1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:03,720 First thing I want you to see is this, and we're going to read 2 00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:06,920 through this entire chapter in bits and pieces because I don't 3 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:09,360 think there's anything that we can really leave out of this to 4 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:11,840 give you the entire story of just exactly what's happening. 5 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,200 But the first thing I want you to see is the moral perversion 6 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:17,040 of Sodom. The moral perversion of Sodom. 7 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:19,880 And first of all, I want you to look at the prevalence of 8 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:23,360 Sodom's sin verse #1 we already read, but it says this in verse 9 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:27,040 #2 And he said, Behold, Now talking about Lot, my Lords, 10 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:30,600 turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all 11 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:31,800 night. By the way, that's the first 12 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:33,800 mention of the word house in the Bible. 13 00:00:34,480 --> 00:00:38,600 Lot moved into Sodom and bought himself a house in that city. 14 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:41,960 So turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry 15 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:45,600 all night, and wash your feet, and you shall rise up early and 16 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:47,240 go on your ways. And they said nay. 17 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:50,560 But we will abide in the street. All night. 18 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:54,520 And he pressed upon them greatly, and they turned into an 19 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:56,760 in unto him, and entered into his house. 20 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:00,640 And he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and 21 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:03,840 they did eat. Now God sets a limit to human 22 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:08,160 wickedness, beyond which His judgment is inevitable. 23 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:11,280 And God had passed a verdict upon that city and upon its. 24 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:13,880 Culture all the way. Back in Genesis chapter 13. 25 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:16,480 But the wickedness was everywhere, and it's not that 26 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,320 that one or two. Debased individuals were 27 00:01:19,320 --> 00:01:22,120 sneaking around at night and doing things that were that were 28 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:26,560 immoral or or ungodly, and they were doing it in private behind 29 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:29,080 locked doors. It was an accepted way of life. 30 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:32,720 And lot more than anybody else, being that he was a leader in 31 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:36,160 that city, knew exactly what the moral perversion was in the city 32 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:37,600 of Sodom. Now. 33 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:41,160 He probably had become one of Sodom's high officials, a member 34 00:01:41,320 --> 00:01:44,800 of of what you consider to be the legislator no less. 35 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:46,000 He was. He was. 36 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:49,680 His responsibility was upholding the principles of that city and 37 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:53,000 protecting the filthy privileges of its people. 38 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:55,320 What a place for a professing believer. 39 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:59,320 I can't imagine that Lot ever thought that he would be in a 40 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:02,480 position like that. On the first day he just cast 41 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:04,880 his eyes towards Sodom and looked at that well watered 42 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:07,920 plane and thought, this is where I want to raise my cattle and 43 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:10,280 raise my family. This is where I want to settle 44 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:12,280 down. Sure, there's Sodom over there 45 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:16,120 and sure it's a wicked city, but I'll never find myself there. 46 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:19,720 And the next thing you know, not only did Lot of Lot pitch his 47 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:22,520 tent towards Sodom. The next thing you know, he was 48 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:25,920 in the city, he bought a house, he made his residence there, and 49 00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:29,000 he became a leader in that city. And as a leader in that city, 50 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,280 his job was to uphold the laws that would allow the filth of 51 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:36,800 that place to carry on unpunished and without reproof. 52 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,480 That was that was how far the morality of Sodom had tainted 53 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:44,280 the values and the judgement and the sense of right and wrong of 54 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:49,600 a backslidden child of God. There Lot sat, dressed in all of 55 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:53,760 his official robes, surrounded by filthy minded men, accepted 56 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:56,800 by them because now he spoke their language and and he 57 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,680 condoned their practices and above all, he had made the 58 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:02,000 connections with all of those people in that city. 59 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:06,120 So there sat Lot smiling and laughing and agreeing with all 60 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:08,800 of the things that were happening, probably being torn 61 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:12,720 up on the inside because he knew and, and, and if we didn't have 62 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:16,080 this in the Bible, it would be hard for us to stomach, hard for 63 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:19,040 us to comprehend the fact that Lot was righteous and just. 64 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:23,040 But that's what God calls him. It would be hard for us to call 65 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:25,360 him that. But he wasn't a righteous man 66 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,200 and he was a just man. And I can't imagine that as he's 67 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:32,400 outwardly accepting and outwardly enjoying all the 68 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:35,360 things in Sodom that is inside was not being torn up. 69 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:37,720 Because he was backslidden and he knew it. 70 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:42,280 Suddenly he was startled by the appearance of these two angels. 71 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:45,680 They had appeared to Abraham, Abraham as men just a few days 72 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:49,280 before, but now probably because Lot had no understanding, and 73 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:51,920 his mind had been so warped that he would not have known who they 74 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:54,400 were except they came to him as angels. 75 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:56,440 And they came to Lot's door as angels. 76 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:59,560 And Lot excused himself from where he sat in the gate of the 77 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:02,880 city, and he hastened to go out and meet those visitors, and and 78 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:05,040 offer them the hospitality of his home. 79 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:09,440 Abraham had a tent, Lot had a house. 80 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,280 Abraham was a Pilgrim, Lot was a citizen. 81 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:17,680 Abraham, when the angels visited him, they gladly accepted his 82 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:20,120 hospitality. These With Lot, they were very 83 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:22,000 curt. They didn't want really to even 84 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,720 go into Lot's house until he pressed upon them greatly. 85 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,000 The Bible says nobody knew better than Lot the kinds of 86 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:30,680 things that went on at night in the streets of Sodom and they. 87 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:32,760 Said, no, that's fine, we'll just spend the night in the 88 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:34,280 streets. And Lot said you can't stay 89 00:04:34,280 --> 00:04:36,720 there. I don't know if Lot was afraid 90 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:39,880 that they were going to see the, the the debauchery and, and, and 91 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:41,520 everything that was debased in that city. 92 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:43,480 I don't know. But he was urgent and he was 93 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:45,720 insisted. And as a member of the city 94 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:49,080 administration, he knew all too well about the crime and the 95 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,240 corruption that stalked the city of Sodom at night. 96 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,840 And so we see the prevalence of Sodom sin, but also the 97 00:04:55,840 --> 00:04:59,760 pollution of Sodom sin. Now verse #4 the Bible says, But 98 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:03,160 before they lay down the men of the city, even the men of Sodom 99 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:07,680 compass the city, that the house round both old and young, all 100 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:10,680 the people from every quarter. And they called unto Lot, and 101 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:14,120 said unto him, Where are the men which came into thee this night? 