Remember Mrs. Lot

Happy Sabbath, everybody! Good to see you all. Hope that your week has gone well. It seems like we have several that have the flu. Our son called, or mentioned today, that one of his sons has the flu. And I know others are going through it, not only within this congregation, but throughout the country, as a matter of fact. Have you ever seen a map of how widespread this flu is that is going around?

And it was interesting, as Mr. McKeon was talking about the Cape Town situation in terms of water, they may be just the beginning of this kind of problem. Southern California right now is facing a very big crisis. Despite knowing what, of course, could occur there, it seems they really haven't prepared for the eventuality when the water is gone. The water table is lower, and of course it's a problem not only there, but here, in the Arizona area. But we're seeing this happening, and water may be actually the most valuable commodity in the world, not in the distant future.

That may be the very, very case. We live, brethren, in such volatile times when the winds of war are blowing. Winston Churchill's book, The Gathering Storm, I think, is an apt description of the times that we're living in. Wherever you look, you see the threat of life-changing events in the Western world. We know that the end is not yet. It's just the beginning. But if we're thinking, Christians, if we're thinking of what is going on in the world, we can see the handwriting on the wall.

And we, of course, are not the only ones that see the impending problems that are looming just ahead of us. Let's go over to Luke 21 over here. In Luke 21, to begin with here, they asked Jesus Christ this, saying, He was telling them in time events it would signal that the time was near. And what sign? It says, Will there be when these things are about to take place? They wanted to know what we want to know, don't we? We want to know when these things are going to take place.

For many of us, if we were around back in the 60s and the 70s, we thought it was going to happen. Well, we're a whole lot closer to it happening now than we were then in those days. But they want to know like we want to know. And Jesus said, Take heed that you not be deceived. Watch your spiritual condition so that you're not deceived.

For many will come in my name, say, I am he, and the time has drawn near, therefore do not go after them. People are going to rise that are going to claim to even be Jesus Christ. You know, last I heard an individual claiming to be Christ who was holding up in London. Never heard anything after that, you know, about that particular individual. But it says, When you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified, for these things must come to pass first.

But the end will not come immediately, Jesus said. So we're going to have to play the game of patience. It says, Then he said to them, Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. And right now we're seeing the world as it is. People are starting to line up with one another. They're beginning to form into allied and axis type powers like in World War II. That is what's happening. And of course, we see Russia, China lining up with one another.

And Iran is going to be in there with them. North Korea certainly is going to be in there with them. And so it's going to be, you know, that we're going to see in the next few years before everything happens. And we know that eventually it will not be two minutes to the midnight hour. It will be the midnight hour when things begin to really explode in the world. But Jesus warned his disciples to watch. And he said, Pray always that you be accounted worthy to escape the things that are going to happen.

So it's imperative that we have our heads in the right place, that we're thinking in the proper way. Jesus also said, By your patience, you possess your own souls. So our waiting, our being patient with God, with the things that have to transpire in the world, through that we save ourselves. If we don't make poor decisions and, you know, go storming off and back into the world that we came out of.

Let's go over to chapter 17 of the book of Luke here. In chapter 17, down in verse 26, Jesus was describing again the end of the age when things were mounting up and building up toward the crisis at the close.

But in chapter 17, and down in verse 26, notice here, it says, And as it was in the days of Noah, so it also will be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. This is, they ate, they drank, they married, wives, they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

You notice this phrase here, destroyed them all, that Jesus made that statement there. It destroyed them all. Likewise, also it was in the days of Lot. They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built. But on the day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Again, the same phrase that Jesus Christ used there. It says, Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

This is the second coming of Jesus Christ. In that day, he who is on the house stop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise, the one who is in the field, let him not turn back.

And then he said, Remember Lot's wife. I titled this sermon, Remember Mrs. Lot. Now, we're not told in the Bible what her name was. I think all of us would like to know that, but it's not in the Scriptures. But Jesus commanded his disciples, Remember Lot's wife.

