without Ruth, there'd be no Obed. Without Obed, there'd be no Jesse. Without Jesse, there'd be no David. And without David, there'd be no son of David. Now, could God weave it another way? Of course, but he didn't.

[44:37] And so this horrible, tragic situation, God can still look at it and go, man, I can redeem that family too. I got this. We just don't want to find ourselves running to something else, thinking that that's our shelter, that's our refuge, that's going to protect my children, that's going to influence the world, when we have it right in front of us.

[44:57] And it's as simple as the word of God. Father, your word, Lord, it just keeps speaking over and over. It never stops. So, Lord, we could go on and it wouldn't stop speaking.

[45:12] Thank you, Lord, for seasons. Thank you, Lord, for days and weeks and months and years. Thank you for times to gather and times to be alone, times for activity and time for quiet. But Lord, it is always time to respond to you.

[45:26] It's always time to turn to you. It is always the proper time to run to you as our refuge. There is only one refuge and it's you. Poor Lot, he thought he had it all down, that he could figure it out.

[45:37] Even after his family fell apart, even after God's grace came, he still tried in his own effort. Lord, would you please at Calvary Chapel Charlotte, Lord, if there's one thing you do, would you teach us, Lord, to stop trying in our own effort and to take you serious about the things you tell us you want to do on our behalf.

[45:58]  And in Jesus' name, Amen.