102 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:17,720 Bring them out unto us, that we may know them. 103 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:21,720 Supper with these angels was hardly over when there was an 104 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:23,520 uproar at Lot's door, and he knew exactly. 105 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:26,800 What that meant, I'm sure he had seen it happen many times 106 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:28,560 before, when people had showed up as visitors. 107 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:32,200 And Sodom, every filthy man of Sodom, had come with their 108 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:36,160 hellish passions burning. It was the vilest, the most. 109 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:39,920 Degraded the unholiest demand that can possibly issue from the 110 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:42,440 lips of men. But it wasn't only turn turn 111 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:46,800 over to Ezekiel chapter 16. It wasn't only their homosexual 112 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:50,320 desires that polluted Sodom and caused it to stink in the 113 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:53,000 nostrils of God. There's a few passages that 114 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:56,160 mention Sodom and obviously we are well aware of the fact that 115 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:00,040 that that homosexuality is what is associated with that city. 116 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:03,160 But there was a lot of things that God hated about Sodom. 117 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:07,920 And in Ezekiel chapter 16 and verse 49, God is, is essentially 118 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:12,520 saying that Israel is, is, is going to, to bring judgment upon 119 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:14,800 themselves because of the way that they were living. 120 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:18,520 And he says this in verse #49 Behold, this was the iniquity of 121 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:23,280 thy sister Sodom. Pride, fullness of bread and 122 00:06:23,280 --> 00:06:26,520 abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters. 123 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:29,640 Neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 124 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:33,280 And they were haughty and committed abomination before me. 125 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:39,480 Therefore, I took them away as I saw good Sodom was polluted 126 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:43,560 beyond the the the mercy of God. And I'll tell you what our 127 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:46,680 culture is is not far behind our culture whitewashes. 128 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:49,600 Sin. Oh, we call, we, we call a 129 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:53,360 drunkard an alcoholic. We call a thief a kleptomaniac. 130 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:55,960 We call somebody that that that commits adultery. 131 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:59,280 We say that, well, they had an affair, right? 132 00:06:59,280 --> 00:07:02,440 The, the, the person who indulges in the vileness of 133 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:04,640 sodomy. We say, well, they're gay, 134 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:07,240 right? God's word strips aside all of 135 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:11,320 those euphemisms and he exposes sin for just exactly what sin 136 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:14,640 is. God's abhorrence of sexual 137 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:16,800 perversion is well documented in the Old Testament. 138 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:21,240 In fact, when somebody was accused and and and convicted of 139 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:23,800 homosexuality, the punishment was that they were to be put to 140 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:25,760 death. In the Old Testament. 141 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:30,560 Not only that, but the fact that God destroyed with fire the city 142 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:34,440 that gave sodomy its name. God hates that perversion. 143 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:37,400 And it's not just the homosexuality, it's all of these 144 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:39,720 other things that he mentioned. And I think foremost because he 145 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:42,520 mentioned it twice here in Ezekiel chapter 16, is the 146 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:46,320 pride, the haughtiness of Sodom and Gomorrah. 147 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:49,400 They were throwing it in the face of God. 148 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:53,800 So we see the pollution of Sodom's sin, but also back in 149 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:58,960 Genesis chapter 19 and verse #6 we see the persistence of 150 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:01,760 Sodom's sin. A lot went out at the door unto 151 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:04,480 them, and shut the door after him, and said, I pray you, 152 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:08,840 brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold, now I have two daughters 153 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:11,880 which have not known man. Let me, I pray you, bring them 154 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:15,120 out unto you and. Do ye to them as is good in your 155 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:17,440 eyes only, and to these men do nothing. 156 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,440 For therefore they came, for therefore came they under the 157 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:24,360 shadow of my roof. I think it was a pretty brave 158 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:28,160 thing for a lot to put himself between the strangers and his 159 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:31,120 and these men that were outside this mob. 160 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:34,280 But imagine a believer, a friend of Abraham who's a friend of 161 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:38,320 God, who had been a Pilgrim, a man who had once had a tent, the 162 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:41,960 same way that Abraham did, a man who had confessed Abraham's 163 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:44,640 faith. Imagine such a man calling the 164 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:48,640 scum of Sodom brethren. But that's what he called them. 165 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:52,960 And I think Lot at least had a little bit of that righteousness 166 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:55,840 left in him, at least had a little bit of that justness left 167 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:57,400 in him. And he realized that these men 168 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:00,160 were angels and he had to protect them at all costs. 169 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:05,880 That's how far the unholy morality of Sodom had warped 170 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:09,720 Lot's sense of values. He was desperate, and perhaps he 171 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:12,880 thought that his position as a leader in the city would buy him 172 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:14,360 a little bit of sway with that mob. 173 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:17,520 But he stood there with his back to the door, facing the mob, and 174 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:20,840 somehow he made himself heard over the clamor of all of these 175 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:22,840 men. But oh, the shame of it. 176 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:26,640 He offered his own daughters. To these men, if they would just 177 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:29,720 leave him and these strangers, these visitors, alone. 178 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:33,200 And as is always the case for a Christian who tries to make 179 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:36,200 himself a part of the world, the world scorns him. 180 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:38,280 And that's exactly what they did to Lot. 181 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:41,600 They started to to to holler back at him. 182 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:44,600 Verse #9 And they said, stand back. 183 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:47,840 And they said again, this one fellow came in to sojourn, and 184 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:49,880 he will needs to be a judge. Now. 185 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:52,240 Will we deal worse with thee than with them? 186 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:55,600 And they pressed sore upon the man, even LON, and came near to 187 00:09:55,600 --> 00:10:00,200 break the door. You don't even belong here. 188 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:01,640 That's what they started to tell a lot. 189 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:04,840 Oh, he's. One of them until he tries to 190 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:07,840 stand up to him, until he tries to, until he tries to do 191 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:10,840 something that they don't like. And you're not one of them 192 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:12,480 anymore. You don't belong here. 193 00:10:12,560 --> 00:10:15,800 You came in to Sojourn and somehow you ended up as a judge. 194 00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:18,320 Who do you think you are to try to tell us what we can do and 195 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:20,880 what we can't do? You're not one of us. 196 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:23,760 That's what always happens. For somebody who goes off into 197 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:26,040 the world, oh, it's great. They're your friend. 