Well, what good does it do us, Brother, to remember Lot's wife? In this volatile time that we're living in, in this time when you wonder what's going to happen next in the world, and whether someone like the leader of North Korea is going to be firing off a missile into the United States, and one of our major cities being knocked out, or more, as far as that's concerned, and people being vaporized, as would happen if because of the power of these weapons now are so much greater than in World War II when Nagasaki and Hiroshima were destroyed. But in a time when we're living, you know, Jesus says, Remember Lot's wife. Certainly, Jesus reminded them of something that really did happen. Sometimes, you know, people today think all of these things were myths, that they really didn't happen. You know, they don't believe, of course, what the Scriptures say. But the Bible tells us in Romans 15, in verse 4, that all of the things that are recorded in the Scriptures are recorded for us, for our learning, and for our admonition, as it says in that verse. Well, let's notice here where this whole story, this whole scenario, begins in Genesis 13. Genesis 13, over here. It's always good to go back to the beginning, so you can know what happened before and why Christ said, Remember Lot's wife. Now, I know all of us know what happened to Lot, Lot's wife, and his family, for that matter. It won't be a great revelation, but there's much more that we can learn from the examples that are found here than just meets the eye. In Genesis 13, here, in verse 1, let's notice here, it says, Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him to the south. And Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold. So here, Abram was a very wealthy man, and he went on a journey from the south as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning between Bethel and Ai. And so he had, of course, promises God had made him about what his inheritance was going to be. In chapter 12, in fact, God had told him he was going to be immensely blessed. But notice here, and Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. It was very profitable for Lot to associate with Abram, and he became a very wealthy man himself.

And it says, now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great they could not dwell together. Imagine here, God had blessed them so much, they couldn't even dwell together because they had so much wealth. And there was a strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock.

And so there was an argument, a bruhaha, that developed here between the herdsmen of these two great men. And so there was the decision that Abraham had to make. And basically he said, look, Lot, look at the lands right here before us, as much as we want. You go one way and I'll go the other. And you know the account of what happened here, that what Lot chose. And it says in verse 10, and Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere before the eternal destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah like the garden of the Lord. It was like the Garden of Eden. It was so fabulous and beauty of what he saw, like the land of Egypt as you go towards Zohar. And then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east and they separated from each other. And Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. So he was right near Sodom, which was of course the most wicked area, probably of the entire area, that he chose to settle in. In fact, the wickedness of Sodom and the neighboring cities became so great that God heard the cry of it. I imagine it was a place of violence. It was a place of sexual immorality. You know, probably like some of the cities of our day. You know, some of the places that in this country probably could really run the race with Sodom and Gomorrah and some of those cities like that. And so it was so bad, maybe even through the violence, that the blood cried to God from the ground. They said, I've got to go down and check this out and see what is happening down here and inspect it. And so he goes down and he sees Abraham. Let's go to chapter 19. He goes over to see Abraham, or chapter 18, I should say. And verses 1 through 2 or 3 there, we find him having a meal with Abraham and Sarah. And, you know, he, of course, in verse 21, or 20 it says, And the Lord said, because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to me, and if not, I will know. So God would be aware. Of course, you can imagine here that Lot was one who was probably crying out to God about it. Abraham probably was crying out to God about it. Those who were close to God were asking God to intervene, as we have many voices, I'm sure, going up over what's happened in this country and other places in the world where there is a good deal of wickedness that is taking place.

Chapter 19. Let's go to chapter 19. So God comes down with two angels, and he's walking along with Abraham, heading down, and after a period of time the angels depart to go down into Sodom.