198 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:28,760 They want you to succeed. They want to do everything for 199 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:31,000 you until you try to stand up and tell them something they 200 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:32,880 don't like, and they don't even know who you are. 201 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:35,520 They're not your friend. The devil is not your friend. 202 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:40,280 The world is not your friend. The unholy morality of Sodom was 203 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:44,800 a persistent thing. But then I want you to see the 204 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:49,240 punishment of Sodom's sin. Verse #10 But then the men, the 205 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:52,600 angels, put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to 206 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:55,360 them, and shut the door. And they smote the men that were 207 00:10:55,360 --> 00:11:00,040 at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, 208 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:02,400 so that they wearied themselves to find the door. 209 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:05,080 Here's these men knocking the door down, babe. 210 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:07,720 The Bible says they almost broke the door down trying to get 211 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:10,680 inside Lot's house. These angels open the door long 212 00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:13,080 enough to grab a lot and yank him into the house and close the 213 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:14,280 door. And then these men were struck 214 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:16,640 with blindness to the point where they were groping around 215 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:19,960 trying to find the door. And though this? 216 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:23,520 Unholy immorality of Sodom was not to be punished by their 217 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:24,960 laws. It was certainly punishable by 218 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:28,120 the laws of God. And if society is not going to 219 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:31,120 punish that form of behavior, then you can bet that God will 220 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:33,680 punish that form of behavior in lot. 221 00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:36,080 'S case the angels acted and there comes a point in the 222 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:39,440 rising tide of wickedness where God acts, and it's a very 223 00:11:39,440 --> 00:11:43,440 dangerous thing to sin with arrogance and with persistence 224 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:46,560 against the laws of God. And oh, if that was the only 225 00:11:46,560 --> 00:11:48,760 thing that ever happened to the men of Sodom, I think they would 226 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:50,680 have been happy that they were struck with blindness. 227 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:53,240 But little did they know that a greater condemnation and a 228 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:56,240 greater punishment was coming to their city because of their 229 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:58,080 wickedness. And so we see the moral 230 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:01,040 perversion of Sodom, but also I want you to see the mental 231 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,080 pollution of Sodom the first thing. 232 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:07,160 And then and, and really the sad part of this whole story, first 233 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:09,400 of all, is that it corroded Lot's faith. 234 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:12,680 It corroded Lot's faith verse, verse #12. 235 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:16,240 Now we've already, we've already looked at this to an extent, but 236 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:19,480 now we see it even more obviously in Lot's own life. 237 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:24,600 The spotlight swings from the the filthiness of Sodom to the 238 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:27,080 situation that existed in Lot's own family. 239 00:12:27,680 --> 00:12:31,320 How sad the situation is in verse #12 The men said to Lot. 240 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:35,280 Hast thou hear any besides son-in-law, and thy sons, and 241 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:37,760 thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring 242 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:41,320 them out of this place? These men, these angels had come 243 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:44,760 to warn Lot to get his family out of Sodom because God was 244 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:47,160 going to destroy that place. And he said, who do you have 245 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:48,680 here that's with you? Do you have sons? 246 00:12:48,680 --> 00:12:50,400 Do you have daughters? Do you have sons in laws? 247 00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:53,320 Grab them and get them out of here because the judgment of God 248 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:55,680 is coming. Verse 13 For we will destroy 249 00:12:55,680 --> 00:12:58,760 this place, because the cry of them is waxing great before the 250 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:01,640 face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it. 251 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:05,160 And lot went out and. Spake unto his sons in law, 252 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:08,320 which married his daughters, and said, up, get you out of this 253 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:10,840 place, for the Lord will destroy this city. 254 00:13:11,560 --> 00:13:15,880 But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law. 255 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:21,520 I was sad to see that a man were not for the Bible making it 256 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:23,800 clear to us that Lot was a just and righteous man. 257 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:27,480 We'd probably never had accused him of such decency, backslidden 258 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:30,280 and perverted by the wickedness with which he surrounded 259 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:32,880 himself. I think what we're giving here 260 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:36,320 is a glimpse into the torture that Lot faced every day when he 261 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:39,080 was surrounding himself with the wickedness of the world. 262 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:41,120 Turn over to Second Peter, chapter 2. 263 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:46,600 See this. This shows what the philosophy 264 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:48,520 of Sodom had done to the thinking. 265 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:52,040 Of a believing man we cannot keep taking in the world's 266 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:55,600 ideologies without becoming tainted ourselves and that's 267 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:58,400 exactly what happened to Lot and the Bible says in second Peter 268 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:01,720 chapter 2 and verse number six and turning the cities of Sodom 269 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:04,600 and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an 270 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:08,200 overthrow, making them an insample into those that after 271 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:13,360 should live ungodly and delivered just locked vexed with 272 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:16,200 the filthy conversation of the wicked for that. 273 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:20,280 Righteous man dwelling among them in seeing and hearing, 274 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:24,360 vexed his righteous soul from day-to-day with their unlawful 275 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:26,760 deeds. I don't think we would ever 276 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:31,280 accuse Lot of being a righteous and a just man if God had not 277 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:34,680 said that he was a righteous and a just man, because the way that 278 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:36,640 he lived his life certainly did not prove that. 279 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:40,280 But it just goes to show you that a man can be backslidden, a 280 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:43,320 man can be outside of God's will, but his soul is going to 281 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:46,640 be vexed every single day that he's living in that wickedness. 282 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:50,760 And so it corroded Lot's faith, but also it corrupted Lots 283 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:53,960 family. Verse #15 And when the morning 284 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:57,440 arose, then the angels hastened a lot, saying, Arise, take thy 285 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:01,080 wife and thy two daughters which are here, lest thou be consumed 286 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:03,920 in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men 287 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:06,560 laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and 288 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:09,200 upon the hand of his two daughters, the Lord being 289 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:11,080 merciful unto him. And they brought him forth, and 290 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:13,720 set him without the city. And they came to pass, when they 291 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:16,360 had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy 292 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:18,920 life. Look not behind thee, neither 293 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:21,760 stay thou in all the plane. Escape to the mountain, lest 294 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:25,000 thou be consumed. And Lot said unto them, Oh not 295 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,200 so, my Lord. Behold, now thy servant hath 296 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:30,200 found grace in thy sight, and thou has magnified thy mercy, 297 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:32,680 which thou has showed unto me in saving my life. 298 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:36,280 And I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me 299 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:39,120 and I die. Behold. 