And you remember how Abraham basically talked to God and said, well, if there's this many righteous, will you destroy Sodom? And if there were ten in the city, I won't destroy Sodom. You imagine a city this large, like in Phoenix here. How many righteous people are there? In a city of so many millions of people. I know up in Northern California, we had about 160 people out of 8 million people. Very small, really, comparatively speaking. A number of people out of so many. So great a number. I imagine the ratios even worse in New York and some of these other areas in the country. But there were so few that were righteous. And in the case of Sodom, there was only three that made it out. Three out of the entire population. We have no idea how large it would have been. But it was probably comparatively a very large city. Let's notice here in chapter 19 now in verse 1. Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. It may very well have been that Lot was a judge. This is where typically the judge sat at the entryway of the city, at the gate. And when Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. And he said, here now, my lords, please turn into your servant's house and spend the night. And wash your feet, and then you will rise early and go on your way. And they said, no, but we will spend the night in the open square. They wanted to see what it was like. But it was so bad that Lot implored them not to even do that. But he insisted strongly, so they turned into him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. This incident may have occurred, by the way, during the Passover season. Because you have a mention here of unleavened bread that he made for them. And it says, now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter surrounded the house. So you have this big entourage. They didn't have to be in the open square to see what it was like. In this case, everybody came out. The wickedness of the city came to them. They were ready, of course, to take action. And they called the Lot and said to them, where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally. Talk about the wicked, incredibly wicked. And so Lot went out to them from the doorway and shut the door behind him. I think Lot really understood these individuals who had come to him were not ordinary men. These were emissaries from God, and he knew that. And said, please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly. See, I have two daughters who have not known a man. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish. Only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they've come under the shadow of my roof. They came under the shadow of my roof to be safe.

And it says, and they said, stand back. And then they said, this one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge. You know, here he just acted like a judge all the time. And now we will deal worse with you than with them. So they pressed hard against the man Lot and came near to break down the door. Imagine this commotion again in the city. So the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot in the house with them and shut the door. And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door. Even then they did not give up. Again, shows the utter wickedness of those in this city.

You know, here, obviously Lot rationally offered his own daughters to these individuals that were at the door in lieu of these two angels. And the crowd refuses that. You know, sodomy is named for the illicit desire that these men had. And, you know, it, of course, is something that is very much an issue of our day in the LGBT movement that we have in this country, not just here, but many countries around the world. But the angels smote those that tried to press against the door with blindness. And after this, the angels made it very clear to Lot their mission to destroy Sodom. And Lot was given a chance to go and to warn his family. And they laughed at the scorn. You know, as people want to do, Lot sort of lingered in Sodom. And the angels aggressively had to grab him by the arm and drag him just about out of the city. And the Bible tells us that fire rained down, fire and brimstone rained down on those wicked cities. And the story of what happened here is certainly very important because Christ brings it out. Let's go to chapter 19 now in verse 16. Chapter 19, verse 16.

And of course, Lot, you know, implored them, Please, no, my Lord, indeed now your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy, which you have shown me, by saving my life. But I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me, and I die. And he implored that he would be able to go somewhere else. You know, so here Lot himself was hesitant about doing what he was told to do here. Down in verse 24, then the Lord rained fire and brimstone. It says on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of heaven. And so he overthrew through the cities, it says, and all the plain and all the inhabitants of the cities which grew on the ground. And it says, and his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. That's all it says about this account. That's very interesting that there are those in history that say they actually saw something that was actually Lot's wife as a pillar of salt. I think Josephus mentions it in his writings, that during his time he was able to see this. Again, who can know whether that's what he saw or not? I've been to this area, by the way, and the salt is very prevalent there. And sometimes there are, you know, it's sort of built up, stacked up. But I saw nothing looking like a woman there when I was there, you know, back in 1973. Well, brother, what could we learn from this short story about, you know, Lot's wife and what she did? Well, there's quite a few things we can learn from this that stems from what Lot himself did and the place he chose to settle. The first thing that we need to be aware of, brethren, that really probably was the reason why Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt, the first point is beware the danger of evil friendships and evil associations. That is a giant, that is a big lesson, brethren, that we should learn from what happened here with Lot and his family. You know, Lot moved to Sodom after a dispute between his and Abraham's herdsmen. And when he moved down toward Sodom, no doubt, because he was a judge of that city, he was sitting at the gate when the two angels got there, Lot had developed close associations and friends with people in that evil city of Sodom. And Lot's wife didn't look back just to see God's wrath on Sodom, you know, out of curiosity, but because she wanted to go back to the possessions that she left.