300 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:42,480 Now this city is near to flee unto you, and it's a little 10. 301 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:44,800 Let me escape thither, is it not a little one? 302 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:49,000 And my soul shall live. And he said unto him, See, I 303 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:51,720 have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not 304 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:54,800 overthrow this city, for the which thou has spoken, haste 305 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:58,480 thee escape thither, for I cannot do anything till thou 306 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:00,920 become thither. Therefore, the name of the city 307 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:03,120 was called Zoar. The Sun. 308 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:06,000 Was risen upon the earth, when Lot entered unto into Zohar. 309 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:09,760 Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and 310 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:11,880 fire from the Lord out of heaven. 311 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:15,080 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the 312 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:17,920 inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew up on the 313 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:20,640 ground. But his wife looked back from 314 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:23,520 behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. 315 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:27,080 And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he 316 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:29,800 stood before the Lord, and he looked towards Sodom and 317 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:32,040 Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and be held 318 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:34,120 in. Lo, the smoke of the country 319 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:36,120 went up as the smoke of a furnace. 320 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:38,920 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the 321 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:42,320 plain, that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the 322 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:46,200 midst of the overthrew, when he overthrew the cities in which 323 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:49,520 Lot dwelt. We have Lot. 324 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:53,520 He's been convinced that he needs to get out of the city, 325 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:56,600 but now he has to go back and walk out into the streets and 326 00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:59,600 and visit the houses of his children in the various parts of 327 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:00,720 town. Can you see? 328 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:04,400 A lot hurrying through these darkened streets, dodging the 329 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:08,520 groveling hands of these blinded, fierce human wolves 330 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:10,560 that were still ravaging upon his door. 331 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:12,920 The Bible says that they were trying to still find the door of 332 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:17,680 his house even blind urging his children and telling them about 333 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:20,240 the imminence of the doom that was coming upon them if they 334 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:24,359 didn't get out of the city. But notice Lot's worthless 335 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:26,000 witness. He ran from house to house. 336 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:28,680 He woke up his children. He got them together and he sat 337 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:31,560 them down in the living room and he told them what what what he 338 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:34,440 had been impressed what had been impressed upon him by these 339 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:37,520 angels about the imminent doom that was coming upon Sodom. 340 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:40,160 And he described the judgment that it that was coming. 341 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:42,320 But the Bible says in verse 14 but. 342 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:46,600 He seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law. 343 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:51,400 So there he went, I think with tear blinded eyes. 344 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:54,600 Walking back through the streets to the place where he had come, 345 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:57,840 knowing that he had failed his own family, knowing that his own 346 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:00,280 sons in laws wouldn't even follow him out of the city. 347 00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:02,640 His. Testimony had fallen on deaf 348 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:05,680 ears, and his daughters, married to the men of Sodom and no doubt 349 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:10,280 corrupted by all of their wickedness in the same way, said 350 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:12,200 they wouldn't come. They had. 351 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:15,280 The mentality of Sodom and they were unable to receive that 352 00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:18,960 spiritual truth and Lot, with years of backslidden sliding 353 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:21,680 behind him, had no spiritual power whatsoever. 354 00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:24,960 He was. Unable to carry conviction with 355 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:27,280 his words. And we can see the influence 356 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:31,040 that Sodom had on him. Even a man who, as the Bible 357 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:34,160 tells us, was a man who knew righteousness and knew the power 358 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:38,000 and knew the potential of God's judgment, the Bible says while 359 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:43,120 he lingered. Can you imagine the mindset of a 360 00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:46,080 of a man like Lot who knew what God was capable of? 361 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:49,240 Who knew that when God said he was going to pronounce judgment 362 00:18:49,360 --> 00:18:52,040 and then he was going to destroy those cities, he knew that God 363 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:54,840 was telling the truth and knew that God had the power to do it. 364 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:57,680 And. Yet still the Bible says. 365 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:01,880 While. He lingered Verse. 16 Can you 366 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:06,280 imagine these men lay hold on him and and lay hold on his wife 367 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:09,280 and and that and grab the hands of his two daughters? 368 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:11,080 And you can just picture the scene. 369 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:15,720 Here's Lot being dragged out of the city by these angels, the 370 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:19,000 whole family just dawdling, taking their time on the way. 371 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:22,120 His wife wanting perhaps to sort out her jewelry and take with 372 00:19:22,120 --> 00:19:24,360 her what she can. The daughters trying to grab 373 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,000 everything that that meant something to them in that city 374 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:29,240 of Sodom and trying to grab that on their way out. 375 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:30,840 Lot. I don't know what he was doing, 376 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:33,960 but the Bible says that he lingered, knowing that God's 377 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:36,000 judgement was coming. But it's. 378 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:39,320 Incredible how dull A backslidden person becomes the 379 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:42,160 spiritual truth. And that's exactly what had 380 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:44,840 happened to Lot. How ready? 381 00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:48,360 He was to stop the angels had hardly dragged lot clear of the 382 00:19:48,360 --> 00:19:51,360 city, and he began to protest about how difficult it was going 383 00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:53,680 to be for him. I don't want to go to the 384 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:55,280 mountain. Can't go to the mountain. 385 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:58,360 Something bad might happen to me in the mountain if I go there. 386 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:01,040 Hey the. Angels told him get out of the 387 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:03,400 city and go to the mountain where you'll be safe. 388 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:05,600 They say I. Can't go to the mountain there. 389 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:07,480 There might be. Dangers in the mountain. 390 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:09,480 Something might happen to me there. 391 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:11,200 Please let. Me, go to that city. 392 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:17,120 The mountain was a fortress compared to the flimsy cities of 393 00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:21,280 the plain that that that the the judgment of God was already 394 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:25,080 hanging over. Besides, God hadn't saved him 395 00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:27,520 from Sodom to put him out in the wilderness or put him in the 396 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,120 mountains and let him die. He was sending him there to 397 00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:34,040 protect him, but the mentality of Sodom cannot comprehend a 398 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:38,520 truth like that. And then that brings us to Lot's 399 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:41,560 wife. She was a nameless Sinner. 