She wanted to go back to the people that she knew. And she likely was thinking, I'll go back if God doesn't do what he says. That's what her heart was. That's what she was thinking. In all likelihood, probably like the average person would. And so looking back was more than just looking back. Looking back was a sign of her unbelief and what God was going to do. And doubting God was actually going to do what he said he was going to do. Well, brethren, if God tells you to get out, you better get out. You better not doubt it. You better believe it. You better move.

You know, some people, of course, doubt God today a lot. But we have to be careful. We have to be careful that we don't gain the same kind of mentality that apparently happened to Lot to a degree and his wife, and certainly to his family. The family was corrupted by what they experienced down there next to Sodom.

Brethren, how does unbelief begin? How does it occur? How does it happen?

Well, I imagine with Lot's wife, she became hardened and inured by the wickedness that she saw around her. It's like it can happen to us as well. We can think the same thing. We get hardened by what we see in society. We get used to it. It doesn't bother us anymore to see what people do and what they say. And she apparently got used to the blasphemous acts of those that she knew. And the thing that is very interesting in our society is that oftentimes people that are the most wicked prosper. They prosper in our society. They get richer and richer, more and more influenced. It doesn't seem to abate in any way, shape, or form. And you know, you can get into the mentality and the thought that, well, maybe it's not so bad what they're doing and begin to unbelief, to disbelieve what God has said.

You know, we can do the same thing. We can listen to people that scoff against God and His Word and put down what we believe, and we can be influenced by that. We can be affected by that. A lot of people today scoff at what the Bible says. They scoff at what prophecies say.

But you know, do we think that the things that have happened in the world have been accidents? Do we think what happened to ancient Israel was an accident? That they went into captivity? That they lost their identity? It wasn't an accident. God allowed it to happen. And they were defeated. They were taken into captivity. And what the Bible actually prophesies is going to happen again. It's going to happen in this country. That the peoples of the United States are going to be taken to captivity. We could scoff at that and not believe it. But when it happens, just like when Belshazzar saw the handwriting of the wall, many, many teak on farsin, you're weighed in the balances and found wanting. That very night, Babylon, the greatest empire of all the world, was destroyed and taken over. And the Medo-Persian empire arose. When God says something, it's going to happen, brethren. I really do think, brethren, that Satan the devil is trying to wear God's people out. He keeps you busy. There's always something going on over here, over there, in the society. And he keeps you busy, occupied. You don't think about the most important things, and that is God's laws and God's kingdom that is coming. Let's go to 2 Peter 2. 2 Peter 2.

2 Peter 2, over here.

Like I mentioned about the things that have happened in history. You know, they're written. Prophecy that was given many thousands of years ago to Jacob, and to the point about how there would be two great empires. Of course, the greatest empire was the British Empire in the United States, in fact, that would arise and have indeed arisen in our time. Not to our credit, but because of the promises that were made to Abraham. 2 Peter 2. We'll begin in verse 5 here.

God did not spare the angels that sinned. He talks about in verse 4, but in 2 Peter 2 and verse 5, and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah. One of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly.

And turning the cities of Sodom Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly. So here's the message to us. No, this country is not going to get away with it. People in this nation or any other nation are going to get away with the lives that they live. And delivered righteous lot who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked. For that righteous man, that righteous man dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds.

And then it says, then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment. God knows how to deliver the just, the righteous of the world. And he will.

He will do that. He's made that promise. But Lot's soul was vexed by what he saw. Now, the choice that Lot made of taking his family down there to Sodom, next to Sodom, was a very big mistake on his part. Apparently, Lot was able to keep it together. Lot was able to be righteous in spite of it.

Even he was affected, though, but his family was greatly affected by it. And what a price to pay. What a price to pay. You know, that your family's impacted by the environment that you have thrust your family into.

But God considered Lot a righteous man. You know, brethren, when sin no longer bothers us, then we're calloused. And in this world, everybody, it seems, is calloused to it. You know, Lot tried to convince his son-in-laws, and, you know, as I mentioned earlier, they laughed in the scorn. They thought he was playing a game with them. They were so influenced by the world of the time, the Sod and Gomorrah, that this righteous man could not influence him. Couldn't influence his own son-in-law to leave the impending doom that was going to occur.

I want to mention that some of our young people go off to college. You know, young adults go do things to different areas. I know up in the Bay Area, we had many young adults who'd come into the Bay Area and begin to attend college up there, and they would be affected. A majority of them would be affected. You would see them at church maybe, you know, two or three months, and then pretty soon they would fall the wayside because of the pressures at college.

They just couldn't handle it. They weren't able to handle it. Many young people go off to college, and they're thrust in the world of bad influences. And it's hard for some to keep on the track spiritually speaking. What often happens is they eventually cave in to influences.

And what I found is very often they get involved with somebody who's not in the church. They get involved, and they begin to date people in the world. And pretty soon they're drawn away. Now, the Bible tells us that we should not get yoked to unbelievers. We should not be yoked with unbelievers in 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 14 through 17.

You know, what communion does light have with darkness? In fact, that Scripture talks about. So we're not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. And you know, that can apply to business. It can apply to relationships. You know, business, of course, we understand that because of the Sabbath issues, because of the Holy Day issues, other moral issues, honesty issues that may be a very big part of whether a business is going to succeed and how it will be viewed by the world. Or by others, for that matter.

Also, relationships. You know, the church is taught for a long, long time not to date or marry in the world, for good reasons. Because if people end up marrying somebody who does not have the same beliefs, they're not converted, they don't know the truth. And like HWA used to say, you don't know what you don't know. You know, you just don't know what you don't know. If somebody marries an unbeliever, you're going to have to choose whether you're going to please God or whether you're going to please this individual that you're dating or that you get yoked to in marriage.

And nine times out of ten, it's not God that's the one that people choose to obey. You know, oftentimes they go and they compromise God's law. So, you know, we've got to be very careful about influences, brethren, that are in the world. So, number one thing, brethren, we learn from a remember Lot's wife is beware of evil friendships and associations.

Remember this too, brethren, that when Satan comes at us, he doesn't come in a red suit with horns on the top and a tail at the back. You know what? He comes to us in a pinstripe suit and he dressed very well. And I mean that by way of analogy, brethren. He comes as something that is entirely different than what he is, as the Bible says, an angel of light. Another thing we learn, brethren, from remembering Lot's wife is with Lot's wife, there's a lesson of obeying God completely.

You know, when we obey God, do we obey God completely or do we go halfway? We halfway keep the Sabbath. I don't know how you do that. It's like, I guess somebody's halfway pregnant, you know. But you can't halfway do something. You either do it or you're not doing it. When God told Lot and his family, escape for your lives, get out of here, and don't look behind, they went out of the city and everybody left Sodom here.

Even Lot's wife was with Lot when they left. You know, there were five that were headed out of town at that time. But what happened with Lot's wife, she looked back. She didn't obey completely what God had commanded them to do. Oftentimes in the world, brethren, in the society we live in, most people are, you know, with regard to the Bible, you know, they sort of halfway do things that are written in the book. Sometimes they make an attempt at something, but they never go all the way in doing what God commands us to do.

But the fact that Lot's wife became a pillar of salt, brethren, her fate testifies that complete obedience, brethren, is necessary. Not partial obedience. God wants us to do everything He's commanded us to do. Deuteronomy 13. Let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 30, I should say.

Deuteronomy 30, over here.