400 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:44,480 We don't know Lot's wife's name. It's only Lot's wife. 401 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:46,400 That's all we're ever given about her. 402 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:49,360 She appears on the stage of history just about long enough 403 00:20:49,360 --> 00:20:52,160 to disappear again. She's only mentioned three times 404 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:54,080 in the Bible, 2 times right here in Genesis. 405 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:57,120 And I want you to turn over to Luke chapter 17 because she's 406 00:20:57,120 --> 00:21:01,880 mentioned there as well. And one of the shortest verses 407 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:12,080 in the Bible, Luke chapter 17 and verse #32 Jesus was the 408 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:15,360 context here of Luke chapter 17 is that Jesus was teaching them 409 00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:17,320 to be ready for the Lord's coming, which is really the 410 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:19,360 same, same as being ready to meet the Lord. 411 00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:21,600 You need to be ready to meet God when you die. 412 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:24,960 But the Bible says in Luke chapter 17 and verse 32, 413 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:31,000 remember Lot's wife. Remember Lot's wife. 414 00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:34,280 Now this is the only person that Jesus specifically said to 415 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:37,120 remember that word. Remember is used a lot of times 416 00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:39,400 in the Bible. But hey, remember when this 417 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:41,640 happened and remember when that happened, and remember when I 418 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:45,840 did this and remember he said that a lot, but he only said one 419 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:50,760 time to remember a person. He said remember Lot's wife. 420 00:21:52,120 --> 00:21:54,200 That's a pretty good indication that there's a reason we ought 421 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:56,960 to remember her, and sadly, it's for a bad thing. 422 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:00,120 She's to remember to be remembered as a warning, not as 423 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:05,240 an example, But in at least four ways, I think Lot's wife is a 424 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:07,760 warning to all of us in regard to being ready for the Lord's 425 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:09,120 coming. The first one is that she 426 00:22:09,120 --> 00:22:12,160 disobeyed. She was warned not to look back. 427 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:15,080 Don't look back at the city. I don't know why God didn't want 428 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:17,600 them to look back. I don't know why God didn't want 429 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:21,560 them to see what was happening or, or, or or glimpse their home 430 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:24,160 or whatever else, other than the fact that it was a wicked place 431 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:26,640 and he didn't when he had them going forward for him into the 432 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:28,920 place where he wanted them to go to get away from all of that. 433 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:32,120 Don't look back at those things. I think it's more of a, an 434 00:22:32,120 --> 00:22:34,680 example to us and it was for them at the time. 435 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:37,400 But she looked back, she disobeyed and she was destroyed. 436 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:42,520 Disobedience will always result in your destruction. 437 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:45,360 The second thing is that she had her affections in the wrong 438 00:22:45,360 --> 00:22:49,200 place. Hey, she had an affection for 439 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:53,880 Sodom, and so she looked back. It's important for us that we 440 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:56,560 guard our affections. Don't let them become attached 441 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:59,800 to unholy things, or they'll destroy you. 442 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:02,760 Whether it's in a marriage or whether it's in being too 443 00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:05,680 interested in earthly pursuits. Whatever it happens to be, her 444 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:08,720 affections were in the wrong place and it destroyed her. 445 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:10,560 Third thing is that she had vision trouble. 446 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:12,440 She let her eyes look at the wrong thing. 447 00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:17,080 Hey, many people have found that to be true, and watching TV or 448 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:21,640 the Internet or movies or other unholy things, guard what goes 449 00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:23,800 into your eyes or it will destroy you. 450 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:27,520 The fourth thing about Lot is that she was a poor steward of 451 00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:29,440 the spiritual privileges that she was given. 452 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,800 Hey, she heard God's message from the angels of God. 453 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:36,680 She was there in the house in Genesis 19 when the angels were 454 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:38,600 giving them the warnings, but she didn't heed it. 455 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:44,200 Privilege alone cannot save you. You might grow up in church, and 456 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:47,000 many times that happens. I fear that young people grow up 457 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:49,440 in church hearing the message of the gospel over and over and 458 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:51,680 over and over and over. And they think that because they 459 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:54,080 had the privilege of growing up in church that automatically 460 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:56,120 they're saved. Automatically they have that 461 00:23:56,120 --> 00:23:59,000 spiritual privilege. And that's not the case. 462 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:02,920 She was turned into a pillar of salt because she disobeyed and 463 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:05,480 turned around and look back at that city. 464 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:09,320 And although that pillar has been lost to the ravage of time, 465 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:12,400 nobody knows exactly where Lot's Wife pillar is. 466 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:15,040 But there is actually, if you put the picture up there, a 467 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:17,080 shrine that stands as a memorial. 468 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:21,880 It's just a, a, a, a, a, a pile of salt that looks like Lot's 469 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:23,840 wife. And it's the highest thing in 470 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:25,520 that whole area that you can see. 471 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:29,720 It's called Lot's wife, and there she is, still standing 472 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:33,160 today along the coast of the Dead Sea as a reminder of what 473 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:35,320 happens when you disobey God's word. 474 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:40,280 Could you imagine what Lot must have thought his wife turned 475 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:45,160 into a pillar of salt? Could you imagine how the the 476 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,280 thoughts that must have gone through Lot's mind to know that 477 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:52,080 the only thing that he was finally escaping with was his 478 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:55,800 wife and two of his daughters, others that had stayed there. 479 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:58,240 At least two others had stayed in the city of Sodom. 480 00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:01,720 His sons in law, any of the grandchildren that they had, all 481 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:05,560 of them stayed in Sodom. And of the three that he was 482 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:08,000 escaping with, one of them disobeyed and turned into a 483 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:10,960 pillar of salt. How sad. 484 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:14,600 That's what sin brings. That's a destruction that comes 485 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:17,200 upon us, a Christian who is backslidden. 486 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:21,760 And it says, though the Holy Spirit was sickened by the sins 487 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:24,960 of Sodom, he pauses in the middle of this story long enough 488 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:30,480 to talk about Abraham. And in chapter 19 of Genesis we 489 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:35,120 read in verse #27 And Abraham got up early in the morning to 490 00:25:35,120 --> 00:25:37,880 the place where he stood before the Lord, and he looked towards 491 00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:40,160 Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the plain to be 492 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:42,400 held. And lo, the smoke of the country 493 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:44,080 went up as the smoke of a furnace. 494 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:46,840 And it came to pass when God destroyed the cities of the 495 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:50,880 plain, that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the 496 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:53,600 midst of the overthrow. When he overthrew the cities in 497 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:57,280 which Lot dwelt, Abraham hadn't lost anything. 498 00:25:57,280 --> 00:25:58,880 In fact, he hadn't even lost a night's sleep. 499 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:01,840 He woke up in that morning and he went out and he looked and he 500 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:05,120 saw Sodom and Gomorrah burning. Now, when the Bible says that 501 00:26:05,120 --> 00:26:10,080 God remembered Abraham, do you remember what Abraham had done? 502 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:13,680 And then actually it's in chapter 18, Abraham had begged 503 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:16,360 God that he wouldn't destroy the city of Sodom and Gomorrah if he 504 00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:21,640 could find 10 righteous. And the reason why Abraham was 505 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:24,480 asking God not to destroy the city if he could find just 10 506 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:27,360 righteous is because he thought Lot probably had at least enough 507 00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:29,840 of an influence that he would have an influence over his 508 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:31,600 family. And he knew that he had sons, 509 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:33,160 and he knew. That he had daughters, and he 510 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:34,920 knew that he had sons in laws and he knew that he had 511 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:37,120 grandkids. And at the very least, if just 512 00:26:37,120 --> 00:26:40,000 ten of those people were righteous, if Lot had been able 513 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:43,200 to win just 10 people in his family, then perhaps God would 514 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:46,800 not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and perhaps a lot would be 515 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:49,240 saved. And on that morning when Lot, 516 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:52,760 when Abraham went out and stood in the exact same place where 517 00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:57,280 just the night before he had met with God himself and had this 518 00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:03,880 conversation with God, he looked and he saw the cities on fire 519 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:06,200 and the smoke rising up out of those cities. 520 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:10,400 But God remembered Abraham, and he saved a lot alive. 521 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:12,440 Lot might have stood where Abraham stood. 522 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:16,520 Instead, he was now a fugitive, A refugee, a Vagabond on the 523 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:19,840 earth. Nothing except the clothes on 524 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:22,800 his back and not even his whole family with him. 525 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:26,760 Oh, how sad that it is. And if what has happened wasn't 526 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:29,880 bad enough already, God finishes the corrupt story of Lot's 527 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:34,200 family for us to understand how thoroughly sin destroys in verse 528 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:38,040 #30 And Lot went up out of Zohar and dwelt in the mountain, and 529 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:41,320 his two daughters with him. For he feared to dwell in Zohar. 530 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:43,800 And he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. 531 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:46,920 And the first born said unto the younger, Our father is old, and 532 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:49,680 there's not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the 533 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:52,240 manner of all the earth. Come, let us make our father 534 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:56,240 drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed 535 00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:58,960 of our father. And they made their father drink 536 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:01,680 wine that night. And the first born went in and 537 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:05,080 lay with her father, and he perceived not when she lay down, 538 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:07,560 nor when she arose. I came to. 539 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:09,800 Pass on the Morrow that the first born said unto the 540 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:12,600 younger, Behold, I lay yesterday night with my father. 541 00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:15,840 Let us make him drink wine this night also, and go thou in and 542 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:18,920 lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our Father. 543 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:21,160 And they made. Their father drink wine that 544 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:24,200 night also, and the younger arose and lay with him, and he 545 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:27,120 perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 546 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:30,760 Thus were both the. Daughters of lot with child by 547 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:33,600 their father. And the first born bear a son, 548 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:37,000 and called his name Moab, the same as the father of the 549 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:40,200 Moabites unto this day. And the younger she also bare a 550 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:44,000 son, and called his name Benami, and the same as the father of 551 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:47,040 the children of Ammon unto this day. 552 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:50,080 Boy. These sad verses tell the story 553 00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:52,880 of the mentality of Sodom. So. 554 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:56,080 Thoroughly absorbed by Lot's daughters that they found it 555 00:28:56,080 --> 00:29:01,560 impossible to even reason normally, they show us Lot 556 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:05,400 drunk, dishonored and his daughter's behaving in a way 557 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:08,760 that have what would have won the applause of any dirty minded 558 00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:11,200 man in Sodom. The older girl made a 559 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:14,600 proposition to her daughter and they got a lot drunk and. 560 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,840 By the way, this is a great reason to stay away from alcohol 561 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:18,800 lot. Didn't. 562 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:22,080 Even know what was happening. Oh, I could could you imagine if 563 00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:25,560 lot had any perception of the reality of what was going on in 564 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:28,800 that situation? But that's the that's the the 565 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:32,120 result of of drink. And how? 566 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:34,800 How rotten it is. There was no. 567 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:39,600 Thought of God, no knowledge of his word, no, no concern for his 568 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:40,720 will. There was no prayer. 569 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:44,200 There was no thought that what they were proposing was morally 570 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:46,400 wrong. Her, she and her sister, this 571 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:50,400 this oldest daughter of Lot and her sister were just completely 572 00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:52,080 immoral. They were spiritually dead. 573 00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:55,080 They thought like pagans, which is exactly what they really 574 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:57,400 were. And so they acted upon this plan 575 00:29:57,400 --> 00:30:00,400 that they had conspired. There was no shame, there was no 576 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:02,880 no sorrow. There was no sense of sin. 577 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:05,560 No. Concept of the holiness of God 578 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:09,240 just downright wickedness as. Though their behavior was 579 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:11,640 perfectly normal, which of course it was for Sodom, and 580 00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:18,200 that's where Lot had raised his children, Lot's decisions were 581 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:25,160 coming back to haunt him, and yet he didn't even know what was 582 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:29,080 going on. And as a result, Moab and Ammon 583 00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:32,800 were born, and two nations that became bitter enemies and 584 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:34,920 persistent enemies of the nation of Israel. 585 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:39,520 It would be difficult to decide whether or not Lot was truly a 586 00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:42,400 saved man by reading his story in the Old Testament. 587 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:45,760 There is nothing that gives us any indication that Lot even 588 00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:49,480 knew the Lord, let alone that he was a righteous and a just man. 589 00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:53,280 He chose the lower, the carnal, the worldly path. 590 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:58,280 He left the path of fellowship and and left the faith of the 591 00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:01,040 earliest possible moment. And from everything that we read 592 00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:03,200 about Lot, he was never restored to fellowship. 