In verse 11, For this commandment, which I command you today, is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. In other words, God's saying, look, what I'm telling you here is not, you know, kind of a riddle you've got to figure out.

It's not in heaven that you should say, who shall ascend into heaven from you or for you and bring it to us, that we will hear it and do it. Nor is it beyond the sea that you should say, who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it. But the word is very near you.

In your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. And he implored them to do what he commanded them to do. In other words, here God says, it's not mysterious what I'm telling you to do. It's easy to understand. Just do it. That's all you've got to do. Just do it.

Do what I command you to do. Keep the Sabbath. Do those things I commanded you in the law. Keep the holy days.

And save yourself by doing so. So a lesson we get from Remember Lot's wife is obeying God completely.

Another lesson we get from it, brethren, is that when Lot and his wife went out of Sodom, and he, of course, headed out as God had commanded to do, he had to reject everybody in that city that would have done the opposite.

So a lesson we learn here, a lesson that Lot's wife did not learn, is remain faithful to God even when others don't. And in this case, everybody in the city, with the exception of three people, escaped. So again, that's a lesson to remain faithful to God even when others don't. You could use the example of Noah as well. Only eight souls survived out of how many people that were on the earth at that time. And we guesstimate maybe there were two billion people that were on earth at the time of Noah's flood.

Remain faithful even if the whole world does not. We remain faithful.

Another lesson we learn from Lot's wife, there are always consequences from disregarding God's commandments. There's always consequences.

You could pass it off. You could say, I'm not going to do it. And you have that choice. God's given you a free moral agency.

But there is always a consequence when we disobey.

For her disobedience, God turned Lot's wife into a pillar of salt.

Consider the consequences, brethren, for disobeying God.

God means what He says.

God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

And they did.

Look at the world around you, brethren, that we live in today because of that wrong choice.

God means what He says. He says what He means.

Israel turned from God and, you know, look what happened to Israel.

Taken captive in ancient times into Assyria.

And not just that, brethren. Israel lost her identity.

And now today, modern Israel, United States, and British people today, look at the problems we have in this country, this land.

The point being, brethren, God is not mocked.

He says something, you better be sure He's going to do it.

He won't make an exception to it.

You know, Jesus Himself said this in Luke 12, in verse 4-5.

He said, I say unto you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body.

And after that, they have no more that they can do.

But I will show you whom you should fear, He says.

Fear Him who, after He is killed, has power to cast into Gehenna.

Yes, I say to you, fear Him.

Often it is said to people, if you don't respect God, if you don't believe God, you had better fear Him.

Even if you don't respect Him. And frankly, if we don't respect God, we do have a need to fear Him for what is going to happen.

Because there are consequences for disregarding God's commandments.

And the world is an example of that, of the consequences that are out there.

Another important lesson, brother, we learned is God is always providing a way of escape for His people.

We could get between a rock and a hard place in this world, and certainly with Lot, he was just about as close to that as anybody could be.

But God makes a way of escape. He did that for Lot.

And His family, all of them could have escaped.

Makes me wonder, brethren, if prior to the end of the age, whether God's going to give us an opportunity to go and talk to our relatives.

You know, and say, look, this is going to happen. They may laugh at us as well.

They may tell us that you're playing a joke on us.

Or, you know, where are the cameras? That kind of thing.

But God may allow us to have that chance as He did Lot.

You know, think about also with the circumstance with Lot and his family.

It says God was very merciful to him. Very merciful.

Even though Lot lingered, he waited around too long.

You know, God was not going to allow him to stay there.

And so they, so angels, had to grab him by the arm and again, practically drag him out.

So he provided him away.

He'll be reminded of what God says over in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 13, of God's great mercy, because there, we're told, you know, that there is no temptation, no trial taken you, but such is His common demand. But God is faithful. He's faithful to us, brethren, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you're able, but will, with the temptation, also make a way of escape.

There's always a way to escape.

That you may be able to bear it, as it goes on to say.