593 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:09,160 He made no mark for God. His family ended in disaster and 594 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:12,680 the last we see of him in this story, he's drunk and 595 00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:15,840 dishonored. But that's what happens when you 596 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:20,200 make the decisions that leads you away from God and into the 597 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:23,480 world. We're not for this brief but 598 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:26,760 remarkable statement that we find that Peter wrote. 599 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:30,120 Thousands of years later, we would be justified in concluding 600 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:34,280 that Lot was not even a Christian, but here he was. 601 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:39,560 That's the life of a backslider. May God deliver us from a life 602 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:42,480 like that. And may we, as the Bible says, 603 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:45,920 remember Lot's wife. Now, let me give you this 604 00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:49,800 quickly as we close, and I just want to touch very, very briefly 605 00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:52,160 on this, but turn back to Genesis chapter 18. 606 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:55,560 Because not only do we see the moral perversion of Sodom and 607 00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:59,360 the mental pollution of Sodom, but if you take a step back, I 608 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:05,400 want you to look at the man who pleaded for Sodom, Genesis 609 00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:10,760 chapter 18 and verse #22 and the men turn their faces from fence. 610 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:15,960 These are the same men that met with Lot the next morning, these 611 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:18,160 angels. But these men turned their faces 612 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:19,480 from fence and went towards Sodom. 613 00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:21,360 But Abraham stood yet before the Lord. 614 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:24,720 And Abraham drew near and said, Wilt thou also destroy the 615 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:26,960 righteous with the wicked peradventure? 616 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:28,880 There be 50 righteous within the city. 617 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:32,000 Wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the 50 618 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:35,400 righteous that are therein, that be far from thee? 619 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:38,240 To do after this manner to slay the righteous with the wicked, 620 00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:40,880 and that the righteous should be as the wicked that be far from 621 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:42,600 thee. Shall not the judge of all the 622 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:46,560 earth do right? And the Lord said, If I find in 623 00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:49,400 Sodom 50 righteous within the city, then I'll spare all the 624 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:52,640 place for their sakes. And Abraham answered and said, 625 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:55,400 Behold, now I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which 626 00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:58,640 him but dust and ashes. Peradventure there shall lack 627 00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:02,320 five of the 50 righteous. Wilt thou also Wilt thou destroy 628 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:05,520 all this city for lack of? Five and he said if I find there 629 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:07,400 40 and five, I will not destroy it. 630 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:11,200 He spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure, there shall 631 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:13,760 be 40 found there. And he said, I, I will not do it 632 00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:16,560 for 40 sake. And he said unto him, Oh, let 633 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:18,200 not the Lord be angry, and I'll speak. 634 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:20,480 Peradventure, there shall be 30 found there. 635 00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:23,160 And he said, I'll not do it if I find 30 there. 636 00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:26,200 He said, Behold, now I have taken upon me to speak unto the 637 00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:28,320 Lord. Peradventure there shall be 20 638 00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:31,240 found there. And he said, I'll not destroy it 639 00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:36,240 for 20 sake. And he said, Oh Lord OO, let not 640 00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:39,040 the Lord be angry, and I'll speak yet, but this once per 641 00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:41,320 adventure 10 shall be found there. 642 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:44,880 And he said, I'll not destroy it for 10 sake. 643 00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:49,160 And the Lord went his way as soon as he had left, communing 644 00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:52,520 with Abraham, And Abraham returned unto his place. 645 00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:59,080 Abraham interceded before the Lord to have Sodom and Gomorrah 646 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:02,680 spirit from judgment, if there can be found 10 righteous. 647 00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:07,560 He started at 50 and I think he thought that lot probably had a 648 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:09,679 good influence over the people that he was around. 649 00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:14,480 Hey, I know that place is wicked but I know lots there and I 650 00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:16,159 know. Lots of righteous man, and he's 651 00:34:16,159 --> 00:34:18,719 a just man. And it wasn't all that long ago 652 00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:21,880 that he and I separated and he pitched his tent towards Sodom. 653 00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:24,120 And I know that he bought a house there and I know that he's 654 00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:25,400 sitting in the gates of the city. 655 00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:28,560 But I'm sure that lot has an influence on the people that 656 00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:30,199 he's around. And certainly there's got to be 657 00:34:30,199 --> 00:34:33,239 50 righteous people in Sodom because of lots influence over 658 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:35,239 them. Certainly he's there doing the 659 00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:38,719 Lord's work in Sodom. And he started to think about it 660 00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:40,840 and he said, well, maybe, maybe not, maybe there's only. 661 00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:43,560 Maybe there's only 45. Maybe he hasn't done everything 662 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:45,719 that he should have done. And, and, and maybe there's not 663 00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:48,840 50, maybe there's 45. Will you spare it for 45? 664 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:52,600 And the more he talked, he said, God, I, I don't deserve to even 665 00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:55,159 come and ask you these things. And, and please forgive me for 666 00:34:55,159 --> 00:35:01,520 asking, but perhaps there's only 40 and then 30 and then 20 and 667 00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:04,720 he finally got got God all the way down to 10 people. 668 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:06,440 If there's just 10 rights is God. 669 00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:08,480 Will you spare the city of Sodom and Gomorrah? 670 00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:11,480 Perhaps a lot hasn't been the influence that he should be, but 671 00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:13,880 certainly he's won his family to the Lord. 672 00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:16,640 Certainly they're still following the Lord in the city 673 00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:18,920 of Sodom. Will you spare the city for 10 674 00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:21,800 people? God said he would. 675 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:27,120 Unfortunately Lot hadn't even influenced 9 other people in 676 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:30,080 that city. What a shame on Lot. 677 00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:34,600 I think it shows that Abraham stayed out of that wicked place. 678 00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:36,720 He didn't even realize that there weren't 50 righteous in 679 00:35:36,720 --> 00:35:40,360 Sodom. That's a that that that that's a 680 00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:43,240 good indication that Abraham stayed as far away from that 681 00:35:43,240 --> 00:35:47,840 place as he possibly could. He didn't know how debased and 682 00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:50,320 he didn't know all the. Debauchery that was happening in 683 00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:52,800 Sodom and Gomorrah. And he? 684 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:54,760 Thought that there was probably 50. 685 00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:58,240 People that would be righteous. Finally, he got it all the way 686 00:35:58,240 --> 00:36:00,160 down to 10. He loved his family and he had a 687 00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:02,720 heart for the people whose destruction was imminent. 688 00:36:02,720 --> 00:36:05,440 He knew that Sodom and Gomorrah was about to be destroyed. 689 00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:07,640 And he said, God certainly, if you can. 690 00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:10,200 Just find 10 people please. Will you spare that city? 691 00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:13,200 Lot is there and I know lots of righteous man. 692 00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:17,720 Please don't destroy the city. Abraham went to. 693 00:36:17,720 --> 00:36:21,480 God, on behalf of this wicked place, he pleaded for Sodom, He 694 00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:25,600 interceded before the Lord. How we should be like Abraham 695 00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:28,280 when it comes to the laws who are doomed around us? 696 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:31,000 How many? People in this city are on their 697 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:32,920 way to hell. How many people in this nation 698 00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:36,600 are are are are just throwing their sin in the face of God? 699 00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:38,840 How many people in this world are? 700 00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:41,120 So. Anti God and want nothing to do 701 00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:42,840 with him. And we should be pleading on 702 00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:45,880 behalf of these people who are doomed and whose destruction is 703 00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:48,560 imminent if they don't accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. 704 00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:52,840 Never should we rejoice when we find out that a Sinner dies and 705 00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:56,760 goes to hell. Most often it's a repudiation of 706 00:36:56,760 --> 00:36:58,480 our lack of influence on the world. 707 00:36:58,480 --> 00:37:01,560 Anyway, when somebody dies and spends an eternity in hell, Oh 708 00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:03,720 well, that politician, he deserved that. 709 00:37:03,720 --> 00:37:05,800 I'm glad he's getting what's coming to him. 710 00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:08,440 He was a wicked man. I'm so glad that he's spending 711 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:11,160 his his his all of his eternity in hell. 712 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:13,160 That's our fault that he's there. 713 00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:15,760 We didn't have the influence that we should have had. 714 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:18,080 The church has lost the influence that it should have 715 00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:20,480 had over this country and over this world. 716 00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:24,280 How dare we be happy that somebody's spending an eternity? 717 00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:28,360 In a horrible place like that, we should be interceding for the 718 00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:31,080 loss in the way that Abraham did for a lot and for the wicked 719 00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:34,040 cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Hey, Abraham knew that those 720 00:37:34,040 --> 00:37:36,400 cities were wicked. God had made it very clear to 721 00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:39,360 him that those places were wicked, wicked places. 722 00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:45,760 And yet Abraham still begged that God would save those cities 723 00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:48,600 if there was a few righteous in there. 724 00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:54,400 There's a lot of lessons for us in this story, many of which 725 00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:57,000 we've already talked about. But I want you to take this away 726 00:37:57,000 --> 00:38:00,680 from the message tonight. You cannot get close to sin and 727 00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:04,320 not be affected. You cannot pitch your tent 728 00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:08,360 toward the world and expect that you're going to come out of the 729 00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:12,080 world unscathed. The more you look at the things 730 00:38:12,080 --> 00:38:14,000 the world has to offer, the more you're going to want them. 731 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:16,000 And the more you want them, the more you're going to go after 732 00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:17,120 them. And the more you go after them, 733 00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:18,920 the farther you're going to be pulled away from God and the 734 00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:20,400 more you're going to be drawn to the world. 735 00:38:21,240 --> 00:38:24,760 You cannot get close to sin and not be affected. 736 00:38:25,240 --> 00:38:28,080 You cannot expose your family to sin and expect them to grow up 737 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:31,760 and live for the Lord. I don't know if Lot thought he 738 00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:34,440 was just going to waltz into his sons in laws and his daughter's 739 00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:37,680 house and say hey, this city's about to be destroyed, come with 740 00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:39,600 me. And they were going to believe 741 00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:43,000 him and walk out and just exit the city with him. 742 00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:47,440 But Lot had lost all of his influence over his family 743 00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:51,160 because he let them live in Sodom. 744 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:54,720 You cannot expose your family to sin and expect them to grow up 745 00:38:54,720 --> 00:38:57,640 and live for the Lord. And lastly is this You cannot 746 00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:00,080 backslide away from God and expect that everything's going 747 00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:05,120 to turn out fine. Lot was a righteous man, and the 748 00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:09,400 Bible says that his soul was vexed every day. 749 00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:14,480 I can't imagine that Lot didn't wake up every morning and think, 750 00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:17,960 What am I doing here? I need to get out of this place, 751 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:22,640 but I'm going to put on my robes and I'm going to go and sit in 752 00:39:22,640 --> 00:39:25,720 the gate of the city. I'll get everything taken care 753 00:39:25,720 --> 00:39:27,560 of tomorrow. It'll be fine. 754 00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:34,720 And he did that day after day after day after day, until he 755 00:39:34,720 --> 00:39:37,120 had lost everything that mattered. 756 00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:41,400 You cannot backslide away from God and expect that everything 757 00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:48,480 will turn out fine. Just Lot, righteous lot whose 758 00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:56,560 soul was vexed every single day, drunk and dishonored in a cave. 759 00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:00,720 That's where it ends. I don't know what happened to a 760 00:40:00,720 --> 00:40:02,920 lot after that. The Bible doesn't tell us, but 761 00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:05,360 we know this. Not only did he fade away from 762 00:40:05,360 --> 00:40:10,320 history and dishonor, but he fathered two children who became 763 00:40:10,320 --> 00:40:13,520 the avowed enemies of the nation of Israel, God's chosen people 764 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:18,800 that he brought through Abraham. You cannot backslide away from 765 00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:21,200 God and expect. That everything's going to turn 766 00:40:21,200 --> 00:40:23,800 out fine. You better get it right. 767 00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:27,680 You better do what you can to get your family away from Sodom 768 00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:29,840 and get them as far away from Sodom as you can. 769 00:40:30,240 --> 00:40:32,200 And you know how you get your family away from Sodom? 770 00:40:32,480 --> 00:40:36,400 You stay away from it. If you don't go to Sodom, it's 771 00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:38,680 very likely that your kids won't go there either. 772 00:40:39,240 --> 00:40:42,880 If you do, they'll be right behind you and you'll be so 773 00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:44,720 backslidden you won't even know how to get out of it. 774 00:40:46,200 --> 00:40:48,800 There's some great lessons for us from this story of Lot. 775 00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:53,800 I hope we'll learn them well because the Bible says, remember 776 00:40:53,800 --> 00:40:57,240 Lot's wife and all the things that happened around it. 777 00:40:59,960 --> 00:41:03,240 Backslidden Christians will never have the blessings of God. 778 00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:07,240 Backslidden Christians are never going to have the pleasures that 779 00:41:07,240 --> 00:41:11,160 they're promised when they leave God and go off into the world. 780 00:41:11,840 --> 00:41:14,840 And Lot found that out the hard way, and so will you. 781 00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:16,920 I don't want that for any of you. 782 00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:20,880 Get it right? Before you take another step in 783 00:41:20,880 --> 00:41:23,360 the direction of Sodom, let's pray. 784 00:41:23,360 --> 00:41:25,400 Father, again, we thank you so much for your goodness to us. 785 00:41:25,400 --> 00:41:29,280 Thank you for the lessons that we find here in this story. 786 00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:38,920 If we'd heed these things and look at what happens to somebody 787 00:41:38,920 --> 00:41:41,440 who moves away from God, I think every single one of us would be 788 00:41:41,440 --> 00:41:44,040 afraid to take one step in the direction of the world. 789 00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:51,200 But we get blinded, we get disillusioned, we get tempted, 790 00:41:51,200 --> 00:41:54,120 and we start taking those steps and the next thing you know, 791 00:41:54,960 --> 00:41:58,520 we're completely away from God and completely in the world and 792 00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:00,920 losing out on everything that God wanted for us. 793 00:42:01,280 --> 00:42:04,680 I pray that that would not be the case with any single person, 794 00:42:04,680 --> 00:42:08,520 with any family in this church. God, may you break our hearts 795 00:42:09,520 --> 00:42:13,040 and help us to be in the place that you want us to be and need 796 00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:14,720 us to be so that we can be used by you. 797 00:42:15,200 --> 00:42:16,920 Thank you again for all that you do for us. 798 00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:18,360 In Jesus name, Amen.