So again, God always provides that way of escape, brethren.

Another important lesson we learned from Lot's wife is keep your eye on the goal.

Keep your eye on the goal.

Lot's wife should have kept her eye straight ahead.

She took her eyes off the goal of getting out of Sodom and looked back.

Remember that there is no future, brethren, in the past.

No future in the past.

And there's no hope in looking back.

I think I mentioned to you when I was first converted that I had a dream prior to the time I was baptized, that in the dream I was on an island between two bridges, and one bridge led back into the world, and the other bridge led to the kingdom of God.

And I knew that if I did not burn one of those bridges, and I was going to burn the one that led to the world, that I would go back.

I knew myself well enough.

And in my dream, I dreamed that I set fire to the bridge going back to the worlds, and I knew then I had to be committed to go the right way.

And I couldn't go back. There was no way to go back.

There was no bridge back to where I wanted to go.

That decision, brethren, that happened to me changed my life, and I've never looked back. I don't want to go back out of what I came out of.

Jesus Christ said in Luke 9, verse 62, no one looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.

We don't look back. We don't belong in the kingdom of God.

The world has nothing to offer for us, brethren. Keep your eye on the go.

You know, ancient Israel complained to Moses and wanted to go back to Egypt.

And of all things, the thing they wanted the most was the garlic, the leeks, and the melons.

But they forgot all about the back-breaking slavery they were in.

The sweltering heat of the Egyptian climate in the summer times, and making bricks without straw. All of that. They forgot all about that.

And they all, I guess you could think about it, were the melons that they got to eat. It's amazing. Sometimes human beings, I guess, are so short-sighted in their thinking.

You know, if you ever wanted to go back to the world, brethren, you've forgotten the misery you came out of.

I remember, even as a young man, brethren, it was miserable not knowing.

I remember when my grandfather died that my grandmother thought that my grandpa was up in heaven looking down.

I was a little boy back in those days, back in the 50s, and that scared me half to death.

In those days, they lived in a shotgun kind of a house, where the living room goes into the bedroom, into a kitchen, and then the other minnies of the house.

They called it a shotgun house, because you could shoot a shotgun all the way through to the back of the house.

And my grandfather was placed in a casket in the front room.

And again, that scared me half to death. I was sleeping in that house.

I didn't know what a ghost was. I didn't know what anything like that was.

And of course, when you're about eight or nine, you believe most anything, don't you, that you hear.

But as a teenager, I wondered what life was all about. What was the purpose of life?

And it was miserable not knowing those things, brethren.

But God has brought us out of that ignorance and a spiritual blindness so that we could see.

Our eyes were opened, and we saw the incredible potential that God had brought us into existence for.

Let me tell you, when you go back to the world, it's worse the second time.

And very often, people that go back out there, they come back beaten down worse than before.

It does happen. But oftentimes, when people go out, they never come back. They're gone for good.

Let's go to 2 Peter 2, 2 Peter 2, verse 20 here. The Apostle Peter mentions here in verse 20 what happens when people, again, the mentality had to go back.

But 2 Peter 2, verse 20, it says, It says, That's the way it works. People get entangled back in the world again.

And overcome, But it has happened to them, according to the true proverb, a dog returns to his own vomit, and a sow having washed to her wallowing in the mire.

People one time more want to get out there and get all dirty again.

I pray that's not you and me, brethren. Keep your eye on the goal.

Paul said he did that. He said his eye on the goal that was ahead of him.

He said, I forgot the things behind and I pressed to the mark of the high calling of God.

So keep your eye on the goal, brethren.

Jesus Christ said to his disciples, and he's saying to us today, Let us be diligent to do all that God has commanded us to do.

This world out there, brethren, is like Sodom.

It has nothing permanent, brethren, to offer to us.

Let's obey Christ's commandments. Let's obey what God's law tells us to do in this time that we're living in.

And let's do as Jesus Christ said we should do. Remember Lot's wife.